<p>well... I'll let you guys know in a few months :rolleyes:</p>
<p>If horrible means that it's the most time consuming out of all or most of your classes, lots of reading, lots of writing, then yes.</p>
<p>However, it is a 5 unit class and honors and fulfills multiple requirements; therefore it's expected to take up time and effort. Reading usually consists of articles or novels, not pure textbook stuff. Writing.. well you need to take writing intensive classes anyways.</p>
<p>so can any of you describe how a typical class day for a cluster would be like?</p>
<p>Each and every cluster is somewhat unique.</p>
<p>Here's for Biotechnology & Society this year.</p>
<p>Fall and Winter Quater:</p>
<p>MWF 12-12:50p lecture (100+ people)
Three professors switch off (depending on the content) giving powerpoint presentations; they're quite open to questions and comments during lecture (so much that we have a hard time finishing lecture). At the end of units, we have roundtables (open forum for discussion), or at least try to since lectures aren't finished as planned. Every few weeks, on average, we'll have a guest speaker lecture about something related.</p>
<p>one day of the week, a two hour discussion (~22 people)
The science and ethics TA alternates weekly. During science sections, we either do labs (fall quarter) or research (paper) or review (winter quarter). As for ethics sections, we discuss most of the articles assigned.</p>
<p>There will be 4 or 5 video (movies and documentaries) viewing evenings throughout the two quarters.</p>
<p>Spring Quarter:</p>
<p>seminars, one 3 hour session each week (18 people)
There's multiple seminar topics to choose from. It's a continuation of the topics discussed during the first two quarters, but quite different. It's suppose to be more in depth on a certain aspect of biotechnology and the class is suppose to be more interactive and "fun."</p>
<p>Oh btw, take clusters if you're interested in the subject. Otherwise you'll be so overwhelmed. But I mean if you can go through it just to get the credits, thats fine too.</p>
<p>Just FYI, despite being a "science" cluster, it's really half and half, more or less. I would have preferred it to be more on science and thought that it would be (it gives GE credit for 2 science courses and 1 humanities).</p>
<p>Despite not liking being graded on the ethics stuff and writing, this cluster is pretty enjoyable overall. It definitely gives you an alternative approach/perspective to science.</p>
<p>how are clusters gradeD? is it just all tests/papers? can you explain how the discussions are? are you graded on how well you participate in these discussions/roundtables, wondering since there are so many people? and is what you just explained the same for EVERY cluster (like lectures, discussions every day and roundtables)?</p>
<p>Well for that specific cluster, you get graded for science papers, ethics paper, participation during discussion section, a midterm, and a final.</p>
<p>A lot of classes only grade on tests and papers. At least for south campus classes, if homework is ever graded, it's usually worth very little relative to tests.</p>
<p>Oh btw, discussions and sections mean the same thing. Well the sections during the science weeks are either doing a lab, reviewing material from lecture, or researching for a science paper. During the sections for ethics weeks, it's just talking about the articles (analyzing them) and sharing opinions/positions to an extent. Part of the participation grade (10% of total grade) is just for attendance. All you have to do is just open your mouth and say something relevant. (There are only ~20 people.)</p>
<p>It's not the same for every cluster. But in general, you can say that each has a lecture component and a discussion component. They will all be writing intensive. In general, professors have a lot of discretion in terms of how the class is like.</p>
<p>From what I hear about the work, labor, and social justice (I think that's the name) one, lectures are T and R (Thursdays), each 1.5 hours long. They read a bunch of stuff as well. However, they only have one exam (final). It's mostly papers (they have a lot more than we did).</p>
<p>The roundtable thing is during lecture, and is not graded. It's just a time for people to share their thoughts about the topic from the unit just completed. It's sometimes more entertaining than educational.</p>
<p>so these clusters, they are 100+ for only lectures, and you get split up into like groups of 20 for discussion? ive heard TA's do the discussion and they just go over what questions we had, and what else do you do during discussion? also if i were to pick a cluster, should i pick one that is geared towards my major or something that i like? do all of these clusters meet GE requirements we have to eventually take?</p>
<p>Yes, that is correct. That's just like a typical class (large lecture small discussion).</p>
<p>They go over questions. But in cluster, it's more than that. It's meant to be interactive. As mentioned, in that particular cluster, some of the "discussions" are doing lab experiments. But in general, it isn't suppose to be only the TA talking about the material. Everyone is suppose to some form or another.</p>
<p>All the clusters meet some sort of GE requirements that you eventually have to take. A typical answer to you question would be: it's smart to pick one that is opposite of your major since courses in your major will cover the GE requirements in that area already. But I would say that if you dislike the subject, then don't take it over one that would overlap with your major's lower div classes.</p>