Professor Goff is not only an amazing professor, but also an amazing human being with great passion for developmental psych. She is very thorough with her explanations and she does not stop explaining a concept until you truly understand it. She is willing to make time for you, if you can't make it to office hours, she will take any moment possible to squeeze you in despite her busy schedule. Don't simply take this class just to learn about the material, try to actually talk to professor Goff because she is an intelligent, funny, kind individual who could help you figure your future out as well. Take her!

This has been my favorite class so far at UCLA. Dr. Goff is an amazing professor and has amazing lectures and uses funny and engaging examples to help students understand. I wanted to go to a lecture every day and enjoyed all of the topics I learned in this class. The hardest part is the group project just because it's hard to have others' work count as your own. Would take this class again in a heartbeat. The only downside is the class is out of 150 points which means you need to do well on the tests but they aren't hard and you can drop one of the two midterms. There is also extra credit you can earn by participating in studies on campus. Go to her office hours the day before the exam because they are very helpful. 10/10 recommend to anyone debating this class.

Professor Goff made this class one of my favorites I've ever taken at UCLA. She's thorough, kind, helpful, and super fair. There are two midterms but one is droppable. Discussion is mandatory! The final is just like the midterms, but somewhat cumulative (not really). She loves to give examples of concepts by showing videos/pictures of her kids which makes the class all the more enjoyable! Honestly, take her you will have 0 regrets and actually feel like you're learning something and having fun while doing it! Oh and bonus, all lectures are recorded so you don't really even have to show up unless you want TopHat credit which isn't required but just gives you extra credit at the end!!

Prof. Goff is extremely dedicated to student learning, and very understanding and accommodating of student difficulties during coronavirus/lockdown. She talks sorta fast, but since the lectures are all recorded and she takes the last 10-15 mins of lecture to answer any questions we may have, it's not too bad. Her poll questions are helpful in applying knowledge, and her tests and assignments are fair and well-written. I would definitely take another class with her again if I could. If you need this as a major requirement or elective, then I would def recommend it with Prof. Goff! She's amazing :)

Prof Bonnie Goff is amazing. She truly cares about all her students and it's obvious that she has a passion for developmental psych. She made her lectures very engaging. I was never bored and I was excited for this class and to learn everything she had to say. I even found myself applying what I learned in my every day life because it was that interesting.

Her tests are very straightforward and she is completely understanding if something becomes a conflict.

I highly recommend this class, you won't regret taking it with Bonnie!

I want to take every class Professor Goff teaches. She accomplished something that I previously thought impossible - she made me appreciate kids. I am not the biggest fan of babies and children, I find them loud and annoying 95% of the time, but Professor Goff instilled in me a 5%-of-the-time appreciation for how incredible children really are. Plus, the class taught me a bunch of fun and harmless experiments to test on my future children (do infants have object permanence? Do babies develop in a cephalocaudal pattern or not?)

In all seriousness, Professor Goff is hilarious and clearly has a passion for this subject and loves teaching. Her lectures were engaging and super interesting, and I liked how simple her PPTs were (they were nice and barebones - not bogging you down with paragraphs of information like some classes). She records the lectures herself and posts them so no worries about BruinCast malfunctioning.

I thought her exams were very fair. There are 2 midterms and a final, all are 50 multiple choice questions. Your lower score on the first 2 midterms is dropped, which was a good way to reduce anxiety surrounding the tests. She also gives 2 points extra credit if you complete 2 hours of SONA credit. Some people thought the exams were too difficult, but I thought that they were great. They tested concepts, not if you memorized a definition. I would recommend going through the PPTs a few nights before the exam and wherever you feel uncertain, re-listen to that part of the BruinCast.

Another plus - no textbook! The only reading we had to do were 5 interesting (and not too long) research papers which were discussed in section. These articles did appear on the exams, but the questions about them were always fair and not nitpicky at all. Section also involved a group project which was very tedious, but it helps you grow as you continue to learn how to deal with working with others.

All in all, I adored this class and can't wait to take more classes from Professor Goff. She is just amazing!

Goff is a pretty good lecturer! She really ties in her own experiences with her own children when she can, so it's interesting to see some of the developmental psych concepts in The Wild. She is an engaging lecturer and cares about the learning of her students. I really like developmental psych and working with kids, so I was hoping this class would go a little more in depth, but I think it's a good intro course to developmental psych!

Exams were really doable. You get one drop midterm, but it's recommended you still take the second one even if you don't need it, so you can get a feel for how the questions are. Exams are somewhat non-cumulative. The bulk of the exam will be on the pertinent third of the class, but be able to apply the concepts to the big themes that run through the whole course. Don't stress about them too much, though (the typical nature vs nurture, etc). Some questions still tripped me up (as in most psych MC exams), but just read carefully, and they aren't too bad.

There is a very lax discussion component. Don't forget to respond to all the components on the weekly writing assignments (sometimes there's a stinger at the bottom that people miss because the assignment is laid out weirdly). You have groups that you only really discuss with in class. Readings do show up on the exam, but you only really need the key takeaways/methods. TAs should usually be able to point you to what you'll need to know from the readings.

She talked real fast and luckily she recorded her classes herself, thus I actually have never been to the class. The tests are quite easy to me, probably because I have taken psych 133B (cognitive development)with another professor before. I think she did not explain materials too well, compared to the other class I have taken. I would recommend asking her in her office hour if you have any unclear concepts. I basically just listen to all the audio (around five lectures per exam) a day before. Although she said the final is cumulative, there are nothing details just very few simple basic concepts that covered the whole class. So better just focus on the new materials after the two midterms.

This is all you need to know about the class:

-Professor Goff is very funny and her lectures are entertaining, so attend them even though attendance isn't necessary.
-All of her lectures are recorded and posted on CCLE along with the lecture slides which is great for studying or if you can't make it to class.
-There are two midterms, the one with the lowest score is dropped. (If you ace the first one, you don't even need to show up for the second one!)
-Exams are multiple choice but can be tricky (questions are not based on memorization) so make sure you thoroughly understand everything.
-The group project (literature review) isn't too bad and there are only 5 research articles the entire quarter that you need to read and analyze in Discussion.
-Don't underestimate the class, put in the work.
-The topics are all very interesting, I would take this class again!

Perhaps the most engaged I have been with lectures at UCLA. Not only is Professor Goff a great speaker (maybe a bit fast at times), but the material is interesting and she does a great job at applying it to reality.

There is one weekly homework assignment asking you to apply a concept from that week's lectures to some sort of prompt. It should never take more than half an hour to complete. The rest of the grade is based off of midterm and final exam scores. Participation is not required and the lectures are recorded.

Exam questions can be tricky because they are almost never just "recall the definition" tasks. Read the answers carefully and use process of elimination.

I highly recommend this course.