He is really funny and is a genuine good guy. The class was great, the books we read were great, the midterms and final were really easy. Only two 1 page essays due at the final and it was only 50 minutes, in class before the scheduled final

Amazing guy. Nothing is unclear or unfair, his expectations for you are clear, and it's evident he wants to help you succeed.

Fair curves, midterms, and finals. You can retake the quizzes as many time as you want. Midterms and final are all based off of slideshow. Professor is approachable, nice, and fun. Attendance to discussion is mandatory though. No reason not to get an A in the class.

Great professor and great guy. Easy teacher and very clear lectures/tests. Could not have been better.

cThis was my first time taking an upper div cogs class. He is passionate in what he does. He know his stuff and can break it down for you. His lecture slides are awesome. Exams are VERY representative to the lecture slides :) I am shocked that he is a grad student and not a real prof! He is, so far, my fave COGS lecturer! HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM!

A great professor! His lectures are crystal clear, and his tests reflect what he says in lecture. Book isn't exactly mandatory, but it helps to clear up some of the more complex stuff. I highly recommend taking him!

Very good prof. Explains concepts well. Tests are directly based on lecture slides. Doesn't use textbook. It's just there for background reading. All exams are multiple choice, T/F, fill in the blank and not cumulative. Overall, highly recommend this prof.

Don't read the book or the linked papers. Attend section, attend lecture occasionally. Tests are not especially tricky. Unlike some other classes, the amount of work you put in will actually determine the grade you receive.

I audited the class, so I can't say anything about the exams. As far as the class goes, Steve's an incredible lecturer -- without a doubt the best instructor I've had during my time at UCSD. More than highly recommended!

He's a nice guy, but holy smokes is he boring. The lecture is clear and straightforward, but paying attention is very hard. He even acknowledges the fact that his lecture is dull. I reccomend the professor, but be prepared to spend many days watching the seconds pass by on the clock in something akin to agony.

He is a great speaker, he knows how to make his slides easy to understand and does a great job at explaining the book. His exams are pretty straight-forward and he is so eager to answer questions or help you learn. Definitely recommend him. Some lectures are not as interesting, but some are very engaging. I want to take more of his classes!

He is so nice!!!! He makes everything really easy and he is really easy to approach as well :) take him if you can!!

Professor is excellent, and very clear in his lectures. Not everything is engaging, but much is, and the class is worth it for that alone. Exams are fair, and representative of material. Prof is one of the best profs I've had at UCSD.

Great teacher, all lectures are just an overview of the assigned chapters. Quizzes are easy, taken online and multiple times offered. Exams are based off of lecture slides and it's hard to get a bad grade in the class. The labs in section are a bit lame but the class is interesting.

AMAZING PROFESSOR!!! He is very interesting to listen to and the topic is fascinating. I will be seeking out classes that he teaches from now on.

Lectures are clear and exams are fair. AND HE HAS SUCH A CUTE PERSONALITY! Take him if you can, you won't regret it!

Uses iClickers for participation in lectures but the points u get for them aren't based on accuracy. He's a very chill professor and if I could take him for all my classes, I would :)

Barrera is great- he's really into the material and I thinks that's contagious to a certain extent. He offers all sorts of reviews and tutorials and makes sure the material is as clear as possible. Always willing to answer questions and has a great sense of humor. LOVE this guy.

Very nice guy. Class is straightforward. Does everything to help you learn. His TAs were good.

I've taken 2 classes in the last year and he is amazing. He's really passionate and tries hard to help his students. His lectures are well-organized with outlinesoverview and he has clicker questions. He is funny and keeps class interesting. Tests are straight forward and he throws out questions if everyone struggled with it and has extra credit

The most incredible, charismatic professor I've ever had. Amazing lecturer (he's paid just to lecture!) and person, ridiculously funny and good-natured. Exams are pretty easy, I went 89%, 95%, and 104%, plenty of free points along the way as well. Makes you understand the material on the first run, and make you interested in it as well.

