Holy crap I might have had more work for this 2 unit class than for any of my others. They load on the amount of stuff you have to do for no reason. Every lab you have to have like 12 tabs open, the teacher and TAs are super disorganized, and since we were the first section they would find problems with the experiment and we would have to redo stuff all the time. It was a very heavy workload for no reason. Make sure you rely on your group-mates. You're all in it together and just get the work done on time. It's not harsh grading. Just a ton of busy work. Be prepared.

Took virtually due to COVID.

The course was hastily moved online and it showed. Labs were being edited and made as the quarter continued and instructions for reports were vague. That being said, the labs were decent. Not super interesting and had a somewhat heavy workload considering this class is only 2 units. I can imagine this class would be more interesting and easier if it were in person, as TAs couldn't exactly troubleshoot your circuits over zoom. Also, if you have a bad lab group, you won't have a good time, especially during the final lab/presentation.

This was a great class. It will honestly probably be better when it's not online, but I was honestly impressed with how smooth it was even with Zoom calls instead of in person. The group labs are pretty great and would be even better if it could happen in person, but overall a great course. There are some cool labs and you learn basic Python programming for representing data and manipulating it, which is a great skill. You also learn some Arduino, which is super fun. Overall, great class, take it. It is a little bit of work for being a 2 unit class though, so be aware of that. Occasionally it can be time consuming.

It's a lot easier than the old version, from what I've heard. However, be prepared to spend some significant time (approaching 4-unit class) on prelabs and lab reports.

Warning:
Also, the lab reports are graded quite harshly; 3/5 is given for MEETING all of the requirements. You need to go "above and beyond" (which was not very clear how) to get a full score. So you will get a B unless you go "above and beyond."

Glad I took the redesigned version of this class. Its not very hard and the prelabs/labs every week were not difficult. The lab reports (2 during the quarter and one final one due finals week) were somewhat time consuming but it wasn't hard to get all/most of the points as long as you follow the directions. The final was an experiment that you and your lab partners came up with (lab partner were assigned, luckily mine came in clutch). It wasn't too bad but presenting it kind of sucked because a TA from a different section came in and grilled everyone during the Q&A portion which was painful to watch. The material wasn't really super interesting (Arduino, Python data fitting) but this definitely wasn't a bad class now that its redesigned.

I'm happy I waited until they redesigned 4AL to take it, because this new version of it is not too bad. I personally did not find it very enjoyable, but it is also not very hard. Pre labs and lab reports both revolve around Python, but they explain pretty much just give us the code we need to complete these assignments; you basically just look at how they used the code for their example and apply it to what you are doing. In fact, for the pre labs they give skeleton code and you just click through it and add exactly what they say to add in comments.
The annoying parts of this class are the bigger lab reports. There are 3 of these total, including one that was due at 11 PM on the last day of the quarter. They take a while to do and it seems somewhat arbitrary where points are taken off. Granted, you will probably get most of the points by following the instructions, and you can get half the points you missed back if you fix the errors and resubmit it.
The final part of the class consists of an experiment and presentation that your group comes up with (you are assigned your group members BTW, rather than getting to choose your own). All in all, this class is not too bad.

This is for 4BL, but they’ve redesigned both labs so I think this works for either. I took 4AL before the redesign and I definitely think they’ve made it easier. The reports are now powerpoint slides where you just fill in the information. They use a lot of Python, which I found confusing because there was very little instruction (but you end up just copy-pasting and submitting so it’s not a big deal). There are small weekly assignments and then two bigger reports worth more of your grade. There’s also a final group project where you have a lot of freedom. This quarter I think they were very lenient on grading because it’s all new but I think that’ll change in the future. They were pretty strict on grading the lab reports which was strange because the instructions were very relaxed. I definitely recommend asking your TA for lots of help on what exactly they’re looking for. They want you to stay for the whole lab period but won’t really stop you from leaving if you’ve finished. I would start your lab report during the lab period because some things pop up in the report that you weren’t expecting and it’s annoying to try to find that data again. That being said, write down and record everything! The instructions aren’t super clear on what to record so record it all to be safe.

This lab has been redesigned. It's not as intensive as it used to be (from what I hear), and it uses modern data collection and analysis techniques that were not used before. Here is the breakdown for the lab:

Pre-lab and In-lab Assignments: You usually have a week to do these. Pretty easy. Should be no problem.

Lab Reports: Lab Reports are long. For me, they have always been over 20 pages. My final report was 30+ pages. They aren't ridiculously difficult or anything, but do take a VERY long time. I spent about 8-10 hours on each report. There are three reports in a quarter so that's not that bad.

Final Project: You get to choose what you want to do for your final project. That's nice. The final project consists of a presentation and a final lab report. To me, the presentation is enough, but they want a lab report as well.

Open Lab Hours: In addition to the time you spend in the lab, there are open lab hours. These are just office hours. You don't have to go, but if you are behind or if your data is messed up, you should definitely go. Great idea.

Arduino: Up until now, the lab seems fine. This is where it goes bad. I didn't mind the Python coding for data analysis. It was actually kind of fun even for someone with no coding/programming experience. The Arduino kit that you have to buy for about $30-35 is, however, a pain in the ass. Half of the time, it collects crappy data, and the other half, it doesn't collect data at all. The physics in this lab wasn't hard at all. We didn't even really care about the physics (which makes Professor Arisaka's visit for the final lab surprising, as he criticized groups for not knowing much physics). This lab is hard because the Arduino is absolutely trash. How can I experiment with physics when I am worried of the crappy data my Arduino collected?

Overall: The professor is never there, so the TA is your main grader. I had Shashank as my TA, and he was excellent. Very helpful, polite, and chill. Try to get Shashank.

Good luck! You will be fine!