BIOE121 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Brian Blair BIOE121 Expecting an A mcfterp 11/22/2024	Most times he doesn't show up so hopefully your TA is nice but very easy class I loved it.
Beatrice Kondo BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2024	Dr. Kondo is a very sweet professor, she will be in all your lab sections and has no issue helping you throughout the lab. She'll answer all your questions without judgment, and will do her best to make sure it makes sense to you. She is also very understanding. The labs themselves are pretty straightforward, and her TA's do most of the grading. There's about 6 labs in total, and a "design your own lab" at the end, which is just replicating one of the previous labs, and you can choose which lab. It answers a slightly different experimental question, but you can still do PCR, gel electrophoresis, a BSA assay, etc to answer it. Overall, it's a manageable class, and you do learn a lot of valuable bioengineering lab techniques.
Beatrice Kondo BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/03/2024	She typically is your only option to take BIOE121 in the spring, but overall, she isn't too bad. Sometimes she forgets to do things and doesn't know how to use her laptop, but overall she's okay. She'll be in your lab sections and she'll help out. The labs themselves also are not too time confusing but the lab notebook is due the same day and it can be pretty annoying to finish, especially if you have a later lab. Just pick a good group to work with and you'll be fine.
Brian Blair BIOE121 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2023	He NEVER shows up to lab (or will only show up for 5 minutes). The first week of class, his family had COVID and he still showed up to class, which was not a great start. Also, his pre-labs and post-labs on Canvas were often poorly written or outdated (i.e. it would tell us to reference page 19, but in the lab manual we were using it'd be page 24) which was inconvenient and confusing. Also, the lecture is so pointless, but you have to attend to get the information for participation. The lab is basically run by the lab manager and TA, and mine were nice and helpful so it was fine. Easy class, absent professor.
Brian Blair BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2023	Nice guy, the lab is pretty much entirely run by the TA's but he doesn't seem to regulate their work at all as they have little idea what's going on, are unhelpful in the lab, and don't grade anything until the very end of the semester. They'll grade your lab report and tell you to change something in the next lab after you've already done all of the labs. Final presentation/experiment is pretty easy though, and all the guest lecture quizzes are a good grade boost.
Brian Blair BIOE121 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/08/2023	He doesn't care if you show up late once in a while or forget PPE, which is nice. He's not really ever there but TAs make or break the class. Some of the pre/post labs are ridiculously hard and cover nothing about what we've learned, but you have enough chances to get higher grades on other assignments that it all evens out.
Brian Blair BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2023	Took 121 with Blair in Spring 2022. Extremely chill guy. Labs are easy to follow, but the pre-labs might be a bit challenging as the course progresses. Post-labs are not too bad, but they will take off points for something very minor, so just make sure everything's perfect before you submit it (same for your lab notebook). Make sure you also choose a good group (will come handy later and for the final).
Brian Blair BIOE121 Anonymous 12/27/2022	Blair has a lot of experience doing research, and it shows in this class. Unlike other 121 professors, he is much more practical and will not throw you out of the class because you forgot goggles one time or showed up 10 minutes late once. Some of the pre and post-labs are hard, but in the end, he gives everyone pretty high grades so don't worry.
Angela Jones BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2020	I think Jones was a lot nicer in 121 than in 120. However, she does expect you to fully comprehend the lab and how each step affects the overall result so be prepared for that. Overall, I would say take Jones for lab and maybe a different prof for 120. She was bad for 120 but she is insanely picky.
Angela Jones BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/16/2020	This class was okay but mainly due to the TAs. Prof jones wasn't present in lab a lot of times. She's very particular about the lab reports and takes a lot of points off for the smallest things. Also, she has a policy where she takes points off if you're late for lab so don't be late but since I took her in spring 2020 that policy might have changed.
Jose Aranda-Espinoza BIOE121 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2011	The review below is correct- Helim was a terrible teacher. He has an accent, is incredibly monotone and speaks really soft (which is 10x worse if you have him for an 8am class) so everyone either falls asleep or brings a laptop and just messes around the whole time However, this is an extremely easy class, as long as you do well on the lab reports
Jose Aranda-Espinoza BIOE121 Expecting an A bioe012 12/18/2008	BIOE121 was a very good course. Professor Aranda is a nice guy, but he does not help students directly when he is not asked to do so. The work load was slightly high for a one credit course, but an A is very easy to earn; complete all the lab reports and go to lab! This is possibly the easiest science course during freshman year.

