ASTR 1290

Shane Davis is one of the best professors at UVA. No hate to the other professor who teaches this class, but you want Shane. He is a really genuine guy who loves to research black holes and then has a great knack for teaching as well. The class is interesting and sometimes is tough to grasp, but its fairly easy to get a good grade. It is not necessary to take notes as the answers to the three quizzes and final can be found on his slides. The second quiz can really sneak up on you if you are not paying attention in class after the first one way so easy. A little math is required, but do not let it discourage you as he provides good examples and he gives a lot of partial credit. There are online clicker questions in class that keep you paying attention, but he offers a lot more questions than you need to respond to in order to fulfill the requirement. It is possible to skip the class especially on Fridays, but it is not that hard to make it for 50 minutes and you are missing out if you do not go. This has been the class I have most been excited to go to. There is something special about Shane and his lecture that just makes you want to go back and sit in his class, which I cannot say for any other professor.

Take this class! It's truly one of the most fascinating I've taken at UVA. There is so much about the universe and physics that will blow your mind. Black holes are the weirdest, most chaotic objects in existence. You will learn about relativity (and how time isn't what you think it is) and black holes (and how they are points of infinite density) and galaxies and stars and much more. (What was awesome, too, about the class is that it almost a survey of the universe, so you get info about many of the things important astronomers and physicists have been studying.) Professor Davis was pretty good, he could be funny at times but mostly just kept to his lecture. He was a good lecturer generally, although sometimes his explanations were a little esoteric. But yes, he did make sure to talk about all the juiciest physics marvels. The work itself was pretty easy in general, although some of the concepts like relativity will require you to think hard.

Great class, very interesting content. Very easy A, and professor Davis is helpful and accessible outside of class. Three midterms and a final, all are closely related to the reviews he gives.

Not an overly difficult class, but definitely more physics than I was expecting. Black holes are an inherently interesting subject and the professor is very passionate about the subject, so it made lectures more enjoyable. However, as I said, some of the physics and other concepts (like special/general relativity) are kinda difficult to wrap your head around so keep that in mind. There are also quite a few assignments to keep up with: weekly homework and blogs, lecture questions every class, the constellation lab, three "quizzes" (exams), and a final. Nothing is particularly difficult, but it takes up time. The exams were online and open-note and he posts detailed review sheets so it's easy to do well on them. You do need to buy Learning Catalytics (like $12) in order to answer the lecture questions (not sure why he doesn't just use iClicker like everyone else). He does post the lecture recordings and the slides, so as long as you keep LQ open during class time and answer a decent number of questions, you'll get full credit. He wants everyone to do well, so he doesn't make things more difficult than they need to be.
#tCFfall2021

I think some of the reviews make it seem like this class is super easy. The tests are open note, and he provides a lot of resources that help with studying, but the concepts can be hard to wrap your head around. That being said, the class is still extremely interesting, and Professor Davis is a very engaging lecturer. It's a great way to fulfill a requirement, and if the topic does interest you at all, I would definitely recommend! The class is definitely one of the easier ones at UVA, but it's also one that still requires some effort, especially if you actually do want to get something out of the class and gain a deeper understanding of relativity.
#tCFfall2021

This class is popular for a reason. I can't imagine a math/science course being much easier than this, and the material is really interesting. Professor Davis is a great lecturer and manages to explain complicated concepts in very simple terms. Attend the lectures, take good notes, and make sure you understand the (very basic) math. If you're stuck on something, Professor Davis is super approachable and willing to help. Quizzes and exams are mostly multiple-choice with a couple of short answer questions. #tCF2020

I literally cannot say enough good things about this course. Honestly, if I wasn't a third year who already declared a stats major, this would class alone would make me consider majoring in astronomy. This is by far the most interesting course I have ever taken at UVA: it's a class about black holes, you really can't get cooler than that. However, a lot of the beginning material is necessary physics concepts that you need to know in order to succeed; don't let that scare you though, it's mostly just basic formulas you need to memorize in order to do well-- nothing too difficult (if you have ever taken a physics class before you'll be absolutely fine). Also, towards the end of the class there is a lot more emphasis on standard astronomy material (i.e. galaxy formation, stars, thermal radiation, ect). Don't get the wrong idea though: this all still relates to black holes and you'll have plenty of lectures purely devoted to these insane interstellar objects. Shane Davis is also just simply an amazing guy and professor. He is extremely credentialed and loves the material. His main focus is really just motivating students to appreciate black holes and the field of astronomy in general which is cool-- he really cares about his students and wants us to succeed. There are 3 midterms and a final exam (total 50% of your grade) which may seem daunting, but he literally gives you 8 page study guides before the exams (he calls them quizzes) that are immensely helpful and a lot of the questions are extremely similar to the HW problems and/ or are lifted off the exam study guides. You also have weekly blog posts which are just completion but are usually on interesting topics and/ or current events so they aren't bad at all. HW takes maybe an hour a week to complete, but they are usually quite easy. 100% take this class if you are considering and have room whether you are a first year trying to fulfill the STEM requirement, a fourth year looking to take an interesting class, or anyone in between-- you won't regret it.

