I love this class and I love Kittlesen!!! He's such an amazing professor and really makes class engaging and interesting, though the content itself can already be pretty interesting. It's clear he's passionate about what he does. I think he was also the most organized of any of my professors this semester - consistent communication about EVERYTHING, learning objectives the test pulls from, etc. He also gave second chances with some of the more difficult labs/assignments that were worth more points and extra credit with the Clicker questions.

He definitely wants his students to succeed and focus more on loving biology than stressing over their grades. However the readings and Mastering Bio questions could be tedious and pretty long at times. The labs were also kind of confusing sometimes, but the procedures for everything were all clearly outlined and the questions were usually straightforward.

The tests covered mostly lecture material. I definitely would go in-person instead of listening to the recordings (which have no visual so they don't include drawings on paper he sometimes does). I studied by reviewing my notes and organizing them into his lesson objectives, and also with the practice exam questions he posts.

Overall, I highly recommend this class if you're interested in biology and willing to put in the time to study!

Kittelsen is a good lecturer and gives lots of examples throughout, sometimes they can be a little hard to understand so make sure you listen to them again (he records all of his lectures). Getting an A is easily achievable with a professor as good as Kittlesen.

TAKE THIS CLASS EVEN IF YOU HAVE CREDIT FOR AP BIO. I have learned so much from Dave and can apply my knowledge like I have never been able to in a class before. Great class- you need to go to lab, do all the readings, and take notes (pay attention to learning objectives and focus mostly on what is in class- sometimes the textbook goes too in depth) in order to succeed. The exams can be difficult (but reasonably so) and Dave lets you drop your lowest score from exams 1-4 but exam 5 counts. I recommend paying close attention to mastering bio and participating in iClicker- these are easy ways to makeup for mistakes on exams. This class isn't an easy A but if you put the time in it is certainly possible. This class was amazing and Dave is always there to answer questions both during/after class and during office hours. I highly recommend this class for all bio majors to build a strong foundation.

This class is very hard. Some people like Kittlesen's lectures but they're very non-linear and bounce all over the place. I would recommend re-listening to the lectures and listen to EVERY thing he says. He tests based on lecture material not on textbook material.

i hadn't taken bio since freshman year of high school, but i still managed to pull an A. i read the textbook before lecture for the first 2-3 exams but completely gave up by the end, so i don't think it's that necessary, but i've also heard the last 2 exams are way more lecture-based, so i don't know. kittlesen was a great lecturer, but don't skip class and rely on the audio recordings-- it's very hard to follow along at home. i never had any idea which slide he was talking about, and clicker questions aren't on the slides, and going over those is a pretty significant part of some classes. the exams were difficult but fair. the mastering bio homework didn't take long, so most of the work for this class was just studying before exams (of which there were 5, so they were pretty frequent).

Enjoyed this class, but it's still rough sometimes. If you don't follow along with the lecture, it'll be a lot harder to get through the exam, even if you studied the textbook. Make sure you know basic info before lecture- even though Kittlesen's pretty easy to follow, you'll understand the nuances more if you know key terms ahead of time. To study for the exam, he provided learning objectives that covered most of what you'll have to understand. Even though I personally didn't enjoy the class too much, Kittlesen was so much fun to listen to and learn from.

To preface this: I came into this class having taken AP Bio. I feel indifferent about this class. I personally actually found it to be quite difficult at times. Dave's powerpoints do not make much sense and his tests cover material from both the textbook and the lectures (so there's a lot of material to study). To succeed in his class, you definitely have to put in the work. My best advice for his exams are to do the practice questions he provides and do some from the Mastering Biology chapter test prep sections. As for Dave's actual lectures, they were quite engaging. He's enthusiastic about the subject matter and adds unplanned comments into lecture that were not intended to be funny, but are hilarious. The lab portion of the class is easy, but still make sure you know what goes on in lab because he'll put material learned in lab on the exams.
#tCFfall2021

I have never understood bio this well until taking a class with kittlesen. He emphasizes understanding material over memorizing, which is usually annoying to hear teachers say, but with kittlesen, he actually does such an incredible job at explaining things that I finally understand what learning rather than memorizing means. Definitely read the textbook section before class (or at least skim it) because it gives you a better background so you can understand the lecture better. However, don't worry about reading the textbook in detail too much because lecture is what really matters for exams. Making a study guide where I answered his learning objectives with my lecture notes is what helped me do best on exams. Also office hours are extremely helpful, especially before exams (even if you don't have questions, definitely try to go to his office hours the week of an exam). #tCFfall2021

This class is difficult, but a good intro to pre-med classes. To be fair, I also came into the class not taking any sort of bio since freshman year of high school, so all of the information was really new. There is a good amount of work for this class, even if you don't do the readings which aren't really required for the class. The best way to take notes is outlining the learning objectives and taking lecture notes based on these objectives. For studying for exams, I recommend rewatching all of his recorded lectures/lecture audios and then talking out the leaning objectives with another student.

I loved Dave! He does a great job of making the lectures more engaging, which is hard to do in a class of 400+ people. He is also just a funny guy which makes the lectures more interesting and he is very knowledgeable of the actual material too. He really seems like he wants everyone to do well, so he answers questions and does a good job of explaining things. He also includes lots of diagrams on his powerpoints and posts those powerpoints and recordings of the lectures which is very helpful as well.