NESC 3559

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!! If you don't have to. It was a terrible semester. The fact that it is new professor and a new course thats actually good with labs but fails to describe how to prepare for lab practical exams was an issue. The professor is very passive aggressive and picky on the grading of lab reports. The professor would literally take unnecessary points off and make unnecessary comments even though you had answered the questions. The professor also fails to be more accommodating and closed off when it comes to asking questions.

*This is for Molecules to Minds (now NESC3450)
I loved this class and I did not find Professor Lewis to be a harsh grader. She was readily available during office hours and after class to answer any questions about the content or lab reports, and was extremely kind and helpful.
The structure of the class is one pre-lab quiz and one post-lab (sometimes questions about the content but generally an actual lab report) per week. The pre-lab quiz is completed after the lecture and before the lab, so I highly recommend taking detailed notes during lecture to prepare. It probably took me 0.5-1 hour per week. The lab report structure is pretty standard and probably took me 2-4 hours per week.
The labs themselves were for the most part interesting and didn't usually take the full 2.5 hours. Sometimes technical issues could make them frustrating, but overall they were very chill.
There are two exams, a midterm and a non-cumulative final, and both are completed during your regular lab section time. These were the hardest part of the class by far, especially the first one where you have to memorize the sheep brain anatomy and function. I haven't taken any anatomy classes so it was totally new to me and pretty difficult, but I think her expectations for both exams were pretty clearly outlined during class. She ended up adding a few points to everyone's midterm because some of the questions were ambiguous.
There is also a final research proposal, where you come up with a neuroscience-related research project and write about how you would execute it and what you expect the results to be. This wasn't too bad and ended up being maybe 1.5x the length of my typical lab report.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and I feel like I learned a lot. Prof Lewis was very nice and very knowledgeable, even though there were some technical issues with the labs (since it was the first time they were being done) like timing, technical issues, etc.