Reviews for BSCI160
Information | Review |
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Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2024 |
As a chemistry major who has taken PLENTY of difficult classes, this class was unnecessarily difficult. The positive reviews have an air of stubborn ignorance and better-than-you attitude. Fagan tries to be a nice guy, but not enough for it to actually count. For a class this complex, his curve is very small. He is very particular with his exams, and the content is extremely overbearing. It’s a lot of memorization, even with your two cheat sheets, because of the questions he asks that arent really resembled in the homework or in class, outside of the general topics. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024 |
Like many of the people who are probably taking this class, I took it because I'm a biology major who didn't take the AP Bio exam in high school and need to now take the BSCI160-170 sequence. My only gripes with his lectures is that they are very dense and the slides often do not include all of the material. As a result, it was very important to attend class to fill in the gaps with my own notes. His class is definitely not one (as least for me) where you can vaguely listen in to what he was talking about and be able to understand the content well enough for the exams. That's what I did for the first exam and I got an 80.5. To be fair, I lowkey forgot how to study and just looked over the slides as my only method of studying. Once I started actively taking notes (I mean like literally writing down everything he said during class) I got 91 and 98 on midterms two and three and a 91 on the final. The content itself is not difficult, but you need to know EVERYTHING on the slides because it's all fair game. The examples mentioned in class (accompanied with diagrams) may only seem like examples, but you WILL be tested on them on the midterms, so if you don't know the specificities of a table or graph you might lose easy points. Personally, I found that making thorough flashcards after each lecture was the best way to study. Make sure that you include in your flashcards all the details in both the slides and the visuals on the slides (there are some definitions on the visuals as well that you might not notice). I went over the flashcards a couple days before the exams and was able to score well on midterms 2 & 3. Overall, I'd say the exams were very fair. Everything tested is from the slides. You will not need the textbook at all, so don't bother buying it. The homeworks were tedious at times, but they definitely helped with the overall understanding of the content. Lots of the exam questions end up being exact copies of the questions on the homework. What's really nice is that the lowest midterm is dropped and you get to bring an index card (front and back) to the midterms. For the final you get a full sheet of paper (only the front). Overall, I would take this class again. Dr. Shapiro is so incredibly passionate about the subject. The last couple of classes where he discusses human impact on the environment were especially interesting even though they were a bit doom and gloom. Coming from someone who isn't too passionate about ecology and evolution, Dr. Shapiro has definitely ignited some passion in the subject matter for me. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2024 |
Honestly, people in my class are just leaving negative reviews because they are mad at their grade. If you actually study and pay attention in class, you will get at least a B if not more. The concepts are not hard, it is just memorization. him letting us have 2 pages of front and back notes really helps with this. I think he is a good professor and really wants us to understand what is happening - I think his lectures are helpful because they explain his slides in easier terms. I think his exams are mainly fair since there is always at least a 6 point curve, but I do agree that some questions should not be put on the tests. Maybe don’t take this class as a lab credit, but for bio majors, it really is not bad at all. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/15/2024 |
run if you can, Bill Fagan is not for the weak, he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, he originally seems very straightforward and clear cut but once you get further into his class he shows his true colors, none of his exams are actually curved, he give around 6-10 points extra just to account for his confusing questions. I didn't study too much for the midterms and got two B's and an A but once the finals came around I thought it would be just the same... I was wrong, the final bumped my grade from a 87 to a 79 since it was so long and made no sense and had those equations that nobody understood, from the hw they never gave us the correct answers to. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/15/2024 |
Thank god I found out early that I didn’t need this class because I never saw such a poorly written exam in my life. Dude started his class off by saying there were no trick questions, but after the first few words that came out of his mouth, that’s all they were. No one cared to answer him anymore, because they’d likely be wrong. No wonder he gave us 2 sheets of paper front and back as a cheat sheet, because nothing you’d write down would even be close to what’s on the exam. Absolutely horrible teacher, not kind at all either. I was doing worse in this class than orgo, and that to me speaks volumes. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/15/2024 |
If you notice, there are a mix of good and bad reviews. This is what I have to say about it. If you’re someone with a background in ecology or you pick things up quickly you’ll do fine in this class. Dr. Ngeve does read directly off the slides in class so there’s not much to it other than that. You will get participation points for showing up and doing the Kahoot at the end of the class. The comments about the homework assignments are right, they feel like busy work and they didn’t really help with understanding of the class material at all. For me, the exams were very hard. The questions were structured in a very confusing way where sometimes it seemed like there could be 2 or even 3 right answers. I will agree with the people who said sometimes she made me feel dumb. It made me not really want to ask questions. She seems nice, so I don’t think this was intentional. As for the comments about her accent, I can understand her just fine? I don’t think her accent is an issue. I’m not going to tell you whether to take her class or not, but just consider your background in ecology before you decide. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/14/2024 |
The positive reviews are really misguiding honestly. I have done everything in my power to do well in the class, exam reviews, ta office hours, Bill's office hours (which he cancels a lot), the extra readings with the Principle of Life book that he assigns in the syllabus, TA's for homework, laborious cheat sheets, rewritten notes, bubble maps, showing up to every lecture and all. It just wasn't enough to get a decent grade in the class which really sucks because I tried hard. The biggest killer for me was the tricky wording in his exams, I think that's really important to note. He's not an awful guy, but I really feel like I didn't have a chance from the beginning. I somehow just always did poorly on the exams, I would advise looking for other professors if you can. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/14/2024 |
Do not listen to his positive reviews. He is a subpar lecturer and not even a 2-page cheat sheet will save you from his needlessly difficult exams. The homeworks were tedious and confusing. Would not recommend taking BSCI160 if you were looking for an easy lab gen ed, especially with Fagan. He is like a human screensaver, always there but never doing much. The TAs were a lot more helpful and understanding than he was. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2024 |
Super nice professor, really cares about her course, the material she is teaching and her students. I am not a fan of this kind of biology but she made the class fun. The attendance is essentially mandatory, but she does record lectures. Exams are very similar to the homework and reflect exactly what she teaches in the course. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/10/2024 |
Bill Fagan is the absolute worst professor I have had the disprivilege of being taught by. Before taking this course, I did take a look at the PlanetTerp reviews. At that point, there were only three that had a lot of good things to say about him. After taking this class, I'm convinced he wrote those reviews himself. He does technically curve every exam as they have 108 questions but are graded out of a 100. However, the exams are so tricky to the point that this curve nor does the two page cheat sheet helps. He does not do a good job at teaching. He claims he is trying to build better relationships with his students and does a "lyric of the day" related to the content, but it is so hard to enjoy this class due to his teaching style. Attendance did go down throughout the semester solely because he reads off the slides, claims there is no trick questions, then we are faced with trick questions. I've genuinely studied for every exam, along with making my cheat sheet, and left feeling horrible about myself after every one of them. His TA's really are great though. Best and only part of this class was his TA's. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2024 |
There are a lot of negative reviews for Fagan, but I had no biology experience since freshman year of high school and had a great experience in this class. He will add buffer points to exams (for example having 108 points possible on an exam but only grading out of 100, so above 100% is possible), and even added a few points curve to some of our midterms. Not only that, but he allows two full sheets of paper front and back each as notes on the exam... plenty of space, if utilized, to have notes on anything you need to remember from the lecture. There are reviews that criticize him for "reading directly from slides," but then some criticizing that he will add concepts that he talked about in class that weren't directly written down. Both of those can't be true at the same time, and in my experience the slides that he also posts for viewing on your own time as well are a great tool to have, but you have to go to lectures (missing one won't be the end of the world) and that's also kind of the point of an in-person class. There are also assigned readings, which admittedly I didn't even do unless I was having trouble with a concept, but I would guess that people who are struggling in this class didn't use this at all. There were only 5 homework assignments, very doable with the TA's available over email for extra help, and never took me much more than an hour. Some took fewer than 30 minutes. I am aware of many people doing them last minute the night before they were due, which I would just never recommend because then there is far less time to receive help if you end up needing it. I'm not sure if people who had bad things to say about Fagan were just not showing up, not paying attention or just taking notes straight from the slides. I can say that there was a noticeable drop in attendance after the first week, and he even showed us in the beginning of the semester grade distributions for those who attended nearly every lecture vs those who did not. Again, even though attendance isn't graded, this is college. Just show up twice a week. I feel as though I didn't have to go above and beyond to do very well in this course. I just showed up, listened and took notes, and used the resources he gave us (and even then sometimes did bare minimum). The TA's were also very helpful, and do deserve a shout out as well. This is not a throwaway class, and if you are in a science major you will likely face so much worse than this very manageable class. I'm not sure what others were expecting, but based on my personal experience I would absolutely recommend Dr. Fagan for BSCI160. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024 |
Very nice but lectures have participation points. Drops the final or lowest midterm grade. Very good professor and actually likes what she teaches. Would 100% take this class with her again. Exams were pretty easy if you master the practice problems she gives on canvas and use the study guide. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/09/2024 |
Hey Bill. Girl, you have done it again—constantly lowering the bar for all of us, and doing it flawlessly. I’d say I’m surprised, but let’s be real: you lied on day one when you claimed, “I never ask trick questions.” Or how about when you ask the class a question and everyone sits in silence because half the class already knows better than to show up for your mindless recitation of the slides? Oh, and don’t think I forgot about the homework, Bill. I don’t think I ever will forget how spectacularly poorly worded it was, asking us to rearrange population equations using differential equations that you genuinely typed and said "I'm cooking with this". Speaking of “poorly worded,” let’s not skip your exams that remind me of having psychosis at midnight in the middle of the woods. My favorite moment? The question asking, “Where in these regions is there a desert?” followed by options like Algeria and Kenya. Kenya and Algeria, Bill? When exactly did you teach us about Africa's geology, and did you know they both have deserts? I would rather be stranded in the Sahara with no water than have answer that question again. While we’re on the topic of questions, can we talk about your idea of “help”? Elizabeth and Charlotte, the TAs who carried this course on their backs with the care and competence you apparently couldn’t muster, were sent from heaven. Why were you such a brat (not in the good way) to your TA's Bill? Did they snatch your weave before the semester started? Meanwhile, your sole contribution to my exam stress was strolling by as Charlotte was actually helping me and dropping this gem: “Oh well, do better next time,” before catwalking off to add absolutely nothing of value. Bill, lick my soles. I also want to take a moment to celebrate how relevant BSCI160: Ecology and Evolution will be to my Cell Biology and Genetics major. I can’t wait to apply these vital lessons on desert geography? Also Bill, what heroin did you give the pre fall 2024 students? There must have been a mistake on the nameplate or something, as I see no real reason to give this man any five star review. Ultimately, Bill, I’d love to end on a high note and call you a good person, but oh well, do better next time. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2024 |
Bill basically only read off slides, he rarely answered questions when hands were raised, one time i put my hand up to ask a question, and after he read 5 slides (not like short nothing slides, he covered 5 slides worth of content) i put my hand down b/c my arm was tired - i stopped going to class after this, i can read the slides myself thank you. Exams were fair, and he let you have 2 pages of notes for them For midterm 2, i woke up the day of the exam, read all of the slides for the first time and took 2 pages of notes, took the exam and got a 97% |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2024 |
I definitely agree with the other reviews. He does not really explain concepts fully and then expects students to explain the concept on the exam. There is no practice before exams and NO CURVE. Other BSCI160 professors either curve or drop a test (sometimes both). However, Fagan does not do either. You would benefit from taking another professor. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/06/2024 |
First off, ignore my grade in this course. I genuinely did not put enough effort into the beginning of the semester and missed a number of lectures/homeworks because of it. I will say that she has a very strict no-late work policy and mentioned today that she will not boost grades at the end of the semester. For those of you who are passionate about this, she will not cancel class for that Monday before Thanksgiving. Attendance is also graded on a daily basis more times than not and even though it is a big lecture 1) she will know all of your names by the end of the semester, and 2) she will give out handout worksheets that you need to turn in at some point during the week. Aside from that, I will say she is incredibly passionate about ecology and it shows. It makes the class interesting to attend, but it is very information-heavy and fast-paced. You get what you put into this class, and she's not unfair with grading. She lets you bring a notecard into each exam which can be VERY helpful. She drops your lowest concept check (little MC quizzes) grade and your lowest exam grade, INCLUDING THE FINAL. So, if you're doing well in the class you technically don't have to take the final. The final is also now online but at a fixed time. If you're taking this to satisfy your DNLS requirement I would say go for it, but it is a bit of work if you want to do really well and actually understand the concepts taught. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2024 |
Decent teacher and lectures are easy to understand. Unlike other reviews I think the exams are super easy because you are allowed to have 2 sheets of notes front and back which is more than enough space for what you need on the exam. Also he highlights all the terms you need to know in red on the slide shows. Writing those terms down on a note sheet and doing no other studying should be good enough to get an A on the tests. However, I do agree that the homework's are ridiculous. There are five in total. 1-3 are easy enough and shouldn't take you too long. 4-5 are insanely difficult and just don't make sense. The lectures don't help with the homework either. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/05/2024 |
Exams and homeworks are needlessly difficult. No flexibility with due dates whatsoever. If you are looking for an easy lab credit, keep searching. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
RUN WHILE YOU CAN. He does not curve exams (other than the first one), and does not drop any exams. The other professors are so much better for BSCI160 |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
I am not one who enjoys evolution or ecology but Dr. Shapiro was a really great professor. Even if it is not something you are interested in, he is super passionate about what he does and posts all his lecture slides which is helpful. His tests are extremely fair and my best tip to doing well in his class is go through all the powerpoint slides, take notes and know the definitions of the bolded words, then go to office hours for any questions. If you are able to spit back out the concepts from the powerpoints, then you will do well on his exams. Plus he lets you bring a notecard to each exam and drop one test. Also the review sessions in office hours are recorded and it helps so much! I would take this class again. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
His class can definitely be boring at times but overall it's really easy to follow! His lecture slides are really basic and most of the important information actually comes from his talking so I think going to lecture is worth it in order to take notes that aren't just on the slides (which are always posted). He's really nice and passionate about the topic which is refreshing and cracks random jokes which are pretty funny. He also allows an index card for each midterm and the lowest midterm grade get's dropped which I think is super helpful. Overall his exams align greatly with the notes and examples he gives in class, even if they're extremely niche, which is why I'd say it's important to pay even a little bit of attention to what he says. I think if you just pay attention to what he says and put in a little effort to understand the concepts, with the notecard too the exams should be fairly simple and his class should be easy to pass! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
I would recommend taking Dr. Ngeve for BSCI 160. She's engaging, nice, and explains the content well. There aren't many homework worksheets, but some of the ones you will do are a bit lengthy, but not difficult. There are also discussion boards each week, which are easy and are a grade booster. Dr. Ngeve gives PLENTY of extra credit opportunities, so do it because they're saving my grade right now. The exams (consists of content from the lecture slides and content in the textbook that isn't really touched in class) are pretty lengthy and are a bit difficult, but it's not too bad if you study outside of class (notes, lecture slides, review questions, kahoots, etc.) and she lets you have a small note card during exams. Also, your lowest exam score gets dropped, so that's nice! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
While I love this professors personality and teaching style it’s simply too much content which makes studying harder. Exam content is too extensive. Water break questions, kahoots, book, PowerPoints, and online lectures still aren’t enough to ensure a decent grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
Very sweet! Wants you to do well and exceed. However, lots of information and lecture material. Very good preparation and lots of resources with homework’s, ULA’s, kahoots, concept maps, and water break questions for exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
I am not sure why so many people have such good things to say. Her class became very skippable for me. She reads directly from the lecture slides, which she posts online so you can read them yourself. She also restates the same things 10 times. I also think her slides are kind of all over the place and hard to follow. Her class is also really boring. A lot of people are saying she's really nice, and most of the time she is, but other times I will witness another student raise their hand to ask a question and then Dr. Ngeve acts like it was the dumbest question she ever heard. I will say the one time I asked for help on a homework she did provide a very helpful response. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
The content of this class is a lot, and it will take a lot of studying, but Dr. Ngeve is amazing. She provides numerous study resources for exams including Kahoots and review questions for every lecture. She is super approachable and it is clear that she wants her students to succeed. Additionally, she drops the lowest exam grade, meaning that you do not have to take the final if you do well on the first three exams. She offers a lot of extra credit, meaning that even if you average lower on exams, it is still very possible to get a A. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
You should take this class with her! Dr. Ngeve is very sweet and genuinely cares about all her students. The course content is manageable, some of the assignments are longer or more difficult than others but none are terrible. The exams are definitely difficult but she allows a notecard and provides lots of study resources (practice exams, quizlets, TA review sessions, review questions, and kahoot games). Definitely take advantage of the extra credit she provides (there is A LOT) none of them are super hard but it definitely adds up and can really boost your grade!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
I wish I could say nicer things about Dr. Ngeve and this class because after going to office hours she seems like she could be a nice person outside of lecture she also gives a lot of extra credit which you should take advantage of. Her exams are extremely long and difficult (about 50 questions free response and multiple choice) and for a 100 level intro class honestly unnecessary the class average is usually below a 60%. While there are only 5 homework's it is impossible to get a 100% on them and graders are harsh. She reads directly off of the slides while lecturing and each class is very content heavy with no review. This being said study and do the work and you will honestly be okay her syllabus says that you will need 3hrs of studying for each 1hr of lecture and this is true but it is not impossible to do well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is very kind and passionate about her work. I personally did not have the best experience with the class overall. The lectures are often not very helpful as the slides are vague and very numerous so it can be hard to pay attention. The class is very content and vocab heavy. The exams are pretty difficult and the average is usually not very high but she does give lots of extra credit. Your grade is definitely reliant on the extra credit which just feels like busy work and outdated assignments, it does feel like a waste of time because maybe if the material was explained in a better way there would not be a need for excessive extra credit. Nonetheless, she is very kind and apparently other 160 professors are worse. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
She is a very nice professor. All of the information needed for class is covered by the lectures and tons of extra credit opportunities are available that everyone should do. There is a good amount of information and work each week for the class, but if you have any questions she has office hours twice a week and replies to emails very fast. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
i got have an exam average of a 76% and im getting an a |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
Professor Ngeve is a great lecturer. She provides all of the required materials for the course, additional questions, etc. in an organized fashion and is incredibly willing to help students be prepared to succeed. She also provides a generous amount of extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
She is a nice professor; she provides A LOT of extra credit opportunities. Her lecture slides are sometimes hard to follow and understand, but as long as you go over the Kahoot's and water break questions for the exams, you'll do fine in the class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/03/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve was a very good teacher and provided a lot of extra credit. The class entails a lot of vocabulary and application. you are allowed one small notecard for help on the exams, yet many of the questions are very similar to the practice questions we do throughout the lectures. Overall, the class is difficult if you don't pay attention and ask questions to help you fully understand the material. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/02/2024 |
Just discovered that other professors are dropping exams and or are making the finals optional. Fagan is doing none of that, and makes the homework impossible with C averages on exams with no curve. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/02/2024 |
Other comments are all true try not to take if you can |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/02/2024 |
She's a nice professor; she gives out a ton of extra credit, which you should 100% take advantage of. This class is very content-heavy; she doesn't review what we learned last class because there's a new topic in each lecture. I don't do well on the exams, but I should pass because I've been doing the extra credit. You work hard to get a good grade, but it's not an easy class. You need to review outside of class and probably should do the reading. Her slides are 60% of the content you need to know, and the textbook has the rest. I have heard of harder 160 teachers, and 170 is easier, apparently. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 11/25/2024 |
DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. I wish I had seen more negative reviews before enrolling in what I thought was going to be relatively easy. The other reviews from this semester do a good job at providing a well rounded image into this class and exams. pls don't take it |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 11/24/2024 |
He just doesn't help us out much. If he applies no overall curve to the class then I don't get what's going on (which the syllabus says there will not be). He makes it needlessly difficult when our content is seriously not that difficult, it's demoralizing. He is definitely doing bio majors dirty tbh, we literally need a high gpa to get anywhere after college so why am I stressing over an entry level bio class? Office hours, he listens, but his advice is helpful conceptually, but doesn't apply in practice. This same flaw is found in his lectures and is ultimately reflected in his exams. About that, he won't release exams scores of course, so all we know is people are doing poorly overall in the class, and I simply don't trust his display of the average scores, and he gives gimmicky questions on the exams that make BSCI160 a bad time overall. He really said for those struggling on the exams, write bubble maps... What is a bubble map gonna do? He consistently talks down to the students as if they are children... and constantly leaves a bad impression of bio, when BSCI170 was a breeze for me to get a solid A in with hard work. Avoid this class with Fagan, as it just feels like a time waste honestly... |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/22/2024 |
She's a pretty good professor, nice when you go to office hours but does act a little condescendingly towards us in lectures. Her slideshows are long and she talks the entire time in lecture, most of the time not getting through them. Bio is just a really content heavy class so you have to study for exams more on your own time. The homework assignments are kind of annoying, especially the weekly discussion posts as they're very long and multipart. I would say it's not hard to succeed in this class though, I've averaged an 88 on exams so far so my advice would just be to study all the material in advance and go to lecture. She does provide tons of extra credit that help pull grades up a lot. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/22/2024 |
DO NOT TAKE HIM. When BSCI160 is harder than my orgo2 class yk theres something wrong. Tests are insanely difficult and so is the homework. Its crazy when i got a A- in 170 but somehow a worse grade in 160. You dont get your tests back, no practice tests, you get slides which bring no purpose other than to be placed in your basically 4 page cheat sheet. Hes an okay lecturer. I would advise just to not take his class what so ever especially if you have an insanely busy workload. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/19/2024 |
I have to be honest, I have done well in all biology classes so far and maybe I've been taught poorly, but I have never struggled as much as anyone with Fagan. I've done very well in all classes so far, but this is currently my most stressful class out of Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Calc 2... which says something. Fagan gives out ridiculous homework assignment that are weighted far too much and cause way too much stress and gives exams that are truly perplexing. If you want an easy time in Biology, this is not it. However, I do believe I have a good understanding of the content for what it's worth, but this class is completely irrelevant to my major so it's practically a net negative. If you want an easy A or B, this is not the professor, and yes there are many easy professors for this class. I wish I had seen a more negative review for BSCI160 so I could have warned myself for the stuff you'll have to deal with. There are cheat sheets, but that doesn't matter as he asks questions that "get to the depth of the subject" which basically means you need to write all the background information on the slides, which there are 100's of per lecture. I strongly recommend not taking Fagan, and I normally don't go against professors like this unless my buttons have been pushed. He has gone out of his way to chastize the students for poor performance at moments, but deep down he does show care and respect for the material at hand, so I'd give him about 2 1/2 stars to be fair. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/19/2024 |
I wish I could give her more stars because she seems like a nice person but she’s such a horrible professor. Her slideshows are all over the place and make no sense. She talks really fast with a thick accent and you can never understand her. She’s not really helpful at all and she just can’t teach |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 11/12/2024 |
Im seeing all these terrible reviews and she's not that that bad. I will say her exams are very hard, she does make you feel kinda dumb sometimes, she's hard to understand and her slides are vague. I will say though she gives a lot of extra credit opportunities and there isn't too much homework, also she makes the final optional or she'll drop the lowest exam grade if you do take the final. I've heard of worse BSCI160 professors so id say take ur luck with her. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 11/06/2024 |
I would do 2 and 1/2 stars if i could. He's a bit bratty to his TA's and I truly dislike the way he structures his exams. I'm an upperclassman so it's not like I'm a freshman who doesn't know how college works. His exams are like 50% of what he puts in his powerpoints, but the other 50% require in-depth context from what he says in class. Some of his short answer questions are so confusing and vague you don't know wtf he's asking for. His lectures are a bit on the boring side, but I'm not crazy about biology so that's a personal thing for me. He says he models his exams after the book, but I'm not too sure how much he does. He also says he doesn't do trick questions, but so far that feels like a fat lie lol. He allows two cheat sheets for the exam which is helpful, but honestly not by a whole lot. He also doesn't do practice exams, which sucks for people like me who need them. He gives extra points back which is nice, and his curves are around 8 points. Overall, I wish I took a different professor but if you have a passion for the material I understand taking him. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 10/17/2024 |
Regardless of your final grade in this course (which is highly reliant on the extra credit she provides), you will not enjoy this professor. She is often condescending and rude when the class doesn't understand her because she doesn't teach. Coming to class isn't worth it because you could just read the slides at home and get the same information you would in class. After all, she does not elaborate or expand on the concepts she's "teaching." Somehow in the 75-minute class period, she managed to provide no explanation or application of concepts and STILL couldn't get through her entire slideshow lesson. I wanted to fall asleep every lecture because it felt like I was listening to an incoherent audiobook. I stopped going to class halfway through the semester because I wasn't learning anything from her that I mostly couldn't do on my own. You will still have to do supplemental work to fill in the blanks she neglects to educate you on. I would recommend taking another professor who is enthusiastic about the subject and can actually teach it. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/15/2024 |
Always has interesting classes and interacts with students very often. His slideshows always have a bunch of information to take notes on. I thought this class would be extremely boring however the passion Shapiro has for the subject makes it very fun and explains every term very well and makes it easy to understand the information being presented to you. Would definitely recommend him for BSCI60!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/14/2024 |
Do not take bsci160 with her. She gives hours and hours of work that have nothing to do with what we learn in the lecture. And in the lecture all she does is read from the slides, it is all a waste of time. Also, after the first exam she asked us to give her feedback for what she could improve on for the next unit, but then proceeded to give passive aggressive responses to all the critiques and completely ignored them. She also switches between teaching too slow and too fast. If you take her class expect harsh grading because that's all she does. I only gave her 2 stars because she is usually very nice and if you ask her a question she typically give helpful answers. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/13/2024 |
AVOID THIS PROFESSOR. I am just taking this class to complete my science lab credit expecting 100- level work. This class is so time consuming with 200-300 level work. Her teaching style is just reading off the slides, not even finishing them before the lecture ends and telling us to go finish them on our own. Her homework assignments take hours to complete and are graded for extreme precision. The TAs are doing the most when grading them like it's not that deep. Her exams are super long and also graded so hard making it impossible to get an A. The only thing carrying me right now are the extra credits which are free points as long as you put in some time into completing them. The weekly discussions are also very long and require you to respond to almost 10 part questions and reply to another student which is useless busy work. I don't even want to blame her but her accent also makes it 10x harder to understand the lecture so its basically up to you to go read over the slides and self study for most of the class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 09/24/2024 |
I’m sure Ngeve is a great scientist, but she is not a great lecturer or teacher. I wouldn’t even say she is good. For a 100-level class, she assigns 200-300-level work. It would almost be impossible to pass this class with a B if she didn’t assign her numerous extra credit assignments that take hours to complete. Every lecture she would read off of a slideshow, she rarely ever finished the slides and expected us to go home and teach ourselves off of vague images and random formulas on the slides. She definitely cares about her students, but not enough to actually teach us what we’re doing. This class feels like more of a writing class than biology or ecology. I would recommend taking this class with another professor |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 09/16/2024 |
I'm not sure why the other reviews of her and her class are so positive. Ngeve's only skill is reading off of a slideshow. She throws formulas at you with no further explanation of how to apply them to course concepts. Her homework assignments are busy work intended to waste your time. You could hardly even call this a biology class with how little she teaches about ecology. The one redeeming quality of this course was the extra credit that is given. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/13/2024 |
really interesting class. compared to other friends who took the class at the same time as me but with different professors, she seems to be one of the better teachers. offers a lot of extra credit and lets you use a note card for exams. it is quite hard though, even with note cards I averaged a 78% on exams. she does drop your lowest exam grade which is great. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2024 |
I hated ecology and evolution going into it and expected the class to be incredibly boring, however Dr. Shapiro proved me wrong, he is incredibly passionate about the subject and turns what would otherwise be an incredibly boring lecture, into one that is at least mildly entertaining-so much so I was actually interested and entertained. He posts slides for every lecture but be warned he sometimes includes stuff in lecture that is not covered on the slides so going to lecture is very helpful for the exams. His exams are half multiple choice and then the other half is mostly short answer and free response. He also posts sample exam questions right before each exam that is very similar to the exam (some questions are the exact same), he sets you up for success and WANTS you to succeed, the exam is mostly straightforward and even when I had to miss almost 4 lectures in a row, I was still able to do fairly well, he is VERY FAIR (never got below an 87 on an exam), he even curved the exam and added 3 extra points to everyones exam when the average was a 73. He also lets you bring a notecard to each exam and an entire sheet of paper for the final, he also drops the lowest midterm and gives 100 free points with these achieve assignments that take less than 30 minutes about every week or every other week that just require answering multiple choice questions. My friends in Ngeve were struggling while I was coasting with Dr. Shapiro and genuinely enjoyed the subject of ecology, I fully recommend him for 160!!! |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2024 |
He is obviously very passionate and cares a lot about the topic. However, his lectures can be quite disorganized and very boring. He does drop an exam or down weight your lowest exam and the final; whatever works out more in your favor. If you read his slides and copy down/memorize most stuff, you should be fine. His language can sometimes be confusing on the exams, but it is not terrible. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/13/2024 |
I thought she was very nice, she was interactive with the class and provided a fun lecture learning experience. She also gave many opportunities for extra credit which was nice. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/13/2024 |
Very nice teacher, lots of opportunity for extra credit and is very empathetic |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/13/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is very organized and provides a ton of extra credit to help boost grades. The lectures are also interesting and she is good at making sure everyone understands. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/13/2024 |
This was a good class with a lot of extra credit. The lectures are decently engaging, and you have a lot of resources to be able to do very well in the class. Just make sure you actually go to lecture, because a lot of the clicker questions she gives in class are similar to questions she would ask on the exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/12/2024 |
Just in case my review before didn't save, TLDR is manageable workload, lots of extra credit, one test dropped, she very nice, understanding and helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/12/2024 |
She is frequently available and helpful outside of class and covers things at a manageable pace. There is a ton of extra credit and she drops the lowest midterm, so, even someone like me who's not particularly good at science, has pretty good odds of passing or even getting an A. In general, it's manageable class with interesting concepts from a very nice, helpful and understanding professor. Good way to get a GenEd out of the way. |
Sarah Lee
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Amazing teacher! DR. Lee was incredible and made learning the information easy thanks to her slides and sketches that she would do in class when talking about certain things. She also posted tons of practice problems to help you study for the midterms, with some of the questions in the practice problems being the same on the midterms, so if you did the problems and studied the concepts you got wrong, you'd do well on tests. If the whole class didn't do well on a midterm, she would create an assignment so the class could make up some of the points. She also had hand-outs for the more confusing concepts and would work on them in class to ensure people understood them. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is taking BSCI160 because she does an incredible job of teaching this class and makes it interesting plus she connections things you're learning in class to things you probably already understand, so it makes it easier to learn new concepts. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Nice professor and gives lots of extra credit, would recommend taking her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
DO NOT TAKE BSCI 160 WITH HER -Terrible teaching style -Lectures are all over the place -Exams are nothing like lecture -HW are graded harshly From the beginning of the semester to the end, only about 20-30 people show up to lecture in a class of about 100+. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Good professor but lecture are not significant nor important at all. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Overall exemplary professor. Can't think of any issues I had with her at all. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
She is an excellent professor and provides numerous resources to the students, which I believe were very helpful. She offers plenty of extra credit opportunities. However, sometimes the course material can be overwhelming, but she makes sure to thoroughly explain the content during the lecture instead of just reading off the slides. I am unsure about my grade because even though the lowest exam grade is dropped after taking the exams in this class, I am never quite sure how I performed. All in all, I would highly recommend Dr. Ngeve. Wishing you the best of luck! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
She is an excellent professor and provides numerous resources to the students, which I believe were very helpful. She offers plenty of extra credit opportunities. However, sometimes the course material can be overwhelming, but she makes sure to thoroughly explain the content during the lecture instead of just reading off the slides. I am unsure about my grade because even though the lowest exam grade is dropped after taking the exams in this class, I am never quite sure how I performed. All in all, I would highly recommend Dr. Ngeve. Wishing you the best of luck! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Lots of EC but the class is kind of hard itself. exams are a little rough but the material provided in advance to prepare for the exam does tend to have very similar questions. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve was an outstanding professor. It was evident that her goal was for all of her students to do well. She communicated clearly what was expected and provided many extra credit opportunities if you didn't that great on the exams. Take her if you want the best chance at a good grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
So much extra credit provided, i got Cs on all three exams and still ended with an A, she genuinely wants you to succeed |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/11/2024 |
She's a good teacher and the class isn't too hard. Doesn't curve that i know of but your lowest exam score is dropped & she offers lots of extra credit so you'll be fine. Lectures are recorded & she largely reads off the slides, but she does clicker points for participation grade so attending is helpful. She's very flexible with late work and very understanding if you email her with any concerns. Course load is pretty light-- weekly discussion board posts + occasional extra credit and hw assignments. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
She is a very loving and understanding professor! Would def suggest you to take her if your taking bsci160. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
She's really sweet and definitely wants you to pass the class, she offers a bunch of extra credit assignments that really help boost your grade up even if you bomb the exams, so make sure to DEFIANTLYYY do all the extra credit. The homework is lowkey kinda hard, time consuming but there is only 5 hw assignments. The exams are online in class, you are allowed to have a flashcard and write wtv you want on it. You should study the material as it goes by and try not to wait last minute, its durable to study the days before the exam but it will reflect on your grade, and atp you just would have wished to have studied beforehand to get a higher score. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Offers a lot of extra credit assignments that help boost your grade, but her exams are quite lengthy and are sometimes difficult to prepare for if you don't put in effort, so make sure to stay on topic and in class. Also complete all the extra credit assignments they are super helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
This class offers a lot of extra credit so make sure to do all of it to keep your grade boosted. The lectures are very boring and I wasn't the biggest fan of her class slides because I felt like they were unorganized. However, she does have recorded lectures up on her elms page page so even if you miss class, I would recommend that you watch them. Most people fail the first exam because they think they don't have to study, make sure you study!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
An excellent professor who provides the necessary resources to succeed. Dr. Ngeve is very knowledgeable and passionate about the topic and is always looking to help out her students. I couldn't recommend her enough. The only thing I can say is that she expects some participation from the class which may be difficult for some students who are not the best at asking/answering questions in lecture. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is very passionate about what she teaches, and she gives you a lot of extra credit and resources to help in understanding the concepts. I enjoyed taking her class, and I would definitely recommend taking her for this course. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Great teacher, cares about her students, cares about what she teaches. I would only say that it is sometimes hard to understand her (not her fault), and that the exams are long compared to the time given to complete them. Extra credit opportunities were also confusing to keep track of, although there are a lot of them. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
A great teacher for this course. provides extra credit throughout the semester! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
She's very clear on what is gonna be on the exam! she's always willing to help during office hours and the ta's helped a lot especially with homework! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Ngeve was a wonderful person, she provided her students with a lot of extra credit opportunities. She's very sincere and cares for her students and tries her best to keep them engaged in lectures. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Hw heavy some weeks, Exams kinda hard. Lots of extra credit though so |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very kind professor, creates a very friendly environment for her students. Her lectures are definitely not the most interesting at times but she's always trying to get more people to engage and make it more fun. Her class has tons of extra credit which are very helpful to maintain or get a better grade in the class! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Great professor and sets you up for success on your exams. Take her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Lots of extra credit, all lectures are recorded, and slides have all info you need for exams. Prof is enthusiastic about content and very helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
The class itself is a lot of content and requires a lot of studying, but Dr.Ngeve tries her best to make the class easier! The ELMs page is very organized, TAs were very helpful, lowest midterm is dropped, clicker points for participation, and there was lots of extra credit that definitely helped out. Dr.Ngeve is also a very nice professor that tries her best to respond to emails and communicate effectively. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
This class was really great because there was a lot of extra credit assignments that helped to keep my grade up! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
This course is very easy to pass with an A as long as you complete all of the extra credit. A great course to take alongside more demanding courses. the professor is great and only wants her students to learn and succeed in her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve might be one of the most caring professors I have had at UMD. She is genuinely invested in the success of her students. She offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, her lectures are very straightforward (also recorded), and material is easy to comprehend (sorts of build on each other). Furthermore, her learning team is there to help any student that might need them. Overall, definitely recommend! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
She is an amazing teacher. She explains the material really well. She offers so much extra credit to boost your grade. She also really cares about your success and even met with me the night before the exam to go over some material that I was unsure of. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2024 |
I adore this woman. She goes above and beyond for her students. Record lectures before class to help you review material or watch it if you missed it. She is always very open to answering questions and would even go out of her way to book another time if you cannot make it to her office hours. Provides extensive resources to make you actually succeed and do well in the course. TAKE HER CLASS! Hands down the best professor I ever had. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Shes honestly a good professor just because of the amount of free points she gives. Her homeworks are easy and do help. However i feel like her notes and slides are disorganized and often times unhelpful. Overal i think she is ok if you like teaching yourself, if not i suggest looking into other options. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Professor has recorded lectures, and does clickers during class time. Gives lots of opportunities for extra credit, but you have to pay for the software she uses to do the extra credit. Overall, Ngeve is very passionate about her class and students. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
I never went to class but was able to complete clickers from home and still have full participation points. This class is easy and does not require that much time. Do the assignments - they are the most helpful for learning/teaching yourself because the lectures are lengthy to review. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
She's a great professor and if you put in the time to study you can definitely do well. The homeworks can be long, but they are doable. Please participate in class because she loves when you have questions. I had no idea what ecology would be and it was super interesting |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
