Esdin taught the third and fourth modules of PHYSCI 111A, which spanned weeks 7-10. Weeks 7-8 are motor circuits (lower and upper motor neurons; interneurons; cerebellum; basal ganglia) and weeks 9-10 are auditory & visual systems. I had him Winter 2022; all lectures were still on Zoom due to COVID-19, but discussions were in person.

I had Esdin for LS 7C too and so sort of had an idea of what to expect. This year he taught lectures at a slower, calmer pace than previous years, and as a result we had to skip a lot of topics that were supposed to be taught (I didn't really mind it, after all less content taught meant less content to study for the final).
Overall Esdin is a really nice and caring teacher. He wants to challenge us as students, but I think he also felt bad because our instructors for the first two modules of PhySci weren't the greatest and he sensed everyone was really tired. He made a ton of modifications to make our life easier, including keeping the all quizzes for his module online and open-note even though discussions had gone back to in-person, and his final was all T/F questions that were mostly extremely straightforward. He asked a lot of questions about experimental designs, so take good notes on the main experiments he presents in class.

Discussions are mostly the same across all modules. There will be two quizzes and two critiques in his part of class. I wrote down some tips for writing critiques in my review for Ketema Paul, who taught module I of PHYSCI 111A, if you need guidance on how to write them.

This class had a fairly light work load, 3 lectures to watch a week with 3 point lecture quizzes, lecture tests, lab tests, a final project, and the midterm and final. I took notes on everything the professor said but even when studying off the notes and course reader, his test questions were vague and poorly worded. They also were timed so it felt rushed. The lecture quizzes were easy points as long as you watched the lecture. Overall, this class was a lot of memorizing, and the tests were difficult but Professor Esdin is really nice, and his lectures were interesting. I’m selling the course reader, IProfile, and the notes for this class.
Email: @************* if interested.

this class was online for the entire quarter which was convenient for lectures because they were posted synchronously. you would need to watch them and take a lecture quiz (for participation) by 10pm that same day.
this wasn't an entirely difficult class, and the labs were basic knowledge for the most part. labs were every other week and attendance was mandatory. esdin was an engaging prof and very compassionate, but didn't hold office hours so you would need to turn to your ta.
if you took anatomy at any point this is pretty much that with more emphasis on diet and the cardiovascular system.
the lifestyle assessment project was so easy but it's just lengthy. managed to do it all in one night but there was literally no point in that except being a procrastinator. you just gotta overwrite almost everything and be very redundant in your report to show the ta you are putting a lot of effort into the lab.

I took this class as an easy A and I can confidently say that the only reason I passed with an A was because the tests were online. The lecture material is a bit droning, but you have to pay attention for the lecture quizzes due each day (these are not graded for completion but rather for accuracy which sucks). The midterm and final were extremely difficult, and again, if I would have taken them in person then I do not think any amount of studying could have gotten me an A. The project was kind of easy but just a lot of work and very tedious. The prof and my TA (Ingrid Cely) were really great at responding to questions or concerns you might have, but other than that, I would not classify this as an easy A.

Esdin teaches the last four weeks of Phy Sci 111A, and his module covers sensory organs (eyes, ears) as well as sensation in general (basal ganglia, cerebellum). This module in my opinion was more dense than the others but because it's tested in a way that mostly relies on memorization, it's not too difficult. Esdin teaches the class like it's a 7C lecture, and you can see that in the slides that he uses. I would say he's a very satisfactory lecturer for this class.

Selling my textbook! Message me if interested. *************

Literally made a bruinwalk account just to leave this class a review. Esdin is THE BEST yall. This was my first time ever having an 8am class at UCLA, and it was 100% worth it. Esdin lectures in such an engaging way, you literally just have to listen to him as if he's telling you a story and take some notes here and there to retain all the info for the class. I took the midterm and final all from memory just from straight up learning from what he spoke about in lecture (also of course, reviewing a bit of my notes the night before the tests). The workload is VERY doable; there's a report you have to do at the end, but it's a lot of just copying over data you collected, it was a bit time-consuming but def very easy. There's no homework, just some light studying before quizzes in discussion. Aside from all the technicalities, this class was also genuinely SO beneficial and interesting! I learned how to actually eat properly and understand how my body processes food. To be quite honest, I would say this is the one class at UCLA that I have actually taken away beneficial knowledge from and have applied to my personal life ever since! Seriously, I have learned so much and my lifestyle is much healthier now. Esdin is just such a sweet diva fr. Really hope I can get him again as a professor one day!

I would highly recommend taking this class with Esdin. I took this to fulfill a life science + lab GE and I honestly enjoyed the class more than I expected. The things you learn about diet and exercise are actually useful beyond the class and it definitely inspired me to make changes to my personal habits.

In terms of difficulty, I would argue that it's not as easy as some of the other reviews mention but it is 100% manageable if you put in a little time. The grading is based on the following:

Exam 1 - 100 points
2 Lecture quizzes (20 points each) - 40 points
3 Lab quizzes (15 points each) - 45 points
Attendance/Participation in lab - 25 points
Attendance in lecture - 44 points
Lifestyle Assessment Report - 100 points
Final Exam - 100 points
Total: 454 points

Lectures were mandatory and attendance was tracked with iClicker. Esdin is very funny and an engaging lecturer, but even though the lectures were interesting they were not useful. He goes over some basic ideas but you will need to read the textbook to do well on exams and quizzes. The lecture quiz is difficult and you need to thoroughly read the textbook for it!

Lab sections were mandatory but pretty boring in my opinion. The TA spends a painfully long time over the instructions for the Lifestyle Assessment Report, which is all available on the instructions PDF anyways. You learn some new topics which will be tested on Lab quizzes, but never on any of the actual exams or quizzes. The Lab quizzes are super easy as long as you go over the Lab slides (posted on Canvas).

The Lifestyle Assessment report is a paper that's worth a decent part of your grade, but everyone gets 100% on it. It is not difficult at all, but it is VERY tedious so I recommend you don't procrastinate. It is less of a paper and more of a report, so all you have to do is put things in sentences for full credit. No original ideas or actual writing involved.

Exams were fair, but you will need to study. Make sure to read the textbook fully, because everything in it is likely to show up on exams.

Also, DO NOT BUY YOUR OWN iPROFILE AND COURSE READER!!! The iProfile software (~$30) which is mandatory for the Lifestyle Assessment Report can be shared by multiple people. It has a feature to add profiles. Get a group of friends in the class and split the cost. The Course Reader (~$70) is definitely necessary to buy, but again you can share this with friends. Unfortunately, only one person can use it at a time because it's an external software, but we got around this by taking screenshots of the pages. It's really weird that we have to buy it since Esdin wrote it and can give it to us for free, but he for some reason chooses not to. I tried to buy a secondhand one from a previous quarter, but he changes it from quarter to quarter so that most likely won't work.

Otherwise, solid class, easy way to get you life science + lab credits in. Pretty much a guaranteed A. Highly recommend!

This was not...an easy GE. Especially if you're a non-stem major I think. Both midterm and final were closed-book in-person. I still liked this class but can't deny that you do have to study hard for it.

take this class if you like iclicker that doesn't work and in person responds exam from a bozo