I have no idea how Jatila has bad reviews. She is so nice and wants her students to succeed. She is passionate about astronomy and her lectures are very clear and easy to follow. I really recommend her!

I was so excited to take this class, but she didn't teach. She literally did not teach us anything. She just assigned work and students had to teach ourselves. Try to avoid her if you can!

Took this class during the summer thinking - how hard could a lower division Astronomy course be? Over 10 things due every week, extremely hard grader, and unclear on directions for her labs (and there are a lot of them). Better off taking another class if you were already drained from the school year.

Professor van der Veen did not lecture at all and just posted the old lectures of another professor which didn't help much. Changed the grading scale at the last minute, lots of homework, and not helpful/accessible through office hours or email. Had to teach myself everything.

She's so sweet. She wants everyone to do well and genuinely loves what she's teaching. This made me more interested in the material. Would recommend.

A prime example of the drawbacks of a research institute. Absolutely, positively the worst professor of my education at UCSB. She did not teach a single lecture; sent us links to the author of the textbook instead. No help at all through email.