Kimberly Ball
Department of Scandinavian
AD
3.5
Overall Rating
Based on 21 Users
Easiness 3.1 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.4 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.5 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Participation Matters
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
26.6%
22.1%
17.7%
13.3%
8.9%
4.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.2%
26.0%
20.8%
15.6%
10.4%
5.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

37.1%
31.0%
24.8%
18.6%
12.4%
6.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

27.0%
22.5%
18.0%
13.5%
9.0%
4.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.9%
26.6%
21.3%
16.0%
10.6%
5.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

28.1%
23.4%
18.8%
14.1%
9.4%
4.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

38.9%
32.4%
25.9%
19.4%
13.0%
6.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

29.0%
24.2%
19.4%
14.5%
9.7%
4.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.0%
25.9%
20.7%
15.5%
10.3%
5.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

23.1%
19.2%
15.4%
11.5%
7.7%
3.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (21)

1 of 3
1 of 3
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Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 4, 2021

I took Professor Ball's class during the pandemic. SCAND 40 is not a class where you would have to spend hours studying for, but it's also not a class where you could breeze by without taking some notes. Participation is acquired either through a 350 word reading response forum before lecture or by live class discussion to which Professor Ball is very nice about making every answer's point heard. The lectures are recorded to watch later but since quizzes are live anyway, attendance still matters. They are very easy if you did the week's reading, something as simple as recalling the name of the main character. However, the exams were quite expansive compared to how slow and easy the class usually is. It's open note though and very much includes her slide information. What helped for me was having a table of what names were in each story in my notes as there are a LOT of names and they're too complicated to mentally spell out. Overall, not too hard except for the unexpected jump in difficulty during the 300 point exams that had MC and 2 Free Response questions.

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Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 9, 2020

I took this because I heard Scand classes were easy. I was so wrong. The exams were way too hard

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3 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: NP
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Nov. 14, 2021

This class has to be the biggest catfish in the Scandinavian department. I was dumb enough to think that this class was going to be as easy as SCAND 50W and boy was I wrong. It felt like an upper division class: archaic Scandinavian texts translated into English, so you're basically reading old English. You have to use iclickers to pretty much verify your class attendance, the lectures are very boring unless you have an ardent passion for slide presentations and scandanvian literature. The midterm was basically a test on memorizing all the names of characters, dates, roles, etc and it was a closed book exam so you ACTUALLY have to memorize scandanavian names that are very difficult to remember for people who are not familiar with scandanvian names. You also have to speak at least once a week for participation points, if you do not manage to speak( you probably won't because the class is to large for her to choose everyone) you have to write a 350 word reflection on the readings, and those readings are both boring and dense. If you think this is an easy GE I promise you its not. Don't take this class unless you want to fall into depression.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A+
Jan. 7, 2019

I took Scand 40W and really enjoyed the class. The readings are very interesting and the classes give a good recap and give students a better understanding of the course. We had 3 essays which accounted for our entire grade, and the grading was lenient. What was a little annoying was the i-clicker questions at the beginning of every class which was based directly on the readings assigned, so we had to show up for class on time. This class was overall very enjoyable and intriguing.

I'm selling the Kalevala Book (required) for $10. Please text me at **********

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: B+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 1, 2021

Awful class... Would not recommend taking any classes with Professor Ball... Most unreasonable professor I've ever seen. I don't know what the reviews on here prior to Fall 2020 are talking about, it was an incredibly difficult course.

At a time where the pandemic is affecting so many people, and all departments (Neuroscience, Molecular/Cell Biology, Physics, Chemistry... literally every departments) are giving take home exams and making their classes easy during the pandemic, this unreasonable professor decided to give a timed 50 minute exam (impossible to finish everything in time btw) graded incredibly harshly. Professor Ball is passionate about her subject and the class could have been very interesting and enjoyable, but she's a very unreasonable person, and the Scand department should be ashamed of itself for allowing her to do this. I hope students save their GPA and stay away from this terrible class and professor.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 1, 2021

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.... If you care about your GPA and don't want anything below an A, avoid this class. Professor Ball doesn't seem to understand that she's teaching a GE, and should chill with how difficult she makes her tests. I've taken biochem, molecular bio, o chem, physics, and found those exams to be more doable than Dr. Ball's nonsense tests. Absolutely avoid at all costs if you want to maintain a high GPA and want an easy GE.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 29, 2020

