BIOL 2020

This class was so much easier than Kittleson's although Kittleson is definitely more fun than Mark. All in all, this class is pretty easy as long as you read the material with concentration. I did go to lecture but in the end, I could have saved some time by not going as he literally reads of the slides. Also don't procrastinate until 2 nights before the exam, start earlier and you should be set for an A/A-.

This class is fairly easy as long as you follow the readings and lecture slides. You don't really need to attend class, but I found that the way that Professor Kopeny explained some things in lecture was helpful to me. I thought the way that the exams were broken up was going to be annoying, but it really helped to divide the material in manageable ways. Prof. Kopeny was also very fair with curving the exams (I think he did around an 86 average every time) and he said he changed some of the weighting to favor the exam we did best on. I like Biology so I was a fan of the material itself, but all in all I would say this is a good class even for people that aren't bent towards the sciences.

The 6 tests for this class (including the non-cumulative final) were total cake if you did the readings. As everyone else has said, lecture is not at all necessary. Use the powerpoints as a guide for what you actually have to read in the textbook, and you should be set. It's very much a read and regurgitate the material sort of class; that being said, don't leave the readings for the last 2 nights before the exam unless you have AP credit or enjoy all-nighters.
I would recommend this class to anyone who enjoys anatomy & physiology, as that is the bulk of this course's content. I would say this is by far the easiest pre-med course.

I don't doubt that Kopeny is a really smart guy, but man he cannot keep a class engaged. I had him at 9am and only about 30 people out of 200 came to class. I second that you do not need to attend the lectures to do well, but also DO NOT leave all of the readings until the night before. Read them through maybe 2 times, and look over the powerpoints, and the tests should be easy. The tests and material are overall easier than Kittleson's. But I personally loved Kittleson and found his class more fun, so I did better there. Overall, not a bad class.

Really, to do well in this class, all you have to do is the textbook readings. He posts his powerpoints on collab before each lecture and reads off of them during lecture, so you only have to actually attend class if you don't understand something. There are 6 exams, all weighted differently, but make sure that you study for them because one bad grade can destroy your overall one. He moves very slowly during lecture, but he's a really nice guy overall and is very helpful if you have a question.

Not a difficult class by any means. The lecture is really boring, but sometimes material from lecture will pop up on the exam that isn't discussed in the textbook. I recommend going even though it's not necessary since he posts the slides. Each of the 6 exams are weighted differently according to the amount of material covered and he curves them as well. Just keep up with the textbook readings (I recommend outlining chapters), try to take detailed notes in lecture, study a couple days in advance, and you'll be set.

This class is very reading intensive and a lot of sel-learning. Going to class is not that helpful, as the professor just reads of the lecture slides.

There is no incentive to attend class because Kopeny posts the detailed lecture slides which are straight from the book and there are no clicker questions. If you read and study the chapters before the test you will probably do well on the exams. Kopeny is slightly boring but very knowledgeable.

Kopeny is probably brilliant but cannot talk in an engaging, articulate, or understandable way for his life. My grades are currently inversely correlated to my class attendance. Let me rephrase that. I have literally gotten higher grades by not attending this class at all. Review powerpoints, read the chapters and teach yourself but don't waste time going to this class. Also, don't take it unless it's required for your major.

Easier than Kittleson but Kittleson had booster grades such as homework and extra credit clicker questions. This class consist of 6 tests each weighted differently and that's it. So believe me when I say if you mess up on ONE test it can drop your grade tremendously which is what happened to me.
Like everyone says READ THE TEXTBOOK! A lot of his wording comes from it and will help you on the exams!!!! Class is boring and he does read from the slides but sometimes it'll help clear up information you didn't understand when you read it so it's always good to hear everything a second time. The textbook really is your friend because if he tells you to read the textbook and his slides come directly from the textbook too it makes sense that his exams will too.

This class was by far the worst I've taken at the University. Quite honestly I could go on for pages why every aspect of this class was horrible. The material is very simple, but Kopeny is one of the worst professors I have had. About midway through the semester I stopped attending lecture (and had no adverse test grades) because all he does is stand there and read the slides to you. Which, oh by the way, are DIRECTLY from the textbook down to the figures and have so many grammatical errors in them you could barely read them anyway. His tests are VERY specific--he focuses on the smallest details, and the questions he asks are often ambiguous or just plain confusingly worded. You will get more questions wrong for not understanding the question than for not knowing the material. The best you can do is read the textbook chapters multiple times thoroughly and hope for the best. Good luck!

