EVSC 3200

I took this class for a biology elective requirement, so I did not have much background in environmental science going into it. The lectures were informative but did not always keep my attention. The professor strayed from the material often and would call on 5+ people until getting the desired answer to his questions, which made it hard for me to stay engaged. There were numerous opportunities for extra credit (such as attending talks of guest speakers or poster events), and the professor was kind and helpful in office hours. He worked closely with the graduate TA, who provided a study guide based off the exam. I would definitely base my studying around the study guide and gain clarification/expansion on these questions. The professor also provided practice questions, which I did not find nearly as helpful since they were not based on the exam. The exam style through us all for a loop. The first one was almost all multiple choice, but the second one was ALL short answer (which allowed for generous partial credit!). The third exam was on the last day of classes and was a mix of multiple choice and short answer questions. There was no final exam, and the exams were (mostly) not comprehensive; you had to maintain some basic knowledge from prior exams and draw broader conclusions, which was not hard if you have a biology/environmental science background. The professor was also very lenient and understanding about time constraints. Despite not having SDAC accommodations, he allowed everyone to have as much extra time as necessary to complete the exams, allowing students to take their exams to the library on their honor to finish. Reading the textbook, or at least skimming certain parts of it, worked very well for me so that I could expand on for the short-answer questions. The first few chapters were not as informative, but later chapters were. I would recommend using the textbook as an aid if you do not have a strong background in environmental science, but it is not absolutely necessary to succeed as everything is covered in lecture or could be expanded on in office hours. #tCFS24