ASTR 1270

Do yourself a favor and TAKE THIS CLASS! Professor Johnson is amazing and is a wonderful professor. The class is so interesting and mind-boggling! Sometimes it makes your brain hurt, but in a very good way. You learn so much from the class and Professor J accomplishes her goal of trying to reinstill curiosity in her students. Unlike many professors, she actually cares about your learning and is wonderful at making you think. She can be hilarious and condescending too which makes her lectures fun. Get used to being called out, that's what she does. And I'd recommend taking this course only if you're ok with "We don't know" as an answer to a lot of things. It's Unsolved Mysteries-- the title is appropriate.

Course Work:

I'm recording what work we had to do for my class. I don't know what she will do in future classes.
-blog post every Friday that consisted of 3 questions we still had, favorite quotes from the reading, and the most interesting fact we learned in class.
-regular reading to do from 4 different books and had reading quizzes
-group work (Professor J loves group work) If you're not a fan of group work (like me), don't sweat it. It's not that bad at all
-1 midterm, 1 final
-she gives A LOT of extra credit. Take every extra credit opportunity she gives you. Trust me. It can do wonders for your grade.

Take this course (with Professor J only) and you will be glad you did.

I LOVE KELSEY JOHNSON. Seriously. She is the best. Unfortunately, she is not teaching this course again for a while (she's the new director of the echols program!!!!!) so I cannot really offer any useful insights into the way it will be without her. However, with Kelsey I would definitely recommend it. Readings are not too complicated, she explains hard concepts so well in class, the grading scale is so easy (an A is a 90 or above), she offers a ton of extra credit, and the exams are fair.

Ok, a lot of people loved this class, but I felt differently. I would have enjoyed it but the content didn't interest me at all (but for most people it was a really cool class). However, it was really easy and there was an abundance of extra credit, if you decided to do it. There were about 10 reading quizzes on collab that I aced all of, but it was only 4 questions and if you got 1 wrong you lost .25 points (example: if you got 3/4 you would get a 1.25/2). Blogs were 15% of your grade and an easy 100% to achieve. midterm was take-home open notes but with a time limit. group evaluations 15% of your grade so showing your group you care is important. The final is yet to come but will likely be similar to the midterm. All in all this is a must take to fulfill a math science requirement, but I personally didn't think the content was all that exciting because there is literally an answer to nothing.

I really hate science and only took this class to fill a requirement, but it ended up being a pretty decent class, although not as easy as I expected. Professor Johnson is really fun and nice, and makes the class really entertaining. There is a lot of (in my opinion) busy work, like weekly blog posts about the reading, which you then have to comment on other classmates posts. There is a fair amount of group work throughout the semester, as well as a take-home, open note midterm and final. The one great thing about this class is that there is a ton of extra credit, so it's really easy to get an A, even if you don't do well on the exams. This is definitely a good course to take if you're like me and need the least science-y class to fill your college requirements.

Prof. Johnson has changed the course slightly, so I want to touch on that. There are no longer reading questionnaires. My semester, we had a daily question and plentiful extra credit. Now, I think she does blog posts, but no matter what, the exams are not hard if you go to class, and the reading is definitely not hard, but it is interesting! I easily got an A+ because I did the extra credit. If you have taken any Calc or above math or any astronomy class, this should be a piece of cake. Even not, if you're not science-y, but you're willing to go to class, then you'll be fine. She gives out prizes and is really focused on how the class can apply to your life, since it is designed for non-science majors. I can't recommend Kelsey enough. She's the best professor I've had.

Fascinating, fun, and easy course with an awesome professor. The course material ranges from science to philosophy to religion, and really stimulates students to think about the larger universe. Kelsey is a cool and approachable professor who understands her students' desires and needs, keeping the work to a minimum and the fun to a maximum. Lectures are slowly-paced and easy to follow, with some classroom demonstrations and some YouTube videos thrown in for good measure. Some daily assignments, some weekly assignments, a few quizzes and a final exam. Also loads of interesting, fun, and easy extra credit. This class is an easy A-, though might require a little effort for an A. For any student who is looking for a killer course to take for their science requirement, look no further.

I felt that we wasted tremendous amounts of time in this course. If we added up all the time Professor Johnson took to lament our lack of time we'd probably have an entire extra class or two. If we added up all the time spent on Mondays or Fridays watching the Colbert Report or The Daily Show we'd probably have an entire extra week. The real damage from starting 2/3 of classes with a video was that we wouldn't get through the planned topics and would then have to spend more time recapping them at the beginning of the next class so we could cover the last 5-10 minutes of material before moving onto the actual first topic of that day ~20-25 minutes into our 50 minute class.

If I had the choice to take this class again I wouldn't. I would get a $50 subscription to a science magazine instead. I would probably learn more and would never be forced to watch comedy central when I expected to learn astronomy or physics. Also it would be about a thousand dollars cheaper.

You will also be asked in this course to do 'daily questions' which usually are some variant of saying what you don't understand from that day. If you have some prior knowledge of the topic or you do understand it from the lecture and you say this, you will usually lose points.

Excellent class, great teacher! Expand your mind and your viewpoint of the universe.

