Worst teacher i have ever had! Run for your life..I have never learned so little/been so bored in a lecture whatever you do i wouldnt take this class..save yourself

AVOID AVOID AVOID. CA GEO is extremely tough. Joel is monotone and just talks the whole time. Nicole the TA was very little help. Test were very hard. The midterm covers all CA and includes vegetation! Lectures are extremely boring and have an large amount of information. Avoid. Wish I did not take class.

The course consists of a midterm (20%), field trip reports (40%) and final (40%). Tests were hard and averages were low. Good class to take pass/no pass as Michaelson is a pretty laid-back teacher and doesn't require a lot of outside work.

DON'T TAKE HIM! Michaelsen was a terrible teacher. He reads directly off his boring powerpoint every class and never switches his teaching style to make things more interesting. His tests are far too hard for how unbearable his class is. Also, his TA was practically useless in helping you understand the material.

class = boring. teacher = incomprehensible. TA(nicole) = ineffective, when i asked why i was wrong on one of the midterm essay questions, she gave me an answer someone else gave which received an A. she proceeded to make me sound like an idiot but the resemblance between answers was uncanny. i pointed it out and she just got angry.

Great Class. Everything is posted online on his website. Boring lectures, but still really cool.

Makes material difficult to understand. Fills the class with random facts and material.

Really easy class if you know the material and the practice final. Attending class in not necessary, although it can help the info stick better if you actually pay attention. Kinda boring lecture though. Class consisted of two field trip reports (10% each), a research paper (30%), and a final (50%).

Going to lecture is a waste. My class just had 2 field trip reports, a paper, and a final. The papers were really easy, and the final was worth 50%. Go to the final review and do the practice test. Hlepful b/c most of the ?s were exactly the same. Easy class

California has the most interesting geography of any state--and he made it boring. 'Nuff said. Go to the review sessions, and work on the practice tests before taking the exams. They will show you exactly what the exams will be like. Mostly because they have the same questions. It's not a very good class, but it's easy to pass.

Very Boring and monotone. There is no point in going to class. Just read the lectures he posts online before the midterm and do the review and papers and you should get a good grade.

Very easy class if you do ok on the research paper (6pgs on any region in CA you want) and attend the review sessions b4 tests. I went to class to see the slideshows of his trips around CA, which he showed EVERY day, but attending is far from necessary. Recommend for an easy class outside of your major.