Melissa Paquette-Smith
Department of Psychology
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4.4
Overall Rating
Based on 92 Users
Easiness 4.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.6 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.7 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Has Group Projects
  • Would Take Again
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
27.8%
23.2%
18.5%
13.9%
9.3%
4.6%
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.

32.7%
27.2%
21.8%
16.3%
10.9%
5.4%
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.

29.8%
24.8%
19.9%
14.9%
9.9%
5.0%
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.

35.0%
29.2%
23.4%
17.5%
11.7%
5.8%
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.

41.8%
34.9%
27.9%
20.9%
13.9%
7.0%
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.

33.7%
28.1%
22.5%
16.8%
11.2%
5.6%
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.

41.0%
34.2%
27.4%
20.5%
13.7%
6.8%
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.

35.4%
29.5%
23.6%
17.7%
11.8%
5.9%
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.

53.1%
44.3%
35.4%
26.6%
17.7%
8.9%
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.

28.9%
24.1%
19.3%
14.4%
9.6%
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.

23.9%
19.9%
15.9%
11.9%
8.0%
4.0%
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.

60.2%
50.2%
40.2%
30.1%
20.1%
10.0%
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.

26.3%
21.9%
17.5%
13.1%
8.8%
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.

24.9%
20.7%
16.6%
12.4%
8.3%
4.1%
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.

21.6%
18.0%
14.4%
10.8%
7.2%
3.6%
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
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Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (76)

1 of 8
1 of 8
Add your review...
Quarter: Spring 2021
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 21, 2021

Professor Paquette Smith makes this class a very enjoyable experience.
Like people have said before, this course feels like more work than a 4 unit class, but all the assignments are straightforward and easy to get 100% on. She was able to transmit this course well into the online format, and she was always extremely helpful and kind during office hours. Her exams were also pretty straightforward as they were a similar caliber to the embedded lesson questions and the practice test questions making it very doable to get a high A on the exams.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: N/A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Feb. 1, 2021

I think Melissa is an excellent professor. If I were a psych major, I I would definitely take her class again. She has turned the online learning platform into something easy to understand and fun to use. Her online lectures are interesting and engaging and the mini quizzes in between have really helped keep me on track. The only thing that I think is important to note is the amount of work given per week. I got more weekly assignments from this course than I have in any other course at UCLA. They were not necessarily difficult and they did help significantly in my learning. I would recommend taking this class with maximum 2 other course and make sure that those courses are on the easier side. If you are a psych major or actually want to LEARN, this is the class for you!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 22, 2020

She was very accommodating during the first online quarter, and I could see how exams might be difficult normally since it's mostly memorization, but everything was pretty easy online. I'd recommend taking her.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
May 6, 2020

Melissa Paquette-Smith has been one of my favorite professors at UCLA. period. She makes the material very easy to understand, and all of her lectures are very engaging as she does little interesting class activities throughout. If you didn't study for the midterm or final, it will be hard. But if you study, it was pretty easy. Her exams ask for you to identify a lot of examples so you have to apply the concepts from class to the questions. I absolutely loved her class (even though it was 2 hours and felt like a lot) and I wish she taught more classes at UCLA so I could take a class with her again. I love that woman

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 2, 2020

Melissa is a great professor, she explains everything clearly and concisely. Aside from posting her lecture slides, she also posts lecture outlines that you can add your notes to. Also, attendance is mandatory since you'll need an iClicker. However, we were allowed to miss three lectures. The content is not that difficult but there are a few assignments every week. This includes quizzes, lab reports (some are submitted on behalf of your entire lab group), and scientific article analyses. They aren't that difficult and they seem to be graded based on completion for the most part. The midterm was fairly easy after making flashcards based on the slides from the midterm review. The exam contained multiple-choice questions and a couple of free responses questions, then you get in a group to answer the exact same multiple-choice questions together to help your grade a little. I did not take the final exam since it became optional due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the final exam is cumulative and follows the same format as the midterm.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+
Dec. 21, 2019

Paquette-Smith is somewhat of a decent instructor. I feel as though she is TOO reliant on her slides, which contain an excessive amount of information to simply remember. I understand that this class is a GE; however, the amount of information she wants us to remember for the final is somewhat unrealistic. I very much disagree with her structure and way of teaching but I guess it is what it is for an introductory Psychology course.

Helpful?

2 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: B+
June 12, 2020

Lectures were long, but she gives you a break during the middle to make it more manageable. Classes were interesting, but I did find it somewhat difficult to ace the midterms and finals. I studied a ton, but the material didn't overlap as I expected. The class is interesting, and the assignments and tests were reasonable, but I did found it hard to get A's which is why I finished with a B+. The final was optional because of the 2019 Winter Covid Finals situation so maybe she made it more difficult than usual. Overall the class has a lot of little assignments but was reasonable.