I took this class for my engineering elective and Dr.Ngeve made the class interesting and easy to follow. Involves a little bit of work each week and there are 3 midterms and a final, but if you complete everything on time you should do well. There is a ton of extra credit which can help boost your grade and ULA/TAs are helpful in preparation for exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve provides a lot of extra credit opportunities. These are not all easy peasy but when you put in a good effort they do reinforce some of the curriculum. There are 3 midterms with the lowest one dropped, a good amount of homework, and the final. The slides are posted along with a recording but in-person lecture is the most helpful especially when some of the slides do not provide much information. Participation comes in the form of clicker questions during the in-person lectures as well. There are also discussion boards every Thursday that act as a review of the material learned that week. The TAs also provided a lot of resources to expand on the material. All midterms were in class, online, and very heavily focused on longer written responses. The final however is open note and no short response so with the lowest midterm drop you should be good. All in all a pretty good professor, just be prepared to put a good amount of work when it comes to the midterms for those bigger responses. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. She is so sweet and understanding. Her lectures were very informative. She has videos of her lectures and posts them prior to the class so you can review that at your own pace. She also includes clickers which I found to be helpful to understand material during the class. She posts the code for these so if you miss class, you are still able to complete them. She had ULAs which hosted review sessions and posted concept maps that were very helpful for the exams. Overall, she sets you up for success and includes many extra credit opportunities. The only downside was that her exams were pretty long. But she allowed a note card that you can use for the exam, so it helps a lot. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
She has some difficulty explaining topics in different ways but her slides are good. Just make sure to memorize rather than just understand the general idea. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
I took this class as a Gen Ed and I'd recommend it. She has lots of extra credit available. If you take a good amount of time to study the midterms are not too challenging. The HW do take a while but there are only 5 per semester. There are quizlets that help you study for upcoming exams. She also drops the lowest midterm grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
I knew coming in this course that I would have a hard time since biology (ecology and evolution) aren’t my strong suits, however with the abundant resources she provided and in depth teaching style I didn’t have a horrible time like I thought. The only criticism I can offer is that it can be sometimes hatred to understand what she says, but other then that going to her office hours especially helped with homework. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Not a super difficult class but a lot of busy work and exams are not easy. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Great teacher, she goes fast but the lectures are online so it's not horrible. SO MUCH EXTRA CREDIT. Drops the lowest exam, exams are fair but a lot of memorization, so be ready for that. Great person and will help you if needed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great person, but her lectures are a bit uninteresting and quick. Lots of extra credit and it is not difficult to do well even if you have poor grades on exams. Take this professor for 160! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Professor Ngeve cares a lot about your grade and cares a lot about making sure you understand the material taught each week. Lecture slides are easy to follow for the most part, although sometimes concepts are taught faster than they should be. Homework can be long and tedious, but is extremely helpful for the exams. Exams are fair and as long as you study and stay on top of the material taught in lecture, you should do fine. If you do the extra credit that is offered (which there is a lot) it will help your grade a good amount. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
She was very good and offered a lot of extra credit to improve your grade. Overall she was nice, accommodating, and explained the concepts well. There were a lot of real-life examples. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Pros: records lectures and gives access to slides, tons of extra credit. Exams are a mix of multiple choice/true or false with 5-8 free response. Most of the multiple choice is provided in the point solutions questions that are done in lecture (and are posted before exams). Overall provides a ton of supplemental materials to help you understand the topics. Cons: The assignments take a ton of time, no matter if it's homework, extra credit, or weekly assignments, expect devoting a good chunk of time to it. She does move through lectures quickly but it isn't bad as you have the access, plus if you ask her to slow down or explain something, she will. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
She was very nice and accommodating. There were lots of extra credit opportunities available. I would recommend her if you're planning on taking BSCI160. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is an excellent professor who wants everyone to succeed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
She is a great teacher and really wants you to succeed. I would definitely recommend this professor to anyone if they can. You can definitely get an A in this Class with a little bit of effort |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
I am not a Biology person, but this class was much easier than I expected. Professor Ngeve is very organized and clear with due dates and what she expected from us. She is so kind and the first day we met she told us that she wanted all of us to succeed and do well which motivated me to do the best I could. She gives a lot of extra credit opportunities which boost your grade and help with information on the exams. I did not think the exams were that easy but it is very nice that the lowest exam grade is dropped to allow all different types of students to do well. I also really liked the professor. She always answered my emails and was available if I had any questions. The TAs also were very helpful and gave a lot of study material and hosted review sessions every Saturday morning that were extremely helpful. Overall, a great class!!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve cares a lot about her students, drops the lowest exam, and gives a lot of extra credit! Her lectures do go very fast! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Ngeve made BSCI160 easy, and as long as you do your work you'll be fine in this class. She can be a bit hard to understand at times, but records all lectures and posts the slides on ELMS. Exams aren't too bad, and she drops the lowest one. Final is also open note and plenty of extra credit is given. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Dr. Shapiro is an amazing professor. He is engaging during lecture and very passionate. He doesn't just read off slides but really talks through the topics. He drops your lowest exam, gives you opportunities to raise your grade through homework and other small assignments graded by completion, and is very lenient with his deadlines. He truly wants you to learn and his exams are very fair. He is welcoming when asked questions and replies to emails quick. I have no interest in ecology but I still really enjoyed his class. His lecture slides are posted but it is important to attend lecture because not everything is on the slides. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Lots of extra credit, but the homeworks take a while and her exams are very very specific. I thought this class would be easy, but it became one of my worst grades. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
She's really understanding and provides lots of opportunities to better your grade while expanding your knowledge. It is definitely a class where you need to put in effort to receive an outcome you would like. There are so many resources she provides to learn the material. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
I had a hard time focusing in this class which may have been a personal thing. The class itself was not terribly hard. I didn't do the extra credit but if you do all the LAs it can change your grade dramatically. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
lots of extra credit that will boost your grade ! 3 exams one gets dropped so there is space for error! Overall, very easy class, but the work outside of class can be difficult to keep up with at times. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Gives a lot of extra credit. Homework's and TNR's are not too bad. Drops lowest exam. Exams are long and a lot of specific information is packed into them. Usually around 40 multiple choice and at least 5 free response questions. Lecture slides are kind of random, just information thrown together. They are hard to understand without any explanation or context. Some slides are just pictures with no explanation. This is a good course overall and the instructor is good as well. But, the material can feel random and the exams are difficult. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Ngeve is a pretty chill professor. Lectures aren't super helpful, but there is a participation grade with clicker questions. You are allowed a note card for each exam and the lowest is dropped plus she gives tons of extra credit assignments. Overall, her course is not too difficult, the exams can be long and assignments can be a bit tedious but it an A is pretty easily to get. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
I thought Dr.Ngeve was a pretty good professor. She is great with answering questions and has multiple ways for you to ask questions if you dont understand a concept or idea. She provides plenty of extra credit opportunities and the homework assignments are fair and do represent the content taught in class. The exams also are fair and based on the lecture content. She takes exam questions from the homework lectures, and redigests so I suggest using those for studying. I also really loved the concept maps they are a great addition to notes, and help to simplify content heavy lectures. The only thing I would say is that she moves really fast in lectures and it can make it hard to focus because of that, but it is also understandable because the lectures can include a lot of content. I personally find that it is easier to either take notes during lecture and review the content through the recordings. Or take notes after the lecture based on the recordings and slides to be able to focus more on the lecture. Overall I would definitely recommend Dr.Ngeve. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
One of the better lecturers I've had at UMD. BSCI160 is a pretty interesting course and Dr. Ngeve helped make the more complex topics very digestible. She provides a LOT of study material to help you prepare for exams: posted lecture recordings, concept maps after every lecture, large team of teaching assignments, lots of extra credit opportunities, and discussion posts, all on top of allowing a 3x5 cheat sheet for exams and dropping the lowest. I liked the discussion posts best because while they were time consuming, the additional articles/videos were good for digesting concepts from lecture. Overall, very good teacher. I didn't enjoy how extra credit LA assignments were group assignments with predetermined groups. It's not a big issue because it's not mandatory and there's plenty of other individual EC, but I was already coordinating with a bunch of other groups from various labs and didn't really want to deal with another one, especially within a large lecture class. Also be weary of her exams, the free response sections can often be time consuming because of many parts/calculations. I often ran into issues of feeling rushed, so try to manage your time wisely. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
I really have enjoyed my time in Professor N.'s class learning ecology after a long time in initial exposure to the subject-- it really helps in the amount of extra credit that connects to the material and reinforces it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
This professor provides sufficient extra credit in order to assist with potential low-exam grades. On another hand, the exam is online but unperferabley formatted so that complications could arise during exam time. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Amazing professor that cares about her students on every level and gives a ton of extra credit assignments. You would have to try to fail the class to truly have an opportunity at failing. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
She is a very pleasant teacher and cares about her students. There is a lot of information gone over but she supplies a lot of resources and extra credit to combat this. Exams are quite tight on time with the amount of questions asked, so be well prepared as you won't have much time to think on a question. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Professor Ngeve is extremely knowledgeable and excited to instruct this course. However with any biology course, the course is very content dense! Professor has a fast lecture pace and it is very easy to become overwhelmed or fall behind during lecture. To combat this there is an exceptional amount of resources for you to succeed in this class. Extra credit, weekly review sessions, concept maps, feedback discussion boards, etc. You will allocate a lot of time for this class but it is more than doable. Professor Ngeve has been lovely all semester! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
content presentation is a bit all over the place and hard to understand during the lectures given her fast pace but decently easy with time. she posts almost everything which is helpful but makes it a bit difficult to navigate the course page at first due to the volume of stuff. assignments aren't bad as long as you've paid attention. has lots of extra credit and review sessions. overall decent class but organized in a funky way. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Dr. Ngeve is such a sweet and helpful lecturer. She is always open to answer questions and is a very organized person. The exams are decent, but you must study and memorize a lot which isn't inherently a bad thing if you review weekly and go to review sessions with the TAs. The notes are straightforward, and she gives out many extra credit opportunities which definitely helped me maintain a high grade! She drops the lowest midterm exam score which is also awesome. Make sure to reach out to study buddy groups she assigns if you choose to take her, it will help you I promise. I really recommend her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Overall, I enjoyed the course. Nothing was too hard, but if I did need clarification it was easy to contact the professor and TA. Great introductory course for environmental science majors! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
She gives a lot of extra credit, but I think that is the only reason I have a good grade. She has a lot of slides every class and only puts a few words on them and expects us to understand. If you need help, go to a TA. I went to her office hours a couple times and she would just tell me to look at her slides. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
She gives a lot of extra credit but she has a lot slides per class and only writes a few words on them and expects us to understand what she was going for. If you need help, go to a TA. I went to office hours multiple times and she would talk down to me and just tell me to look at her slides. The class is a lot of work, but if you do it all you should be fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
The exams were fair, everything came from the lecture slides. As long as you keep up with the content and complete all extra credit assignments, you should do fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Lectures are very fast paced and cover a lot on content. She provides many extra credit opportunities however, these take a great amount of time and effort. Her exams are challenging for an intro level ecology class however, she provides review materials that can help supplement your learning. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Dr.Ngeve is the best professor for this class, there are 3 exams, the lowest gets dropped and there is a lot of extra credit opportunities. She is so kind and willing to help if you ask questions. She records lectures which is really helpful for studying. You can tell she is very passionate and gives a lot of interesting facts. I would recommend her over anyone else. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
I really enjoyed this course. Dr. Ngeve was very organized and presented the information in an interesting way. You were allowed an index card "cheat sheet" for the exams which really relieved some of the pressure off of you. There were also plenty extra credit opportunities that were beneficial. Would recommend this professor! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2024 |
Difficult exams but if you do all the extra credit work you can expect at least an A- with receiving exam grades right at the class average. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/03/2024 |
Dr Shapiro is a really nice guy and he is lenient with deadlines. But, his tests are impossible they are extremely long and most of the content is not in the lecture slides. Homework is very long and is worth very little points. TAs are very helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/02/2024 |
I took this class as a pre-health prerequisite. Dr. Ngeve records lectures and gives in-class clicker points. She cares about her students and is very receptive to questions. ULA review sessions are offered weekly as well as concept maps to clarify each lecture. She is incredibly generous with extra credit and drops your lowest midterm. The class is not difficult if you put in effort, keep up with the content, and use the given resources |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/01/2024 |
I’m taking CHEM231 along with BSCI160. I have a high A in orgo, so ideally bsci160 wouldn’t be so bad- but Shapiro makes his exam questions to purposely try to trick you. The content itself is easy and I’m pretty sure I learned it all in middle school, so I’m not to keen on Shapiro for screwing up my grade |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/18/2024 |
She is very nice and it's very easy to get an A in the class with all of the extra credit but this is not what makes a good class so I think the reviews are higher than they should be. She is not a very good professor and the class was often frustrating to be a part of with her complaining every 2 seconds about how we should know certain things when in reality she did a terrible job explaining them. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 03/28/2024 |
Dr. Shapiro is a passionate and a nice guy but he is not the best lecturer. He is very slow to get to the point, and his lessons are disorganized and boring. The exams are difficult---half of it consists of multiple choice questions that are designed to trick you. The other half are short answers and fill in the blanks which are thankfully much easier and straightforward. I expected this class to be an easy A but be warned, it is not. Ecology and evolution was one of my favorite subjects and this class has only discouraged me. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/16/2024 |
Dr. Shapiro is clearly knowledgeable and a good teacher. His exams aren't too bad and the practice exams are really helpful. The homework assignments are only a few questions, but I would sometimes have to go to office hours about them. If you're still allowed to work together, I highly recommend. The course is definitely easier if you took AP/IB biology in high school (it's literally the same thing) but still manageable if you didn't. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/14/2024 |
His tests are extremely difficult and the material he covers is not fairly represented on the exam. He yaps too much |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Anonymous 02/23/2024 |
Extremely difficult, it's confusing even with TAs helping sometimes. Otherwise, it's boring. Don't take. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/20/2024 |
Dr. Bruns was very passionate about eco and evolution! There is a lot of material to cover but she makes it very straight forward. I was balancing Orgo 1 with this class so my time was split making it difficult to completely focus on BSCI160, so my grade is a little lower. Overall, I would take her again! She is the best professor to teach this course. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/12/2024 |
This class can be boring at times but not at all too difficult. He drops the lowest midterm (which helps a LOT) and can be lenient when it comes to deadlines. Exams are hard but fair: everything that is on the exam can be found on a slideshow (that he posts) |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/03/2024 |
She is one of the sweetest professors ever but also severely disorganized. She doesn't teach how to do practice problems and makes due dates overlap. Her exam questions are not always related to lecture and she expects you to have a lot of background knowledge. Only reason I got an A in the class is because she provides LOTS of extra credit opportunities and drops your lowest midterm. But even then I would not suggest taking her because she is online. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/21/2023 |
Please do not take this professor if you want an A unless you have a strong background in bio. Lectures literally are so disorganized. Little to no feedback on assignments. Even asking clarifying questions somehow makes things even more unclear. Could not emphasize how much I do not recommend. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2023 |
Dr. Shapiro is clearly very passionate about what he teaches. He is very understanding with curves, dropping lowest midterm, extend HW deadlines for the whole class, and even allows an index card of notes during exams. That said, he isn't the best lecturer. The class structure feels disorganized, boring, and he can go on tangents that drag on and on. Also, the HWs are graded very harshly and by accuracy. With all this said, I would still recommend him. The content of the course isn't very hard, and you will do just fine if you put in the effort. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2023 |
Great personality. Passionate. Cares about students. The only negative is his lecture style. He is genuinely a boring person and talks very slow. The only way I could get through this class was "recording" his lectures and listening again some time later in 2x speed. His slides literally include no information-just some pictures and graphs without description. So you need to focus on what he says but since it is very difficult to stay focused during his lectures, recording helps. The worst part: his slides are not organized at all so you have to make connections between topics yourself. He wants you to focus on big ideas but that's why this class is challenging for most people. Without knowing the details, it's hard to understand the big picture. He did not explain the genetics unit well yet the questions on the midterms wanted us to know the details. So good luck with that unit especially. We only learned 1/4 of what the other class is learning and ran out of time at the end (the last few topics were rushed). But again, we can use cheat sheets for all 3 midterms & the final, and most questions on the final were taken from the past exams word for word. Lastly, his TAs were very helpful (although there weren't GSS sessions, they were welcoming during office hours and a lot of people showed up to do homework and ask questions). I recommend using TA office hours to your benefit and take the practice exam before each exam. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B robynorjulia 12/13/2023 |
I am not an ecology or evolution person and I'm more into anatomy and physiology (I'm pre-med) but I loved going to Dr. Ngeve for lectures. She is very understanding and cares about each and every one of her students. She records lectures but you will need to go in person for class participation points. You will need to put a good amount of work into the class to maintain a good grade but she offers lots of extra credits. I did the extra credit LA assignments plus a couple of individual extra credit assignments and I currently have an A in the class despite getting a B- and 2 B+'s on the midterm. The homework is also very useful as well as ULA review sheets as a way to study. Take her if you can! She was the best professor I had this semester! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
I'll give the quick rundown. Drops the lowest midterm, lots of extra credit but take a good chunk of time, assignments for this class will never be quick and will take a lot of time, you can't really understand her, has lots of slides and speeds through them. If you drift off for a few seconds you will be a couple slides behind already. Her exams are not so bad except sometimes the MC are lowley trick questions (as in bc one word was added or removed to the statement it is the opposite of what you were taught). Some freaks always say the pace is fine but I am always scrambling to jot down the notes. You really have to be able to multitask with note taking and listening to her or else you will very much fall behind. The only thing saving my butt is the extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
It really shows that she cares for her students, and I appreciated it so much. Probably my favourite professor that I had this semester. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Very very helpful, gives a lot of extra credit! |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ fields32 12/12/2023 |
Prof. Bruns is a fantastic teacher. She's engaging and it's clear that she has a genuine passion for the field and enjoyment of teaching the content to the students. Exams were pretty typical, we could bring a notecard and they weren't too difficult. Lectures were also quite typical, just taking notes from slideshows. Overall, this is a course with decent content that I really enjoyed, in no small part thanks to the energy Prof. Bruns brought to class everyday. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is a great teacher. She is Understanding and cares for all her students. She gives a lot of extra credits and resources for you to be successful in the course. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very organized professor. She makes due dates very clear and keeps all of the lectures available and in order so that students may review them when they need to. The TAs are very kind and offer a lot of support on His outside of class. I recommend taking this course as it can be a lot of work but is a fair and manageable class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
The lectures are boring and are not that interesting but the professor is extremely organized and provides a lot of extra credit opportunities. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
