An excellent course...one of the best I have taken on Coursera. Dr. Martin presents the information in a well organized, enjoyable manner. Even though the format is lecture style, Dr. Martin includes many images and even takes learners on "field trips." Assigned readings are interesting and fairly current. My only complaint was with the peer-graded assignment- some of us had difficulty navigating that process. That is a Coursera technical issue, I believe, and they are working to improve that aspect of the course.

I enjoyed this course a lot. The lecturer, Anthony, has a great upbeat delivery style that isn't dry at all, which makes a refreshing change - I wish there were a few more lecturers like him when I went to uni! I also learnt a lot - and understanding the past really put into context what is happening now in regards to extinctions and climate change.

Excellent overview of pre-human extinctions and their relationship to the current human-initiated 6th extinction.

I enjoyed the rich course material very much and Professor Martin gave highly interest-holding lectures. The technical references provided avenues for students to take deeper dives into the course material.

Two issues with the course: (a) The course is not monitored, making it difficult for students to ask questions for clarification or get technical help with the assignments and (b) Students must review each other's submitted final assignments even though we are certainly not qualified to do so - this should be done by the professor or a teaching assistant.

The professor, plus the course syllabus, and the way in which they were both presented exceeded all my hopes and expectations for learning as a beginning geology student major.

The course is fantastic! It's very fun, dynamic and interesting. The professor is very good at explaning each topic.

Excellent course

Excellent

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This course has excellent content and is very well presented. The instructor is a talented teacher who adds wit and relevance to each lecture. I have taken other very good online classes in paleontology, earth science and related subjects. 'Extinctions' rates among the best for clarity and focus on the key thematic points. I gained a good working knowledge of the Big Five mass extinctions and how they may inform needed mitigation and adaptation in the future. The innovative integration of lectures and reading material is a feature of this course that makes it especially effective for distance learning. The articles and papers are sequenced with the lectures to provide very relevant insight and detail that supports each lecture. The combination enhanced my understanding and retention. I also appreciated the answering the short, four question, peer-graded, essay at the end of Week 5. It summarized some of the key teaching points and enhanced learning. Overall, this is a high quality and fun online learning experience. Highly recommended!

An excellent course... The lecturer, Anthony, has a great upbeat delivery style that isn't dry at all, which makes a refreshing change. Excellent overview of pre-human extinctions and their relationship to the current human-initiated 6th extinction.

Great course for the non-professional student- keeps the subject matter discussions light and contemporary. Especially loved the idea of ecological proxy, which I had never heard before!

An absolutely amazing course with an enthusiastic, engaging professor. I would give more stars if I could! I learned so much and was constantly excited for the next lesson.

very interesting course and i enjoyed learning new topics