Professor Barrera is great! His lectures are very well organized and his tests are fair. Attendance is mandatory (clickers), but you can miss 5 classes without penalty (or just opt out of clickers). He is very friendly, always willing to help his students, and always open to feedbackimprovement.

So many more tags I could have used, and all positive. Clear grading criteria, hilarious, there for you, very helpful. Sometimes it's hard to ask questions in class because of how fast-paced the lectures are, but he's available before and after and during office hours.

Professor Barrera is amazing, period. All the things he teaches you are so engaging and are very practical to the real world. Hands down my favorite professor at UCSD so far. I never complain about attending his classes, and he really cares about his students :) This guy should be a comedian.

Midterms and Final are based off the lectures. Do the study guide and you should be fine

Barrera is by far the best professor this university has ever had. Even if he left his job, he could become a comedian - he's one of the funniest people I've ever met. This course is pretty easy since it's mostly cognitive psychology (unlike 101A, which had a lot of neuroscience). I studied 2 hours tops for each exam and finished with a 98%.

I never knew what Cognitive Science was just took this class for a GE. I was so happy I did, Barrera makes the subject interesting and mixes it up. Weekly online quizzes with 3 attempts, midterms and finals are not accumulative, so midterm 1 week 1-4, midterm 2 week 5-7, final week 7-end. Extremely fair class and material catches your attention.

Professor Barrera is amazing. He really cares about his students and he responds to emails fast. He offers sona extra credit and his lectures are very organized and clear. As long as you outline his lectures and look at the key points you will pass with a good grade. he gives option to opt out of clickers so you could miss class and just read notes

One of the best professors I've had. He makes the class interesting, and he really cares about the students. I will definitely be looking to take more classes taught by him.

Professor Barrera's exams are very straightforward. If you pay attention in lecture, you're good to go. You will never even want to miss lecture because of his great teaching style and his hilarious jokes. He also provides students with an option to opt out of clicker Qs. He's by far one of the best professors I've had!

He's great. This course has guest speakers who put me to sleep, but I love Barrera. Plus he looks like Jason Bateman, really he does.

Professor Barrera is my favorite professor at UCSD. Though Cogs 1 is primarily taught by guest lecturers, he organizes the course perfectly. He's extremely fair and creates a solid Cogs 1 course. No matter what your major, take a course with him before you graduate. He's friendly, genuine, and passionate about cogsci and his students.

He is a very nice professor - COGS1 mainly has outside lecturers but Barrera was very thorough with review and his tests are easy if you just watch the podcasts and take notes. There are alot of lecturers so some miss, but the hits would be fascinating and I learned a great deal

He's one of the nicest and most understanding professors I've met at UCSD - very friendly and obviously cares about his students. It's apparent that he's really excited about the material and his excitement is contagious. Very interesting lectures.

Best professor that I have ever taken. He is obviously passionate about the material, presents it in a clear manner, and tests in a way that is challenging but fair. Attending and reviewing lecture, reviewing weekly quizzes, and completing the labs is enough to succeed in this class. Really interesting material on top of that.

Great lecturer, very clear, nice, relevant topics discussed. No textbook needed. Scantrons provided, review sessions are kind of extra and unecessary since theyre question based but he always offers them (IAs run it) labs are quick and simple and just apply material learned in class MANDATORY SECTIONS except when there is no lab

Barrera is one of the best lecturers that UCSD has to offer. I recommend taking him for any class you can. You will have a solid understanding of the material, and he's always available to students after class to go over material more in-depth, which is something UCSD is generally lacking.

Prof. Barrera is one of the best CogSci professors out there. His lectures are clear and efficient, and reading the book supplements his lectures perfectly. He provides study guides that make good exam grades easy and section labs (mandatory) are easy A's.

Prof. Barrera is very passionate and interacts with students well. His lectures are straightforward and he uses detailed power points (but you still have to attend lectures to get participation credit). His online quizzes are SUPER easy (you get 3 tries and the entire weekend), as well as the exams. Don't need to read the book; lectures cover all.