This course was incredibly interesting and I highly recommend it. Readings are easy to understand, lectures are insightful, and Professor Ball is very reasonable and kind. Exams were fairly challenging and had both MC and free responses. However, the responses were graded leniently and mainly depend on the quality of your insight and analysis. Overall great course!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Jan. 14, 2024

The material of this class is very engaging as it focuses on analysis and interpretation over memorization of stories. Homework is manageable, but the amount of stories assigned can be quite inconsistent. Sometimes it's a few short stories or one long story, and other times it's a seemingly never-ending string of short stories. Exams are graded very fairly. Professor Ball focuses only on your display of understanding, not syntax or formatting. However, her lectures are not the most enthusiastic, so unless you love learning about storytelling, you might have trouble staying awake.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 10, 2023

This class was definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. It was all light hearted and easy up till the exams, which were much harder than I expected them to be. You literally have to spit out everything you can think of in the FRQs to get as many points as possible--definitely go with bullet points rather than full sentences to add as many ideas as possible (speaking from experience...) A little side note, I was so stuck on the final take home essay because the prompt had like nothing to do with the stuff we analyzed in class and had to resort to looking through my high school English class notes... I do think she was more lenient on the grading of the final, though.

The class itself was doable. You had to submit a 350 word response and 150 word reply to a classmate to get 5 points towards participation every class or speak in class to get 2.5 participation points, for a total of 50 points max. As an introvert, I was grateful for the written option but, on a slight tangent, I think that she's a little too nice. A lot of people who spoke in class said one or two lines that literally repeated the person before them or added nothing meaningful to the discussion and still got points, which I found unfair. Her voice is also very slow and soothing(?) so I always got really sleepy in her class.

The readings weren't always the easiest to get through, but skimming them is generally enough to get through her pop quizzes. Also, do note you need to buy an iclicker (she doesn't allow the app) to take the pop quizzes. Overall, I wouldn't avoid the class but definitely be prepared for the amount of reading and prepping you have to do.

Grading Scheme: 30% Exam 1, 30% Exam 2, 20% Final, 15% Quizzes, 5% Participation

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: B+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Feb. 18, 2023

I took this class as a GE as I heard that it was super easy, but I believe scand60 may be easier. In order to do good in the class you really have to pay attention to the lectures and material that is given in class. The lectures are recorded as well, but you have to complete clicker questions in class. The two main tests were extremely hard, but I did well on the second one after studying for around 8 hours, The final essay wasn't that difficult, but I feel that it was graded a little harshly. I wouldn't recommend taking this class as a GE as it is the only class I got a B in, and it was supposed to be my easiest. Some of my friends have taken Scand60 and it seems easier.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Jan. 4, 2021

I took Professor Ball's class during the pandemic. SCAND 40 is not a class where you would have to spend hours studying for, but it's also not a class where you could breeze by without taking some notes. Participation is acquired either through a 350 word reading response forum before lecture or by live class discussion to which Professor Ball is very nice about making every answer's point heard. The lectures are recorded to watch later but since quizzes are live anyway, attendance still matters. They are very easy if you did the week's reading, something as simple as recalling the name of the main character. However, the exams were quite expansive compared to how slow and easy the class usually is. It's open note though and very much includes her slide information. What helped for me was having a table of what names were in each story in my notes as there are a LOT of names and they're too complicated to mentally spell out. Overall, not too hard except for the unexpected jump in difficulty during the 300 point exams that had MC and 2 Free Response questions.

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
Dec. 9, 2020

I took this because I heard Scand classes were easy. I was so wrong. The exams were way too hard

Helpful?

3 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: NP
Nov. 14, 2021

This class has to be the biggest catfish in the Scandinavian department. I was dumb enough to think that this class was going to be as easy as SCAND 50W and boy was I wrong. It felt like an upper division class: archaic Scandinavian texts translated into English, so you're basically reading old English. You have to use iclickers to pretty much verify your class attendance, the lectures are very boring unless you have an ardent passion for slide presentations and scandanvian literature. The midterm was basically a test on memorizing all the names of characters, dates, roles, etc and it was a closed book exam so you ACTUALLY have to memorize scandanavian names that are very difficult to remember for people who are not familiar with scandanvian names. You also have to speak at least once a week for participation points, if you do not manage to speak( you probably won't because the class is to large for her to choose everyone) you have to write a 350 word reflection on the readings, and those readings are both boring and dense. If you think this is an easy GE I promise you its not. Don't take this class unless you want to fall into depression.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A+
Jan. 7, 2019

I took Scand 40W and really enjoyed the class. The readings are very interesting and the classes give a good recap and give students a better understanding of the course. We had 3 essays which accounted for our entire grade, and the grading was lenient. What was a little annoying was the i-clicker questions at the beginning of every class which was based directly on the readings assigned, so we had to show up for class on time. This class was overall very enjoyable and intriguing.