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 25, 2024

I absolutely loved this class! Now, it is somewhat true that the class is an easy A if you put in the time and effort to finish your assignments on time. There are so many opportunities to make up for a bad midterm or assignment grade by focusing on the other graded assignments offered. The textbook is an optional read and honestly, if you paid attention in class to the professor and her slides you should be solid for the exams. I will say though getting an A+ requires a little extra work. I got a 95% on the midterm and a 98% on the final, both of which were relatively easy. The professor is very helpful and considerate too. Her office hours (I only went to the one which was scheduled right before the midterm for last minute doubts) were incredibly helpful. You can really tell she put in a lot of thought into the content and curation of the course. All slides and class recording are also made available for review. You can also miss up to 4 class and still get full points on the iclicker. However, class attendance makes up about 7% of the grade so it would be a good idea to attend class regularly to rack up the free points.
Moving onto the parts of the class I did not enjoy as much, the content (while being easy) is really vast. You should not underestimate the amount of content and pile it up for the very last day before the exams (not unless you took AP Psych in high school). Additionally, the lectures are about 2 hours long so make sure to grab your cup of coffee before class so you don't fall asleep half way through and miss out on the clicker questions (based on personal experience). Finally, some personal tips and points- pay attention to things said in class (that might not be on the slides), the prof is kinda funny and her outfits were very fun, pay attention to the lab reports you submit (especially the question on limitations) and try to go to a TA's office hours before report submissions just to make sure what you wrote is right.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 15, 2024

This course was very straightforward but does go over a decent amount of content. However, Professor Paquette-Smith makes the lectures very interesting and gives great tips on how to memorize all the facts and concepts. There was more than enough time to complete the assignments, but there were a couple assignment instructions that I felt were a bit unclear. Paying attention in lectures is super important in doing well in the midterm and finals and she does reference a lot of the examples from class within those exams. If you need help, she is there to help you and is very approachable. Overall, I do recommend taking her class if you need Psych 10.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 29, 2024

I loved this class and it's very easy if you take the time to put in the work. I recommend creating a ton of flashcards before the midterm and final. I had a set of over 200+ and that worked for me. The midterm is 35 multiple choice questions and 2 questions of short response. There is also a group portion where you complete the midterm with them again, deciding on all the answers to the questions (kind of like 7A). The final is just 60 multiple-choice questions.

It's a lot of memorization so as long as you memorize all of the important concepts, you can then apply it to the scenario-based questions she asks. The professor is amazing. She's very clear in what she wants and is super nice. There are also in-class labs that we complete and the TAs will walk around the lecture hall so take advantage of that. They are very easy to complete, just follow the directions. There are also some quizzes online and they're timed 20 mins. to complete 10 questions. They're also super easy. Just review the lecture slides and you'll be fine. I really liked the class, the concepts are super interesting.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2021
Grade: A+
June 21, 2021

Professor Paquette Smith makes this class a very enjoyable experience.
Like people have said before, this course feels like more work than a 4 unit class, but all the assignments are straightforward and easy to get 100% on. She was able to transmit this course well into the online format, and she was always extremely helpful and kind during office hours. Her exams were also pretty straightforward as they were a similar caliber to the embedded lesson questions and the practice test questions making it very doable to get a high A on the exams.

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: Winter 2021
Grade: N/A
Feb. 1, 2021

I think Melissa is an excellent professor. If I were a psych major, I I would definitely take her class again. She has turned the online learning platform into something easy to understand and fun to use. Her online lectures are interesting and engaging and the mini quizzes in between have really helped keep me on track. The only thing that I think is important to note is the amount of work given per week. I got more weekly assignments from this course than I have in any other course at UCLA. They were not necessarily difficult and they did help significantly in my learning. I would recommend taking this class with maximum 2 other course and make sure that those courses are on the easier side. If you are a psych major or actually want to LEARN, this is the class for you!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
June 22, 2020

She was very accommodating during the first online quarter, and I could see how exams might be difficult normally since it's mostly memorization, but everything was pretty easy online. I'd recommend taking her.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
May 6, 2020

Melissa Paquette-Smith has been one of my favorite professors at UCLA. period. She makes the material very easy to understand, and all of her lectures are very engaging as she does little interesting class activities throughout. If you didn't study for the midterm or final, it will be hard. But if you study, it was pretty easy. Her exams ask for you to identify a lot of examples so you have to apply the concepts from class to the questions. I absolutely loved her class (even though it was 2 hours and felt like a lot) and I wish she taught more classes at UCLA so I could take a class with her again. I love that woman