Best Cognitive Science teacher! Hands down! Very thorough with his lecture and at times may be a lot to handle. This may be due to the nature of the course though. But just go over the study guide and you'll be golden! Has weekly quizzes but you get three attempts. Oh and don't need to buy the book for any of his classes!

BEST PROFESSOR AT UCSD. Literally, I've had Prof. Barrera for 3 classes, and he is such a great lecturer! He makes his lectures very clear and easy to understand. I never bought a textbook for his classes (COGS 1, 101A and 101B). and I easily got an A. He also offers EASY extra credit (SONA and section attendence). I would DEFINITELY recommend him!

This is the kind of prof that anyone can come to and talk to.

Learning about ethics in data science could not have been more enjoyable without him as a professor. Barrera is funny, loves what he teaches and cares about how we internalize the material. He also taught at a great pace, gave fair tests, and is accessible outside class. He's a gem. Made me happy to be a COGS major

Hilarious, caring, understanding prof who is very fair. He made cogs14a, which most might consider to have "boring" material, very enjoyable and relevant. The class was also super easy, and there's even extra credit; imo impossible not to pass. My fav thing about this prof is he teaches with a huge smile on his face!

Professor Barrera is amazing. He's an excellent lecturer; very clear, cracks jokes every now and then, and makes sure you understand the material thoroughly. That being said, I hated the class. I'm CogSci major to learn more about neural networking of the brain, not about how to conduct experiments. Barrera made the class somewhat bearable though.

I would like to say that Barrera is an amazing Professor, he is very genuine and understandable. I took his stats class for SP17 quarter and also took his previous 14A course during W17 quarter and enjoyed every bit of his lecturing style. Tests weren't all too hard but fairly reasonable. Gives out a great amount of Extra Credit as well. Take him!

Usually COGS1 is mostly composed of guest lecturers, but Professor Barrera is a funny guy and he keeps the class very well organized. His tests are very straight forward, just go through the lectures and memorize everything.

Professor Barrera is one of the best professors I've had. His powerpoints are really well organized and easy to understand. He also podcasts his lectures which is always good. His tests are very straightforward and fair. He doesn't give much homework, only weekly quizzes which he gives 3 attempts for you to do.

One of the most organized professors at UCSD, clear powerpoints and 2% of extra credit. Midterms are manageable if you know your stuff. TAKE WITH HIM IF POSSIBLE

Professor Barrera is the best!! He makes the material a lot more interesting and explains the concepts really well. I really enjoyed the class and would definitely recommend others to take his class!!

My favorite professor in UCSD. He's lecture notes are super organized! Easy to follow along! He is super caring! Take his class!

Barrera is truly one of the best professors I have had. He not only cares about his students, but does his best to make the material fun and interesting (even when its really not). His tests are very representative of the material and he provides many resources to help you study. TAKE HIM YOU WONT REGRET IT!!!!! <3 you barrera

In my opinion should be one of the most respected professors at UCSD. Classes covered all of the most important topics important to the discipline. Clear lectures and challenging exams.

Perfect lectures, he goes through step-by-step examples on how to do everything he will test on. He's not always the best at explaining the concepts behind stats, but the concepts are already confusing so that's not really his fault. Tests are hard, but he lets you have a cheat sheet, and everything on the test is fair and taught in lecture.

Professor Barrera is very enthusiastic about the material he teaches which is what I really liked about him! He knows his material but sometimes he doesn't explain the concepts in a way that someone with minimal background in stats would understand. Another thing is he is very specific with the type of responses he wants on midterms.

