ASTR 1280

Very good professor who makes things very interesting. The quizzes are memorization based and sometimes have poorly worded questions. The grading on the final project was tough..

Ed Murphy has been one of my favorite teachers at UVA. His lectures are really fun and engaging. The tests are tricky but getting an A-/B+ in the class is not difficult. I recommend taking Murphy for any classes that you can he's awesome!

This is a really cool course if you're at all interested in space, and Professor Murphy is a great professor!!

Eddie Murphy is perhaps my favorite professor. He is extremely knowledgeable and incredibly passionate about the material. Hes a gentle giant, who is able to makes the class very interesting. In this class, you will learn extensively about the big bang and all of the evidence in support of it, the general layout of the universe, and explore the various anomalies that exist throughout and between solar systems. I found this class to be one of the most interesting classes that I've taken at uva, but it was not as easy an A as one would hope. I did get an A, but Eddie Murph made me work a little bit for it (but not too much). I would recommend this class for those who have an interest in astronomy or cosmology, but not necessarily for those who are looking for the easiest possible class to fulfill their science requirement. I hope that everyone gets a chance to take this class at some point, because Eddie Murphy really embodies what college should be about - he really has a passion for learning and passing on his vast array of knowledge, and inspires his students to be curious and question everything.

If you're looking for an easy science requirement this is definitely not it. I think the course has gotten harder over the years because it is definitely not a course you can cruise in. Quizzes are hard and the high school level homework assignments are graded harshly by your peers.

Murphy is a great professor but was much better in ASTR 1210. I took that class in the fall and liked it a lot more than this one. The class can be fun sometimes but the homework was kind of annoying and the group project at the end was very annoying because you had to scramble to get everyone together and work on an assignment that was not very clearly defined. Would definitely recommend ASTR 1210 though if you need science credits.

Ed Murphy is the bomb. One of the only classes that I enjoyed going to and would never think to skip just because of Murphy's passion and excitement for the subject matter. The homework assignments were slightly annoying, the readings were interesting and didn't take long, and the lectures were engaging especially with the clicker questions where people wrote in absurd answers like Shrek to questions like what is life. Overall, this is a great class and if you haven't taken a class with Murphy, this is a good class to do for it.

Mixed review. The material is interesting, and isn't very hard. Material covered is more or less as implied by the title: mostly astronomy, with some history and biology. Some of the material is repeated from 1210 (and probably other intro astronomy courses). The lectures are informative, but Murphy goes through the slides kind of fast. He also talks a lot about current events in astronomy at the begining of lectures.

Outside of lectures, the course is somewhat annoying. The hw's are high-school level, and you have to peer review 3 other student's hw (which isn't hard but feels like a waste of time). The exams are on learning catalytics. A lot of the questions are open ended, and often times the questions don't really seem to test on the most important course material (and despite what he says at the beginning of the course, he does test you on random numbers and figures). There's also a final project which is a waste of time, but also 20% of your grade. I will give the class the readings- he assigns two books that are really good (not text books, more like information leisurely reading books).

I'd recommend this course if you are looking for an easy science elective, or if you are interested in astronomy and have some extra time to kill.

Murphy is a goofy but lovable guy who is clearly passionate about astronomy. He explains things well and is very friendly. I found the tests to be fair and the homework is relevant and relatively easy. I would recommend this class to anyone with an interest in learning more about our universe and its origins in a not super-technical way, as there is very little math involved.