BIOL 2030

The tests and clicker questions were a little harder than I expected. You get to learn some useful bio techniques from this class. The good thing about the lab report is that the TA only checks it for completion but the reports are not that hard to start with. Not a class for an easy A.

Apparently this class was redesigned from previous years. You do learn some interesting biology, but the material would be difficult for non-majors. Most people skip lecture so he puts questions on the quizzes that come only from lecture. I never went to lectures but still did fine.

This lab, was just a pain in the ass overall. The lab notebooks and all assignments (except for 1) are graded on completion...all you need to do is show up to lab and read the instructions. The quizzes can get annoying at every lab, and on top of that Kittlesen has a final which didn't turn out to be that bad, but I thought it was a little unnecessary for a 2 credit lab. This semester he made it so that your final score could cover for your quiz score if the final was higher. Even though a 94 is an A, he ended up curving the final and the quiz grades at the end. Only take this if you are a bio major or premed.

Pre-lab lectures were difficult to follow since his slideshows have very little text and don't highlight/summarize the main ideas clearly. However Dr Kittlesen is a very enthusiastic and passionate teacher.
The final was VERY difficult and quizzes can be somewhat picky. Luckily homework, lab participation, and lab notebooks help your grade.

As long as you do your lab notebook and come prepared for class, your grade is pretty much that completion portion plus the final. The final is reasonable and basically confirms that you understood what you were doing throughout the semester.

Grade depends on your TA. The TA can make the 5 question quizzes easy or hard. I had a hard TA...

He splits up the lab notebook into two, one that's a PDF and one that's a physical copy. That becomes SO annoying trying to find which page is where.

I would not take this unless you need it for premed or your major!

People tend to be overwhelmed by this class at first because of the weekly quizzes and tough pre-labs. This class is fine as long as you go to pre-lab lecture and do the work. You will get an A as long as you do the pre-lab sheets, the reading and memorization, pay attention in pre-lab, and try to understand what you are actually doing.

This class is really straight-forward, since you spend the entire semester pipetting and centrifuging bits of leaves. Dr. Kittlesen is really enthusiastic about biology, but the material is review for everyone who took AP bio. I have no idea how he determines final grades, but I'm pretty sure that the final exam carries a lot of weight, so study for it. Try to get a good lab table, because there's a lot of down time during the labs.

This is a really nice review for those of us with AP Biol credit. It was pretty easy too, just go to lab lecture and read the assigned lab manual pages and you should be fine. The actual procedures are really simple, and sometimes even fun. If you have the option to take Karen definitely go with her. She was really nice and gave very straightforward and helpful answers with any questions.

The experiment itself is conceptually really easy but somewhat boring and monotonous to carry out. Beware of the 5 question quizzes at the end of each lab period (which count for 25% of your grade) and hope for a fair TA that actually puts his/her office hours at an accessible time. Lab lecture is beneficial although also somewhat boring.