Kristen Shepard

Shepard was a pretty good professor. It's biology, so what do people expect? She tries very hard to make sure we learned everything. The first exam was pretty easy for me because probability and math comes naturally to me. However, on the second midterm I did pretty bad because I just can't remember and memorize facts-- which is something you have to deal with in any bio class. The final was reasonable. Her multiple choices were a bit annoying. In terms of the problem sets, they were okay. if you got stuck the TA sessions were helpful. I really enjoyed that class. It was very interesting; particularly the stuff we learned.

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..

Professor Shepard is very dedicated to teaching and will try to make the material accesible and painless. She makes herself very available outside of class. However...the work assigned isn't the most interesting, especially if you're not a plant person. Biweekly problem sets make the course feel kind of like high school bio classes. Her exams are pretty good, though, and don't require that you read much of the text book to do well.

Don't be fooled by the silver nugget next to her name or the reviews below that rave about her. Kristen Shepard is just not a good professor. However, (unlike now) there were no true reviews of her ability when I took Genetics with her. I guess when she was teaching Bio BC 1001 she was easier on those students since they were mostly freshmen and it's a course for people who don't have a strong background in bio, but she was HORRIBLE for Genetics. First of all, she is very rude and for no apparent reason. It's nice that she gives you a print out of the slides she uses in her presentations and that she tries to learn everyone's name, but I would much rather prefer good teaching over both of those things. The clicker questions were thrown at us in class as we were being introduced to the information and if a large percentage of the class got it wrong she would say things like "how she didn't understand why we don't understand" and then would tell us to talk over our answer with the person next to you, which wasn't very helpful because most of the time, they guessed too. The problem sets were hard and there were so few questions that getting 3 wrong would give you a C. The tests were ridiculously difficult and LONG. Expect to be in the middle of a problem in the last 2 minutes. I also spent a majority of the test trying to figure out what she was even asking and got a lot of point…

Professor Shepard is enthusiastic and makes the class as lively as it can be. Overall, I think that if you study you can do well, although it isn't an easy A. She has great office hours and is really accomodating. She is there for her students and one should take advantage of the Question and Answer sessions as well. Every class she hands out slides that are identical to her powerpoint, which is obviously helpful. Down side is that it does take her a long time to grade the midterms, but if you can deal with that, it is a good class to take to satisfy (the first half) of the science requirement.

I took this class not particularly interested in plants, but wanting to avoid taking Animal Phys for my major requirement. What a great class! Shepard is the newest member of the faculty and obviously wants to make sure everyone is comfortable with the material. All lectures are Powerpoint, but she prints them out ahead of time and gives them out in class. The handouts are helpful but don't replace the textbook -- you'll need to study both for exams. She's also incredibly easy to approach and will answer any question you might ask, including subjects that have nothing to do with the material-at-hand.

So I took this class because I love molecular biology. Really, a big fan. But now, I hate it. I really don't like Mendelian genetics because of the way Shepard taught it. I can't say probability comes naturally to me, so just reading it in the textbook and being hit with hard clicker questions in class is not the best way to learn how to figure out the probability of someone being color blind, blood type O, and have hemophilia. She is very disorganized, has typos all over her slides and largely unclear about everything she says. She tries hard. She really does. But for some reason she ends up confusing us even more. The TAs are helpful and her office hours are helpful. But she's not always so welcoming. So really push your question to be answered even if she turns you away. You'll probably have to take Genetics to take any other Biology class, but luckily, she probably won't be teaching it anymore. Her tests were difficult especially when the wording of the questions was even more confusing than her lectures. Most questions were backwards english so it made it nearly impossible to understand what the question was asking. Problem sets had just the same problem. Oh, and for any class she teaches, don't expect your assignments or exams returned to you within two weeks of handing it in. She's slow with grading. Overall, I think the class was unfairly taught and graded.

I can't say too much about her lecture styles since I hardly went to class. She was quite popular among students though so it'd be safe to assume that she's not a horrible lecturer. The readings aren't much for 4.5 credit course at all, and she posts a bunch of questions related to the lectures on the Courseworks, which is more helpful than anything else. Print out the questions and know the answers to all of them. That's what she wants you to know. If you do that, you might pass this course with a decent grade like I did even without having to go to a single class.

6 problem sets (in a group or on your own, but you can hand in corrections after they're marked), 1 journal club (in a group), 2 discussion leader questions (emailed), 2 midterms, and a cumulative final.

2 midterms, a final. Bi-weekly problem sets.