BIOL 4070

*I took this course in Fall 2021, but I couldn't select that option* Professor Keller is the most amazing professor that you will ever meet. He is incredibly intelligent, has really interesting life experiences, and makes himself available at all times to help his students. This class is super fun. You start the semester by learning some background information and then some lab techniques. Then you get to create your own research project to work on for the rest of the semester. The grade is based off of your lab notebook, a short proposal paper for your experiment, and a final paper summarizing your results and discussing them. Don't focus on your grade in the class - Professor Keller wants you to learn and to enjoy experimenting. You will not regret taking this course.

This is the best biology class I've taken here at UVA. Ray is the man, he was super cool and very laid back. The whole class is pretty chill and laid back in general. The first half of the semester is just going over lab protocols, and the second half is doing your independent experiment with a group. You have to write a short 2-3 page proposal, a lab notebook, and a 4-7 page research paper as a final, but don't stress because Ray is very lenient on grades. He'd rather you focus on the experiment and not worry about grades. If you have time, definitely take this class!

P Keller is the coolest professor you'll ever meet. He lets you be creative and design your own experiment!! I'd recommend taking Developmental Bio first or having a background in lab research before taking this class.

Ray is the best. He is extremely smart (not to mention famous in the field) and is a very nice guy. The class is run like independent research. You pick groups and an experiment which you work on all semester, and you set your own times. A proposal and final paper, along with a lab notebook grade. Very interesting course.

He's a little disorganized, and his lectures are haphazard and often over your head. But, he's very enthusiastic and encourages a relaxed lab atmosphere with a power to the students attitude. Not much work, aside from the final lab report. Margo's cool, helpful

This class seems easy and fun at the beginning and Keller leads you to believe that everyone will do well. But at the end of the semester, my groups project wasn't working and despite our good papers he gave my whole group Bs when other groups with the same project/problems got As so I guess he kind of picks favorites. Also its risky because your whole grade is based on a notebook that you keep and the paper you write at the end so his grading is veryy subjective

Great class to get undergrads hands wet in research. It totally builds up confidence if you've never worked in a lab before. Keller is the man!

Extremely easy class. NO EXAMS. The entire course grade is based on keeping a lab notebook, and a lab report based on your semester project for the class. That's it. At least a guaranteed B, if not higher.

Great class!

Keller is a great professor, and you can tell he really enjoys his work. He is willing to meet at all different hours to help with your projects and goes out of his way to make it all easy for you. Definitely take if you need an upper level lab.

Yes, this class is fairly disorganized but it's an easy A class so whatever. To be quite honest, I don't understand how anyone could not get an A. For the most part, you're working on your independent research that either Keller and/or Caroline suggest or come up with your own idea to test on the Xenopus laevis embryos. WARNING: because this IS a developmental class, the experiments you choose to perform are very time-dependent. You may be in the lab at odd hours (7AM or 11PM for example). Grade breakdown: 10%=participation, 40%=lab journal, and 50%=lab report on your independent research project (written in the style of an actual research paper). Good luck!

It's a fairly disorganized class, but there's a lot of room for individual research and study. You're in and out of the lab at odd hours outside of class as well as in class research. The professor is really flexible.

This class was amazing. Instead of being your typical canned lab, you get to decide what you research and as long as you get approved the rest is up to you. The independence is thrilling, and a good experience and Keller is ever the enthusiest about new finds. The only grades come from the lab notebook you keep and your final lab report but keller helps you on both of those so unless you ignore his advice you cannot go wrong.

This class is pretty awesome- you get to design and conduct your own experiments. The first part of the class is learning general info about Xenopus frogs, and the second half is conducting a group experiment. You do the the experiment on your own time (you have a flexible schedule, but sometimes you have to come in late at night or on the weekends to work on your embryos). Keller and Caroline (TA) are really smart and helpful. This class was a great way to learn about dev. bio and get experience with current lab equipment and techniques. Grade was participation, lab notebook, and final lab report (50%).

Ray Keller is fabulous. I don't think that he is that organized, but regardless he is very knowledgeable in his field. I didn't spend much time in the lab and our grade consisted of 2 4-5 page lab reports (including pictures) and 2 notebook checks. I don't think that anyone got below a B in the course. I personally got an A-.