<p>Hi, I'm planning on signing up for Life Science 1 over the summer, it is offered by thomas, I don't understand how the classes work at UCLA. Am I supposed to take the lecture AND the demonstration? And does it matter which demonstration period I take? thanks.</p>
<p>And it also seems that I can't enroll on URSA, why is it like this?</p>
<p>And what's the difference between DIS and DEM and LEC?</p>
<p>i'm enrolled in that class too... are you dong session c? anyway it claims im fully in that class, and all i could do is the lecture (which has the units, big enrollment capacity, and frequent meeting times) and that automatically enrolled me in a "dem" session which is TA and not graded.</p>
<p>to answer your question, it appears that you do have to take the lecture and demonstration (i dont remmber seeing a discussion for this class though - demo covers it i assume). i think there are several different demo types , for example i picked one that was several hours after the class so i'd have time to study, but there was another option were a demo started 10 mins after class. hope that helps.</p>
<p>thanks for replying, however, when I try to use URSA, I can't seem to enroll in the lecture class. It says that the class is a non-enrollment class when there is plenty of spaces left. did you have the same problem?</p>
<p>How enrollment works is that you sign up for the discussion and it automatically enrolls you in the associated lecture. You don't enroll in the lecture, just the section. It will then ask you for which lab you want, and then you put in the # for that. Hope that works out!</p>
<p>oh, thanks a lot, that explains everything! By the way, is there a lab for life science 1?</p>
<p>Differences btwn DIS, LEC, DEMO -</p>
<p>LEC - Large class taught by a professor.
DIS - Smaller portion of the class that's generally led by grad students where you get to ask questions, talk about, and review any material covered in lecture.
DEMO - Smaller portion of the class, again, led by a grad student and, in the case of LS1, the class gets to see lots of things like fossils, the botanical gardens on campus, and etc... </p>
<p>Some classes also have LAB sections which are, well, labs. Such as LS2, LS3, and Physics 6A-C and many others. </p>
<p>And it doesn't actually matter which DEMO, DIS, LAB you sign up for a class. It only matters that you sign up for a time that you are able to attend. </p>
<p>One last thing, LS1's demo section is more or less the "lab" for the class. </p>
<p>Btw, have fun with CPR this summer! <em>wink</em> (Those who have taken LS1 know what I'm talking about...)</p>
<p>I read on bruinwalk that Dr. Thomas is pretty hard, (memorization...) and what is this CPR thing? Is it a peer graded paper?</p>
<p>CPR (Calibrated Peer Review) is a lengthy online quiz in essay format. First, you have to calibrate yourself to properly grade essays by grading a sample essay under a given scale from 0-10 (you'll be penalized if you give incorrect grades compared to the "correct" grades). Then you write a 300-word essay to answer a question about a given life sciences topic (which will be graded by other CPR takers) which constitutes most of your CPR grade. Then you grade another CPR taker's essay with the same calibrated scale as with the sample essay (if you deliberately kill the other person's grade with a 0/10 to boost your class rank, it'll be detected by a grade-comparison algorithm and you'll be penalized). Good luck. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>this CPR thing sounds horrible. What if I give the other person a 2? hehe, kidding.</p>
<p>Dr. Thomas is an amazing professor. His exams are a bit tough but, doable.</p>
<p>oh great. you guys make life sci 1 sound impossible! im only planning to take the minimum (4) science classes at ucla, maybe 5 or 6. hopefully taking this class solo in the summer will let me concentrate and get a B</p>
<p>Wait, so you're not a science major... just taking LS 1 for fun?</p>
<p>I guess you like suffering, namaste. :eek:</p>
<p>i guess so! but i need a "life science" l/d for the Ge requirements, so i assume life science 1 wouldnt be any harder than... intro to human anatomy, intro to physiology, or intro to oceanography. all of us have to take one of these.</p>
<p>I know grades are important but remember that one of the reasons people want to attend UCLA is because of its great reputation and top-notch faculty. By taking classes at a community college you may end up with a higher grade but you also may end up with lower grade professor (this isn't a given) and miss out on the opportunity of taking the class with a high-end professor and high-end classmates. You never know when a high caliber professor might even make the subject so exciting that you end up changing your major. If you're only looking for a grade, then you may as well take all of your GEs at a CC and transfer into UCLA later. It'd be much cheaper, you'd probably have a higher GPA, but you'd also miss out on the campus experience and the experience of taking your classes with top-notch professors and classmates.</p>
<p>^ i agree. so i am taking this life sci class because it fulfills a GE requirement,a nd i may be very interested in the topic, and i have heard rave reviews about the professor (except hes dififcult, which isnt necessarily a bad thing).</p>
<p>I know someone who did this too... she happens to be my floormate and she is a Poli Sci major. Her OC (orientation counselor) told her that she'd be fine in LS 1. She ended up getting a D, and is taking it over again, which hurts her chances of law school. LS 1 isn't something to take for fun for a GE, unless you are seriously contemplating going into Pre-med or a biological science field. I'm just warning you about the consequences--I know that college is about expanding horizons, but keep in mind that this is one of the few GE classes where you'll be competing with Pre-med kids who will study until they get an A. Also, CPR is just a pain to have to deal with... overall, LS 1 is just way too much work for a GE. I highly recommend against taking it... I satisfied my LS requirements and lab requirements with Geography 2 and Geography 5 which were VERY interesting, so I think you need to investigate your options before being sucked into LS 1.</p>
<p>^ thanks for the advice. after reading about ls1 online, the curriculum of it (deathly boring), and your post, i just dropped LS 1 and switched the class for a philosophical analysis ge - one i'm sure i'll have much more fun with, and get a better grade. </p>
<p>how are the anatomy/physiology courses for fulfilling the LS ge?</p>
<p>As far as I've heard, Phy Sci 5 isn't too terribly interesting, but I'm pretty sure it's an "easy" A. Probably not what you're looking for. I have heard that people have liked Anthro 7 for this requirement, and I can personally recommend Geography 2 if you're into biogeography.</p>
<p>I've been a TA for LS1 three times so I'm interested in finding out what you liked about the course and what you didn't like. I'm always surprised that people find the subject matter boring...it deals with actual plants and animals that you can see and relate to! Why do you feel it's boring and how would you change the course to make it better?</p>