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Dave is great! He's definitely worth taking a class with, even if you aren't a bio/pre-med student. He makes classes fun and the new, cutting-edge science towards the end of the semester is very coo to learn about. The downside is that the class is massive and getting to Dave to ask questions is really challenging. Also, tests are pretty tough, especially if you haven't ever taken a biology class before.
DO NOT TAKE IF YOU ARE NOT PRE MED. I could go on and on about my feelings on this class. This had to be the hardest class I took my first semester FOR NO REASON. THe tests were extremely difficult( I would study for hours, do good on mastering bio, and still score low on the exams). The problem with the tests was how it felt as if it was an SAT; meaning rather than being tested on how much material you knew, it felt as if you had to choose between two what seemed to be good answers. Kittlesen is not a bad professor, but his exams really do not let you prosper in life, Typical weed out course. If you dont think youre ready for a heavy courseload please do not ruin your GPA with this class, espeically your first semester. Its definitely not an easy A; heck it is not even an easy B. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Dave Kittlesen is a really great professor, and quite funny too. His powerpoints are very diagram-heavy, so it's important to listen very carefully and take detailed notes. He is very helpful outside of class if you do not understand the material (plus it is useful to review with fellow classmates). The lecture includes a lot of information to absorb, and it is very important that you read the textbook. Tests are curved pretty reasonably. The lab is connected with lecture, is not very complicated, and frequently lets out early (depending on how fast your group works).
Kittlesen is surprisingly engaging for such a large class. He does lots of activities that keep it from being the typical boring lecture. He is also very knowledgeable and friendly, and his tests are fairly reasonable. The lab is required with the course, which can be interesting, but also annoying if you don't need it for anything. The labs are really simple, but seem to take forever.
Looking through course forum and I see everyone hating on my man Dave. I took this class with orgo and physics and honestly this was way way way easier than the other two. Lectures are super cool, Dave is a great guy, and the lab portion of the class is very chill. Anyone who says the tests are unfair must not have been taking good lecture notes because I did not come across a single test question the whole semester that was something that we hadn't seen in lecture. I recorded lectures to study and that was super helpful. His questions are clear and unambiguous (yes I'm @ing Manson rn). I would recommend this class to everybody, even if it doesn't apply to your major or career goals.
Dave is such a good professor!! I took the class during the Summer session 3 over zoom (bc covid-19) and he really tried his best to make it a good experience for us. He is a pretty engaging professor and you can tell he really cares about his students. ** He will not test you on anything he does not go over in class so study his lectures before tests ** Textbook reading is important for knowing what's going on in the class, but the lectures are most important.
Professor Kittleson is one of my favorite professors at UVA because he genuinely cares about his students and wants them to succeed. He tries to make the class fun by cracking a few jokes and using his own personal examples to relate back to the content. If I could recommend anything it would be to stay on top of things. You should read the book before lectures and take the homework seriously. There is a lot of important concepts you can learn from the homework. This course is not about memorization but rather applying the concept to the questions that are on the exam. One thing that helped me review the material is to do the multiple-choice questions at the end of every section in the book. They are very similar in the application of knowledge to what the exams are like. Everything that is on his exams is from the lecture but the book does go into better detail if there is something you are confused about. It is easy to get a good grade in this class if you put in the effort. Overall really good course.
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