Although the class itself isn’t horrible, the grading scheme is. The midterm is worth 40% of your grade as well as the final. I only took this class for my major and I would not take it again. The tests were very specific to the textbook and overall was too hard for what it should be. The professor was not bad but should take into consideration changing the grading scheme or even offering extra credit.

Like everyone has said, the overarching issue were the exams. Not only were they 80% of your grade, all the exams were super specific on content and it was just difficult overall to memorize everything all at once within a period of 10 weeks. There was also zero guidance on how to study for the exams. While the TA’s did have some worksheets available, most of it was really broad compared to the specificity on the tests. Additionally, Professor Wood read off his sixty plus slides for the majority of the lectures and made it really hard to stay alert during class.

However, Professor Wood was accommodating when people had COVID and was responsive when I emailed him about what I was dealing with. And without the TA’s, the course would have definitely been harder. I needed this course for my major but I highly recommend taking it online as I have heard that exams were open note, which would make your life 10x less stressful with all the information given. Overall, this class would have been better without his strict grading scheme. Content was interesting-ish LOL but wouldn’t recommend this as a GE.

This class was way too hard for a GE. The midterm killed any chance at getting an A. Though it was open note, the questions were super specific and they were super nit-picky about the free-response ones. Like you had no idea what they actually expected you to write. The class was not engaging and it felt like being forced to watch a very boring YouTube video.

The professor and my TA definitely were knowledgeable on the subject. Perhaps my final assessment is that this would be a good class for someone genuinely interested in the subject, otherwise, you are bored and frustrated out of your mind. I cannot imagine taking this in person and having to memorize dates, primate teeth, digestive tracks, what kind of tools neanderthals used, and so forth. But if you're into that, this is the class for you.

The professor isn't terrible, but the strictness surrounding exams and grades was insane. Professor Wood made it virtually impossible to take exams online, even when COVID-19 was running rampant through the student body. I attempted to take the final exam online because I had come down with COVID-19 the day before, and I received no reply from the professor. There were no make-up exams, and there were no online exams unless approved by the professor (and like I said, it was virtually impossible to get approved). I, along with many others, ended up having to take the final exam while positive for COVID-19. The entire lecture hall was coughing and sniffing, and though I do not fault anyone for coming in to take the exam seeing as we had no other choice, it was a horrible health hazard.

As for the grading scheme, the midterm average was 70%, and because one student scored 100%, there was no curve. I do not know the average for the final exam, but I have heard that my classmates generally do not feel good about their grades. This grading scheme is far too harsh for a class many take as a GE.

If you're interested in human evolution at all, definitely take this class as a GE. All the lectures are recorded with both video and audio so if you have to miss a class, you can just watch it later. There were a couple chapters of the textbook to read each week, accompanied with short asynchronous quizzes where you can just keep answering questions until you get 100%. The only other weekly homework is a 10 minute response to a textbook question or two (for section). So, in my opinion, the workload was pretty light, and if you're genuinely interested in the course material, the readings are really interesting. As for the midterm and final, yeah, they're worth a lot of the grade but honestly if you just actually do the short readings, and then rewatch the lectures and go over the detailed study guide he gives you before the tests, you will be fine. Also, Prof Wood has a good sense of humor and seemed extremely passionate about the topic. I feel like other reviewers interpreted his kinda monotone vocals as a lack of interest in the subject, but I don't think that's the case. So, moral of the story is don't let the other reviews scare you - take this class if you're interested and you will get a good grade if you just do what is required of you tbh

hmmm. I enjoyed this class, but in my opinion it was so difficult for absolutely no reason. This is ANTHRO 1; most students taking this course are probably taking it as a GE and possibly will never take another anthropology class again. Although Professor Wood is not the most engaging lecturer, he obviously is extremely knowledgable in the topic and is very good at articulating and explaining concepts. I would attend in-person and enjoyed lectures. He also has a very subtle but funny sense of humor hahhaa.

Anyways.... my main issue with this class (as many other people have pointed out) was the exams. I actually did pretty well on the midterm (I think I got like a 95%) but man that final was roughhhh. I don't think I've ever walked out of an exam feeling that unprepared but the thing is I studied a lot for the test too! I just don't think that it is reasonable to expect students to memorize all of the freaking taxonomic names of the different monkey, ape, chimp and what not species that were literally in greek and sound like gibberish to me. AND we had to memorize all the names of all the different skulls that we studied and there were soooo many. And the names were like ardipithecus kadabba??!! like how am i supposed to remember that. Anyways, I think a simple solution would be to let the exams be open note so we can emphasis understanding and learning the concepts rather than memorizing the ultra-specific names. Especially as an under division and GE course.

Honestly I know a lot of people complained about this class because of the fact that the midterm and final was basically all that you grade was made of but I honestly really liked it. My tip is if you are the type of person who thinks they don't need to do the reading or just doesn't feel like it, you probably won't get a good grade in the class. The final has a LOT of material that is covered in depth in the book. I found the readings interesting though. People in other comments also complained that there was no curve but he does adjust the grading scale so that a 88 is the minimum for an A and an 83 for an A- which I think is very fair.

Do not take this class as a regular GE, especially with Brian Wood. His voice is so monotone and boring. It seems like he doesn't even care about his students, especially because his office hours are shorter than the TA's. The course also has one midterm and one final that accounts for ~75% of the grade. If you bomb the first midterm, you have no chance in receiving a good grade in the class. He also gives no extra credit and tells everyone in the beginning in the class that this class isn't about effort, only material learned and memorized. Keep in mind he expects us to remember minute details from a 400 page textbook along with a long list (around 20 pages long) of fossil/primate characteristics. I feel like having a notecard available during the exams, splitting it into two midterms and a final, or making it open book would make this class more fair. ALSO, keep in mind the average grades were from when the exams were open note online during the pandemic. Would not recommend this class with Brian Wood, even though the topics are interesting.

Professor Wood was horrible, tests were worth 80% of your grade and were overly specific. I feel bad for anyone who takes this class as a GE

This class covers interesting material -- human evolution, archaeology, and primates. The class was offered in person, and both the midterm and the final were given in person. The class closely follows the textbook. As other students have commented, the final and the midterm were each worth 40% of the grade, which means you have to focus your efforts on studying the book to get an A in the class. One reviewer here said you could not take the midterm or the final online, but this is BS. You could definitely take either the final or the midterm online if you were not cleared to come to campus because of COVID symptom survey app. I took the final online because I had a positive COVID test. I know that many of us took the test online. This class is GE class but also a STEM class and there is lots of material to cover -- 7 million years of human evolution results in lots of findings.