She is the most supportive teacher and she is always willing to help. A LOT of extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
I appreciate her as a professor. She was very knowledgeable about Biology and you could tell she has a passion for what she teaches. In terms of the class, it is easy to pass and not a class that I have had to worry about. She provides 30 in-class participation points for doing the clickers, and you have a 5-class wiggle room (to my knowledge). She also has a VERY large amount of extra credit assignments for you to complete for points, 4 of these include LA worksheets which are meant to be completed and turned in with your prechosen LA group, which I found very annoying at times given I had a good group which a good response rate but I know people whose group did not attempt to do the worksheet as well and you were left to do it yourself for just 4 extra credit points. Aside from this, the homework assignments (We have 5 throughout the semester) were very helpful for studying for the exams. The exams are canvas protected and you are allowed one 3x5 notecard, I tended to squeeze a lot of information on the notecards as the exams would ask for specifics at times and the exams had (what I feel) a high volume of free response questions. Overall I had a C average on the three midterms that we had. I also really liked her canvas page and you can tell a lot of thought was put into it. The lecture schedule has a comprehensive list of all of the assignments expected for the semester and she does not stray much from it. She has all the lectures pre-recorded and posts all of the slides that were used in class, a downside to this is that if she does not finish going over slides in class she expects you to finish going over them outside of class to stay on track. There are also ULA reviews that the TAs host which are similar to GSS and these too are recorded and posted on Canvas. Lastly for our final, it is a canvas proctored open internet and open note final which truly takes the stress off of me with my other finals. While I will not say this class was an easy A because it is very easy to fall behind, with all the Extra credit and help she posts on the canvas page, you have to actively try to fail this class. With my C average on exams and the Extra credit, I currently have a 100.50 in this class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a kind-hearted professor who wants all of her students to succeed. She gives a lot of extra credit opportunities (group and individual assignments). She also allows students to have a notecard during the 3 three midterm exams. Dr. Ngeve posts the recorded lecture and slides, which becomes useful when studying for exams. The course itself may not be everyone's cup of tea (nothing to do with Dr. Ngeve) because it doesn't necessarily cover "traditional" bio concepts. Since it is an ecology and evolution course, it focuses more on environmental conditions and their impact on organisms. The homework is a little long, but she gives an adequate amount of time to finish it. The TAs can be harsh graders at times. Overall, Dr. Ngeve is an understanding professor. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Professore Ngeve responds in a very timely manner, provides a lot of extra credits, and cares about her students a lot. I would recommend her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Very passionate about the course and will slow down or speed up as necessary to help the class's learning. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
She is a decent overall teacher, gives lots of extra credit, and tries to make the class interesting. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Cares about students would recommend taking the extra credit opportunities seriously |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Highly recommend Prof Ngeve. The course material is not highly complicated but does require a bit of studying for exams. Prof Ngeve is very interactive and wants to ensure that students understand the material as best as possible. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very nice teacher. She always cares about her students. She also gives a lot of extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Best professor ever! I learned so many new things about ecology and evolution of animals. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Professor Ngeve has fair exams that are relevant to her lectures and homeworks. She offers lots of extra credit and loves student feedback. Her homeworks and optional learning activities are great study resources. She clearly demonstrates that she wants all students taking her course to succeed! She is very informative, knowledgable, and engaging! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
A very professional and caring professor. She gives a ton of extra credit and many opportunities for extra points. She allows a notecard on midterms and drops the lowest midterm grade. She genuinely wants us to do well. Brought a huge bag of candy to our exam that was on Halloween. As for people saying they have trouble understanding her, I had some difficulties, but then again, and she provides all course materials so you can go through the slides on your own if you need. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Ngeve is a great teacher. While it can sometimes be hard to understand her and she goes fast in lectures she wears a mic which is helpful as you can hear her anywhere in the room. She doesn't curve but does give a ridiculous amount of extra credit to make up for that. So even if you dont do well on the exams as long as you do the all the extra credit youll do great. The course is what you make it so if you do the extra credit you can easily have over a 100% even if you did bad on the midterms I know so many people who didnt do well on the midterms but did all the extra credit so they had over 100%. the homeworks are annoying and so are the TNR. So if you are willing to put in a little more work to do the extra credit you'll have an A and itll be easy but if you dont think you'll be able to do the extra work for the credit take a different teacher. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
If you are taking bsci 160 then you should 100% take Dr Ngeve. She is a very understanding professor and granted extensions to many assignments due to some of the unforeseen circumstances which occurred on campus this semester. She also genuinely cares about her students and wants you to succeed. The workload for this course is very manageable and Dr Ngeve has so many opportunities for extra credit that can be a massive boost to your grade. The only two drawbacks in my opinion are that participation is a portion of your grade so you have to attend class for the most part, and that the TA's grade very hard. Although there is a lot of information being thrown at you during lectures, I think I would have been fine going over the slides on my own. Overall Dr Ngeve is an amazing professor and I highly recommend taking her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Other reviews for her are underrating her. She only tests on information she teaches and all of the information on the extra credit and Homework is on the exam. If you do the work she assigns you will get an A. The best Science professor I've had at UMD. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
lots of opportunities to improve your grade throughout the semester, the exams are not too bad...a lot of content but you will be fine if you study. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
She is a good instructor and a fair grader. She offers lots of opportunities to improve your grade, and is understanding of circumstances. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a pretty engaging and fair professor. Her exams are fair and they contain Point solutions questions for at about a quarter of the exam. Go to her lectures and you will get free points by doing all the points solutions. She also offers a lot of extra credit and this is beneficial to most students. She is a bit slow on the lectures but she will get through most of her slides in the period leaving minimal note taking at home. She also has very accurate slides and her exams are on the material in her powerpoints. Overall I give her 5 stars because despite her lack of engagement and speed she is very fair and gives out a lot of grade boosting extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is a great professor! She is easy to get in contact with and very helpful during office hours. She offers many extra credit oppotunities to help maintain a passing grade in her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
I love professor Ngeve so much. She is genuinely a nice person and will answer any question you have. Her lectures are lengthy and filled with a lot of information but that's just how the class is. There was a ton of extra credit that you could do to maintain a good grade in the class and the questions she did in class to go over the slides was really helpful when it came to exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
I really loved her and the structure of her class. She is really passionate about what she teaches and it shows. Offered TONS of individual extra credit and group extra credit assignments, so if you are worried about your grade you have so many opportunities to improve it. The homework and assignments are never too hard or time consuming, and I genuinely found the class interesting. She is also really willing to accommodate/make changes to exams or assignments, for our 3rd midterm she shortened the length and number of questions because people had given feedback that there were too many/long questions. Every lecture is recorded and so are all the review sessions, so you will never get behind. Also, a lot of questions on the midterms are ones we go over in class for participation points on Point Solutions, which is extremely nice. Minimum stress class (especially compared to chem), sweet, caring professor. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Exams are extremely difficult for an intro level ecology class. There isn't really a curve. Lectures are hard to follow and there is a lot of complicated information that you need to attain if you want to do somewhat well on the exams. Hardest course I have ever taken, wouldn't recommend taking this course or this professor. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve was one of the sweetest professors ever. She always was willing to help & never turned down a question (even if the lecture was going slow). She had office hours known & I think the longest I had to wait for an email back was a few hours. In class, the lectures are uploaded online & so are the slides, so taking notes was super easy. There were numerous extra credit opportunities & I did them all, so although my exam average is around 73%, I have a 104% in the class before our open note final. I would definitely recommend Dr. Ngeve to anyone who is taking BSCI160 as she was very understandable & approachable. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Lectures are fast and Dr. Ngeve can be difficult to understand sometimes. However, those are the only bad, not really bad, things I have to say about her course. There are so many extra credit opportunities to improve your grade, you'll be happy and enjoy doing it with your group (I made friends from these groups). I have never been to her office hours or emailed her personally, but she is a very welcoming teacher who tries her very best to be accessible to her students. Her lecture notes and point solution questions are the keys to success in her class (and the extra credit assignments too in my opinion). I am not very interested in Ecology and tried my best to stay engaged, but having this professor made my efforts easy. The bad reviews here will be mostly about not being able to understand her at times, but the resources she provides make up for it. "A lot of work" is the amount of work you'll find in any other class. She cares very much about student success and it shows even if you don't talk with her personally. I hope you have the opportunity to take her, she'll be a favorite amongst professors for sure. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
This class overall had a lot of content which made it difficult to always keep up. Dr. Ngeve had longer lectures but she gave a lot of extra credit work which helped out a lot. She also always reached out to send available resources to help as well as answer the required questions in our discussion posts to clear up any confusion. The exams can be a little difficult but she provides review packets as well as a list of important vocabulary words to know before each exam. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
She is a great professor who is extremely responsive to feedback and is generous with how she grades. Although exams are a bit difficult, she gives a lot of resources to study from, a lot of extra credit to make up grades, and drops the lowest exam grade. She also allows the use of a notecard on an exam. She is someone who wants her students to do good and all you need to do is meet her halfway in order to excel in her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Very organized and knowledgable professor. She gives out many extra credit activities that boosted my grade. She is very open to questions and eager to answer questions. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
nice teacher, provides lots of extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve does provide the relevant info for exams, but she is difficult to understand in class and her slides are cluttered. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Ngeve is great and the class is easy but not going to lectures really hit me, she has required point solutions which count for actual points and since I haven't gone to many lectures, my grade took a pretty big hit. She does give a lot of extra credit and you're allowed a notecard on exams which helps though. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is probably the best professor for BSCI 160. The course if very information heavy so I would definitely recommend finding your niche and way of studying if you want to success but I would say it’s hard to not succeed with a professor like Ngeve. She is very detail orientated with the way she has the course set up so you can always read ahead or look at lecture recordings. Although she doesn’t curve she gives a good amount of extra credit that will help you to boost your grade and the ULA review sessions are helpful. The class is also 5% participation via point solution so even though lectures are recorded I would recommend going just so you can reinforce the information you’re learning. If you have any questions Professor Negev is open to helping you with anything and she prioritizes your success. She also drops your lowest exam score within the course which is definitely helpful for those who are struggling to adjust to the rigor of college academics. I would definitely recommend her as a professor she’s super sweet and a great lecturer. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor and truly shows how much she cares about her students. She gives so many opportunities for extra credit, and is always available for questions. She is one of the few professors who I felt actually cared about our mental health and wellbeing, and was very understanding overall. The lectures contained a lot of material that often were hard to keep up with, but Dr. Ngeve provides many resources outside of lecture to assist in learning the content. I definitely recommend Dr. Ngeve to anyone who is going to take this class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a good professor; she is very welcoming and encourages students to speak in class. Her material tends to be easily understandable, with slide presentations to help. Her slides can be a little long and may go over the lecture time frame, requiring you to learn the rest of the material on your own, but that's not much different from what you will experience in other classes or lectures. She provides a good amount of extra credit assignments that will definitely help your grade if you need them. Her exams are fairly easy if you pay attention to her lectures and take time to study. She will always answer any question you may have and genuinely wants for her students to do well. Great class! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is an amazing teacher who offers a lot of extra credit opportunities and the course material is very easy to understand. She encourages students to ask questions and answers questions very efficiently. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve was a wonderful professor. Throughout the semester, she provided quick feedback to her students and many opportunities to have questions answered before exams. Her exams were very fair, with all the content being available to students in her lecture slides or point solution questions. Her lectures are very informative and she provides you with the opportunity to drop one midterm grade, which is great! Overall, I'd highly recommend her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Amazing professor and offers a lot of resources to help you succeed! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Ms. Ngeve is a great professor. She's reasonable with her workload and includes a lot of opportunities to better understand the material. She records a lecture for every topic and includes practice problems and the slides. The tests resemble what she has taught and highlighted throughout her lectures. In general, she wants you to learn and pass with a good grade, as shown through her great load of extra credit opportunities. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Definitely a great class; Dr. Ngeve is always so supportive and always provides extra credit for us to do, which is always helpful to get a lift in your grade as well as learn more about the concepts. Overall, a 5 star professor. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Very good professor and gives a lot of opportunity for extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
One of the best professors I've had. The lowest midterm grade is dropped and you can use a notecard on all exams. There are lots of opportunities for extra credit, and there are more than enough resources provided for you to succeed in the class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is very kind and accommodating and offers numerous extra credit opportunities. The only thing that I struggled with is not having enough time to complete the midterms as there were many questions given in a short time (both long responses and multiple choice). |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Hands down the best professor I had for my first semester at UMD. She is very knowledgeable on the course content and actively encourages students to present questions whenever they have them, during lecture or otherwise. There are a lot of options to earn extra credit through group assignments and post-exam reflections. On each midterm, you are allowed to bring a 3x5 notecard and the lowest midterm grade is dropped. BSCI160 covers a lot of content, but you are very likely to succeed if you use the resources that she provides and take time to study. I highly recommend taking her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
She is very kind and understanding. She makes sure to have multiple resources to refer to so that you can always catch back up. She isn't against you like other teachers seem. She is on your side! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve actually responds to student feedback during the semester and lectures. She lectures well and ensures the students understand what is being taught. The exams cover the material pretty well. She also provides many extra credit opportunities on the exams, through discussions, or other means. She posts nearly every material used from the clickers and their answers, weekly reviews, lecture slides/recordings, and homework. She also gives many additional resources. We were also allowed a notecard for each midterm. The weekly review can take some time but it does actually help you learn the material better. In my opinion, you have a lot of opportunities to put in the work and do well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Professor Ngeve teaches a difficult course full of content that I definitely would've struggled with if not for the plentiful extra credit she provides almost weekly. Even with my not-so-amazing exam scores, I still currently have a high A, although my third exam has yet to be graded and I haven't taken my final (which is open note and open internet!!). The exams are difficult but are based on the material that is taught in class and in the slides. Study the TNR, slides, point solution questions, and you should be good., The only problem I have with this class is the fact that the slides are hard to read, as they contain what feels like random information. In addition, her method of lecturing is hard to digest, which led to me more often than not teaching myself the information while I was in class. Overall, your grade will probably be good if you take this class but don't expect to retain the information or learn from her lecturing because it is practically impossible. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Amazing teacher, she is so willing to help with any questions you have about homework, lecture slides, and general concepts. Absolutely recommend her as an instructor! |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
He’s a nice person BUT his class is super messy, and his exams are HARD! The amount of content you’ll need to know for his exams is crazy and the multiple choice section is specifically designed to trick you! I just didn’t enjoy his class at all! Out of all the other classes I’m taking this was supposed to be “the easiest one” and ended up being an absolute nightmare. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Truly my favorite professor I have ever had. She is so kind and accommodating. When I tore a ligament in my ankle and missed an exam, she actually reached out to me via email to see if I was okay. Despite having a massive class and so many students to take care of, she takes the time to get to know you individually and genuinely cares about you as a person. Beyond that, she is a very good lecturer and really cares about your success and gives you all the tools you need to succeed! If you can, definitely take her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Wasn't sure what to expect when starting this class but I would recommend Dr. Ngeve for anyone taking BSCI160. She seems to enjoy teaching about the material and provides a lot of other assignments and extra credit so if you maybe didn't do well on one of the exams there is some other support to keep your grade up. She also drops the lowest exam score. Although her lectures do tend to get quite boring at times. Despite that though she's a pretty nice instructor. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve cares about your learning and growth in the course. She is always willing to answer any questions and genuinely enjoys teaching. This course has a lot of material, exams are difficult, but she allows you to use a notecard front and back with notes. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a good professor, but is hard to understand some times. She often adds leans too much on memorization of trivial things in the exams, but overall she is good. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is caring and super cool. She gave tons of extra credit assignments which boosted my grades up but I had some hard time with the exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Class was an average biology class, typically what you expect, lots of slideshows and information, but rather easy as long as you actually do work. Her lectures can get boring because she talks the whole time start to finish but thats just because it's also just biology. As long as you do your work every week and stay with the slides you can easily get an A because of her extra credit and dropping one exam. Also very important to note she as a pretty thick accent, shes a great person and very understanding but its hard to understand her lecturing, I probably would do the same in her class not going to class and reviewing slides myself than going into class tired or not attentive. Good professor to take overall, workload is average/intermediete difficulty with more on the time consuming side than hard. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
She is obviously very passionate about the subject and cares about her students. She is really good at responding to emails and discussion posts quickly. However, this class goes very in-depth and is very detailed, and it is hard to stay engaged if you are not also interested in the subjects. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is so nice and understanding. There is a lot of extra credit available and it is really easy to keep up with the work in the class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Overall a good professor, the slides are not always the most relevant to what will be on the tests, but still a good resource. Professor Ngeve is always open to answering questions to help you understand the material. The classwork assigned is reasonable, and somewhat helpful for the exams. Overall, I recommend her as a prof. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Amazing professor. As long as you attend class and actively listen you should do good. The workload is manageable, and the professor also gives many extra credit opportunities. Overall Dr. Ngeve is an amazing professor, and she will be very understanding and reasonable during the course. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
10/10 would take again |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Ngeve is so far the only professor I have that does extra credit and I am extremely thankful. She drops the lowest midterm, you can have a 3x5 notecard, the final is shh open note. It is honestly hard to fail this class unless you are lazy. In all honestly I would only study two days before and did just fine. The extra credits may seem a lot but you can do some parts of a set and get 1 or 2 points which you might as well to help. Even if they feel like busy work or her TNR assignments feel like too much they are easy ways to get an A. It's crazy how my major course is easier than my supporting courses but once again I am extremely thankful. Her lectures sometimes confuse you and you may get stressed bbut honestly stuffing my notecard and highlighting key words helped me with my midterms so much. I strongly believe she is one of the best professors and cares about you. I think if I took advantage of oppourtunities and studied more I would have well over a 100% compared to my current general A+. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is extremely smart. She is incredibly fair on the exams, and offers a ton of extra credit work to boost your grade. The homework assignments can be long so, I would recommend not procrastinating to do them. At times it can be hard to understand Professor Ngeve, and her slides are extremely long. At times it can be hard to understand what you need to study, because she offers so much information. In the end she is a great professor and I would definitely recommend taking her if possible |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
