BIOL BC1001

Textbook readings for every class but you totally don't have to do them to do well. Two easy multiple choice tests and one final.

First and foremost, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! If you need more convincing, read on… I’ve just finished up a full year of Introduction to Biology with “Professor Julia Sable, and I’ve never had a worse experience. To start, the syllabus is ever-changing and never-accurate. She mentions no assignments until, at most, two days before they’re due—and they are anything but short. Therefore, if you had designated your Sunday for another assignment, and Professor Sable assigns you a massive assignment at 12:30 AM on a Saturday night due that Monday, good luck… and this happens regularly. She even assigned a ridiculous and absurd “Self-audit report only a week and a half in advance and due the last day of class, which was a remarkable level of wasting time. Additionally, her actual class-time (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9:00 AM) is a COMPLETE waste of time. Yet, you cannot simply skip and do something more productive, because she randomly assigns in-class assignments for participation points. To prepare for an exam, you must teach the entire subject to yourself. Professor Sable also manages to make this difficult, as in addition to assigning chapters in the textbook, she also assigns arbitrary articles and literary novels (for example, Barbara Kingsolver’s Vegetable Miracle). So when attempting to teach yourself all of the material for a test, materials are all over the place a…

Two midterms, one final. Mandatory lab: two formal lab reports (4-6 page papers), one final paper, weekly quizzes.

the reviews were right--he's a great guy really--just need to put up with some mumbling and illegible handwriting---don't miss a day of class otherwise you'll feel even more like an idiot than the idiot's guide he makes you read- makes you feel....so enjoy....but he's really nice....just not worth spending your money on but what else can you do when its the only course that easily fulfills a requirement?

The class was fairly boring, though the professor is pretty sweet most of the time. You do have to go to the class because she does a fill in of the slides during class, and she gives more information than the readings. If you need to fill a requirement this course is super easy. If you're actually trying to learn biology just bump up to 1500

lots of reading, lots of little assignments, four non cumulative exams, and lab work

She goes way above and beyond in caring for her students - putting on tons of Q & A sessions, learning EVERYONE'S names (unbelievable for an 80 person class) and having extended office hours. She often runs out of time to cover all of the slides, but she does cover everything (and if she doesn't, she won't test you on it). Also, she posts all of the slides with her notes on them online - you really don't need to go to class... I missed two weeks and I still understood everything. That said, it's not that bad of a class, but it's a ton of memorizing of processes and definitions..

It's not bad, but her exams are impossible.

I spent an entire year going to this class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9am and it was such torture!! Her lectures are totally disorganized, and she teaches mostly from power points that she didn't even create (she gets them from the book). So basically if you're in this class you have to learn the material on your own, she doesn't add much to it. She's completely unavailable in terms of office hours. Sometime she does little activities during class but they end up being more annoying than just sitting there. She has this thing called "participation grade" which she compiles from little assignments she asks for throughout the semester that are not graded for effort. But half the time she uses these assignments just to punish you -- she assigns them in class to turn in during class when she sees that a lot of people are missing. It's just plain mean! Her tests are pretty hard, but if you work hard and get a good grade, it's not rewarded. SHE CURVES DOWN! This semester to get an A- you had to have a 92%, to get a B+ a 91%. Below 91% was B. It's absolutely crazy. It seems like she doesn't care about her students, she just wants to get through her powerpoint and go home. In her defense, she was pregnant last semester and has a newborn this semester ... but it shouldn't affect her work as much as it does! Seriously guys ... if she's teaching bio and you're looking to fulf…

2 midterms and 1 final. The final covers the material from the first two midterms, but in less detail. Otherwise, she posts optional extra credit quizzes.