Professor
Leslie Johns
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - do not take this class with professor johns. unfortunately i had no choice </3. i will preface by saying that although i did well, this class was still bs and so stressful for an intro level polisci class. her lectures are dry and bland and she's made a few problematic and insensitive comments that made people like myself feel uncomfy. first day of class she talked about how we get two free absences from discussion and nothing else because she doesnt like to do unexcused absences because she doesnt want to hear about your grandma dying (my grandma literally died a week before this--she couldnt have known this but it just shows how insensitive she is). she doesnt record lectures or post slides, which was horrible because this class was at 8 am, and there were a few exam questions that were not from the book and she briefly discussed in lecture for 2 seconds. she disagrees with the book during lecture sometimes which can get quite confusing when reviewing for the midterm. there was no clarity about the midterm. go to the cpo test bank and look at old tests to see the format. that's how i did so well. before the midterm she said to keep answers brief and theres no need to write a lot. but when we got grades back, the class did horrible because she had such unrealistic grading standards!! she was looking for excessively and unnecessarily specific wording that was verbatim from the lecture or book. points were docked if you didnt use the exact wording, even if you use synonyms or paraphrase. this is such a poor way to test students on their knowledge. luckily they offered regrades--and the tests are curved. there's no homework assignments besides chapter reading quizzes that are open book and open note. they are all due on the day of the final so you have all quarter to do them. stay on track on readings! i think that played a big role in me doing well in this class. the readings can be quite long and convoluted though. go to section too and participate at least 3x. our ta's tried to help us as much as possible and you can tell they really felt for us. please listen to other reviews about this class with johns. it is absolutely not worth your stress. youre better off taking it with min or ying.
Spring 2025 - do not take this class with professor johns. unfortunately i had no choice </3. i will preface by saying that although i did well, this class was still bs and so stressful for an intro level polisci class. her lectures are dry and bland and she's made a few problematic and insensitive comments that made people like myself feel uncomfy. first day of class she talked about how we get two free absences from discussion and nothing else because she doesnt like to do unexcused absences because she doesnt want to hear about your grandma dying (my grandma literally died a week before this--she couldnt have known this but it just shows how insensitive she is). she doesnt record lectures or post slides, which was horrible because this class was at 8 am, and there were a few exam questions that were not from the book and she briefly discussed in lecture for 2 seconds. she disagrees with the book during lecture sometimes which can get quite confusing when reviewing for the midterm. there was no clarity about the midterm. go to the cpo test bank and look at old tests to see the format. that's how i did so well. before the midterm she said to keep answers brief and theres no need to write a lot. but when we got grades back, the class did horrible because she had such unrealistic grading standards!! she was looking for excessively and unnecessarily specific wording that was verbatim from the lecture or book. points were docked if you didnt use the exact wording, even if you use synonyms or paraphrase. this is such a poor way to test students on their knowledge. luckily they offered regrades--and the tests are curved. there's no homework assignments besides chapter reading quizzes that are open book and open note. they are all due on the day of the final so you have all quarter to do them. stay on track on readings! i think that played a big role in me doing well in this class. the readings can be quite long and convoluted though. go to section too and participate at least 3x. our ta's tried to help us as much as possible and you can tell they really felt for us. please listen to other reviews about this class with johns. it is absolutely not worth your stress. youre better off taking it with min or ying.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Professor Johns seems so approachable and makes the subject matter seem so straightforward and easy in class, but she (or her TA, I'm not sure) is a ruthless grader. For a class where there is not always a clear right or wrong answer, it was surprising that even after filling up the entire page for short answers that it would be given 0/10 points. The weekly quizzes on the case studies are easy points, and that might depend on which TA you get. The exams are curved tremendously though. The final exam was quickly turned into a take-home assignment consisting of 4 short answer questions, with "no clear right or wrong answer" and I spent hours doing it and still got a 66%, which was curved to 83%. In the end I got a B+ (the first ever non-A in my time at UCLA). Also, she sent out quite an insensitive email regarding too many people asking for help/extensions in response to COVID-19, which threw a lot of students off. Take this class at your own risk.