They were really good and organized professor + they were flexible when I fell behind toward the end of the semester? |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is overall a wonderful teacher! She's very nice and very knowledgeable but the only thing to be wary of is that the lecture slides can be very long which means lots of notes. And sometimes if you don't manage your time with the HW it can feel like a lot the night before, but other than that there's actually very few homework assignments and she gives out extra credit like candy (which she literally does during tests as well). All the tests are fair and she doesn't cheat you out of anything, so all in all a good majority of the class is just the work you put into it and what you get out of it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2023 |
Tests are fair and powerpoints in class cover all the content. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Great prof. Very approachable and good at explaining hard-to-understand topics. Also does a great job of connecting topics back to stuff we alr learned in order to encorange a big-picture understanding—also, a ton of extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
10/10 great class would take again would recommended. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
She is a very kind professor and very understanding. She gives lots of assignments that cushion exam grades and there are lots of areas for extra credit. I definitely recommend. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
She is a great professor! She explains things well and gives lots of extra credit so your grade will be high no matter what. She's very nice and understanding and is willing to work with you if you are sick or have accommodations. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Ngeve was one of the first professors I have had during college to be so passionate about her subject and what she does, so receptive to feedback, and so kind! She provides countless extra credit opportunities it is crazy, and she provides multiple resources to help you understand the content. If you have to take BSCI160 please try your best to take it with her!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
A lot of work for a BSCI160 class which I guess should be expected considering its ecology and evolution which will have a lot of material covered. Dr. Ngeve is really understanding and delayed homework deadlines multiple times for the class. One small note card is allowed on each midterm. Three midterms and a final, with the lowest midterm dropped. The second exam which had a lot of genetics on it had WAY too many questions on it but she listened and shortened the length of it for the third exam. There are so many extra credit opportunities to the point where any points you get off on the remaining two exams will be covered by those extra credit points. The final is also open book in person. Overall, a manageable class taught by a good professor but definitely don't underestimate the coursework and material. I'm giving her five stars because although she wasn't perfect (rushed us on the clicker questions and sometimes taught too fast), I doubt the other professors teaching this class would be better than her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Very good professor that provides lots of extra credit opportunities and is very helpful at answering questions. She really cares about her students! There is lots of material for this class, but it is not too difficult if you do a little bit of studying. Notecards are very helpful for exams and lots of questions are reused from lectures. As long as you take advantage of extra credit opportunities, and study for exams, you should be fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
I enjoyed having Dr. Ngeve as a professor! I especially appreciate how there are many different ways to supplement your learning such as EC assignments, TNR discussions, etc. If you stay consistent with the workload, you'll be successful in the class. My only criticism is that there was an overload of information in the lecture which was almost never completely covered which meant having to learn some of the material at home. If you don't have other commitments/classes to worry about, then this isn't a huge deal, but as a first-year fall semester student, this was a lot for me to adjust to. Overall though, I would recommend Dr. Ngeve! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is overall one of my favorite professors. She gives presentations with a lot of information, then connects the topics through her lectures in an easily digestible way. There are a lot of opportunities to practice and earn points, and she is lenient with exam grades (allows notecards and drops lowest exam). |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Very caring and approachable. The only reason she may be fast at some time is because the professors are required to teach a certain amount of things. The professor posts recorded lectures and slides on the canvas page which are very helpful if you miss class or so. There are many extra credit opportunities in this class. If you ever need help understanding a topic she is always there during office hours. All in all, she cares about her students and wants them to pass! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
She da goat fr, take the class, minimal effort needed for A+ |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/09/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very good professor who cares about her students and how well they do in class. The exams are fair, but they can be pretty long. One pro about her and her class is that she provides lots of extra credit opportunities which you should take for granted. She also gives other assignments which help in improving your grade, but they can be pretty long. All the slides and information she goes over are provided, and she puts up her lecture schedules so we know what we are learning in future classes, she always puts in slides for future lectures Dr. Ngeve's class is very comforting and engaging, and she encourages everyone to ask questions. A few cons are that she provides lots of information and materials in one lecture, and she can go fast sometimes. There are times when we would go through half of the material and expect you to at least go through the rest of the slides for the next class. There were only a few times when she continued the materials into the next lecture, but don't think she will do it all the time. There are a lot of slides and information that have to be covered. Overall I highly recommend Dr. Ngeve for BSCI 160. I never had a problem with her and if I ever have to take a class she is teaching I would go for her right away. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
She was one of the best professors I had this semester as she provides all the resources you need to succeed. Her lectures are engaging if not a bit rushed at times due to the amount of information she covers in each lecture. She also provides recordings of each of her lectures along side the slideshow. The exams are fair though they are a bit packed in terms of questions and material but you will do fine as long as you study beforehand. She also provides plenty of extra credit if you do need it! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is one of the best professors I had this semester. She is a kind person and has her student's success in mind, she gives a ton of extra credit and gives genuine feedback. Her exams are fair, as she allows an index card in the room, there is just a lot of information given in such a short time, so it's important to stay on track. Dr. Ngeve also provides many resources to understand better the concepts she covers. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
She was very kind and was super understanding when it came to pushing back deadlines for assignments. Exams are very fair and you are allowed a notecard which helps with remembering all the information we learned for the exam. She gives out of a lot of extra credit which boosts your grade a lot. I highly recommend her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
She's great! Always asks students to ask questions and willing to stop lecture to clarify topics if people are confused. She gives plenty of study resources like concept mind maps, practice quizzes, and even gave us a worksheet covering topics from the whole semester for us to use to study for the final). Also, she already has all of her lectures recorded and will have all of them posted on ELMS from the very beginning of the semester. Definitely take BSCI160 with her :) |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
I loved Dr. Ngeve's class. There is a lot of information and it can feel very overwhelming but Ngeve is always willing to help if you reach out. I can tell she clearly wants all of her students to succeed. She also offers so much extra credit that will save your grade if you do poorly on something. Highly recommend taking BSCI160 with her!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Professor seems like a genuinely nice person. Lectures were very dense and sometimes we would not get through all the content during the class and she would expect you to cover the material outside of class. All lectures are recorded and slides are provided, but you do have to go to class since there are in-class participation points for clickers. The lowest midterm exam got completely dropped which was nice. Could also have a notecard on exams. Tons of opportunities for extra credit if you have time to do it. TAs are picky on homework grading. Overall would recommend it just because of the amount of extra credit and the lowest midterm being dropped. Also just was announced the final is a completely open book open internet and fully multiple choice. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Overall pretty good professor, the lectures can be lengthy and the other assignments are decently time consuming, but Dr. Ngeve supplies you with a lot of resources and extra credit to succeed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve provides a lot of extra credit within the class so it's not that hard to raise your grade if not doing the best. The only thing that was difficult was sometimes it was hard to understand her with her accent. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
I think the professor did well in letting students know they are an open resource and is always willing to help and would like for students to succeed. She also gives a lot of extra credit which is always nice and the resources she gave like the ULA reviews were very helpful and many other resources are available in this course |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is honestly a very good professor and a very nice person as well. Although at times it was hard to follow, she always made sure to ask questions to the class so that everyone was getting the information. She also makes sure to give you plenty of resources and materials for the units, and lots of extra credit opportunities to make up some points. The exams are not that bad, as long as you review the information, you are allowed a notecard, and the lowest exam is dropped. If you need help with anything, she's willing to give it and very flexible. I very much recommend her for this course!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. She truly cares about her students and wants to see them succeed in her class. Her lectures are thorough and comprehensive, and she offers a bunch of extra credit opportunities. As long as you keep up with the assignments, you will do well in her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023 |
Professor Ngeve was a very fair choice to take BSCI60 with. I found it difficult at times to fully grasp the material, but the best way to do so is to watch her lectures online and take notes from what she says as opposed to the slide content. The slides she posts are often vague and not understandable, but combined with her monologue it makes perfect sense. She gives SO many extra credit opportunities which are often very easy, I had over 100% for most of the semester despite getting C's on the exams because of all of the extra credit. Over the semester, she gave 29 EXTRA CREDIT opportunities for a total of about 44 EC POINTS. DO NOT SLEEP ON THE EXTRA CREDIT. She counts clicker points for added participation at the end of the semester, and reviewing the clicker questions before each exam is so helpful (for exam 3, all of the exact clicker questions were on the exam). She drops 1/3 of the midterms and just announced that our final exam will be all MCQ and open book/open Google. You do need to put in a substantial amount of time and effort for this class though, it is not an easy A. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Easily one of the best professors I've ever taken here at UMD. They're very generous with extra credit, the lowest exam is dropped, and they go through their lectures at a good pace. In addition, she also has class participation on point solutions that factor into the exam so showing up to her lectures already helps a ton. The course was overall enjoyable and I can't recommend her enough for this class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. She is extremely responsive both during and after class. She wants you to do well and provides an immense amount of material to learn and study from. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
So many opportunities to go beyond the scope of the course and demonstrate your passion for the subject. Lectures are a bit unengaging due to low class participation but point solutions questions are excellent knowledge checks and study materials. Easy to get an A+ through just participation and showing a real passion for the subject. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Professor Ngeve has been my favorite professor at UMD. She really helped me navigate the university and has made my first semester amazing. She is so nice and understanding with her students; she treats students like people rather than just students. If I could I would give her 6 stars because of how kind she is. She is very smart as well and always willing to answer question. It is nearly impossible to fail her course because she gives tons of extra credit, support, and drops the lowest midterm. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She is a really nice and engaging professor. She always makes times to have students answer question and also responds to them whether it be through email or through discussion posts, she is very responsive and willing to help. She gives plenty of EC opportunities, and in addition the lowest midterm is dropped. Her exams are also fair. The only reason I would give her a 4 is because she can be hard to understand. Despite all that she has lecture recordings posted where you can slow down and watch at your own pace. I would definitely recommend taking her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
I didn't think I'd like BSCI 160 but I did. Dr. Ngeve did a great job teaching! I was there was a MWF option, as the material is super dense, so it'd be nice to get it in smaller bites. But she did a really great job of having all the lecture slides and records up on ELMS, as well as provided consistent extra credit throughout the semester. I would definitely recommend her for BSCI 160! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is amazing!! if you put in the work and review all the resources she gives you, you will do well. she allows a notecard on the test and the final is completely open notes. her lectures are long and hard but the workload isn't too crazy and she gives great opportunities for EC and lots of resources to succeed. she cares about her students and is so nice! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She's a good teacher and provides a lot of extra credit opportunities that help you understand the material. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Great professor, this course is very content heavy so be prepared to move fast but Dr. Ngeve is amazing, provides many opportunities for extra credit, responds to emails very fast and genuinely cares for students. All slides are uploaded but sometimes not all slides are covered in lecture. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
It was a pleasure to take this BSCI160 with Dr. Ngeve. Although some of the work we had to do was time-consuming and the homework was harder than expected, the extra credit she gave us helped my grade immensely. Also if you did the TNR's (discussion posts) right, those helped boost my grade. The midterms were fairly easy since most of the questions were on the point solutions she goes over in class and she allows us to have a notecard during it. My advice is to look through her lecture schedule since there is everything on there and everything we need to start studying for exams. The lectures she has are recorded as well and it's useful if you did not get everything during class. All in all, I'm glad I had Dr. Ngeve as my BSCI160 teacher since this was the course I was less stressed about compared to the other classes I had this semester. She also dropped your lowest midterm which took the pressure off studying. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
I had a really positive experience with Professor Ngeve. I took her for BSCI160 during the Fall 2023 semester and she is one of the most proactive professors that I've had. Her course is very content-heavy and the lectures do require you to actively pay attention, but she provides lots of resources to help you excel in the course. She is always willing to help you understand course material and hard to grasp concepts. The exams are fair game of everything that is gone over during lecture and the homework. She is a professor that is genuinely rooting for your success in the course and will do anything she can to help you get there, as long as you ask for assistance when needed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Great professor. Has all the resources we need to succeed and gives a lot of credit to support our grade. She is very helpful when it comes to explaining concepts on things you are confused on. Highly suggest taking her for 160. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is truly very sweet and sincere, and actually cares about your learning. She provides many extra credit opportunities to help improve your grade and is a great lecturer. Exams are fair--often times, a lot of the point solutions questions from class are on the exams and you are allowed to bring a notecard to help assist you. The only thing I would say is that there are so many lecture slides, that she often can't get through all of them in one class so you have to finish notes yourself outside of class, or she goes through the slides at a super fast pace. Additionally, there is a pretty good amount of outside work--the weekly TNR discussions can be time consuming. Overall though, I would recommend her. As long as you put the work in and pay attention in lectures, you should be able to succeed in her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Excellent BSCI160 Professor. Do your work and you'll be fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Her slides have a lot of content that you still need the textbook for to really understand her content however, she provides a lot of extra credit opportunity and only a few homeworks that do not take up too much time. She encourages questions during class and will make sure you understand before moving on. Overall, she wants to make sure that is easy to pass the class for everyone. Be prepared to study a lot though for the exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She's knowledgable about the course material and she cares about her students performance. She provides so much extra credit and drops the lowest exam grade which helps a lot even if you don't do as well on the exams. The course is memorization heavy but she lets you bring one index card to every exam which is also helped. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She is really nice and the class was pretty easy. There was not to much content covered and there is lots of extra credit. Exams are very fair. I think she assigned to much homework and the redigest(discussion) are too long. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Honestly, an amazing class to take. Dr. Ngeve so obviously has a passion for teaching, and puts concepts in a way that is easy to comprehend! She puts an emphasis on knowing the coursework and so many extra credit opportunities to further that understanding! You'd be crazy to pick any other lecturer. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
All around a great professor. She is very engaged in the material and wants her students to succeed. She has so many extra credit opportunities and other assignments to help boost your grade. She allows a notecard on all midterms and her canvas page is so organized with all material posted. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve was one of my favorite professors this semester. While there is a bit of hw and it can be time consuming to take notes, I still really loved the class. There are so many extra credit opportunities it is insane. Notecards are allowed on all exams, and the lowest midterm is dropped. The final is completely open note and open internet. Whenever I had a question she got back right away and was always willing to help. As long as you put in the effort (and do the extra credit), you will do great in this class! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She is a nice teacher, but her teaching style is not good |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve really cares about her students understanding of the course material which is why she encourages asking questions during lecture. Outside of lecture, she has created multiple spaces for students to ask questions and engage in more resources that would help with learning the material. Sometimes, the material can get dense, but just try your best to review the material after lecture so that you don’t forget earlier concepts. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She is nice and grades fairly. She also has time after class for any questions you might have |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She's very nice and frequently asked students if they have questions. The work load isn't too bad, and she lets you have an index card cheat sheet for exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a bit tricky to understand and has a thick accent and goes extremely fast during lecture. Her lecture slides are packed with sometimes up to 60 slides which she never fully covers in class and then the rest becomes your problem to learn yourself. On the flip side though, Dr. Ngeve offers a ton of extra credit to boost your grade. She as well also does in class "point solution" questions which are a reflected exactly on the exam which is very helpful. All exams you are allowed a note card and your lowest exam grade is dropped. As for the final, it is open note/open internet. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
This professor is great very organized, good communication practices and is very helpful to you passing the class. her ELMS has everything you need to pass exams (Literally questions and all lol). She also offers tons of extra credit opportunities and the chance to gain more knowledge. She is the best professor to use just do all the assignments before the exams, use your note card, do the extra credit and the TNRs you can't fail! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
She's super understanding, and sets straight to everyone that she wants everyone in the class to do well overall. From dropping the lowest exam, to the amount of extra credit opportunities, allowing aa notecard and such, she does everything she could in doing well. As long as you go over the lecture and the participation questions (point solutions) before the class, the exams aren't exactly terrible in terms of the content that is there. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve really cares about students and their success. Take advantage of the extra credit work and you will have a buffer on exams so low(ish) stress. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
SHE IS THE BEST!!! she explains eveyrhting with details. Offers ALOT of extra credit, she l;ets you use an index card on the exam. Class participation do matter though so try to come to her lectures. Nothign bad to say about her at all |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2023 |
Great lecturer. Exams are fair and she is accommodating. For example, one of our exams was a bit long for the amount of time we had, so she shortened that following exam. Take use of the extra credit assignments and start the hws in advance. They tend to be long, but the TAs are great help. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is really great with understanding where the students come from and she gives lots of extra credit work. I would say if you work hard and study, you can hit the A mark when it comes down to it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Keep in mind this class covers a lot of material so I would not recommend as a general education requirement. Lectures sometimes did not get through all the slides therefore you have to learn it at home. Exams were predictable and a notecard was allowed. Lowest mid term gets dropped which is helpful. Professor Ngeve however is very caring and accommodating. She offers lots of extra credit to boost you grade and will always answer questions/explain concepts. Overall would recommend her and the class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Offers many extra credit opportunities and encourages questions. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
If you are taking BSCI160, take Dr. Ngeve! Although her course can be content heavy, she does a really great job of breaking up the content. She posts all slides and recordings on ELMS at the beginning of the term. She also uses point solution questions to engage students during lecture and these are really great study tools. Her exams are very similar to the content she reviews in class and are pretty straightforward. Ngeve is also a really kind individual in general and is ALWAYS willing to help students and answer questions! She also gives a ton of extra credit opportunities, so there really is never a concern grade wise. Overall, I highly recommend Dr. Ngeve and enjoyed her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Honestly, she is really nice, always wants to help, gives a lot of extra credit opportunities, and drops your lowest exam. Great class. Great Teacher. Only complaint is that sometimes she can go through material in class too fast, but she is the best. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Shapiro is very passionate about this subject, but is kinda boring. Most of the class he would be standing up facing the board and doing his own thing, regardless if anyone listened to him. His exams and class is harder then the other professors and does not give out extra credit. He does drop your worst exam or down weight your final. Overall he seems like a nice guy making occasional funny jokes, but personally I'd skip his class all the time and still ended up fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
