Lance Kam

QP was honestly much more chill than I expected. I was prepared for an experience much worse than intro bio but I was pleasantly surprised by Prof Kam's HWs and exams. Make no mistake, the class is not easy, but the homeworks are very doable especially if you go to office hours. Professor Kam is an absolute gem and he truly cares about his students. He'll use examples from his research in his lectures and his passion for the field is contagious. However, be warned the lectures are at 8:40 am and Prof Kam sometimes is not the most engaging lecturer and may have a lot of uhs and ums. This class did change my mind on 8:40s though but this will not be the case for everyone. The lectures are recorded though! If you're not BME I'm not sure why you're looking at this class but personally I don't think the class requires pre-reqs or a bio background, though these will help. Overall I enjoyed the class and it was not as bad as I expected given what I had heard about the class previously.

He's one of the nicest professor I met here. QP1 has interesting contents and he makes it even better by integrating some of the research themes and what we are learning. Some people complain about his speed but I personally found it totally fine. The midterm average was very low but it was a matter of time management than the problems, since most of them were variations of our psets. This is a required course for BME majors so if you are reading this review, I know you likely have no option. But overall, this course was my favorite this semester and it really wasn't that bad.

Lance Kam is an insanely nice guy. I asked for extensions on practically all of the homework assignments (I’ll get to that in a second) and he was extremely gracious. I will say it was hard getting to his lectures at 8:40 and his lecture style made it even harder. I hate saying this because he really is such a great guy but I felt like his lectures were useless and very sloppy. The content itself seemed mostly useless; I doubt most students will even remember what was covered unless it resurfaces again in later courses. Problem sets were pretty lengthy and definitely forced you to apply the concepts covered in lecture. Very application based. A lot of modeling etc. Word of advice: get started early. Go to office hours. That is key for this class. Where Lance Kam falls off the TAs pick up IMMENSELY. the TAs for this class are seriously AMAZING. They practically show you how to do the problems in OH and they also host review sessions. I wouldn’t have done well without them tbqh. I was able to read the lectures and PPTS on my own time and go to OHs and I did just fine. Although I do recommend going to lecture because there are specific things he emphasizes in class that come up in the exam.

Kam was a pretty bad lecturer, and going to lecture was pretty optional most of the time, everything is in the notes he posts. The problem sets sometimes are kinda hard, but TA's help a lot. The tests were very time intensive and time was the big factor. When given enough time everybody did pretty well, like the final. Pretty sure Kam downcurved the class so yeah,beware

Kam seems like a nice guy though his teaching style leaves much to be desired. His online lecture notes are great but lectures at times feel like a waste, especially at 9am. Kam doesnt do a very good job of distilling the material and most lectures just degenerate into him writing equation after equation on the board. He gave 5 problem sets during the whole semester which were spaced out pretty well and he is quite flexible with deadlines but when one is set he is very hard on those who hand things in late. Problem sets are quite hard to figure out on your own but he and the TAs are always very accessible. The midterm and final are open book but you will still be faced with time constraints and understanding the material will be key no matter what. Overall, Kam is a decent teacher though he can be a boring lecturer at times. Be selective with the classes you go to, not all of them are worth waking up early for (especially ones where he is going over problem sets or a midterm)

Lance Kam is awesome. Give him a chance to warm up, and he'll tell you about watching Yu-gi-oh with his nephews.

I agree with the previous review. Professor Kam started off shaky, but I felt that as the semester progressed, he started to gain confidence and became better. Also, this class has very difficult material in it, and it's a hard thing to teach, especially if it's your first year teaching. I thought the organization was pretty good but the lack of examples made the material harder to follow. The workload itself wasn't that bad, and the midterm and final were open notes, open book. He was always available, and the TA office hours helped a lot, especially before homeworks were due. He'll probably be better next year when he has more confidence in himself.

This year was Prof. Kam's first time teaching this class... and to be honest, it was BAD. The lectures are disorganized, his handwriting is awful, and he's not a good lecturer. Of course, it doesn't help that the class is at 9am. There were many times when we got emails after class where he corrected mistakes that he had made in the lecture. However, there are notes online (although these aren't usually too comprehensible), and the homework usually isn't THAT awful- although it helps a lot if you or a friend goes to office hours. The tests are all open-book open-note, which helps a lot, since you don't learn too much in class. Anyhow, I have to give Prof. Kam some credit- he's a nice guy and it's his first time teaching. His teaching definitely improved over the semester, and maybe next year it won't be as bad.