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
April 2, 2020

Melissa is a great professor, she explains everything clearly and concisely. Aside from posting her lecture slides, she also posts lecture outlines that you can add your notes to. Also, attendance is mandatory since you'll need an iClicker. However, we were allowed to miss three lectures. The content is not that difficult but there are a few assignments every week. This includes quizzes, lab reports (some are submitted on behalf of your entire lab group), and scientific article analyses. They aren't that difficult and they seem to be graded based on completion for the most part. The midterm was fairly easy after making flashcards based on the slides from the midterm review. The exam contained multiple-choice questions and a couple of free responses questions, then you get in a group to answer the exact same multiple-choice questions together to help your grade a little. I did not take the final exam since it became optional due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the final exam is cumulative and follows the same format as the midterm.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+
Dec. 21, 2019

Paquette-Smith is somewhat of a decent instructor. I feel as though she is TOO reliant on her slides, which contain an excessive amount of information to simply remember. I understand that this class is a GE; however, the amount of information she wants us to remember for the final is somewhat unrealistic. I very much disagree with her structure and way of teaching but I guess it is what it is for an introductory Psychology course.

Helpful?

2 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: B+
June 12, 2020

Lectures were long, but she gives you a break during the middle to make it more manageable. Classes were interesting, but I did find it somewhat difficult to ace the midterms and finals. I studied a ton, but the material didn't overlap as I expected. The class is interesting, and the assignments and tests were reasonable, but I did found it hard to get A's which is why I finished with a B+. The final was optional because of the 2019 Winter Covid Finals situation so maybe she made it more difficult than usual. Overall the class has a lot of little assignments but was reasonable.

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A+
April 25, 2024

I absolutely loved this class! Now, it is somewhat true that the class is an easy A if you put in the time and effort to finish your assignments on time. There are so many opportunities to make up for a bad midterm or assignment grade by focusing on the other graded assignments offered. The textbook is an optional read and honestly, if you paid attention in class to the professor and her slides you should be solid for the exams. I will say though getting an A+ requires a little extra work. I got a 95% on the midterm and a 98% on the final, both of which were relatively easy. The professor is very helpful and considerate too. Her office hours (I only went to the one which was scheduled right before the midterm for last minute doubts) were incredibly helpful. You can really tell she put in a lot of thought into the content and curation of the course. All slides and class recording are also made available for review. You can also miss up to 4 class and still get full points on the iclicker. However, class attendance makes up about 7% of the grade so it would be a good idea to attend class regularly to rack up the free points.
Moving onto the parts of the class I did not enjoy as much, the content (while being easy) is really vast. You should not underestimate the amount of content and pile it up for the very last day before the exams (not unless you took AP Psych in high school). Additionally, the lectures are about 2 hours long so make sure to grab your cup of coffee before class so you don't fall asleep half way through and miss out on the clicker questions (based on personal experience). Finally, some personal tips and points- pay attention to things said in class (that might not be on the slides), the prof is kinda funny and her outfits were very fun, pay attention to the lab reports you submit (especially the question on limitations) and try to go to a TA's office hours before report submissions just to make sure what you wrote is right.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
April 15, 2024

This course was very straightforward but does go over a decent amount of content. However, Professor Paquette-Smith makes the lectures very interesting and gives great tips on how to memorize all the facts and concepts. There was more than enough time to complete the assignments, but there were a couple assignment instructions that I felt were a bit unclear. Paying attention in lectures is super important in doing well in the midterm and finals and she does reference a lot of the examples from class within those exams. If you need help, she is there to help you and is very approachable. Overall, I do recommend taking her class if you need Psych 10.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
March 29, 2024

I loved this class and it's very easy if you take the time to put in the work. I recommend creating a ton of flashcards before the midterm and final. I had a set of over 200+ and that worked for me. The midterm is 35 multiple choice questions and 2 questions of short response. There is also a group portion where you complete the midterm with them again, deciding on all the answers to the questions (kind of like 7A). The final is just 60 multiple-choice questions.

It's a lot of memorization so as long as you memorize all of the important concepts, you can then apply it to the scenario-based questions she asks. The professor is amazing. She's very clear in what she wants and is super nice. There are also in-class labs that we complete and the TAs will walk around the lecture hall so take advantage of that. They are very easy to complete, just follow the directions. There are also some quizzes online and they're timed 20 mins. to complete 10 questions. They're also super easy. Just review the lecture slides and you'll be fine. I really liked the class, the concepts are super interesting.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 8
4.4
Overall Rating
Based on 92 Users
Easiness 4.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.6 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.7 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (56)
  • Has Group Projects
    (50)
  • Would Take Again
    (44)
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