CORE · Columbia University
Weekly homework on lecture weeks, you have to regrade it yourself. Sometimes there is more homework he assigns (it isn't difficult tho).
Dr. Akana is a great Fro Sci discussion leader. He is knowledgeable on the subjects covered in the course and can answer most questions in a way that makes sense. You can tell he puts a lot of effort into making sure class is engaging and understandable. He's very personable and a fair professor.
He is a nice guy. Are the discussion classes even necessary for the understanding of the course material? no. Nevertheless this is a class you have to take, and I can surely say I didn't suffer, so you will be fine as well! I went to his office hours a lot so I would recommend (especially if you want a real person, an actual professor, to explain what you struggle with to you and not chat gpt). I think he grades fairly, but I guess from reading reviewers some would disagree.
Lots of workload, but that is similar to all frosci classes since HW assignments are the same. Grading was correction-based or completion based.
Weekly written homework assignments, weekly reading assignments, 1 Midterm, 1 final, 1 infographic project or leadership essay thing
Great professor! Wants to see his students succeed, but can grade hard at times. Lots of opportunities for growth possible if you try hard enough. Assignments other than the midterm and final were always easy to complete, and you were always given multiple chances before submitting the final one. Disc sections were pretty interesting and engaging.
Professor Palani Akana is a super kind and caring guy, who really wants each student to succeed and take something away from the class. The majority of his two hour long discussion classes included a fun activity to break the ice and make the long classes more enjoyable. I did get the general sense that a lot of our assignments were just busy-work, but I think that that is simply the nature of the class in general. I HIGHLY reccomend attending his weekly office hours. I would not reccomend waiting to finish your homework in his office hours, as he suggests at the beginning of the semester, because they were often pretty challenging and time consuming, but his office hours were a great time to ask questions and chat. Mostly, Palani is just a chill guy that likes table tennis and laughs with us for taking homeowork questions too seriously. Office hours were a great time to get to know him and yap.
Normal Fro Sci weighting, weekly-biweekly Proton assignments (not too long), weekly homeworks, weekly homework corrections (brief). He does grade a bit harshly, but will leave comments after.
I didn't check Palani's CULPA before coming into his class, and I'm honestly glad I didn't because it is very inaccurate. Palani is an extremely caring professor in all that he does. He is ALWAYS willing to answer your questions and walk you through a problem, no matter how many times you need it. He will work around your schedule to find time to meet with you, even outside of office hours. And even though his feedback might be a bit vague at times, he will always explain himself or follow up if you ask him questions. Also, if you do the discussion leaders program, he is extremely helpful throughout the process, and it is SO much easier than doing a semester project. Even though having to grade your own homework is a bit much, it helps you work through the problems and see what you missed (helpful when studying for the midterm and final). DONT let his reviews scare you - take Palani!!