Professor
Andrea Goldman
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Most Helpful Review
This GE class is one you should take if you are EXTREMELY interested in Chinese History. She covers a very broad range of material and expects you to remember most if not all of it for the midterm and final. Thankfully the Midterm and final focuses on the lessons of the first half and second half of the class respectively, but you still need to remember many key ideas from the first half of the course for the final. She is a newer teacher and is obviously very interested in this subject and is helpful during her office hours. However, beware of the TA's because they grade very subjectively and after talking to most of my peers, getting an A on the 2 essays is a really difficult feat. Thankfully even if you are worried about your grade she does curve up a little at the end so it's not just a pure points system. Be prepared to study hard for the tests and memorize her study guides and the vocab, for the final we had 100 key terms and 17 possible essay questions just to give an example of what you have to memorize. Also as hint there probably will be an essay question about women on your tests.
This GE class is one you should take if you are EXTREMELY interested in Chinese History. She covers a very broad range of material and expects you to remember most if not all of it for the midterm and final. Thankfully the Midterm and final focuses on the lessons of the first half and second half of the class respectively, but you still need to remember many key ideas from the first half of the course for the final. She is a newer teacher and is obviously very interested in this subject and is helpful during her office hours. However, beware of the TA's because they grade very subjectively and after talking to most of my peers, getting an A on the 2 essays is a really difficult feat. Thankfully even if you are worried about your grade she does curve up a little at the end so it's not just a pure points system. Be prepared to study hard for the tests and memorize her study guides and the vocab, for the final we had 100 key terms and 17 possible essay questions just to give an example of what you have to memorize. Also as hint there probably will be an essay question about women on your tests.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I wish to write this review to help those who are considering to take this class as a history GE, talking about the grading, exams, essays, lectures, professor Goldman and other aspects of this class. Grading Distribution: 25% Essay 1 + 25% Essay 2 + 20% Discussion Participation + 30% Final Exam. The two essays are based on the reading materials in class and about 6-7 pages each. To write good essays, you'll have to master the reading materials and the lecture contents very well. The discussion is mandatory and you have to ACTIVELY participate in this discussion (30% question posing + 70% in class participation) to get full credits. The final exam is in-person exam, which consists of three parts, including Part 1 Definition & Part 2 Essay (materials in lectures) & Part 3 Analysis Essay (reading materials). The final can be hard than expected. In other words, it is hard to get a 93% in the final, and you'll have to perform very very well in the previous two essays in order to get a final letter grade A. About Grading: The grading of this class is based on ABSOLUTE SCALE. (93=A) The grading of your essays is completely up to your TA. Even though our TA is a good guy and I like his class, still he graded quite harshly and you can hardly get an A. In fact, geting a B+ or A- on each essay is very very common in class. He anticipated and expected a lot in your articles, so if you want an A it is better to go to his office hour and talk to him about what you are going to write. The final is quite hard and requires LOTS LOTS of preparation, including memorizing a great bunch of names, events, definitions, and dates, as well as pre-write the essays based on the review materials professor Goldman provided. Generally speaking, if you are not that good at Chinese history/not good at memorizing/just want a relatively easy GE, this class is definitely not a fine option for you. Workload: Be ready for 100+ pages of reading per week (said in syllabus and this is true). This may be okay to history/literature related major students, but this is quite tough and hard for STEM students like me. Because the materials will be tested in the essays and final exams, you'll have to read comprehensively and thoroughly, and scanning through is not an option. The two essays require you to spend lots of time on them, so DO NOT consider this class as an east GE. You'll have to work hard enough and spend whole bunch of time to get an A. About lectures and Professor Goldman: Professor Goldman is a very professional, nice, and caring instructor. Her classes are well organized and you can definitely learn lots about Chinese history in her class. She is a good lecturer and she cares a lot about her students, regarding the health issues, progress in class, etc. Generally I like her and the way she organized her class, and she has great knowledge in the field she teaches. Conclusion: This history class, especially for those STEM students like me, is absolutely not an easy GE. If you want an A, you'll have to work very hard on the readings every week to master them, communicate with the TA to get good grades on your essays, while spend lots of time preparing for the essays and final exams. Even though professor Goldman is a great and nice professor, the workload is not light, and the grading can still be very harsh up to your TA. If you like Chinese history and ready to work hard on this topic, take this class and learn from professor Goldman. However, If you want an easy A GE, TRY NOT TO TAKE THIS CLASS. It is not worthy to spend that much time on a GE class like this one, while finally you might even have to PNP this class after you did so much just like me.