The class was okay. I am not a COGS major or a data science person so it wasn't my favorite thing but it was interesting. He is a good lecturer and it was interesting but you had to listen to a separate guest lecture on top of his own to take the exams and that sucked but there was not reading which was great

This class is made up of 3 guest lectures a week, meaning past podcasts in the online version of this course. There are interesting ones, and less interesting ones, but Professor Barrera is clearly caring and accommodating to every student's circumstances. The lecture he gave at the beginning was actually the most interesting one!

one of the best professors i've ever had!! he's also very understanding and his exams are fair and based off of lectures. i'd love to take him again

Professor Barrera is easily one of my favorite professors at UCSD! Hilarious, charismatic, and explains the material perfectly. The readings were useful but you can do good by just studying the lectures. He's very understanding and accommodating especially when I took him during the coronavirus pandemic.

Professor Barrera is one of the best professor I've had at UCSD. He is super passionate about what he teaches and makes learning fun. Tests are very straightforward with a mix of mc, free response, and fill in the blank. As long as you study you should have no problem getting an A. TAKE HIM!!

Guest lectures for each class, very easy, quizzes every week but you get three chances for each one.

Awesome at getting the material across in a digestible way, plus he's super enthusiastic about it. Free points via quizzes that you can take 3 times, and tests are easy A's as long as you show up to lecture.

My favorite prof of the year! He's super passionate about the course and is very good at explaining concepts. The quizzes were all multiple choice and open note and everything we needed to answer the questions was in guest lectures or his review lectures. We didn't have homework tho so quizzes mattered a lot.

Literally the best professor I have had thus far. Prof. Barrera is extremely passionate about the material. Very understanding and kind person. Graded by three midterms and weekly quizzes + extra credit opportunities. Gives three attempts on quizzes w/ thorough explanation on why wrong answers are wrong. Highly, highly recommend.

Amazing professor. Great lectures that fill in any gaps in student understanding, plus he always sets aside time to answer student questions. Super easy grading system too, a big chunk of your grade is made up of quizzes you get three attempts at. Overall, fantastic.

Professor Barrera is super kind and wonderful. Very enthusiastic. We have 2-3 recorded guest lectures / week followed up by his live lectures. Grading for this classes is based on 3 midterms and weekly mc quizzes. Sections are optional but they are EC if you go (2%). If you can't he has other EC options. Overall great professor and easy class

Barrera is a kind, well-spoken, and knowledgeable lecturer. Watch 3 guest lectures per week, and he does his own live lecture to cover the topics. It's a great class to get a lot of exposure to different aspects of cogsci. The weekly quizzes are easy, and the exams are a usual difficulty as long as you watch all the lectures and study.

Prof. Barrera's class was genuinely enjoyable. He's a great lecturer, and his midterms were very fair. The class itself also wasn't too overbearing with work. I'm looking forward to taking his other classes!

Professor Barrera is one the greatest professor at UCSD. He cares about the topics that he teaches, but also takes to time to pause and make sure you are following along. If you are at Muir, I would recommend to take Cognitive Science classes for your social sciences GE, honestly just for this class and COGS 17 with Dr. Johnson, who's great too.

Only graded by 3 midterms and weekly quizzes. All of which are multiple choice. You get 3 chances on each quiz (remote learning). Super easy and fun class! Alot of opportunities for multiple choice. Barrera knows what hes talking about and is pretty good at explaining in simpler terms

Professor Barrera is really kind and patient. He seems to genuinely care about the students' education and tries his best to help them. He makes sure to walk thru examples and provides extra study material on more difficult concepts. Would def recommend.

Prof. Barrera is very chill and caring. His assignments/weekly quizzes are very straightforward and give you feedback on your wrong answers, to help you figure it out for attempts 2 and 3. Midterms are very reasonable content-wise, and he really takes student feedback into account when designing them. Easy A if you take notes and/or ask questions.

