Reviews for BSCI151

Information Review
Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024
I've got to agree with these other reviews about her condescending tone. The exams are unnecessarily difficult, but she does allow a sheet of paper of notes for all exams. The workload isnt too bad, but you will have to write a pretty hefty paper throughout the semester (~13 pages).
Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/28/2024
Prof Paczolt as a person is generally very condescending and passive-aggressive. There were multiple times during lecture where she dismissed questions as though the student asking was dumb, but really they were actual questions that were relevant to course content and could be helpful to the entire class. As for the actual course and workload, it's an unnecessary amount considering the class is a gen-ed. There are four essays throughout the course, with the final one being a "final paper" that requires you to use previous essays. In total, the final essay ended up being 13 pages for me: 8 pages of writing and 5 pages of figures and references. There are also 3 unit tests during the semester. So far, the averages have been in the low 80s but honestly, I'm not surprised they're not lower. One thing that truly irked me about the class was the clickers we had to do. It was through PointSolutions, which UMD no longer pays for and the subscription for the semester was $25, which she justified because there "isn't a required book". Just because there isn't a required book does not mean you need to find something else for us to pay for. The clickers were also based on ACCURACY, not completion. How do you expect us to answer questions about the content we are currently learning accurately? Even though the clickers were only 5% of our overall grade, still annoying and unnecessary. Side note only one of the TAs ever knew what was going on.
Nicholas Fletcher
BSCI151

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/19/2024
Best Biology Prof at UMD. Humble, down to Earth, and truly cares about his students. Answers questions in the most open way possible, you will never feel like he doesn't have time to answer your question or that your question is unimportant. Makes sure you have full understanding before he moves on. Always smiling and checking on his students between lecture slides. Makes it so fun to learn the content!