He's very passionate about the subject and his lectures are pretty solid even if you choose to watch them online rather than attend class in person. The tests being multiple choice is a double-edged sword but it can be helpful to figure out some of the test problems as you go. He's a good enough teacher and a fair grader.
Joseph made chem a little less miserable. He is a very respected professor and is willing to help everyone as best as he can. He is very personable and his lectures are great. Just make sure to do the book problems and study hard!!
Joseph is an amazing lecturer. His lectures are pretty short, and he gets right to the point. The book problems are absolutely essential to doing well in the class. Do them all at least once or twice and go to OH as often as you can and you'll be set for the exams. ALEKS isn't too helpful but good for the grade boost so do it anyways.
He was great for 1A/B and I found it relatively easy w him. But the final for 1C was rough (avg 58%). But because of the curve still got a good grade. It's very important to do book problems as it will help with ur exams (except for chem1C final lol). Overall he is a great choice for the gen chem series.
I've had Prof. Joseph for the whole gen chem series at UCSB and my experience was great.. until our final for Chem 1C. For all the past finals and midterms, to suceed one needed to go over given past practice exams and know the book problems very well, but this final was so obscure to lower the high averages in the 77, 80 range. Go to office hours!
Save yourself the heartbreak and don't take Joseph for Chem 1C. His final was so difficult and not covered in the lectures, that the average was an F. I did great with the other professors, Joseph was unclear in his lectures. His midterms were confusing and the curve was poor. By far one of the worst professors imaginable, try taking someone else.
Joseph is probably the most understanding of the Chem Professors. While other professors were sometimes condescending or flat-out mean, he was more encouraging to students. Most important thing is to do the book problems and Aleksit really helps for midterms. Don't let the midterms lull you into a false sense of securitystudy up for the final.
Joseph is just mean. His exams were crazy hard especially for remote learning. He was really condescending when you ask questions in office hours. I hate the book problems. This gen chem series has made me consider cancelling quarters because of how stressful it was. ALEKS isn't worth a lot of your grade. He doesn't go over the problems he assigns.
Took this course in Winter 2021. Prof. Joseph is super clear in his powerpoints and lectures of how to solve a problem. He does not share his notes to the students. 3 exams in total, very exam-based. Chapter exams are manageable but watch out for the final. Doing back-of-book problems are not enough. His questions on the exam can be very trivial.
I had Joseph for all 3 quarters of gen chem and liked him. He did give a really hard final for Chem1C due to our high avgs but other than the time limit, it was not a completely unreasonable exam. They were from past exams or altered homework questions. You need to know problems so well that you can work problems forwards and backwards**.
Joseph is a great professor. Hes very patient and stays over office hours until every single question is answered. Going to office hours helps so much and doing book problems!!! everyones complaining saying the final was hard (it was) but i dont think it should completely discredit him.
The final was so out of pocket, nothing could have prepared me for it. I would have gotten the same score if I took it on the first day of class. I studied all week for the final and did horribly. None of the practice tests or book problems helped on the exam. Our other 3 midterms were bad as well, but nothing could have prepared for the final.
this class was extremely challenging, but exams 1-3 were not impossible if you studied hard. I got an A on the last exam and a 50% on the final. the final literally came out of h e double hockey sticks, nothing could have prepared you. this guy just has a kink for low averages. i did better on the exams than I did in 1a-b but worse overall grade.
Like others have said, I dropped a full letter grade because of the final. The final had questions that combined concepts we had never seen combined before, and doing book problems/practice tests basically did nothing in terms of preparing us well. Kind of ridiculous how the average for the final was in the 50s. I believe this was intentional.
This class was brutal. When you do well on the midterms he gives out the most unfair final I have ever seen to lower the average. His lectures are also just worse than Prices. Take Price if possible.
Final average was in the 50s, versus close to 80 for the midterms. Literally got the lowest score I've ever gotten on a test on the final. Also significant portions of it were not reviewed in class. Take any other prof, just so you don't get screwed by a final that dropped me a full letter grade.
His 1C final was brutal none of the studying I did could have possibly prepared me. None of the content was stuff that had been gone over before, test was designed to kill averages. I dropped a full 9% and maybe a letter grade even though I was doing well before. Hes a nice guy but dont put yourself through this lol
Midterms were pretty reasonable, focus on the practice tests and book problems and you were good. The final was really out of pocket, the worst I've done in any test ever. It dropped some people full letter grades. His lectures were okay, he talks so slowly but you can just put him on 2x speed. I felt like Price's lectures were more clear.
Nice enough man but tests were kind of outrageous. My grade dropped a full 10% after the final, so Im upset. I dont understand why Joseph thought it was a bad thing that people were doing well in his class. Focus on book problems for midterms, but give up for the final. Its not worth your time- questions are unlike anything youve seen before.
Midterms were fair, based on book problems and homework. Final was horrible, contained stuff that was not reviewed, it dropped the average of myself and others by 10%. Take another professor if you can, even if lectures aren't as good, finals are more fair.
He responds quickly on the forums and by email, and is super helpful/nice when you have questions. I only took reg chem my soph year of HS but I literally got an A+ in 1A and 1B with him, so getting an A is doable as long as you put in the work. Definitely join CLAS and use their practice tests.
I had Joseph for the whole Chem 1 series and I liked him until I finished 1C. He had many office hours which was nice cause he went over test questions and book problems, but in the end, doing this all didn't matter cause our final was the hardest test ever and the average was 58%.
ALEKS are easy free points so it sucks but do them. His lectures are great so I never needed to do the readings in the textbook. EMPHASIS ON BOOK PROBLEMS! Do them and you will do well in the tests.
Joseph is a solid choice for Chem 1B. I also had him for chem 1A, which was an easier course. 1B is a very difficult class but joseph is a good teacher. He does only go through easier problems in the lectures so you NEED to go to office hours. memorize the hard book problems because they almost always will be on the exams.