Professor Barrera is one of the most beloved professors in the cognitive science department. I have never heard any student say anything negative about him. absolute king.

he is the most amazing prof and is super passionate! must take him if youre a cogs sci major :))

A lot of guest lectures, but you could tell he was super passionate about cogsci and invested in student success. So many avenues to succeed (OHs, reviews of guest lectures, extra credit), on top of an easy class. I really enjoyed it and felt like I learned a lot. 10/10, would recommend

I've taken Barrera for COGS 1 and COGS 101B (and hopefully another class) and he is one of my favorite if not favorite professors I've had at UCSD? He's very engaging and all the material on his slides/lecture arev on the exam. NO trick questions and three attempts for quizzes.

Professor Barrera is excited to teach and cares more about his students that the average professor. I have taken him for COGS 1 and COGS 14B. You will do well if you work hard; it is an extremely fair grading system.

Weekly low stakes quizzes w/ 3 tries & feedback makes it a great source of studying for the 2 midterms & 1 final. I rarely feel lost, and if I do, it's nothing watching the zoom later on won't fix. Still in doubt? Email for clarification. I wish there was Piazza for 14b though so the whole class could benefit from questions.

10/10

He gives one of the most organized lectures at the COGS department @ UCSD. Exams are very fair and no tricky questions. Quizzes and sections are good sources to prepare for the exams. He is the exemplary instructor!

I resist the urge to tell this man I love him at the end of every lecture or office hour. He is so kind, patient, intelligent, and genuinely concerned about the well-being of the people in his classes. He loves the course material and makes every class engaging. I cannot recommend him enough! Truly the gem of the cognitive science department here.

He is an amazing professor, most lectures were guest lectures.

Definitely one of the best professors in the cognitive science department. Amazing lectures and clear grading. Quizzes and exams are easy and represent the class materials. Make sure to take notes and not skip any lectures, and should be an easy A.

Love this man, wish I could take every single COGS class with him. Barrera is so clearly passionate about the material he teaches and cares so much about his students. An absolute gem of a prof, protect him at all costs.

He is so organized and clear! He is not out there to trick you at all, he wants you to succeed!

I took two classes with Professor Barrera. He was inspiring and caring in his class, and his classes were the best I have ever taken. His sole desire is for his students to gain knowledge and success in his class.

Amazing professor. Lectures were easy to understand and detailed. Quizzes/exams were straightforward. He was easily accessible outside of class and has a good sense of humor. Hands down, would take again.

I LOVED professor Barrera. He was so passionate of what he is teaching, and explains concepts very clearly. This is my first upper div class and it wasn't difficult because of him. If you have a chance to take any class with him, DON'T THINK TWICE TAKE HIM YOU WONT REGRET IT.

Last name ever, first name GREATEST! My favorite professor at UCSD. Very clear class structure and expectations and very receptive to student feedback. Weekly quizzes, but with 3 attempts so as to make the focus on your preparation rather than an additional test. Fun lectures w/questions embedded to keep learning on track. Very fair exams.

Quizzes are 25% with 3 tries each, with an easy full credit here. P. Barrera's lectures are informative, and the class has multiple guest lecturers. Attendance not mandatory, but worth going to as quizzes/exams are directly based on them. Questions are simple, easy A class. Extra credit through section attendance or through SONA.

There is a so called "required" textbook but in fact I don't think you'll need it. Lectures are clear, while quizzes are fully based on them. Tests are not hard at all and only requires a little bit of analysis. As all the other comments are 5 out of 5 for Prof. Barrera, I think I don't need to explain anymore.

I've had Barrera for 3 classes (14b, 101a and b) and he's great. No homework outside of weekly take-home quizzes, exams have *typically* been online (and open note) -- not too difficult, given you are proficient with the material. Very caring for his students/your success in his classes. Barrera is my pookie bear fr.

I couldn't be more impressed. Research Methods is a heavy topic but this professor is passionate and super knowledgable about it and explains things very well. Adding in a bit of humor makes it even better. He goes at a great pace and makes sure students are comprehending. Very patient. Textbook and attendance not mandatory, 2 midterms and 1 final.