Grade is made up of 6 midterms each weighted according to the amount of material that is covered during each unit. If you leave all the reading to the day before the midterms, and don't go to class, it will be harder to get an A. Class is extremely easy if you just do the reading and study as you go. Don't need to go to class - Kopeny reads off his slides that he posts on collab anyways. Don't let him fool you - the preview slides he posts are almost exactly what he reads off of in class. He says they're different, but they're really not.

easier than kittlesen, still not easy...lot of reading dont wait til last minure, no need to go to lecture tho he reads his powerpoints (he may threaten to remove ppt from collar at some point in semester but this is non-sgnificant since all ppt are directly from textbook)

I think this class was both interesting and fair. I actually really like Kopeny. He's very approachable and nice when you speak to him, and he genuinely wants to know what you think about the class. Very willing to answer any questions you have. If you go to class and TAKE NOTES, do the reading, and study for the tests, you should do well. The lab can be kind of hard sometimes, remembering structures, and it's a little disconnected from lecture at times.

To me, Kopeny didn't seem like he really wanted to teach this class. Also, his lectures were copies of what the book stated.

Kopney is a great guy- enthusiastic and nice, but sometimes his head is in the clouds. Not the best advisor.

Better than BIO 2010 for sure. Kopeny has a tendency to read off his slides, which is boring. Don't let that prevent you from going to class though. He has definitely asked questions from lecture that wasn't in the book.

The material in this class is really interesting. It focuses much more one big picture ideas and animals, systems, etc. It's easier to handle than BIOL 2010. However, Kopeny is a terrible lecturer. Terrible. He literally reads straight off of his slides. Going to lecture is somewhat unnecessary because the lecture slides that he reads are straight from the book. He also never responds to emails, but is pretty friendly in office hours. His tests are TERRIBLY worded with grammar, English, numbering, and graphical errors everywhere. Besides the material, the only good thing about the class was the TA, Brittany. She was clear, super helpful, and understanding. It's not a hard class, just frustrating sometimes.

Definitely easier than Kittlesen's half of the course, although his test questions can still be tricky, but a lot of the time just from poor wording/use of the English language. Some tests will be common sense, others asked oddly specific questions. Definitely read and know everything in the textbook sections he says with a focus on what he puts in his slides.

This class was much better than Bio 2010. The topics were much more interesting, in my opinion, but reading the book will definitely be an asset when preparing for finals. If your grade is border line at the end of the semester he will usually bump you up by 1%.

I learned more about the concepts presented in this class by watching youtube videos than I learned from Kopeny's lectures and slides. They honestly better prepared me for the test than any material Kopeny gave us. Consistently got 90s on the tests.

Kopeny is horrible at lecturing, there is no need to go to class. He usually posts the slides with the notes included, but sometimes posts slides without notes. However, his lectures basically just restate what is in the book. I hardly ever went to class, and when I did I did not pay attention. I only read the book a few days before tests and did not devote that much time to the class and still did really well.

Interesting course, boring lectures. Just read the book and you'll be fine

Not a fun class. Attendance to lectures aren't necessary, but the tests require reading the textbook chapters and posted slides more than once to basically memorize all of it. They also always have unfair questions (to me at least) that use deliberately annoying wording or have two answers that are both correct. The tests also have persistent spelling/other errors, and the TAs interrupt every exam multiple times to tell you what is really meant by the questions. One of the TAs for this class is extremely rude and disrespectful; she interrupts exams constantly and makes students move seats during exams for no reason, disrupting entire rows of test takers. Not a good class, but it's necessary if you're going the bio or pre-med route.

Kopeny is horribly boring lecturer. He likes to go on long tangents that are questionable in their relevance. Read the book and you will do fine on the midterms (of which there are 6, including the "final"). He does know what he's talking about though, and is a nice person, just very dull.

This class is not too hard, but make sure you know the material really well because Kopeny likes to be tricky on exams. His lectures are really boring and he basically reads off slides so be prepared to be sleepy in class.

