BIOL 3050

Professor Condron is great! He is extremely enthusiastic about the subject. He talks very fast so make sure to record his lecture. Most of the material needed for the test comes straight from lecture. I would definitely recommend taking this class. Condron makes sure to keep the class interesting by providing real world examples or experiments you can do on your own mind.

Professor Condron is great! I highly recommend this class! I learned more in this biology class than I have in any other biology class (or I just really liked the material). The overall grade is comprised of 3 exams with the 3rd exam being a non-cumulative final. Exams were fair, and as long as you studied you could do well. Be sure to record lectures because Professor Condron talks really fast so it is nearly impossible to take good notes by simply writing as he talks.

This is the most I've ever learned in a science class. Professor Condron is brilliant, and loves to teach. I found myself fascinated by every chapter. You will learn the pathways of touch, pain, balance, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, learning, and decision making, and be able to apply them to the cellular level of what is happening at the synapse, as well as how these things can go wrong to result in diseases like ALS, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, etc. Grades for this class are entirely comprised of 3 exams. The first two were 35 questions- 7 chapters with 5 questions for each. The last or "final" was technically non-cumulative but covered 11 chapters and had 55 questions. Grades are determined by questions correct/total questions between the 3 tests. My only frustration with this class was in the tests- I found some questions to be very ambiguous or just without a correct answer, for which he re-graded the tests. To do well in the class I would recommend recording every lecture and taking notes on his powerpoints, then that same day re-listening to the lecture while clarifying confusing things in the book (which is really good but often more in depth than he cares about). If you do this after every class, or at least keep up with it weekly, then you won't have to re-learn everything before every test, you just have to re-read your notes which will have everything he is looking for. I did this, creating about 80 pages of outline for the course, knowing all of it well, and will still probably get an A-; so it is very tough to get an A, even though he does adjust down the ranges for grades by about 3 points. Final thoughts- buy the 4th edition of the book because that is what he uses on his slides so it's easier, do all of the practice problems because he just varies them by a few words for the tests, and take this class--you won't regret it if you work hard.

favorite class i've taken at uva. condron is the best professor i've ever had. While is he is disorganized and sometimes hard to follow in lecture, he is tremendously passionate about his field. the material we learned was awesome. the tests were pretty hard, but as long as you took really good notes, record and relisten to the lectures, and read the book (simplified and condensed the material), you would do find on the tests. 10/10 class

Soooo.... This is an absolutely wonderful class! For me personally, I really love the topic of neuroscience (and part of that discovery was from taking this class). That's not to say the class is easy. It is definitely difficult, and there's a ton of material that you need to know. You need to be vigilant about studying the powerpoints and understanding the concepts. It's even more helpful if you go over a powerpoint the same day you had the lecture (as Condron says from the beginning). If you make sure you understand/are comfortable with the concepts on the same day, it helps to solidify the information in your head and makes it much easier to study for the exams (so you're studying things that are already familiar to you, rather than trying to cram and memorize material you're not comfortable with). This class is very rewarding and highly interesting, especially if you're a fan of biology. We covered a large range of topics, from the cellular and molecular functioning of neurons, to whole circuits that make up the nervous system. As for the textbook: I personally did not read the book much unless I had difficulties with a certain topic. We definitely don't cover everything in the book either, and the tests are based off of what is said in lecture, so honestly, I would just look at the book if you don't understand something that happened in lecture (or ask a question on the super helpful Piazza or go to office hours). Also, towards the end of the semester, Condron lets you see and hold some human brains!
Professor Condron himself was just fantastic. His lectures were always interesting, and he is very approachable. It is very obvious that he really loves his job and this topic; he gets excited to tell you about papers that have come out recently on new research, and he is very eager to not only answer a specific question you have, but also expand upon it. He also makes sure to make a lot of the information relevant to life today by applying concepts you learn to practical uses of that knowledge in the medical field (such as ideas to help cure/treat diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's). He does talk pretty fast though (as is necessary to get through a chapter per class!), so it's really useful to record the lectures and listen to them/take more notes later so you can get everything you missed. He is very friendly and funny, encourages the love of learning, and is very interested in helping you so that you understand what's going on. Plus, he's from Ireland. I mean, who wouldn't want to have an Irish professor??
Overall, it was one of my favorite classes, and Condron himself is one of my favorite professors. This is definitely a worthwhile course, especially if you're thinking about majoring in biology or neuroscience; it's a great way to discover specific interests in the science department (as opposed to other classes that aren't taught that well, so then you end up hating it just because you had a not-so-good teacher).

This class was awesome! I would completely recommend this to anybody who is thinking about neuroscience or just needs another bio class in general. He is very animated and very helpful if you ever have questions, and it's obvious that he is very passionate about the topic. It's a fast-paced class and requires you to keep up with the material, but it's manageable, and he's usually very clear about what he expects you to know.

Awesome teacher and awesome class!! Obviously realize that you're getting into a higher level bio class so it's not going to be a cakewalk. He goes through a chapter each day so you should try to stay up on the reading. The book is VERY dense so don't try to read all of it, just focus on defining all the terms on the "flashcards" that are put at the end of the powerpoints. His tests are almost solely based on lecture material so take really good notes and/or record lecture (because he talks SOO fast).
I did well just by reviewing lecture notes and filling out the flashcards, the questions are usually pretty straightforward. Only 3 exams, each is non cumulative but the final is longer but still not cumulative.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND because he's an awesome guy and very approachable and answers questions well at office hours. Be warned that he does give long-winded answers at Office hours but he will explain it well.

So far Professor Condron is the best biology professor I've had at UVA. Yes he's cool and he cares etc but when it comes down to it he's just a very skilled lecturer. He presents the information in the most interesting way possible and makes sure you know what he wants you to remember, what's the most important, and what are just interesting asides. He always finishes lectures early. There are flashcards at the end of each lecture and the only complaint I have about those are that sometimes there's stuff on them that aren't needed but it's very easy to find out what those are by asking him. We can directly ask him any material-based question on Piazza where some students answer but most of the time it's Condron himself and he's very prompt. The material is hard but it's one of those classes where if you put the effort you'll do well because you know exactly what's expected. Also you never have to read the text book. Recording lectures is handy though and everyone does it because there's a lot of info that's easy to miss.

Professor Condron (Barry) is super cool. Fairly certain he was a hippie in his past. Point is he makes the class super fun and applicable with experiments you can try on your roommate and whatnot. It's my earliest class yet I never mind getting up for it. BUT, it's not easy. Take good notes. Or you won't do well. I read the book because I like having an idea of what he's going to talk about-ish in lecture but it isn't necessary. It is a fast paced class, a chapter a class, and about 9 chapters per test. There are 5 questions per chapter. They are straightforward questions, theyre just difficult because it is so much information to know. Overall I'm really glad I took the class, but I'm also glad its over. (Ps he lets you touch brains in office hours.)

I would guess that part of my issue with this course was that I essentially took it to fill a spot in my schedule. Condron is a great, entertaining lecturer, and aside from him speaking a little quickly and sometimes going off on tangents that sap focus, he's incredibly adept at getting the information across. If you aren't a huge fan of psychology and neuroscience in general, then this course is going to be VERY dry, but the tests are not easy, so it really requires a lot of thorough studying if you don't gel with the information. I would not take this course again, but that's only because I'm not interested by the subject matter, and not because the class is hard, or the professor is bad, or anything like that.