Professor is amazing, and we are graded by a few things: 2 midterms, 1 final and weekly homework quizzes. The midterms were surprisingly difficult, he is lecture heavy and some of the topics were difficult. But overall he made it interesting and engaging. Cant recommend him enough.

Prof. Barrera has been one of the greatest instructors I've had so far! His grading criteria was really fair and his lectures were amazing. Great recommendation for COGS 14A.

His classes are very well organized and grades consist of attendance (which you can choose to opt-out of), weekly quizzes (3 tries), 2 midterms and a final (usually online, open notes). Lessons can be difficult but he teaches them very well. Probably one of my MOST favorite professors at UCSD.

Has a consistent and comfortable format for lecture slides. Explains and breaks down concepts well! Quizzes get 3 tries with incorrect answers labeled. Quizzes and attendance quizzes are good prep for what the tests will be like. Tests slightly challenging. I really like Barrera, he is so smiley face coded :o)

Online open-book exams that are very fair. He explained the material well and gave lots of flexibility in his attendance policy. Great lectures and manages to include lots of interesting real-world applications.

very kind dude with awesome energy. the content itself for the class was a bit boring but he tries to make it as interesting as possible, which i respect!

Great professor - makes lecture interesting and clear, and grading is super fair. 10/10 would recommend him for any cog sci class

Professor Barrera is a gem - his lectures are engaging, and he breaks down complex concepts clearly. The quizzes and tests are challenging but fair. unstuckstudy and the free textbook are great study aids. Highly recommend this class!

You can tell he is very passionate about what he teaches. His lectures are clear and pretty easy to follow along, plus he adds a bit of humor and tries making them as enjoyable as possible. Attendance for lectures is part of your grade, but you can opt out. Exams are online and study guides are provided. Amazing professor overall!

He was a very good teacher. He was very kind and passionate about his work. He genuinely cares about his students and wants them to succeed. 2 Midterms and Final online. There are extra credit options as well. Lot of info, but slides are clear and marked with what's important to know.

He's very chill and personable - and his exams are online too

Good professor, he was helpful in explaining the content at a reasonable pace and with enthusiasm. Lectures can cover lots of content so be prepared to take notes. Iclicker questions for attendance, 3 reasonable easy assignments, 2 midterms and weekly quizzes on lecture content. Final exam was cumulative and fairly straightforward.

This guy is awesome. Passionate, kind, considerate. Fantastic lecture materials, very engaging presence in class. You can tell he really cares. He seems like a very happy person and he really deserves to be.

Attendance is mandatory, can miss 6 and is extra credit if not can opt out and the percentage moves to your exams. Discussions are mandatory only attend 5 for credit. 2 midterms online and final exam online and timed. 3 major discussion assignments. weekly quizzes online. Overall easy class. Very passionate about the topic, excellent professor.

Very kind and caring professor. His course was pretty easy, especially if you go to lecture and take notes. Attendance not mandatory but will make final weigh less on your grade if you go. Assignments were pretty easy and there are weekly quizzes but they aren't that bad. Very passionate about what he teaches.

Very kind and funny professor. The course was very accommodating and relatively easy, especially if you go to lecture and take notes. Very passionate about what he teaches. Two midterms and a final online. Overall, very doable class and amazing Professor!

Very kind and passionate professor, smiley and enthusiastic in lectures. The course content could tend to be boring but he tries his best to engage with the students and the slide questions reflect the lessons. The quizzes and exams are fair, accurately reflecting lecture concepts.

This class was such a breeze, I honestly slacked off and that's why I got a B+ but I could've easily gotten an A if not. Weekly quizzes and take-home exams, all digital. Just copying his notes into a masterdoc and using that during exams is all you need. Also he's just super understanding and a great lecturer :)

He's very enthusiastic and genuinely wants to help you succeed in his class.

Taken fall 2025, this time tests were in person and not on canvas. Memorization heavy because tests aren't open-note, but can get difficult when taking other classes that require you to memorize. Fun professor and genuinely care about his class, I feel like I just have test anxiety no matter how much I study.