#tCF2020

This class has a bit of physics, so if you struggle with that I'd avoid it. That said, it's a pretty easy class. I would recommend redoing the in-class questions and homeworks to study for the exams. A lot of the questions are reused with only a few things changed. It's one of the classes where you don't really have to understand what you're learning about to pass. In all honesty, there was a lot less content about black holes than I anticipated, but it was an easier class so I don't have much to complain about.

Prof. Davis won an award from the university recently for his teaching, and it's easy to understand why after taking this class. Davis is incredibly knowledgable and passionate about the subject, and it comes through in his lectures. The grade consists of a fair number of different components. There's weekly blog assignments, which are graded on completion. There's in-class exercises on learning catalytic which can be kind of tricky at times, but you can miss a few classes and get a large chunk incorrect and still get full credit. Homeworks are trickiest part, but are generally fair. Quizzes and final aren't too bad, especially since as other people have referenced, he gives you a really helpful review sheet. This semester was odd with being online. Davis did a really good job adjusting and showed more understanding of the challenges than most other profs. Still, the best part of the class was getting to be in the lecture hall with Davis and having him answer questions. If you're looking for a science class, or just a class to fill your schedule, this is probably one of the coolest/least strenuous options.

Prof. Davis is honestly the best professor I have had at UVA. He was able to explain complex topics with ease and made this course very exciting. He was clearly passionate about what he was teaching, which made the class even better. There is almost zero work in this class. There are weekly blogging sets and 14-question multiple-choice homework questions that come straight from the lecture slides he posts immediately after each lecture. I'd be surprised if both took you more than an hour to complete. Reading is entirely optional; it's just a matter of how in-depth you want to go with this course. All the exam material is in his posted lecture slides, but he's such a great professor that you wouldn't want to miss class. He even posts exam reviews and a final review with all the topics on the exam/final and practice questions that usually closely resembled the ones on the real exams/final. This class is awesome, the professor is great; what more could you ask for?

Professor Davis is engaging and clear in his lectures and the material gets pretty interesting. The class is pretty "mathy" at times but it doesn't go beyond plugging and chugging numbers into formulas you have to memorize. Exams are fair as long as you cram and memorize the slides the day or two before, and the constellation lab is a meme. The homeworks were definitely the most frustrating, but even those were relatively easy. The questions were pretty tricky and made you double guess yourself at time and since there's rarely any partial credit and not a lot of questions total, 1 or 2 questions wrong could take a take a toll on your average. The study guides before exams are also pretty helpful and pretty much cover everything that's going to be on the exams. The practice problems on those study guides are usually pretty indicative of what types of concepts will be tested on the exam, so know the concepts inside and out. If anything's confusing, go to his office hours and he'll give you help. Not the most exciting lectures to attend, but you have to go to answer the learning catalytics questions. You have a buffer for these too so you can get quite a few wrong and still get full credit. Overall, good class with interesting material - would recommend.

This class was not only the best and most interesting class I've taken at uva, but also one of the easiest. Shane Davis is an excellent professor, who has an extremely strong understanding of the class material, and who seems to really wants to help his students succeed. There are short multiple choice homework assignments and blog posts each week, which take a combined hour tops, and intermittent short readings (there is no textbook). There are also in-class questions through learning catalytics, which make up about 15% of your grade, and are basically free points because you only need to get about half of the questions right to get full credit. There are 3 tests and a final, and for each one, Professor Davis will give you a review sheet that contains all that you need to know, as well as giving you near-exact replicas of the short free response question that is on each exam. In this class, you will learn about special and general relativity, the origins of the universe, how black holes are made, supernovas, where the atoms in your body came from, what would happen if one were to get too close to a black hole, and more. I would recommend this class to anyone with any interest in astronomy or the universe, to anyone with a free class slot, or anyone who is trying to find an interesting, easy class to fulfill their science requirement. If you take this class, I challenge you to try to come up with a question that Professor Davis doesn't have an answer to, because my friends and I could not.