TLDR: This class isn't too difficult, but it could definitely be much better organized.

Pros: It isn't too hard to end up with an A of some sort, since according to Mel's grading scale, 85% and up is an A. There are many opportunities for you to boost your grade, such as quizzes, discussion posts, and the group paper due at the end of the quarter. As for the exams, I thought they were pretty fair and more or less reflect what Mel taught in lecture or assigned for homework. The exam averages were surprising low in my opinion: 78% for the midterm and only 66 % for the final. It makes me wonder whether people really learned from the homework assignments, since people could work on HW in groups.

Cons: The class felt disorganized throughout. Maybe it's due to the transition back to in-person classes, but I felt the organizational aspects of this course was lacking. Mel never replied to any emails I sent her, so it was extremely difficult to contact her outside of class. Her expectations on the group homework were not very clear. In the beginning of the course, she sent out a google spreadsheet where we could form our homework groups. However, if you forgot to write down the names of every group member on the homework assignment during submission, even if the names were on the google spreadsheet, the missing names would earn a 0. I didn't think this was quite fair, since Mel never clarified this in lecture.

Quizzes were also quite annoying. Every lecture, Mel would have us to do 2-3 mini-quizzes on our phones. The quizzes were password protected, so lecture attendance was mandatory. Sometimes, Mel would lose track of time, so we sometimes had to do the quizzes immediately after class (with a 3 minute deadline!). I felt sorry for those who have a class right after this.

This class is one of the easier ones to take, but needs to be way more organized.