It's just basic bio, not much to state outside the obvious. Probably repetitive material for most students who took bio courses in high school, nothing outstanding. Do the work and you'll get a good grade

Great professor but it's hard to pay attention because he basically talks for 50 minutes without stop. I'd say around 20% of the questions on his tests could have 2 answers (both which could be right) and it's very annoying. You could skip all the lectures and get an A since he doesn't use iClickers as part of your grade.

Honestly, not a very good class. Professor Kopeny is a really nice guy, and if you go to his office hours he is helpful. However his lectures were just bad. Reads off his slides and doesn't go very deep into the material. The only helpful part about the lectures and the slides is if you use them right, they tell you exactly what to study for his exams. If he didn't mention it in class, isn't on the slides, or he didn't tell you to read it in the book, it won't be on the test. He is fair. But don't expect to feel excited about the material.

I barely went to lecture the entire semester and just read the textbook and looked at the powerpoints he posted online. Passed the class with a solid B.

Honestly a pretty hard class, but it is a sort of pre-med weed out.

Kopeny is really disorganized during lecture and can't communicate his thoughts clearly with the class. He posts up "preview slides" the day before, which he sometimes changes last minute. There were only about 2 or 3 times where he actually got through all the slides for the day's lecture. I would usually have to cut out close to half of the slides to save them for the next day's lecture, but then he would change the slide content/order again so I had to waste ink to print them out again. He was also very rude to me the one time I went to office hours to argue a test question and cut me off a lot. That being said, we had 5 exams (8%, 3x22%, and a final worth 26%). I agree with everybody here, the tests are poorly worded, but as the semester goes along you get a better idea of what he's looking for so it should become easier to answer his questions. As far as curving his target average for the exams is an 81, so if the class average falls below that he'll curve up, but he won't curve you're final grade. A 92 or above is a guaranteed A in this class, and he says sometimes he'll bring it down to a 91 or so.

Hard class if you don't want to read the text book

kopeny is a very bad lecturer and the exam questions tested more my ability to figure him out instead of my knowledge of the material.

I really liked this class. The information is very interesting and if you go to class and read just a bit a week you can get a good grade.

I personally LOVED kopeny's class! I found all his subject matter incredibly interesting in comparison to kittlesen's material. Possibly because of my interest in the material, I found the tests to be much easier, which most agreed with. His tests are not nearly as frustrating as those of professor kittlesen. Overall, I had a great time in this class!

Kopeny is unfortunately not as good a lecturer as Kittlesen as he is too ambitious with his lectures and moreover lectures COMPLETELY from the book bar SOME exceptions. He is great in office hours, however. Stay on top of the readings and make sure you go over what he says to go over by yourself. You will do well.

I came into this class thinking that it would be easier than 201 but I was SO wrong. Kopeny's lectures are so boring and he never finishes what he plans to cover. As an EVSC major I was really interested in the material but kopeny ruined it for me. The tests were really tough and no amount of studying will help because most answers can't be found in the book. Not a good class.

Quite possibly the worst follow up to Kittlesen's 201 possible. Whereas Kittlesen was organized, efficient and genuinely understood how to teach difficult concepts to students, Kopeny isn't. In all categories. His lectures are unorganized, drawing exclusively from definitions and pictures from the book and he has a hard time staying on track. While he teaches concepts that seem relatively simple to the naked eye, he makes them much more complex for the tests. Either teach the concepts with their due complexity or don't. Unfortunately, you have to take this class, but you have been forewarned.

Dr. Kopeny is a great guy. Some people say that his lectures are boring, but they are bored mostly because those that complain tend to have interests more in the cell biology/genetics component of introductory biology. Although I share this preference, Dr. Kopeny is definitely underrated. He truly cares that his students learn.

He is incredibly boring and enjoys hearing himself speak, plus the topic is awful too. and ts just a bunch of premeds

Go to lectures and study the textbooks and you'll be fine.

Worst teacher

difficult class. keep up on your readings and study in advance for the exams. kopeny is organized and good lecturer, sometimes boring and always runs out of time, but will lecture necessary material found on the exams.

This class was pretty difficult for me, probably because evolutionary and organismal biology wasn't an area of biology that really interested me. Dr. Kopeny's lectures were really dry, long-winded, and not especially informative. Most of his lectures were based on the book and lectures were supposed to highlight what you needed to know, except most of the time, he ended up having us just going to the book and reading about the topic at hand since he wanted to leave us to the details. His constant obsession with dimming the lights also didn't help. His tests were tricky because the questions were weirdly worded and multiple choices could be the answer. The final was the worst since a majority of the questions were application of basic knowledge. Read the textbook carefully and really understand the concepts.

