Listen, Professor Wassum is a true scientist who knows her materials very very well. If you are serious about research or are just slightly interested in how to train your pets, take her! Whether you want to be a neuroscientist working in a wet lab or a psychologist working in a dry lab, Professor Wassum uses relevant experiments to support the concepts learned in class -- a way to see the experimental effect of psycholology. Professor Wassum's tests are challenging but fun -- as you get to read about Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo, and Drake in her tests! She also posts weekly discussion boards that clarify confusing concepts and she constantly answers questions on them. And not I mention, the only assignments in class making memes about the class materials, and are weekly summaries that take less than 30 minutes to make!! If you just take the work to show up for class, ask questions to clarify concepts, take the practice exams, you'd totally be fine!!

Professor Wassum is clearly knowledgeable on the topic of learning. I just wish this class was easier to understand. For a professor who studies learning you would think she'd be an outstanding teacher. I got straight 100% on all 10 weekly summaries, which should supposedly show my understanding of the class, but her tests are just dreadful. I studied really hard and was able to make improvements, but if I knew this class would be the way it was, I wouldn't have taken it. I only recommend this class for people who really enjoy Pavlovian and Instrumental conditioning and have a good understanding of these topics and experiments. If you don't, then good luck, because this class is ROUGH.

Alright the reviews here are super dramatic lmao. The exam averages for winter 2022 were in the high B to low A range… people did well lol. Relax

I was super worried going into this class because of the reviews, but it turned out to be one of the easiest classes I've taken. Weekly summaries take 10 minutes to write. And the clarity of Wassum's lectures are 9/10 I'd say. The tests were quite straightforward as well. Maybe it was easier for me because the tests were online exams? I highly recommend this class from my experience. Again the disclaimer being the online format.

Neuro 101C

After 4 years at UCLA, Wassum is absolutely the worst teacher I have ever had. Every lecture she reads off her slides. And there are around 80 slides per lecture! The way she communicates the information is terrible. The school needs to hire a Wassum translator that stands at the front of the class with her.

I saw some of these reviews and was worried about taking this class but I found Professor Wassum to be very knowledgeable and willing to help. There's a textbook, but really everything you need to know is in her lectures (I never read from the textbook). The material can be difficult at times, especially since it all builds on each other. Discussions are not required, but very helpful to go to, since the TAs will cut down the lecture to the most important parts, and leave a lot of time for questions. The grade is based on a midterm, a final, and weekly assignments (which very simple and kinda fun because part of it is designing a social media post to represent the information [but don't worry, you don't have to actually post it haha]). The exams are both online during lecture time, and you can drop into Professor Wassum's Zoom room if you need clarification about exactly what a question or answer choice means.
I really enjoyed this class and unexpectedly actually got me really interested in behaviorist psychology as a career. I got a good grade in this class without working super hard either. I would just recommend keeping up with lectures and going to discussion sections.

Wassum is a very nice and helpful professor. She really tries to help you understand the lectures during office hours and even gives you hints on what to study for during the exam. However, be aware that this class is mainly about rats, dogs and pigeons. I honestly didn't like this class since I had no interest in this topic. The lectures are also podcasted which helped a lot!

Breakdown of class:
20%- weekly quizzes (1 quiz dropped)
-consisted of 4 free response/true false questions (book-based)
80%- 3 midterms (all equally weighted)
- 20 multiple choice and approx. 10 free response + 1 bonus question
-ALL LECTURE BASED

Honestly, taking 110 with Wassum isn't as bad as all the reviews here make it out to be. And trust me, it's not because I studied extremely hard or already understood the material. I entered into this class expecting to be miserable, but it was extremely doable. Her lecture material is extremely organized, and although the material can get confusing, podcasting and rewatching lectures helps a lot! Her exams were very lecture based and fair. She's quick to respond on the discussion forum, and her office hours are really helpful as well.

AVOID THIS PROFESSOR! Her lectures only consist of research & graphs. Her exams expect you to know every little detail of those studies which is impossible. She doesn't even help you to understand what will be on the exams which are short answers and multiple choice. The short answers are graded way too harshly. There is no extra credit and your grade is made up of 2 midterms, a final, and weekly quizzes with your TA.