<p>Does anyone know anything about GEOL 240Lxg: Earthquakes? Or could someone recommend a good Category IV class to take? Thanks.</p>
<p>check out, exsc 205. i enjoyed the professor and the labs.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Oceanography with Steve Lund is a good/easy/fun class to take?</p>
<p>The Earthquakes class was OK. I took it with Professor Dolan, so depending on who's teaching in the fall, the following may or may not be applicable.</p>
<p>What's good about the class is that there's an optional JEP component which allows 2/3 of a letter grade bump. For example, if you end up with a B+, you get bumped up to an A. Furthermore, there's ANOTHER extra credit component which you can combine with JEP. I forget the acronym, but it's a multimedia component (something like a 2-unit add-on under the course in Online Registration). If you do decently well in that, you can get an additional 2/3 of a letter grade bump. I personally only did JEP. The labs were all fairly easy. If you don't know how to do a certain thing during a lab, ask your TA or fellow people around you (most, if not all students, are willing to help). </p>
<p>As for what isn't so good about the class? I suppose Professor Dolan is humorous at times, but his humor can get old pretty quickly. You have to take really detailed notes. You are allowed to bring laptops to class (at least when I took it), so that can help. But, I'd also bring a notebook (paper) to draw anything that Dolan would draw. He does have PowerPoint slides, but those are only for diagrams or pictures. Also, the tests are all multiple choice and true/false. That sounds great, but that means you either REALLY know the material or you don't. </p>
<p>As for some intangibles... there are about 6 pop quizzes, which you can either view as good or bad. As long as you show up for each pop quiz, you're guaranteed at least a 50% score. On the flip side, there's no way to make it up, but I'd think most people would show up for class anyways, right? The pop quizzes could be held anytime during the lecture (beginning, middle, or end). The TAs are either hit or miss (this is usually true for any course at USC). I was lucky to get one who spoke clearly and who was very helpful. They're not all like that.</p>
<p>So yeah, I suppose you could do a little cost-benefit analysis (that's coming from an Econ major, haha). To gloss over a few aforementioned points, sign up QUICKLY for JEP. Spots fill quickly... literally within the hour from its announcement on the first day of class. The optional multimedia component also has limited spots (you register for it through Online Registration). Those can definitely bump you up (assuming that Dolan maintains those two optional components as extra credit, which I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't). So yeah, I'd definitely keep looking and asking around with regards to Category IV. Remember, this GEOL 240 review was for Professor Dolan. I do believe there is at least one other professor who teaches that course. I hope this helps at least a little bit!</p>