This is perhaps the most boring lecture I've had to endure. It doesn't help that Kopeny dims the lights. I'll give him credit for enthusiasm, but it certainly did not transfer. Tests are EXTREMELY poorly written, and many questions can have multiple answers if you come at it from different angles.

I worked REALLY hard in this class, went to most lectures, did ALL of the reading, but the tests were impossible. Kopeny was not a very good teacher and I had to teach myself the concepts.

Kopeny manages to make already dull material even more monotonous and pointless. He uses long words which he thinks makes him sound genius. He turns the lights way down in class, so it's very easy to fall asleep. Powerpoint slides and exams are always filled with typos and errors of all sorts. Some exam questions will have no right answer or will clearly state the opposite of what the textbook states. Don't bother taking notes or paying attention in lecture, just look over the powerpoint slides the day before the exam.

Kopeny is the man. He's one of the best professors I've had at UVA. Enthusiastic, knowledgeable and fair. Everything you'd expect from a school of such high caliber. In case you couldn't tell, I'm kidding. Read the whole review next time, dumbass. He sucks hard. The class is easy, you don't have to come to lecture except for clicker questions, which are extra credit. I read the book the day before the exam and consistently got a 93. GO HOOS

Boring, lectures alone are not sufice to do well on the tests. Doing all of the readings is paramount. In fact, I rarley pay attention in class. Just do all the readings, and review all the slides before the exam.

Kopeny's lectures are useless. Go to class for clicker questions and do other work.

Tests are generally easy. This is complicated, however, by their poor construction, ambiguous answer choices, and material that was never covered. It's best not to study too hard and hope for the best!

Fairly easy class, but because it isn't as tough as BIOL 201, people tend to do better so the curve isn't as high. Final isn't cumulative.

Kopeny is very enthusiastic but sometimes bounces around a lot in his lectures. His tests are multiple choice and are generally fair with a couple questions you could question... But the final was not what he said it would be (just like any other test). It seemed like he purposely tried to find stuff to confuse you on and stuff that was not really mentioned at all in the lectures or readings.

A definite step below Kittleson as a professor IMO. I thought sometimes he tested on arbitrary material so see if you showed up to class. Go to class and take good notes and you should be fine.

Not a great follow-up to Kittlesen and BIOL201, which was amazing. Lectures tend to be long, slightly boring, but Kopeny's seriously a nice guy, maybe not the best teacher-- probably because he has too much he wants to teach and not enough time to teach it. Tests can be confusing, with strangely worded questions and answers. Read the book, attend lecture, and try to stay awake!

Kopeny was a terrible teacher. His lectures were insanely boring and his tests were full of stuff that wasnt in the lectures or the book. The TA was just awful. Really condescending and disrespectful. A bad experience overall, despite the fact that I got an A

Kopeny is probably the worst professor I've ever had at UVa. The class is easy, basic biology stuff most people learned a few years ago in high school. He makes the subject boring and dull and his tests are very poorly written. He doesn't give a you know what about students either. Overall, a miserable class that tends to follow suit in the biology department. What a horrible excuse for a human being.

Tests are very poorly written. Lectures are mediocre.

i actually thought that this class was harder than kittlesens. Hes tricky in that he expects you to know basically everything on his looonnnnnng slides and doesnt give straight questions.

Horrible! soooo boring. Easier than Kittleson but terrible teacher!

I came in thinking it was going to be the worst class ever because all I heard was that Kopeny read directly off of the slides and called it a lecture, but I actually like him. Although he is powerpoint-happy (memorize them janks), he knows his stuff. This class is not bad at all.

Lectures straight from the book, midterms and final straight from book. Enjoyable class.

I love this class. Kopeny is really interesting, and so is the subject matter. I'm amazed at the difference between BIOL 201 and 202 -- 202 is so much easier! And I feel like I'm actually ahead of the game in the class just by going to the lectures (and not doing the reading). If only one didn't have to take BIOL 201 before this! If you can give 201 the slip, I'd recommend this class to anyone who's interested in the origin of life and speciation.

Slides are off of textbook site but still riddled with errors. Can not go to class and read book to get good grades. Boring lecturer.