GEOSCI 109 explores the geologic story of US National Parks through physiography, tectonics, and fundamental geologic processes.
Many reviewers describe the class as extremely difficult and stressful, citing packed content, hard-to-follow lectures, and quizzes that feel unfair despite diligent study and attendance at office hours.
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Annie Bauer is kind and available, but her lectures are often criticized as disjointed, fast-paced, and confusing. Reviewers found the course unexpectedly difficult for an introductory level, citing high stress and content delivery issues.
Some students found the online format manageable and lectures interesting, noting Bauer is knowledgeable and helpful. Others contrasted her negatively with co-instructor Lucas Zoet, finding Bauer's approach harder to process than advertised.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.34 GPA, 69.7% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.57 GPA, 79.1% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 77.1% A/AB (n=48 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
Lucas Zoet is historically praised for clear, well-organized lectures and open-note quizzes, though some find his pacing slow or content disjointed. Clark Johnson is remembered as an engaging lecturer, but students note his exams can be difficult to study for. Current instructor Annie Bauer co-teaching is reported to increase course difficulty.
ANN BAUER is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CLARK M JOHNSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
LUCAS ZOET is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
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| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 87 / 192 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Annie Bauer teaches GEOSCI 109 with engaging lectures and helpful office hours, but students report significant disagreement regarding the course difficulty and exam fairness.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.34 GPA, 69.7% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.57 GPA, 79.1% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 77.1% A/AB (n=48 letter grades).
Many reviewers describe the class as extremely difficult and stressful, citing packed content, hard-to-follow lectures, and quizzes that feel unfair despite diligent study and attendance at office hours.
Some students found the online format easy if they knew where to find answers, describing the lectures as interesting and Bauer as a knowledgeable and kind resource for further questions.
– average GPA
Approximate 80% prediction interval
The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.
The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.
5 earlier forecasts · 0.30 GPA average error.
Through Fall 2026
Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels
GPA
Higher than % of other courses in this group.
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Typical course in this group: letter grades.
1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.
Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Three billion years beneath your feet: Geology of the National Parks
Recorded 2026-09-07[
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"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:420:025017",
"course_id": "GEOSCI 109",
"course_uid": "course_0911d463248b56fd56dfea6d",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "025017",
"source_subject_id": "420",
"title": "Three billion years beneath your feet: Geology of the National Parks",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
}
]Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
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