She is a good lecturer and provides many opportunities for extra credit. She does ask questions to the class where you can participate and test your understanding of the topics. I recommend looking over the ULA notes if you do not plan on attending as they are extremely helpful for preparing for the exam. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great instructor. She is extremely knowledgeable, gives tons of extra credit, and truly wants all her students to exceed. The class does move very quickly so taking notes by hand can be challenging, but Dr. Ngeve was always happy to answer any questions or clear things up after class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
One of the best teachers I've had. Her style of teaching can be overwhelming but if you decide to time into the class and study for the midterms, you will succeed the class without a problem. She gives a ton of extra credit and lets you drop a midterm! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is super approachable! Although there is a lot of content she is always willing to help students out. She has pushed deadlines back multiples times and genuinely cares about her students and how they perform in her class. Her lecture notes are content heavyyy but the exams are mostly based of the slides. She also posts class recordings in case you miss. However there are attendance points so make sure you go to class. She gives so much extra credit that is actually helpful and useful for your learning in the class. I did almost every EC assignment and didn't really have to worry about my exam grades. There are 5 HWs, 3 exams (one is dropped) and the cumulative final. Overall this class can be a lot of work sometimes but Dr. Ngeve is awesome! |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Good professor, good dude. Easy class overall, and it's really easy to get above a 85. His tests are tricky though, as 40/100 of the points are mcq questions that are always tricky. Not bad, always an option if you need to take his class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Course: The course is divided into 3 units and progressively get harder/cover more material. Note-taking skills (not just copying down lecture slides) are essential. I highly recommend vocab cards for terms + concept maps for understanding connections. There is a discussion post due every week (lowest grade dropped) and homework packets due within 2-3 weeks of each other. One notecard is allowed on every midterm, the lowest midterm is dropped, and there are many resources to help you get ready for them. Slides and recordings of every lecture are posted. Clicker question participation is an easy 5% of your grade. There are so many extra credit opportunities in her class that it's ridiculous (individual EC assignments and EC exam questions) and you are very safe from falling lower than an A if you make the most of them. She gives a lot of support so take advantage of them! Teaching style: Dr. Ngeve is very passionate about the subject she's teaching, which translates to her explaining things in detail so that students can fully understand and providing a wealth of extra resources about the topics covered and not covered in class. She genuinely wants you to understand what is being taught and encourages questions and conversations in class. She is very receptive to feedback and will adjust the course/assignments/tests to fit the students' needs (e.g. shortening the length of exams). Provides candy before each exam. A very nice woman who genuinely cares about her students. I highly recommend taking her and would love to take her again if I could! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
She is a great professor. Gives many extra credit opportunities and is very understanding. The lecture slides are long, so sometimes the entirety of a topic is not covered in class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a caring professor, but the class is not taught effectively. The class is not hard, but you do need to seek out help from the TAs in order to do well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve was not my favorite professor. She was very disorganized in my opinion and half of the material was not taught well during her class. This class requires you to teach yourself a lot of the material and actively seek out help. I found that going over an assignment with a TA before it was due was very helpful. The way this class is structured it feel like information is being thrown at you and there is not enough time during class to digest it. The tests are extremely long and there is not enough time given for them especially the second exam. My suggestion would be to do well on the first test and do all of the extra credit. This class is not hard, but it is horribly structured. Dr. Ngeve does care about her students. In my opinion, she is not the most effective biology professor that I have had in my college education career. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is my favorite professor so far! She is very friendly and not intimidating which makes asking questions easy during lectures and office hours. She has plenty of review resources and uploads her slides. The recordings were also very helpful! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
This professor is responsive and helpful to answer questions. She provides many opportunities to boost your grade. Only thing is that the slides are not as informative and are a bit confusing to follow. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Professor Ngeve is a great professor and as long as you keep up with hte work and material you'll do well. Warning this course with Ngeve is a lot of material for each exam not something you can cram in one night to do well. Study a week - 4 days before an exam if you expect to do well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
I love her so much! Records all the lectures too <3 |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Awesome professor who wishes success on her students. Lots of resources to use such as ULA and TA's that are scheduled nicely. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
I would totally recommend Professor Ngeve for anyone taking this class. She's very helpful, friendly, and answered every stupid question I had. Overall, she does go through a lot of material in each lecture, and does keep track of participation, so you need to be going to class. However, she also posts recordings of lecture so if you do miss it, it's easy to keep up with the class. There is a lot of extra credit offered in the course, so even if you're not great with biology, there are plenty of opportunities to learn more and improve your grade. The homework load is reasonable, with one assignment about every two weeks. This tends to be a very large class, but Professor Ngeve makes time available if you need to talk with her, which I really appreciate. Loved Dr. Ngeve, learned a lot. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
I will say she is one professors that is up there that I favored. Cause she was very quick with grades and the slides were informational that will be helpful for exams. Also, she gave a lot of opportunities to get extra credit. Her grading wasn't the difficult it she would give as much point as possible and deduct the minimal points from the score. The only thing I was not a fan of were the exams. The exams are very nerve racking cause even though the slides were informational it is a lot of information that will be crammed into like 45-48 questions and some of them were like written response ones and you had to complete it in the class time frame. Which was only 1 hour and 45 min meaning you had to answer a couple word problems and like 35 multiple choice or true and false questions that took a lot of time and sometimes not even answer all the questions. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve teaches very well and the lectures cover extensive amounts of information. The study guide for the exam has the list of all the topics and is very helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Hey! Much like all of the other reviews here, Ngeve is genuinely such a good teacher. She's so supportive and there's absolutely no WAY you can fail this course. She gives so much extra credit, which not only helps your grade a TON, but also helps you better understand the material because it's relevant to what you are learning. While the slideshows are lengthy, it genuinely is not hard. The only thing is that the TNR's are a little long but as long as you space it out, everything is perfectly fine. TAKE HER - she'll make you genuinely interested in Bio and she's sosos sweet. I'll prolly have over a 100% at the end of this course. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
great professor but a lot of self-studying |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
She is a really good professor that genuinely cares about her students. She is very easily reachable, and resolves any issues quickly. She gives a lot of extra credit and this course did not feel very stressful. She is great at teaching and does not just read off the slides. Her slides are also very informative, and she provides many useful examples. She brings candy and snacks to exams and allows people to have a notecard. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
She offers a ton of extra credit and support throughout the semester. Would absolutely take her class again. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
I absolutely loved taking this class with Dr. Ngeve. She has an extremely engaging lecture style and provides both the lecture notes and lecture recordings for you to review before/after class. She does practice questions during class using point solutions and posts all of these prior to exams. Your lowest midterm score gets dropped and there are a ton of extra credit opportunities. She also lets you bring an index card with notes on it to each exam. Basically, it's very difficult to fail since there are a lot of opportunities to succeed and get extra help. I really appreciate the Thursday Night Redigests even though they can be long and there were many times I didn't feel like doing them, because they help a lot with exams. Sometimes exams take directly from the redigests or ULA Reviews, so actually completing them and reviewing them is super worthwhile. I found that there was a lot of support in this class and I really enjoyed the content and how she made connections. There are only 5 homeworks, they're kind of long but you usually have a week or two to complete them and she's very understanding about extending due dates. I would absolutely choose to have her as a professor again. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Supper kind and loves to engage students in her class/office hours (she hands out tons of candy). Lots of extra credit available and drops a whole exam so there is way less pressure. Take BSCI160 with her if you can! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
She is very good at explaining all topics. The Canvas page is very organized and I know what is expected. I felt like I learned a lot and there was a lot of support through the semester. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
This was one of my favorite courses, Ngeve's lectures move quickly but she is very informative and her slides are great. She also posts lots of recourses to help students and her TA's did the same. There are were also tons of extra credit assignments which was great. Exams were a bit packed but she took feedback from students very well and made adjustments. She is always willing to answer questions and she even lets students use a 3x5 2-sided cheat sheet on exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor for this course. She evidently is passionate about what she teaches, and makes the lectures interesting as well. While at first it may be a bit difficult to understand her, it becomes super easy as the course goes on. In addition, she provides a significant amount of extra credit opportunities that, when utilized, have huge impacts on your success. She also allows you to utilize a notecard during all exams, proving how much she wants you to succeed in her course. I highly recommend Dr. Ngeve and would totally take her again. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
I really enjoyed Dr. Ngeve's class, she is very organized and the structure of the course is very easy to follow along. There are so so many extra credit opportunities to help boost your grade, and the assignments/homeworks are not extremely demanding. The course contains a lot of material, I mean it's a Bio class, lots of concept cramming, theories, and terms. Eventually, the bigger picture reveals itself and Bio becomes much more enjoyable as you can see the linearity of it all. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is an incredible professor. She cares a lot about the students. She constantly checks to make sure people are keeping up with the lectures and gives good feedback on our weekly redigest (just watch a few videos and answer questions). She offers so many extra credit opportunities, and gives lots of extra resources to help with studying. There are weekly review sessions, so you don't get overwhelmed with the material. The material on these reviews and the redigests usually come up in the exams too. She also just gives great lectures. It's a lot of material, and definitely a fast paced class, but Dr. Ngeve makes it interesting. She tries to engage the class and she never reads off the slides, which I appreciate soooo much. She also lets you bring notes on an index card to all the exams (3 midterms and 1 final), and one of the midterm grades gets dropped. Definitely recommend Ngeve. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
One of the nicest and caring professors that I have had. Tries very hard to teach the material, and while it was dry at moments, really cares about the learning. So much extra credit and practice is given, you really can't go wrong. For everyone who used to say things like "I wish grades didn't matter", take her. If you simply do your work and extra credit, you have a guaranteed A. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
The course wasn't too challenging, you have access to a lot of resources. There is a lot of extra credit opportunities. Professor Ngeve is very kind and caring. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
She is the sweetest and most understanding professor. She makes this course fun and makes the slides engaging. She gives so much extra credit to help boost your grade and you could easily end with an A+. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is the epitome of a great professor. She is super passionate about what she teaches and this shows through her teaching and willingness to answer literally answer question. She will never make you feel dumb for asking any question and loves answering them. Her slides are helpful, but I always attended lecture because she explains it in a way that makes it much easier to understand than just reading the slides. She also has recordings of every single lecture in case you miss any. She offers more than enough extra credit that help reinforce topics and boost your grade!!! I was able to end with above an 100% and I contribute that to all the study materials she provides and help she offers. I could not recommend her more :)) |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and very obviously cares about her student's learning and provides them ample resources to do well on exams. The point solutions are also very helpful when reviewed before tests. I can't stress how much I recommend taking Dr. Ngeve! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
I think she is one of the best professors I had this semester. It is a lot of lecture and I definetly had to go back and review a lot of the content, but the homework is fair and there is A LOT of extra credit opportunities. I would do all of them they can make all the difference in your grade. Overall a great semester and I definitely recommend her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Great professor, very understanding and flexible. This semester had many days when lecture was cancelled beyond the professor's control, which made the end of the semester feel extra rushed, but otherwise the semester was smooth and Dr. Ngeve is a great teacher. Exams are fair and most importantly she listens to students feedback. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Lots of extra credit opportunities and easy assignments to boost grade. Midterms are decent; mostly multiple choice questions reviewed in class and short answer questions about the unit. Lectures are sometimes a little confusing and hard to follow, but she always opens for questions and answers thoroughly if there's anything that needs further explanation. All needed information (lecture slides, recorded lectures, exam review) is clearly laid out on the ELMS page, which has been very helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
I would definitely recommend this course as well as this professor. She made lectures enjoyable and was always willing to answer questions either inside of class or outside. There was also tons of extra credit offered throughout the semester which related to class content and was an easy way to get a few extra points while also studying for an upcoming exam. While I do not feel the content of this class was too hard to manage, all the credit goes to the professor for making the class as enjoyable as it was. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
This teacher will always be my favorite! She is great to take as a freshman as the class is not stressful and as long as you stay up with the work you can get a good great. Additionally there is more than enough extra credit in the class to maintain over an 100% for the majority of the semester. She lets you use a notecard for the exams so you have no reason to stress. Definitely take her!!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Great Professor! She wants to help students by answering any questions you have and always provides feedback on assignments. There are 3 midterms with a cumulative final, the lowest midterm is dropped, and there is more than enough extra credit opportunities to get a good grade in the class. If information in the powerpoint slides is confusing, she adds the textbook chapters in which the information is available (which I highly recommend taking at least a skim of before the exam), and a list of the content that will be tested during the midterm! Again, she is a great professor who truly cares about her students! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
Course: The course is divided into 3 units and progressively get harder/cover more material. Note-taking skills (not just copying down lecture slides) are essential. I highly recommend vocab cards for terms + concept maps for understanding connections. There is a discussion post due every week (lowest grade dropped) and homework packets due within 2-3 weeks of each other. One notecard is allowed on every midterm, the lowest midterm is dropped, and there are many resources to help you get ready for them. Slides and recordings of every lecture are posted. Clicker question participation is an easy 5% of your grade. There are so many extra credit opportunities in her class that it's ridiculous (individual EC assignments and EC exam questions) and you are very safe from falling lower than an A if you make the most of them. She gives a lot of support so take advantage of them! Teaching style: Dr. Ngeve is very passionate about the subject she's teaching, which translates to her explaining things in detail so that students can fully understand and providing a wealth of extra resources about the topics covered and not covered in class. She genuinely wants you to understand what is being taught and encourages questions and conversations in class. She is very receptive to feedback and will adjust the course/assignments/tests to fit the students' needs (e.g. shortening the length of exams). Provides candy before each exam. A very nice woman who genuinely cares about her students. I highly recommend taking her and would love to take her again if I could! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2023 |
One of my favorite professors. She is super responsive to feedback and changes the structure of exams/assignments relative to what students think about them. She gives a ton of extra credit and many opportunities for extra points. She allows a notecard on midterms and drops the lowest midterm grade. She genuinely wants us to do well. Brought a huge bag of candy to our exam that was on halloween. As for people saying they have trouble understanding her, I had no issue, and she provides all course materials so you can go through the slides on your own if you need. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/30/2023 |
Dr. Shapiro is very genuine and passionate about biology, especially birds and kale. Some of his lecture points were irrelevant to the subject, but he tries to keep the class engaged and fun. It is important to actually look at the lecture slides or you may be lost. The homeworks are unnecessarily difficult and long, and TAs will take off points for every little detail. The exams were not easy, but reasonable if you pay attention to the lecture slides and complete the homework. He tries to keep the exam grade median at around 75, so if it is lower he will add a curve. There are 3 midterms and a final, but he either drops the lowest midterm or downweights a midterm and the final (whichever gives the highest grade). Overall, I would recommend him for the intro to bio course, but more difficult classes should consider other professors. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/06/2023 |
Dr. Ngeve is very hard to understand and gives a good amount of homework. The exams are fair and relevant to the slides but she shoves too much information into one lecture and usually doesn't cover it all and then will make it your problem to learn at home. |
Sarah Lee
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 07/10/2023 |
Overally, I think Dr. Lee is a very good lecturer and does genuinely care about the learning of her students. Her lectures are very clear and easy to follow, and when able, she'll typically draw out some diagram or chart to make concepts easier to understand from the powerpoint. My only qualm with this class is that there are too many small assignments. I know it was to encourage reading the textbook before class but half of bsci160 is common sense and the other half is what she would lecture on in class so it just seemed a bit pointless. Exams were very fair, and while there was no curve for this class, the averages were so high there was never a need. While I don't particularly vibe with her teaching style in terms of assignments and point distribution, if you like a class where the professor is very involved and you like having lots of small assignments to pad your grade instead of exams making up most/all of your grade, definitely take Dr. Lee. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 07/05/2023 |
this class when taught by her is extremely boring but you will still end up with a good grade. just be prepared to sit through her extremely boring lectures. Dr. Reaka seems to know a lot so if you are into ecology you might even like this class. Her study guides are super long and thorough and her tests are very fair. I never went to class and i got a B+ (and i wasnt really trying all that hard tbh i couldve gotten an A if i studied for her tests and showed up to class). Also shes a super nice lady. |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/24/2023 |
Professor Rankin is super nice and caring. She genuinely wants her students to succeed and she'll help you out if you're struggling. Other than that her class was not well put together. The homework each week wasn't consistent, there were a lot of them, they were pretty easy, but they seemed to be due on random days. I missed some homework assignments because I couldn't get into the flow of the work, so I'd check the homework page and suddenly there was an assignment due Monday that I missed because it wasn't there a few days ago. Her exams were also really hard. They were mostly multiple choice, with some short answer response questions. And they were still hard. People who guessed on every question could get a similar score (and not a good one) to people who took the notes and studied. The first exam went so poorly for the class as a collective, we got a complete do over. Her lectures were also really dry and I found it a real struggle to pay attention. The only thing that saved my grade from a D is the fact that she dropped the lowest exam score and curved (?) the other exams slightly. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/24/2023 |
My review probably will hold no value since I rarely ever went to class, but what I can say is that her lecturing style is incredibly boring (the whole reason I stopped going), but honestly that should not deter you from choosing her class. She’s a professor who actually cares a lot about the topic, so if you genuinely care then you’ll probably like the information taught, I personally couldn’t care for it. I will say she does care about the success of her students and her class average, she makes the most helpful study guides on earth and if you just make flash cards out of those then you’re good! But like I said, I really can’t talk much on her as a person since I never went to class, but from what I got from Canvas, she’s a pretty cool gal. |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/21/2023 |
Dr. Rankin is extremely knowledgeable. She is also kind, caring, and has her student’s best interests at heart. However, her lecturing was not too engaging and her test writing was unreasonable for a 100 level course. Class consisted of only lectures, which was mostly her reading off very dense slides. Occasionally, she would include her personal experience from her research, which I found really interesting. Most of the class skipped her lectures since they were dry, but I think it was valuable to go, since she would briefly mention something that would show up on exams. Every now and then she would become enthusiastic about certain species and she would become animated. Honestly, I wish her lectures consisted of her describing her research on various species. Her exams were very difficult. Not only were the questions wordy and difficult to interpret, they frequently had answer choices of A, B, C, D. Two of the above, E. All of the above. Her exams were also given online in Lockdown Browser, so it was impossible to annotate the questions while taking the exam. She did allow for a notecard on Exam II, Exam III, and the Final. (Unfortunately, the averages for Exam I, II, and the Final were all still failing.) However, she offered a total 35 points of extra credit on exams, so that was really helpful! Homework was given through the online textbook. There was a lot of it and it was not useful. It took 3 hours a week in addition to reading the textbook. Keeping ahead of the textbook reading was key. Yes, it was a lot of work, but it was necessary since it was difficult to absorb the content from the lectures. Overall, Dr. Rankin is really a nice person. She wanted us to do well, but she just wasn’t used to teaching a 100 level course. The content for this course was extraordinarily interesting and that motivated me to read the textbook. It was also neat seeing how the content we learned in class was applicable to her real world experiments. If you’re trying to get into the Biology LEP, I would recommend taking an easier (safer?) professor, but if you want to push yourself and hear about the research application of BSCI160 info, Dr. Rankin is super cool. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/20/2023 |