I'm selling the Kalevala Book (required) for $10. Please text me at **********

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: B+
Jan. 1, 2021

Awful class... Would not recommend taking any classes with Professor Ball... Most unreasonable professor I've ever seen. I don't know what the reviews on here prior to Fall 2020 are talking about, it was an incredibly difficult course.

At a time where the pandemic is affecting so many people, and all departments (Neuroscience, Molecular/Cell Biology, Physics, Chemistry... literally every departments) are giving take home exams and making their classes easy during the pandemic, this unreasonable professor decided to give a timed 50 minute exam (impossible to finish everything in time btw) graded incredibly harshly. Professor Ball is passionate about her subject and the class could have been very interesting and enjoyable, but she's a very unreasonable person, and the Scand department should be ashamed of itself for allowing her to do this. I hope students save their GPA and stay away from this terrible class and professor.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
Jan. 1, 2021

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.... If you care about your GPA and don't want anything below an A, avoid this class. Professor Ball doesn't seem to understand that she's teaching a GE, and should chill with how difficult she makes her tests. I've taken biochem, molecular bio, o chem, physics, and found those exams to be more doable than Dr. Ball's nonsense tests. Absolutely avoid at all costs if you want to maintain a high GPA and want an easy GE.

Helpful?

2 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A-
Dec. 29, 2020

This course was incredibly interesting and I highly recommend it. Readings are easy to understand, lectures are insightful, and Professor Ball is very reasonable and kind. Exams were fairly challenging and had both MC and free responses. However, the responses were graded leniently and mainly depend on the quality of your insight and analysis. Overall great course!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Jan. 14, 2024

The material of this class is very engaging as it focuses on analysis and interpretation over memorization of stories. Homework is manageable, but the amount of stories assigned can be quite inconsistent. Sometimes it's a few short stories or one long story, and other times it's a seemingly never-ending string of short stories. Exams are graded very fairly. Professor Ball focuses only on your display of understanding, not syntax or formatting. However, her lectures are not the most enthusiastic, so unless you love learning about storytelling, you might have trouble staying awake.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
March 10, 2023

This class was definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. It was all light hearted and easy up till the exams, which were much harder than I expected them to be. You literally have to spit out everything you can think of in the FRQs to get as many points as possible--definitely go with bullet points rather than full sentences to add as many ideas as possible (speaking from experience...) A little side note, I was so stuck on the final take home essay because the prompt had like nothing to do with the stuff we analyzed in class and had to resort to looking through my high school English class notes... I do think she was more lenient on the grading of the final, though.

The class itself was doable. You had to submit a 350 word response and 150 word reply to a classmate to get 5 points towards participation every class or speak in class to get 2.5 participation points, for a total of 50 points max. As an introvert, I was grateful for the written option but, on a slight tangent, I think that she's a little too nice. A lot of people who spoke in class said one or two lines that literally repeated the person before them or added nothing meaningful to the discussion and still got points, which I found unfair. Her voice is also very slow and soothing(?) so I always got really sleepy in her class.

The readings weren't always the easiest to get through, but skimming them is generally enough to get through her pop quizzes. Also, do note you need to buy an iclicker (she doesn't allow the app) to take the pop quizzes. Overall, I wouldn't avoid the class but definitely be prepared for the amount of reading and prepping you have to do.

Grading Scheme: 30% Exam 1, 30% Exam 2, 20% Final, 15% Quizzes, 5% Participation

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: B+
Feb. 18, 2023

I took this class as a GE as I heard that it was super easy, but I believe scand60 may be easier. In order to do good in the class you really have to pay attention to the lectures and material that is given in class. The lectures are recorded as well, but you have to complete clicker questions in class. The two main tests were extremely hard, but I did well on the second one after studying for around 8 hours, The final essay wasn't that difficult, but I feel that it was graded a little harshly. I wouldn't recommend taking this class as a GE as it is the only class I got a B in, and it was supposed to be my easiest. Some of my friends have taken Scand60 and it seems easier.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 3
3.5
Overall Rating
Based on 21 Users
Easiness 3.1 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.4 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.5 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (12)
  • Participation Matters
    (14)
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