I had a very difficult time in this class. Please keep in mind that I already took this course under another professor and dropped in halfway through. So it probably shouldn't have been as hard as it was.

I had a lot of problems with this course. The actual content itself was kind of...

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Originally Posted by mike4

Did anyone have Riller as their prof? I checked ratemyprofs.com and he doesnt look ideal...

I originally took this course with Riller in 2007, and it was bad. Most people failed the midterm, and many people dropped the course. He might be a better prof now, but at the time, it was one of my worst experiences.

Check out my post and KayakerDan's post about it on this old Macinsiders thread, which explains it better:
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...5.html?t=25215

I don't think Riller is a bad prof, but he is bad at writing tests.

Course Breakdown:

4 Quizzes = 20% (5% each)
2 Tests = 40% (20% each)
1 Final Exam = 40%
1 Bonus Quiz = 5%

I took this course with Prof. Sonnenburg this year and honestly it has to be the easiest 12 I've ever earned. The most IMPORTANT thing to remember about this course is GO TO MIDTERM/FINAL EXAM REVIEWS!! The professor does this really great thing where she lists off exactly what's going to be on the exam and all you have to do is study those points in detail. She doesn't test on anything other than what she lists. Trust me! You don't have to waste your time studying useless crap you won't be tested on!

We had two inclass midterms/tests and 4 online quizzes that are spread throughout the semester. The tests are quite simple as I studied for them a day or two before and managed to get 80s for both. Keep in mind that I also had two other midterms in the same week for both test 1 and 2 that I had to study for.

The quizzes on the other hand are quite difficult. Composed of 15 questions and most answers are not in your class notes and you would have to use google and the textbook in order to find the correct answers. Also, you cannot go back to previous questions one you complete them. The good thing is that the prof gives you a couple of hours to complete each one and everyone receives the questions in the same order. Two of my friends and I worked on the quizzes together and so it was really easy to do really really well on them. At the end of the semester she gave us a bonus quiz.

As for the final, it was probably one of the easiest exams I've ever done in university. I only quickly skimmed through my notes the day before the exam and ended up getting an 86%.

Oh and everything in this course is in M/C format. Interest in the content really depends on each person. I found it extremely interesting because I like to learn about the Earth, weather, catastrophes, why they occur etc. But my two friends found this course to be an absolute bore.

I would definitely refrain from taking this course if it's being taught by Professor Riller. As kind as he may be, he doesn't seem to quite understand the needs of his students. In addition, the course material is rather dry, so I wouldn't recommend taking 2GG3 unless you're very interested in natural disasters - more specifically rock formations, layers of the Earth's crust, etc..

The prof teaching this course in the summer is Moscicki. Anyone know anything about this prof?

I'd like to know about Moscicki too

I'm taking it in the summer too and would like to know about Moscicki...

Any recent reviews of this course? I'm kinda nervous to take it now.

Recent reviews would be appreciated.

Has anyone taking this course with Basik teaching it? Any reviews on his teaching style would be greatly appreciated.

any tips on how to do well in this course?

Hi there, did you end up taking this course with Basik??

Hey I ended up taking this course and Basik is such an awesome prof. If he is teaching next semester (which I think he is), you should definitely take the course. Whatever he says will be on the midterm, he made sure was on the midterm. He really wants his students to do well in his course and definitely very friendly to answer any questions. There was 6 quizes and you get 2 attempts for each quiz. Definitely a 12 course, esp if you just listen to what he tells you to study.

Break down:

6 Quizes (5 percent each) = 30%
1 midterm = 30% (midterm was with MCs and fill in the blank)
1 exam = 40%

Easiest class I have taken in my life

Would going to class be mandatory if I wanted to do well? Will he post complete powerpoint slides/notes for the material?

Going to class is not a single bit necessary. I think a lot of us got 12's without ever going to class after the first midterm.

Hopefully he didn't make it harder.