Winter 2022 - I wish to write this review to help those who are considering to take this class as a history GE, talking about the grading, exams, essays, lectures, professor Goldman and other aspects of this class. Grading Distribution: 25% Essay 1 + 25% Essay 2 + 20% Discussion Participation + 30% Final Exam. The two essays are based on the reading materials in class and about 6-7 pages each. To write good essays, you'll have to master the reading materials and the lecture contents very well. The discussion is mandatory and you have to ACTIVELY participate in this discussion (30% question posing + 70% in class participation) to get full credits. The final exam is in-person exam, which consists of three parts, including Part 1 Definition & Part 2 Essay (materials in lectures) & Part 3 Analysis Essay (reading materials). The final can be hard than expected. In other words, it is hard to get a 93% in the final, and you'll have to perform very very well in the previous two essays in order to get a final letter grade A. About Grading: The grading of this class is based on ABSOLUTE SCALE. (93=A) The grading of your essays is completely up to your TA. Even though our TA is a good guy and I like his class, still he graded quite harshly and you can hardly get an A. In fact, geting a B+ or A- on each essay is very very common in class. He anticipated and expected a lot in your articles, so if you want an A it is better to go to his office hour and talk to him about what you are going to write. The final is quite hard and requires LOTS LOTS of preparation, including memorizing a great bunch of names, events, definitions, and dates, as well as pre-write the essays based on the review materials professor Goldman provided. Generally speaking, if you are not that good at Chinese history/not good at memorizing/just want a relatively easy GE, this class is definitely not a fine option for you. Workload: Be ready for 100+ pages of reading per week (said in syllabus and this is true). This may be okay to history/literature related major students, but this is quite tough and hard for STEM students like me. Because the materials will be tested in the essays and final exams, you'll have to read comprehensively and thoroughly, and scanning through is not an option. The two essays require you to spend lots of time on them, so DO NOT consider this class as an east GE. You'll have to work hard enough and spend whole bunch of time to get an A. About lectures and Professor Goldman: Professor Goldman is a very professional, nice, and caring instructor. Her classes are well organized and you can definitely learn lots about Chinese history in her class. She is a good lecturer and she cares a lot about her students, regarding the health issues, progress in class, etc. Generally I like her and the way she organized her class, and she has great knowledge in the field she teaches. Conclusion: This history class, especially for those STEM students like me, is absolutely not an easy GE. If you want an A, you'll have to work very hard on the readings every week to master them, communicate with the TA to get good grades on your essays, while spend lots of time preparing for the essays and final exams. Even though professor Goldman is a great and nice professor, the workload is not light, and the grading can still be very harsh up to your TA. If you like Chinese history and ready to work hard on this topic, take this class and learn from professor Goldman. However, If you want an easy A GE, TRY NOT TO TAKE THIS CLASS. It is not worthy to spend that much time on a GE class like this one, while finally you might even have to PNP this class after you did so much just like me.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - If you’re feeling reluctant about enrolling then don’t be. This class was stylish and prudently planned to encourage students to begin the writing process early. Which is good for you because, let’s be honest, you’re lazy. So am I. The texts were highly curated and, if I were a better student, I could’ve written my capstone paper by sourcing only the assigned readings. What Andrea Goldman has created is a capstone course that is uniquely different and distinctively cool, and its seamlessness is an example of her creativity and capability as an instructor. Assignments & discussion: 30% Peer review: 10% Preliminary draft: 15% Final paper: 45%
Spring 2019 - If you’re feeling reluctant about enrolling then don’t be. This class was stylish and prudently planned to encourage students to begin the writing process early. Which is good for you because, let’s be honest, you’re lazy. So am I. The texts were highly curated and, if I were a better student, I could’ve written my capstone paper by sourcing only the assigned readings. What Andrea Goldman has created is a capstone course that is uniquely different and distinctively cool, and its seamlessness is an example of her creativity and capability as an instructor. Assignments & discussion: 30% Peer review: 10% Preliminary draft: 15% Final paper: 45%
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