Chem itself is always going to be super hard, but taking Joseph can definitely make it feel a little easier. Although he does put hard book problems on the midterms, his lectures and especially lecture videos are well explained and easy to understand. His office hours are extremely helpful since he essentially teaches the book problems.

I had Joseph for the whole gen chem series and I absolutely loved his class. If you want to do well, you have to put in a lot of time and effort. You don't really need to read the textbook as long as you go to the lecture. If you want to do well, do the book problems at least once. Also, take advantage of CLAS and office hours.

Having taken Price, Joseph, and Mercy for the gen chem series, Prof. Crisjoe "it is on the money" Joseph was the best by far. He has clear & easy to understand ~15 minute videos for every topic, allowing you to learn at your own pace and not miss any information. He makes it clear what is important to know for the exam and never tries to trick you.

Prof Joseph is great, teaches straight to the point. At first, I thought he did not go in depth enough, but compared to other professors, he's able to take a complicated topic and make it easier to understand. I used his youtube videos even when I wasn't in his class. His office hours are also very helpful, and his tests mirror the book problems.

I miss Joseph so much. You don't know how good something is until you let it go :( I LOVED his lectures. I was too lazy to do book problems but I always understood his lectures enough to get C+s on midterms with no book problems. He jsut teaches so well and has great lecture videos online too!! He's really kind and his office hours r very helpful!

Joseph's expectations are really transparent, which is do your HW, do book problems, and before exams take a look at previous exams. The exams are literally just book problems and problems pulled from previous exams, except with a number or 2 changed. His lectures were pretty clear to me, though if you missed something he has recorded videos too.

Amazing professor, better than Price. He is an interactive lecturer so you can always ask questions. Exams are always based on book problems and previous exam and quiz questions, so do them all multiple times. Took him and got an A in Chem 1B and am currently in his Chem 1C.

Very nice person!

Great!

His classes always fill up first, which is a testament to how good of a professor he is. Patient in OH and always went over set time if students still needed help. Completing book problems is most important since he reuses questions on exams!!! Beware if exam averages are high (75%+) because he will make an incredibly hard final to even out grades.

Well-organized slides and lectures. Has online videos that are similar to lectures in case you don't attend. A good amount of practice material and exams that are similar to actual midterms and finals. The only down part of the course is having to deal with the homework platform ALEKs. But you have to deal with that in any gen chem class.

By far the best chem professor I've had so far. He explained concepts really well and I never felt lost during lectures. Recommend doing the practice tests heavily, multiple times and book problems too. His office hours were definitely helpful too.

DO THE BOOK PROBLEMS!!! Dr. Joseph loves his book problems and will put exact problems with different numbers on every exam! If you score poorly on an exam, it's not the end of the world. His class is always curved and the curve will help you out. Also go to CLAS! It's an amazing resource.

While Joseph definitely is not one of the worst chem professors, he is not accommodating to his students. He also made his tests quite a bit different than the practice and even book problems (I did both).

I would take Joseph again 100%. I had Price for 1A and thought his tests were so much harder. 1B is a really hard course, but Joseph makes it achievable to do well in the class. If you do all the book problems and fully understand them, you will do well as his tests are mostly all reused book/practice exam problems. Final was hard but class ok

Great prof, online videos a bit sparse on examples but book problem solutions will teach you everything you need to know for the tests. DO THE BOOK PROBLEMS! I went from a 45% on the first midterm to 88% simply by doing all the book problems once and understanding them. Guaranteed to see some book probs on tests and probs from previous tests too

I'm taking every series general chem at UCSB with a different professor and i will say Joseph's is by far the most consistent and most helpful in terms of the learning material and the actual test content. His expectations are clear and he is organized. He tells you how to succeed in the class + calendar. His exams are harder than most.

Professor Joseph's lectures were clear expect during thermochemistry (imo). His tests are very predictable. If you want to do well on the midterms, grind the textbook problems and practice test questions he makes it very clear that he likes to put these questions on tests. The final can be a bit of a curve ball but it is still fair.

Chem 1B is not easy by any means, but Joseph makes the class as simple as it can be. He is well organized and your week is always laid out in advance. The tests are based off the book problems: they’re not easy, but the questions are fair.

The lectures are really good and you learn a lot for them, but the midterms and finals are relatively harder than other chem professors. Doing book problems and aleks helps.

Do the book problems! Definitely a straightforward professor. If you do the problems, go to lecture, and study hard it's very passable. Lectures are also posted on youtube, so attendance isn't necessary which is very nice.

1A is manageable to students who have taken AP Chem. However, it still requires a great deal of work because most grades come from two (3 drop 1) midterms and final. He made those tests really serious, e.g. assigned seats, ID checks. Since I learned most materials before, I can really tell he is intentionally setting traps on exams.

If you took AP Chem, you'll be set for this course and it won't be as difficult as people say. However, that doesn't mean you won't have to put some effort into this class. Do the book problems, read the textbook, go/watch the lectures. But you'll definitely get a passing grade by just doing the practice exams and problems before midterms.

Joseph tells all of his students what to do in order to succeed and you need to follow through!! ALEKS, book problems, reading the textbook, and seeking help (if needed) all help you pass. Chem isn't an easy subject for everyone, Joseph does what he can to help his students.