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Expecting an A
mcfterp
11/22/2024

Most times he doesn't show up so hopefully your TA is nice but very easy class I loved it.

Beatrice Kondo
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2024

Dr. Kondo is a very sweet professor, she will be in all your lab sections and has no issue helping you throughout the lab. She'll answer all your questions without judgment, and will do her best to make sure it makes sense to you. She is also very understanding. The labs themselves are pretty straightforward, and her TA's do most of the grading. There's about 6 labs in total, and a "design your own lab" at the end, which is just replicating one of the previous labs, and you can choose which lab. It answers a slightly different experimental question, but you can still do PCR, gel electrophoresis, a BSA assay, etc to answer it. Overall, it's a manageable class, and you do learn a lot of valuable bioengineering lab techniques.

Beatrice Kondo
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/03/2024

She typically is your only option to take BIOE121 in the spring, but overall, she isn't too bad. Sometimes she forgets to do things and doesn't know how to use her laptop, but overall she's okay. She'll be in your lab sections and she'll help out. The labs themselves also are not too time confusing but the lab notebook is due the same day and it can be pretty annoying to finish, especially if you have a later lab. Just pick a good group to work with and you'll be fine.

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2023

He NEVER shows up to lab (or will only show up for 5 minutes). The first week of class, his family had COVID and he still showed up to class, which was not a great start. Also, his pre-labs and post-labs on Canvas were often poorly written or outdated (i.e. it would tell us to reference page 19, but in the lab manual we were using it'd be page 24) which was inconvenient and confusing. Also, the lecture is so pointless, but you have to attend to get the information for participation. The lab is basically run by the lab manager and TA, and mine were nice and helpful so it was fine. Easy class, absent professor.

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2023

Nice guy, the lab is pretty much entirely run by the TA's but he doesn't seem to regulate their work at all as they have little idea what's going on, are unhelpful in the lab, and don't grade anything until the very end of the semester. They'll grade your lab report and tell you to change something in the next lab after you've already done all of the labs. Final presentation/experiment is pretty easy though, and all the guest lecture quizzes are a good grade boost.

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/08/2023

He doesn't care if you show up late once in a while or forget PPE, which is nice. He's not really ever there but TAs make or break the class. Some of the pre/post labs are ridiculously hard and cover nothing about what we've learned, but you have enough chances to get higher grades on other assignments that it all evens out.

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2023

Took 121 with Blair in Spring 2022. Extremely chill guy. Labs are easy to follow, but the pre-labs might be a bit challenging as the course progresses. Post-labs are not too bad, but they will take off points for something very minor, so just make sure everything's perfect before you submit it (same for your lab notebook). Make sure you also choose a good group (will come handy later and for the final).

Brian Blair
BIOE121

Anonymous
12/27/2022

Blair has a lot of experience doing research, and it shows in this class. Unlike other 121 professors, he is much more practical and will not throw you out of the class because you forgot goggles one time or showed up 10 minutes late once. Some of the pre and post-labs are hard, but in the end, he gives everyone pretty high grades so don't worry.

Angela Jones
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2020

I think Jones was a lot nicer in 121 than in 120. However, she does expect you to fully comprehend the lab and how each step affects the overall result so be prepared for that. Overall, I would say take Jones for lab and maybe a different prof for 120. She was bad for 120 but she is insanely picky.

Angela Jones
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/16/2020

This class was okay but mainly due to the TAs. Prof jones wasn't present in lab a lot of times. She's very particular about the lab reports and takes a lot of points off for the smallest things. Also, she has a policy where she takes points off if you're late for lab so don't be late but since I took her in spring 2020 that policy might have changed.

Jose Aranda-Espinoza
BIOE121

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2011

The review below is correct- Helim was a terrible teacher. He has an accent, is incredibly monotone and speaks really soft (which is 10x worse if you have him for an 8am class) so everyone either falls asleep or brings a laptop and just messes around the whole time However, this is an extremely easy class, as long as you do well on the lab reports

Jose Aranda-Espinoza
BIOE121

Expecting an A
bioe012
12/18/2008

BIOE121 was a very good course. Professor Aranda is a nice guy, but he does not help students directly when he is not asked to do so. The work load was slightly high for a one credit course, but an A is very easy to earn; complete all the lab reports and go to lab! This is possibly the easiest science course during freshman year.

Reviews for BIOE121