Dr. Reaka was clearly very passionate about the subject matter which conveyed through her lectures. Most things needed for exams were on her slides but its definitely helpful to go to lecture. She posts study guides that have literally everything that could possibly be asked on the exam, so if you go to lecture at least sometimes and study for the exams its totally doable. (her slides also have a ton of pictures which is super helpful) |
Sarah Lee
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/19/2023 |
Very sweet lady, but not a fan of the class. Offers no study guide, practice exam, or even providing something that outlines the topics covered in the test. Just tells you to go over the learning objectives listed in each lecture slide which contains 5-7 bullet points of topics discussed plus terms to know. IMO, lectures were useless. Her tests are just questions she pulls from a question bank. To study, you just do GSS quizzes, previous quizzes, pre-class questions, and clicker questions. That is literally how you study. For the final, just basically told us to study ALL the material learned in the unit. If you know anything about biology classes in general, this is a ton of knowledge and material to cover. Grades homeworks fairly harsh and the clicker questions are how she counts for attendance. Doesn't curve, but does drop a midterm so that is nice. |
Sarah Lee
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/15/2023 |
I'm really surprised at the amount of low reviews for the other class. I can't really gage how accurate they are, but for BSCI160 she's been a wonderful professor. She's really nice and understanding. She gives very good handouts, and her exams are fair. The exam averages were either high 70s to mid-80s, and the lowest exam score is dropped entirely. I've heard from friends that other BSCI160 professors have 40%~60% for their exam averages. I think she's intent on making students understand rather than just memorize the material. She also does a lot of gestures like bring mandarins or donuts after each test! Overall it's a pretty nice course. I wouldn't call it 'easy', but unlike per se CHEM131, it's more about memorization and conceptual understanding rather than applying knowledge. 120% recommend! |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/15/2023 |
Class content is interesting, Dr. Rankin is clearly passionate about the subject. However the exams are extremely difficult especially for a 100-level class (averages in the range of 40-60% and no curve) |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/11/2023 |
Dr. Rankin is one of the most sweetest and kindest professor I have so far. However, I believe that she has this expectation of student that they should already know what she's talking about. I did great on the third exam because I read ALL The chapters in the textbook and attended her lectures thrice. I might have done better if I attended her lectures. So in summary, if you're gonna take her class, be sure to read the textbook and take notes while you're at it AND attend her lectures with full consciousness because her voice is very soft so its very relaxing in a sense (or it makes you sleepy) and I think you'll be good to go. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/09/2023 |
Nice person terrible teacher. Stumbles over her words and stutters nonstop. She rambles about things that have no sustenance and relate nothing to what you need to know. Also very boring professor so concentrating is impossible. If you want to do well you have to read each slide as she has hundreds of slides to pull from for each exam making them harder. But as long as you read her slides you should be fine for the exam if you remember what you read from her hundred long slide units that are boring as ever. |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/08/2023 |
Don't get me wrong, she is hella qualified in this field, but because of this she makes the course much harder than it should be. Lectures are dense and read off of slides (the times where she does stray off the slides is to go in depth about a species that is interesting but useless for us to memorize), exams are so advance, I had a TA tell me how the format of the exams/ questions are ones she sees in her upper level courses. That being said, we are her first time teaching this course so she didn't know how to dumb it down for us. Also, because we were the first ones, we got an entire retake on Exam I (same exam, questions and answers, and you got the average taken between the two as your final score), and a cheat sheet for Exam II. She is so sweet and caring, but I would hesitate to take her unless you are confident in your test taking skills... |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/04/2023 |
As a professor he was very excited to teach these topics and seemed to be genuinely interested in what he's teaching. He did this research project on a specific kind of bird and every time he mentioned it you could see his eye light up. When I emailed him at the beginning of the semester unsure if I wanted to continue to take the class as the first few weeks is an adjustment to the work load. He was very kind to me and told me that he thinks I should stick with it but ultimately it was up to me. He would show videos about some of the stuff he was lecturing about which made for a good break from just absorbing information and taking notes. The exams were fairly difficult and I got either a low B or a high C on all 3 of them. There is help for the class that I suggest going to if you want to do better in the course than I did, but it is also manageable to do on your own. Some of the homework assignments are genuinely difficult and hard to comprehend what is being asked of you, the other homework assignments were on macmillan where you had to get a certain amount of points from answering questions and those definitely took a lot of time if you were not fully comprehending the topic. The professor is a great guy and enjoys his class, but the course is still decently difficult. |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/03/2023 |
Do not take this professor, even if it's the only section available. Class is ridiculously boring, the posted slides aren't the same as the ones she shows in class since they're missing some slides or are in the wrong order. The slides are also just walls of text, so it takes a long time to find information. Exams are impossible, some questions were about content that was never talked about in class. Questions take a long time to read and understand, as do the answer choices, so time is a real threat. Multiple-choice questions have options like "two of the above" so even if you understand the topic and pick one of the right choices, the whole question is wrong. The third midterm is 3 days before the final. The only thing this class has going for it is that she allows 2 attempts on quizzes, but the quizzes are just as hard as the exams. |
Sarah Lee
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2023 |
I really enjoyed having her as a professor. Her lectures were very clear [and recorded] and had clicker questions that were very helpful and are usually similar to some questions you would see on the exam. She also gives good handouts, has 5 questions homeworks due before each class, online GSS practice texts for each unit (that don't affect your grade and are very similar to the exam), and occasional online weekly quizzes. The exams weren't too bad and the averages were around 70% and for one exam she gave an opportunity to earn some points back. Overall not a hard course and from what I've heard about other professors for 160 she seems like the best by far I would definitely recommend taking Dr. Lee. |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/01/2023 |
She's nice, but she's incredibly disorganized. It is not worth it to take this class online for the open note exams because the exam questions don't make sense and some of them are on stuff she barely touched on. The homework questions also barely relate to what we learned and she never actually teaches us how to do problems, so it's a lot of looking stuff up and getting stuff wrong. I have had to put in hours of outside work just to re-learn concepts because she is such a bad teacher. I strongly recommend not taking her class, especially if the class is important to your major or if you are someone that likes to be organized. |
Mary Ann Rankin
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/11/2023 |
Exams required heavy studying of material and lecture slides were very dense. I stressed more about her class than I did for Orgo 2. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/06/2023 |
He is nice and understanding. He curves well, he wants us to learn is overall great. he really just wants you to try your best and we will reward that. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/24/2022 |
Dr. Shapiro is extremely passionate. His exams are based on his lecture slides. He also bases questions on figures/graphs on his slides. He only explains those graphs during lecture (he doesn’t record) so if you missed lecture, then you may not understand what the graphs/figures mean. There are weekly quizzes and homework worksheets. Homework is graded extremely hard..very difficult to get 100% since they grade for accuracy. Best resources for this class were GSS and TA review sessions. Overall, this class was quite time consuming and a lot of memorization. I enjoyed the content in this class the most out of my other classes. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/24/2022 |
Pretty chill class overall. Lectures are posted on classroom, very straightforward exams. Homeworks are a bit of a drag, especially if it stacks up with other classes. For Adaptive quizzes, keep in mind that the content on this is minimally helpful in helping you for the exams. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/22/2022 |
I thought that overall, he did a good job. He reads off of slides and goes over them pretty fast. Taking pictures as he goes over them is helpful. He also posts the slides after class, so you can review any topics you do not understand later. Also, the TAs are knowledgeable and can help with understanding tricky homework questions and topics. The midterms were not bad, and the final exam included questions similar to previous midterms. He does tend to get passionate about topics he cares about, which can lead to him rambling for quite some time. The Achieve quizzes were easy as well. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022 |
Great professor. He makes the class super straight forward. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2022 |
Great professor - she is very interested in what she teaches and it really shows. The exams were not bad, and they only had information from her slides and classes on them. Nothing much else to say - this is a pretty run-of-the-mill class. If you have to take BSCI160, try to do it with Bruns. Something minor, but the homeworks and worksheets were time-consuming and confusing, but that's the only gripe I had with this class. If you have already taken ANTH222 and/or BSCI222 before taking this class, like I did, then BSCI160 is a breeze. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2022 |
I’ve truly loved having her as a professor. She offers so many extra credit opportunities, cares so much about her students, and is a very good lecturer. You get out of it what you put into it. Her class will require work but you are very likely to succeed if you utilize the resources she gives you. Her exams are relevant to her slides and clicker questions. Overall, a 5 star professor. Highly recommend. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2022 |
Dr. Shapiro is a very intelligent and passionate professor, and he clearly loves the content he teaches. However, the slides are often disorganized, his lectures drag, and he often rambles in circles which confuses the class and often himself as well. The "textbook" work is essentially a 40 minute quiz on material we do not need to know for the exam, which doesn't help in learning the material. He tries to post the lecture slides before class so that he can go very quickly, but oftentimes he forgets and you can't follow along. The slides are difficult to follow without a lecture alongside them, so going back to get the notes is also difficult. However, the class itself was pretty easy and his exams were fair. It's a bit of a nuisance class if you have harder courses like chemistry or calculus, so if you can find a better teacher without ruining your schedule, I'd do it. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2022 |
Even though the lectures aren't the most interesting, she is very knowledgable and teaches everything thats on the exam. There are a few long hw assignments that are graded on accuracy but I recommend going to TA office hours because they basically give you the answers. Her exams are very fair and you should be able to do very well by just studying your notes. This class grade is almost entirely dependent on the exam grades(about 70%) but she does drop the lowest. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very competent teacher and is very flexible for office hours. She likes feedback in class and after exams and she’s very responsive to them. For our third exam she shortened it due to comments about long test questions. She offers so many extra credit and they’re all based on completion so don’t feel upset if you can’t answer a few throughly. The Ec boosted my grade so much I ended the course with over 100%. One thing i will say is that the TAs who grade are very picky about the homework but try to cross check questions you are confused about. She lets you bring a note card for every test and the final is 100% open note. The only downside of this class is the TNR discussions which are time consuming. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
She is a very nice teacher who gives so much extra credit to bump up your grade. The only issue is how strict the TAs are when grading. They will take points for literally the smallest thing. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Professor Ngeve cares about her students learning. She encourages questions during lecture and will patiently explain a concept until you understand. She used in class polls to ensure that her students are understanding the material as it is discussed in class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is the best professor ever! She gives everyone the materials needed to pass and do well on her homework, assignments, and exams! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
There's no way to fail this course with Dr.Ngeve because she provides soooo much support. She is organized and well prepared for the course. She makes her grading options and participation expectations clear. The extra optional learning credits can keep you floating even if you do not do well on tests. I really do recommend her class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
She was a very good professor with very high standards of her students while also being understanding of those who missed some topics or details. Very knowledgeable in the course material |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve provided a ton of extra credit to earn points back and really cared about her students understanding the material. Lectures at times had a lot of material, but she would focus on certain topics more than others that were tested on. The homeworks were very helpful for understanding the material. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a really good professor who actually cares about her students learning the material and always answers questions if you email her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is a sweet professor! She gives students loads of opportunities for extra credit that ends up helping their grades a lot in the end. Her class is doable however the content and material covered in this course can be overwhelming. If you are not reviewing her course material at least once every week then you'll more than likely fall behind. Also, she takes participation points so you must attend each of her classes because they are added up at the end of the semester. She does make sure to provide extra resources such as review sessions, recorded lectures, and slide notes for students who need extra help or end up falling behind so that is nice of her as well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Very nice teacher but gives a lot of work. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a good professor. She provides multiple opportunities for students to earn extra credit and boost their grades. However, her lectures are very fast paced her exams are very challenging. If you miss one lecture, you will fall behind. Her weekly discussions (TNRs) are very long and take lots of time to complete. She also drops the lowest exam grade. Overall, even though this is a challenging class, she tries her best to make it a little bit easier. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
She is a good professor who cares about students actually learning and provided lots of extra credit to boost your grade |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
I absolutely loved this class. IMO, her lecturing style is a good pace and she will always encourage you to ask questions. SO MUCH extra credit, and to be honest if you get below a A-B you did not put in the necessary work. The concepts can be hard, but this is an intro bio, so it's to be expected. Ngeve is an acquired taste in terms of lecturing, but after a week or two you will learn to love how attentive she is. Practice questions during every lecture and she's so nice in office hours. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
I think that Dr. Ngeve was a great teacher considering how other teachers were for BSCI160. She is very consistent on what is expected in her class. She gives us in class participation questions which helps us to reinforce our knowledge, so it isn't really easy to skip class without losing those points. She records her lectures which is especially helpful when going back to study for our exams. She gives quite a bit of extra credit which is a great way to help your grade (some of them are individual and others are in a group). In class, she is a good lecturer and often stops to answer questions that people may have about the topic. Sometimes, she asks a question and then waits for a response and no one answers which can be a bit awkward but is not too bad (we just sometimes don't know the answer so the class is just silent). We also have a weekly discussion post which can either be a good thing or an annoying thing. It's not optional but there are some cases where you can also get extra credit this way. The class is big so it gives you the lecture feel but also like a smaller class because of some of the group work we do. I recommend her because she is patient and will do her best to explain something that you are unsure of. She can seem intimidating at first but don't hesitate to go up to her with a question you have because she will help you with it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Extra credits are helpful, but the homework requires some extra time |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is an incredibly caring and understanding professor. She always encourages students to ask questions, gives a LOT (I mean a LOT) of extra credit opportunities, and is always accommodating. There is a lot of content covered in this course, but the ULA review sessions hosted by her ULA review team are very useful. In this course, you should review your notes throughout the semester and be sure to ask questions whenever you have them. The homework for this course can be difficult and the exams can be difficult, but there is so much extra credit to cushion these grades - and the lowest of the three midterms was dropped. She keeps her lectures engaging with Point Solution questions that help you review content as you go along, and even has recorded lectures ready if you miss a class or want to review. Participation in this class is also graded through Point Solutions. Dr. Ngeve puts an incredibly amount of effort into ensuring students understand content, and I am so happy to have been in this class and highly recommend it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A olivesumd 12/13/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very understanding and kind prof. She genuinely wants everyone to succeed. The tests are very fair but the homework is kinda hard. She is very forgiving though, and homework doesn't count that much. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
There are a lot of extra credit opportunities, so use them to your advantage! She's very accommodating and kind. However, the lectures are quite fast-paced, and you will have to digest a lot of information in little time. Make sure to also do your homework early as possible as well, you will need to dedicate quite a lot of time to them. |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
He is such an amazing teacher. Curves on the tests are great, and he encourages questions. Show up to class it makes a difference! |
Bill Fagan
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
He is an excellent teacher. He genuinely wants you to understand the topics he is teaching, and is always accommodating to questions. His tests are usually 105 points but he grades them out of 100, so we get those 5 points back, and on top of that each exam is curved generously. He really wants you to excel in his class, and it shows in his teaching. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve really does care about the knowledge her students get out of this course. She offers plenty of extra credit opportunities which expand on what you're learning in class and those are super helpful. The lectures are fast paced and it's easy to fall behind on notes as if we don't get through all of the lecture in class it's up to the student to finish that on their own time. The weekly discussions for homework do take a bit of time as well. This course isn't going to be an easy A and definitely requires you to really put in the work if you want to succeed. But she's there for you every step of the way to help. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
She did a good job on lectures but every grade in the class seemed to be graded pretty harshly but there was a lot of opportunities to get extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr.Ngeve was a very engaging professor. While her classes were very fast pace and the homework was graded pretty strictly, her lectures were always engaging and she made sure to answer every question people had, even if that meant doing some research before the next class to give you an answer. While this class is by no means easy, Dr.Ngeve provides lots of resources and opportunities to learn and grasp the content. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr.Ngeve is a teacher that cares for the success of her students. She thoroughly explains her lectures, and goes through the content of the class. She provides a lot of resources to help you get a better understanding of the material, and works with her students to ensure they don't fall behind. She also provides a significant amount of extra credit, that will help boost your grade a lot. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
she's such a good lecturer and is extremely intelligent. she is always willing to help and answer questions and is SO accommodating in terms of giving extra credit opportunities and dropping the lowest midterm. the class definitely requires a lot of studying, but dr. ngeve gives you so many resources to help you understand what you're learning. best professor!!!!! love her |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
I think she did a good job with being an accommodating teacher in order for students to succeed. However, it was hard to understand her at times and the slides are not detailed enough to catch up of you miss something in class. But of you put in the time to do the EC and other activities that boost your grade, you should be fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Pros: Lots of(I mean, seriously, lots of) extra credits if you have enough time to do those extra credit assignments Review session every week is helpful Drop lowest exam Final is open book, open internet, open everything(though I don't know if it is an advantage yet since I haven't take the final yet) Cons: Lecture is boring and not attracting There is in-class participation points, which basically mean if you don't want to lose those precious points, you need to take every single lecture and respond to her questions on your device which is very annoying to me. Exams are pretty hard Afterall, I think the extra credit provided is enough to compensate for those cons, but the "in-class participation points" really irritates me, otherwise I would give her 4/5 or even 5/5. It's college, not high-school. Professors should not force the students to come to every lecture using this kind of method, instead, teaching interesting lecture will automatically attract students to come, since we all got some business to do, sometimes even emergent, no one can guarantee to show up on every lecture. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is very fair and she cares about her students. She is a great lecturer, however, if you're the type of person that needs to see information on slides, don't take her. The lecture powerpoints are not very helpful at all, as there are many slides with just pictures on them or the smallest amount of bullet points. The exams are kind of hard but she drops the lowest one, which is nice. The TA's grade the homework really harsh, which can bring down your homework average, but the extra credit is really helpful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very thoughtful and thorough professor who gives great details about the subject matter. It is very apparent that she really cares about her students and their learning. She offers a lot of extra credit and as long as you stay on top of learning, you should do well in the class. The class is NOT curved though, so you really need to work hard to earn your grade. Exams are also no walk in the park so keep that in mind. Do be warned that she goes pretty fast, but it is necessary to get through all of the material. Overall, I would definitely recommend her! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
She's super nice. Her pacing is a little bit too fast for my liking but to each their own. Her homeworks and TNRs are sometimes pretty lengthy and difficult. Her exams aren't the easiest either. But we're allowed a notecard for exams and she gives a lot of extra credit assignments, which is the reason why I have a decent grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very understanding and hardworking professor. A lot of content is covered in her lectures, her exams are pretty difficult due to the number of questions you need to complete in a certain period of time, and you need to devote a lot of time to her class. However, there are many opportunities to bring up your grade, such as extra credit assignments and her weekly discussion posts. Additionally, she drops the lowest grade out of your three midterms. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