Love this class! Kelsey is an amazing professor who really cares about her students and is fun to listen to. To do well, just go to every class and take REALLY good notes. I didn't think the final was too bad and a lot of it was old quiz questions. The questionnaires can be a bit tedious but they're not difficult and you don't need to do the readings since you can skim them to find the answers for the questionnaires. This class makes you a better thinker and is super interesting. The curve and extra credit are pretty generous so if you work hard on questionnaires and go to class you can do well.

Do the extra credit, they literally bump you up a letter grade. Honestly, the tests were fair when I took them and I never really studied that hard. I never beat an 80 on exams and got perfects on all the questionnaires. Then I did pretty poorly on the final, like a 70%. I did all the extra credit in like two or three days, and I got an A. so... I don't really know what happened. I averaged an 82% in the class and got an A so the curve is pretty large.

I loved taking this class in the spring. Although it was very challenging, I enjoyed learning about new and interesting topics.
She uses negative grading though, which is what makes the class so hard. Even when I would only miss 4 questions on a 50 question exam, I would get 1 32 or 33 out of 50 because of the way she scores the exam. That is one of the reasons I got a B- rather than an A-.
Other than that the class is awesome and I actually feel like I learned something. Although the class is geared towards people who don't like science. I wouldn't take the class if you want an A and aren't willing to spend an ungodly amount of time on the class.

Take this class if you want to learn from one of the most interesting professors here. Kelsey is engaging, passionate, and very helpful. I think that I have definitely learnt a lot, and out of all the classes I have taken, this has been the most memorable. Do not because you want an easy science credit - it is not an easy A. You have to put a lot of work into it. Remember the small details from lecture because they will be very important. Keys to success - go to all the classes, take very good notes, do all the extra credit you can because they can help you a lot.

This class is one of the best at UVA. Professor Johnson is fun, and passionate about the material. Going to class is pretty essential because the most important notes she doesn't put on the powerpoint. The grading is fair but the tests are definitely tough- don't underestimate them. The course really makes you think and is great for fulfilling science credits. I loved this class and would recommend it to anyone.

The class is incredibly interesting and you'll definitely learn a lot of cool stuff in the class. However, contrary to what you may have heard about other astronomy courses, this class is NOT easy. The content covered is really abstract and unintuitive so the class and homeworks can be pretty tough. I still recommend the class though.

This was one of the best classes I have ever taken at UVA! Kelsey makes this class really enjoyable and makes incredibly complex topics understandable. The only downside about this class is that the exams are a little too difficult for a 1000 level class. However, she gives you the format ahead of time and tells you exactly what to study, so there's no surprises. If you're willing to put the time into studying, this class is an easy A and can make you really interested in astronomy

This is class is everything students look for in a class. It is a) interesting, b)fun c) has a good professor d)easy. You have weekly questionaires which should be a maximum of 10 sentences. Then some reading. Thats it. You cover all the stuff we've always wondered about, like aliens, the big bang and the Higgs Boson. Kelsey *really* knows your name and face and is an exceptional teacher. Definitely take this class.

Easy A as long as you actually pay attention. Professor is energetic and willing to explain. Overall, a great class if you're looking for a relaxing and interesting elective.

Very difficult, with lots of reading. Interesting subject matter, but at the same time it gets tough.

FAVORITE CLASS AT UVA!!!!

Incredibly interesting subject matter. Johnson ties it all together very well, and makes even the ridiculous sound plausible. She challenges you to think critically and rewards you for it. The reading logs are tedious but not impossible. The readings are incredibly repetitive though. Definitely a worthwhile class to take

It was a good class the readings were actually really interesting. The tests however were pretty difficult. I put in a lot of time studying for my final and it was hard.

This is definitely a sleeper course. It is an extremely entertaining subject and Professor Johnson is a expert in the field (She misses lectures because she is currently working on the ALMA project). She is enthusiastic and wants you to think critically and question. She doesn't expect you to be a physicist or cosmologist by the end. With that being said, the readings get VERY redundant. By the end of the course they are a pain to get through. Also the reading questionnaires can be tedious. The final was also very very difficult, and i thought, unrepresentative of the course. The midterm paper was also graded fairly stringent. Do all the extra credit you can and never slack on the reading questionnaires--they are your savior in the end.

Kelsey Johnson was an enthusiastic lecturer. I liked the topics covered and would certainly recommend the class, especially to those who like big philosophical questions about the origin of life and or what is beyond the universe. Easy class if you do the homework and extra credit. and study for the final, as opposed to the rest of the class its actually hard and requires you to know the vocab from the study guide.

Fun lectures. Not an easy grade at all though. The final was ridiculous. Ironically, this was my lowest grade at UVa...and I've taken 500 level classes.

Professor Johnson definitely keeps the class fun! It is an easy class (NOT an easy A)....until you get to the final! PAY attention in class, DO NOT skip lectures, TAKE good notes (everything she says), and DO readings - then you will be fine. Also, bring articles for extra credit. Overall - fun class!

Professor Johnson is entertaining and makes it worth your while to come to class. There are reading answers due once a week, and they are pretty easy to get through. Some of the reading becomes redundant by the end, but it's not difficult and it's not a lot. Definitely fun subject material which leads to good discussions, and Johnson keeps the mood pretty relaxed. Great for a science requirement.

Best class I've taken at UVa. I enjoyed listening to the lectures and it is a very easy class.

Awesome class, little work