Winter 2020 - Professor Johns seems so approachable and makes the subject matter seem so straightforward and easy in class, but she (or her TA, I'm not sure) is a ruthless grader. For a class where there is not always a clear right or wrong answer, it was surprising that even after filling up the entire page for short answers that it would be given 0/10 points. The weekly quizzes on the case studies are easy points, and that might depend on which TA you get. The exams are curved tremendously though. The final exam was quickly turned into a take-home assignment consisting of 4 short answer questions, with "no clear right or wrong answer" and I spent hours doing it and still got a 66%, which was curved to 83%. In the end I got a B+ (the first ever non-A in my time at UCLA). Also, she sent out quite an insensitive email regarding too many people asking for help/extensions in response to COVID-19, which threw a lot of students off. Take this class at your own risk.
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Most Helpful Review
Professor johns is an amazing professor !!!!! Many students belive that she gives to much reading and too much information, but frankly that is how law school is going to be. She knows her information and she is super smart!!!!!!!!!!! I will come to class and I will be inspired even more . As for her test : one midterm and one final. Her midterm is LONG AND HER FINAL IS EVEN LONGER !!! however if you study every thing which I mean everything, you should get a good grade .! Study the readings !!! The weekly readings will be on the final and on the mind term!!! Read them! Understand them! And if you don't know ask the TAs. I had Francesca and she was GREAT!!!!!! She made the class super fun. She even took cookies for us! And I still keep in contact with her till now . Take the class you will work hard!, but you will be happy for what you accomplished . I got an A on this class :)
Professor johns is an amazing professor !!!!! Many students belive that she gives to much reading and too much information, but frankly that is how law school is going to be. She knows her information and she is super smart!!!!!!!!!!! I will come to class and I will be inspired even more . As for her test : one midterm and one final. Her midterm is LONG AND HER FINAL IS EVEN LONGER !!! however if you study every thing which I mean everything, you should get a good grade .! Study the readings !!! The weekly readings will be on the final and on the mind term!!! Read them! Understand them! And if you don't know ask the TAs. I had Francesca and she was GREAT!!!!!! She made the class super fun. She even took cookies for us! And I still keep in contact with her till now . Take the class you will work hard!, but you will be happy for what you accomplished . I got an A on this class :)
Most Helpful Review
I am taking Prof Johns' Intl Organizations class this quarter and I love it. I may be biased because IOs are my specific area of interest, but Professor Johns is a great professor, especially for being brand new!! She's incredibly organized, clear and thorough. The class has a discussion where weekly quizzes on the reading are given. The two lowest quiz grades are dropped. These make up a small portion of the grade and so does participation. The rest is comprised of a mid-term and final, which are actual tests of short-answer questions, not essays. I think the final may have an essay component, but the mid-term did not. The testing is also straightforward. Basically, I feel like the grading components and the questions on them are really crafted to ensure that you're learning, comprehending and actually retaining the material. I feel like this rarely happens at UCLA, it's so easy to just get the grade and then immediately forget everything you've learned. That's not the case in this course with Johns, she gets it. She seems to really understand how to select readings, structure the class and the flow of the subject matter, as well as grade students in a manner that effectively teaches. I really appreciate how well-organized and well-thought out the course is and I highly recommend Professor Johns. She's incredibly fair and approachable.
I am taking Prof Johns' Intl Organizations class this quarter and I love it. I may be biased because IOs are my specific area of interest, but Professor Johns is a great professor, especially for being brand new!! She's incredibly organized, clear and thorough. The class has a discussion where weekly quizzes on the reading are given. The two lowest quiz grades are dropped. These make up a small portion of the grade and so does participation. The rest is comprised of a mid-term and final, which are actual tests of short-answer questions, not essays. I think the final may have an essay component, but the mid-term did not. The testing is also straightforward. Basically, I feel like the grading components and the questions on them are really crafted to ensure that you're learning, comprehending and actually retaining the material. I feel like this rarely happens at UCLA, it's so easy to just get the grade and then immediately forget everything you've learned. That's not the case in this course with Johns, she gets it. She seems to really understand how to select readings, structure the class and the flow of the subject matter, as well as grade students in a manner that effectively teaches. I really appreciate how well-organized and well-thought out the course is and I highly recommend Professor Johns. She's incredibly fair and approachable.
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