This course just did not strike me the right way. I took 170 first and really enjoyed that course. I generally just did not enjoy the material for 160. That being said, I did not have many interactions with Dr. Ngeve outside of class. I stopped attending lecture about half-way through the semester because I couldn't learn in class and instead watched the recorded lectures. I found her comments in class to be antagonistic and she got visibly frustrated when people were not participating in class. I might have had a better opinion of her if I attended her office hours, but I did most of my learning in this class via recorded lectures instead. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
She is a charming professor! However, there is so much content placed into each exam. During the lecture, we got through about 40 slides, which were all content-heavy. The content can be tough to follow since she zooms through it and only gives you a little time to comprehend what's happening. In addition, TAs grade homework and sometimes tend to take off unnecessary points. This class can be challenging and time-consuming for a first-year student taking other stem-heavy classes like chemistry. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
A very nice professor who cares about you and you're learning. Lectures are very dense and homework is graded very harshly but EC opportunities are available. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a wonderful professor that shows great passion in her work and within her presentations. Even while sick, when most professors would simply cancel class, Dr. Ngeve held zoom lectures and provided time to her students to help with their assignments. She provides help to her students to an extent that I have not seen from other professors. Her presentations are well structured, but can move at a faster pace at times. Once you are comfortable with the speed of the lectures, have a way of following the presentation with the Point Solution, and get comfortable with her accent, her class will become one of your favorites. Dr. Ngeve provides many extra credit assignments that run parallel with her content. I would completely recommend Dr. Ngeve to up coming students and thus is why I'm giving her five stars. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. Some concepts of BSCI160 can be hard to grasp at first but she explains it well. I cannot stress this enough, you need to raise your hand if you have a question or don't understand the concepts, or she won't know. She is always happy to answer questions, reexplain a concept, or slow down if someone tells her, because she genuinely cares about her students and their learning. This goes for any professor in general; you need to be proactive. Presentations and the recordings of them are posted before lecture if you need them. She gives lots of extra credit opportunities; some of them are group activities (learning activities) which I wasn't the biggest fan of since we didn't choose our groups, but if you have responsive groupmates, it makes completion a lot more bearable. For an information-heavy class, the exams are very fair, are similar to the questions she gives in class on point solution(participating in these also gives extra credit points, they're not graded by accuracy), and she allows one notecard to bring for each midterm. Overall, I highly recommend her for BSCI160. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
She has really good intentions for the course, but it ended up being more tedious than anything else. One of the best aspects of the course was the TNR which helped you understand the topics as they were taught. The worst aspects were the lectures. She goes into a lot of detail for each lecture which makes it hard to understand what is actually important. I found myself understanding the topics more if I just went over the slides and skimmed through her pre-recorded videos. The canvas page can also be overwhelming since there is so much information on it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
I really liked Dr. Ngeve. She always made me feel comfortable to reach out regarding extra help. Her office hours were helpful and she is very understanding. Her lectures were fast paced but she posted recordings for each lecture that were helpful to rewatch. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Greta professor, always open to help as best she can. A lot of extra credit opportunities and homework assignments are great way to practice material learned in class. Some TA's are harsh graders so it helps to compare answers with peers. Her lectures are not too fast-paced but there is a lot of information that has to be covered so the pace might feel too fast for some. There are available recorded lectures and lecture slides online though so you shouldn't worry about missing anything. Exams are well made. They test on information that was actually covered and some questions are even ones that we have done on assignments or in class. You will be fine if you attend class, pay attention and do the assignments. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a kind professor. She pre-records her lectures so when it comes to having to study fro exams it is very helpful. The exams are not as hard as some other classes as long as you know the material as well as study the point solution questions. She may mix up the point solution questions a little bit but as long as you know the question and the answer you will be able to get the exam questions. She also gives multiple opportunities to get extra credit, which helped my grade. She can move a little fast but that is what the given powerpoints and lecture videos are for. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
She is an amazing professor who really wants to see her students succeed. During class, she stops to make sure that people get a chance to ask questions (although she can be a little rude if she finds the question to be too easy). She also gives point solution questions throughout the lecture to make sure we understand the content as we go. A LOT of these questions show up the exact same way on the exams so make sure you study them! She makes sure to be available for questions which I like. Also, we recently found out that the final would be open note, open internet which is really nice. Finally, there are a lot of opportunities for extra credit and if you do them all they will help your grade A LOT. Overall, a really good professor. My main complaint would be that the slides are a little disorganized so they can be kind of hard to follow but she records and posts the lectures on ELMS which helps with review or if you miss class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve was a great professor. Taking her class in my first semester of college was a very big blessing. The content can be a lot, but that is to be expected of this type of biology course. What sets Dr. Ngeve apart from other professors is how understanding she is. Her canvas page is very well organized with annotated powerpoints and video recordings that make reviewing content easy to access and understand. The exams are hard, but you should be successful if you study the clicker questions and review content. She offers plenty of extra credit opportunities to help you lift your grade up after exams and she is very helpful with any questions. She gives you many opportunities to have success in the course. I fully recommend her. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. She is very accommodating and cares for her students. While she may go a little fast during lecture, she does post lecture videos which are very helpful. She also posts slideshows and other useful resources related to the unit that she is teaching. She does give extra credit. Also the homework is taken very seriously, so make sure to do good on them as they are graded strictly. The exams are not the easiest, however, if you pay attention in class and look back at notes, you should be okay. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
She was a very kind and understanding professor, but she has many tedious assignments and grades the HW harshly. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is more than wonderful. ist clear that she wants everyone in her class to succeed. you would be lucky to have her. though she wants to see you succeed, you need to put the work in, but she gives you more than enough resources to succeed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Solid Professor, gives tons of extra credit which helps grades. However, she goes pretty fast-paced but it's a dense course so that is understandable. She cares a lot about her students and is a great professor! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
nice professor!! fast paced lectures and the weekly "thursday night redigest" are time consuming. extra credit assignments are worth it. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Even though I'm expecting a B in this class, I absolutely LOVED it. He is extremely passionate about the subject. I have to admit, it's pretty boring at times. However, the TA's do great with exam prep and if you do bad on the tests it's honestly your fault at that point. Literally the only studying I do is going to the zoom calls and making a few flashcards on quizlet. Also matches up pretty well with ENSP101 (not related but I think will help some people) |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is very flexible with extensions and rescheduling exams, however, this class is A LOT of work. If you have a heavier course load or have other classes that require more attention - like me, then this class could be very hard to pass. Other than that, there are many extra credit opportunities (make sure to do all of them and that will give you a pretty good grade boost), and make sure to do well on the homework. There are three midterm exams and one final that is open book/open note/ open internet which takes some of the pressure off the last exam. Overall, this course really is what you make of it and it's important to do well because there is no curve. Professor Ngeve cares a lot about her students and gives them the tools to succeed, however, you really need to be on top of the work in this class otherwise you will fall behind! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Great professor, explained the materials very well., and post extra practice for extra credit. She is amazing. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is very nice and shows that she cares. She's always open to any questions you might have. She also offers a lot of extra credit which is extremely helpful. The lectures can be hard to follow at times and the homeworks are very hard as well as the exams. Definitely do the extra credit work. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
The HW and exams are graded to the most minute detail; exams especially are ridiculously long for the time allotted and are very difficult. I would advise people to avoid this course and this teacher. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve really cares about her students and wants everyone to do well on the exams. She encourages students to ask questions in class when anything is confusing. That being said, paying attention in her lectures alongside the discussion and the extra credit helped a lot. The exams are not easy, but there are a lot of resources she provides to be able to study well for the exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is an extremely nice and understanding professor. She is very accommodating and will almost always give an extension or help you reschedule an exam if needed. With that being said, her class is not that easy. Her lectures are very fast paced, and sometimes hard to understand and apply to actual problems. If you want to have a good grade in her class, you will need to do the extra credit and there is quite a bit. The TAs grade the homework's very strictly as well. Her weekly discussion boards can sometimes be very tedious and time consuming, but it is helpful to look at other people's responses. Overall this class is not that easy and will take a lot of your time as you need to work to understand lectures. She does drop her lowest exam grade, which is useful. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
She was a good professor who cared about teaching and having students learn. She provided a lot of ways for extra credit to boost your grade, however, the exams weren't a walk in the park. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
I really liked her, I thought she was a kind person and very much wanted her students to succeed. She always encouraged us to ask questions and consistently had opportunities for learning outside of class. We had an assignment every week in the material learned from last week and I think this was helpful to remind me of the information learned in lecture and solidify it in my brain. She also offered a lot of extra credit opportunities which were helpful in expanding learning, she had individual and group EC to help address the styles of learning of a wide group of people. The clicker questions in class were also helpful to my learning. The exams were very fast paced and a lot content but I think if you prepare enough a head of time it is possible to do very well. The only thing I disliked was that sometimes we didn't finish material in lecture and she would move on to the next lecture the next class instead of finishing the old lecture. I would have been fine with this cause I know she has to cover a certain amount of material, but I would have liked better if she reminded us that the previous lecture was unfinished and that we need to review that on our own. I often forgot and it got stressful toward the exam when I realized I was missing chunks of knowledge I needed to know. She does drop one of the exams which helps with the stressfulness of taking the exams and our final is open book which relieves some pressure cause it is cumulative. Overall I would say she Is a good teacher and kind person. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
An extraordinarily fair professor and clearly displayed that she wanted everyone to succeed. The only thing I would recommend is explain topics better and use more relatable examples. As a student in this course I struggled with retaining information, additionally she could work on providing more example in class, as we would often go over one concept, and say "I hope you understand this idea now", although we spent a few minutes on the concept and were often still confused or felt uneasy about it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
Extremely nice teacher! She has a great class and gave the students TONS of opportunities to make points back via extra credit and exam grading for free response questions. I did feel that lectures were slightly rushed and often had a lot of information crammed in. She is very approachable though and I enjoyed this class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
I think Dr. Ngeve is a really great professor! She is very caring and you can tell she does her best to ensure success for her students. For example, she'll encourage us to ask questions and provides lots of extra credit. However, her lectures are pretty fast-paced but they are recorded. As long as you're taking proper notes and give yourself enough time to study for her exams you'll be good. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/10/2022 |
Fair teacher and provides a lot of opportunity for extra credits. However there is a LOT of content covered (for BSCI160) and if you are not on top of everything you may fall behind. The class is not difficult, but I struggled because I personally had trouble acclimating to the college course load. Even so I still am doing well in the class because there are a lot of resources available (lectures online, review sessions, etc). |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
shes a very nice professor and seems like she genuinely cares about the content and student, but i feel like she doesnt go very much in-depth with the topics. I do like the extra credit she provide you! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
The lectures were hard to follow and the homework grading was extreme but the extra credit was helpful |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She is a great professor and posts her recorded lectures which can be very helpful in preparing for exams! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is a good professor but sometimes her slides were out of order. Her tests were a bit difficult but the Point Solution Questions were helpful in reviewing content. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She's a good professor and gives lots of opportunities for extra credit and optional learning activities. If you're willing to do the work to get that extra credit it will give you buffer for exams because the exams are long and hard. Also willing to give students extensions if your sick or something she's cooperative. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Very nice, has lots of extra credit oppurtunities, and the final exam is slight. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She is nice and passionate about what she teaches, but the lecture is very fast paced and homework assignments are rather difficult and harshly graded |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Great instructor, cares about students. Explains material well, offers extra credit!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She deeply cares about students' success and provides lots of extra credit opportunities. Heavy material , though. So you have to make sure you truly study in this course |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
This teacher is very nice, cares about her students and provides a lot of extra credit work and exams are not hard at all. Only thing I would say is the homework are a bit tricky, but overall would recommend because she makes it hard not to pass the class. Just go to class and actually study for exams and you will do really well. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She's a wonderful professor and teacher. None of the assignments were busy work. They all helped you understand the topics taught. The midterms were fair. The final is open internet. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
The class is honestly a lot of work, and you will probably have to spend a good amount studying for this course. However, you can tell that Dr.Ngeve really cares about her students. There are lot of assignments and extra credit that are great for boosting your grade outside of the exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Very fair and seems to genuinely care about the content and grades of her students. Lectures can be a little fast paced and kind of crunched for time especially at the end of each class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
She was a really good teacher. I like how the class was recorded but you did need to go for point source solution answers (participation points). She tried really hard to explain things and she did well. Just know that she does have an accent so you need to really pay attention when she is talking. Over all enjoyed this class though. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is the kindest professor I have met at UMD. She made our classroom experience so welcoming, and always encouraged and validated questions. Our lectures were mostly done via powerpoint, with participation questions (about 3-5) every class to review the information. I have seen some students mention her pacing as an issue, so if you struggle with writing and listening at the same time, you may benefit from taking notes on her lectures beforehand (the entire course is on ELMS from the first day, and every lecture has a powerpoint and recording, depending on what learning style you have). The thing I love most about Dr. Ngeve is that she gives her students as many opportunities as possible to take charge of their learning and improve their grades. She offers a lot of extra credit throughout the semester, usually in the form of learning activities and self-awareness reflections. While the class itself does not have a curve (aside from EC), my friends and I who regularly did extra credit often had over a 100% in the class. The exams can be challenging, but they often reuse participation and practice exam questions. Additionally, students are allowed a notecard in every midterm exam, and our final this year is open internet. A lot of doing well in this class is based upon demonstrated effort. Even if you do not do well on exams or homework (I have never gotten an A on any exams, and I usually don't get all of my homework assignments correct), it is still possible to do very well (I literally have over a 99 despite the stuff I mentioned earlier). If you spend time studying, pay attention in class, and do extra credit, this course will be well worth your time and very helpful to your GPA. Not to mention that, again, Dr. Ngeve is clearly passionate about what she does and cares about all of her students much more than I have seen any other professor do so. If you are taking 160, please consider Ngeve! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
I loved taking this course! It is very easy to follow the material for each unit throughout the course. As long as you pay attention in lecture and review the lecture slides to make sure you understand the topics, you will be fine. Dr. Ngeve very clearly cares about the success of her students and puts in the effort to give you all the materials you need to succeed. She posts the slides for each lecture, as well as a recording of her presenting the slides in a little more detail, and they're both very helpful in their own ways. I would always use them to take my notes outside of lecture so I could go at my own pace, and I could always go back to any single lecture throughout the semester. The assignments are all designed to make sure you understand what you are learning, and there's plenty of extra credit opportunities. I definitely recommend taking this course with Dr. Ngeve, you'll be set!! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
She really wants every student to d well and provides a lot of easy points (Thursday Night Redigests, Extra Credit Assignments, Point Solutions). Its a content heavy class so she goes a little fast, but as long as you're on top of the lecture, you should be good. Also the things she really wants you to know she'll repeat a bunch. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
Great teacher, really cares about her students learning the material and encourages students to ask any questions they have during class to make sure they understand the content. There are a lot of opportunities for extra credit in this class and the assignments aren't too hard, so it's not super difficult to get a good grade in the class if you pay attention and stay up to date with the material. The time limit for the tests is the only part I can see being difficult for people, but if you understand and can apply the material, it's not too difficult. In addition, she posted her slides on Canvas along with recorded lectures in case you missed class or didn't understand something. Overall, very nice woman and good teacher. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
Overall good class, Dr. Ngeve definitely wants you to succeed and offers you numerous opportunities to do so by providing lots of extra credit chances and practice questions during class which significantly help you in preparing for the exam. Sometimes she goes fast during lectures because there is a lot of material to cover. Luckily, she posts recordings of all the lectures and the PowerPoints as well, which are both helpful. Would recommend for sure! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very thoughtful professor who truly cares about her students. She listens to feedback from students and her exams are fairly straightforward. You are also allowed a notecard on the exam which is really helpful. She gives a lot of extra credit which is really nice. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
she really is a kind teacher and definitely wants her students to succeed. she gives a lot of extra credit which is great for your grade and even has point solution questions too which are basically the multiple choice on exams. would definitely recommend! |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
I love this professor and I loved his class. I would 100% recommend him to everyone for BSCI 160. He is very straightforward with his assignments and due dates. He is extremely enthusiastic and intelligent in his lectures although some of them might be long winded. Some people say his lectures are boring, but I disagree I think it is what you make it. I would advise sitting closer to him in the lecture as its easier to stay engaged, and don’t hesitate to participate as it makes it more interesting! He is easily one of my favorite professors of all time. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is truly an amazing person and a good lecturer. She cares about her students!!! She is very quick to answer questions via email, wants every student to succeed, and offers so many extra credit opportunities (SO many). Please take this professor. She makes it clear that to do well in her class you must put in the work and your grade will reflect the amount of work you put in, but this is a given for almost every science/STEM course you will take here at UMD. I did not do as well as I'd hoped on the first exam (C+) and still have an A+ in the class because of the opportunities she gives to bring up your grade. I cannot stress enough how good of a professor she is. Work hard and it will be worth it. The only rough part of this class are the homework assignments but try your best and you'll be fine. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. She truly cares about how well her students are learning the content and tries to accommodate everyone as best she can. After each exam, she genuinely listens to the feedback that students give her and tries to implement them into her future lectures/exams. All of the assignments reflect the course content and she provides all the materials on Elms (class lectures and panapto recordings). She also gives a lot of extra credit opportunities and assignments that buffer grades. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
You can tell that she is caring and wants you to succeed as a student. Always available to help you if you need it. Her lectures are a bit fast paced but as the semester goes on you get used to it. She offers several extra credit opportunities throughout the semester that really help boost your grade and also help you gain extra knowledge on the material learned in class. The homework is a lot of work but they are spread out throughout the semester and there is plenty of time to complete them. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is an extremely well rounded professor who answers emails in less than an hour, always assist on discussion posts and will always help no matter the topic. Her exams do cover a lot of material which the only downside, sometimes it is extremely overwhelming with the amount of material you have to know. There are over 40 points of extra credit and each exam you are allowed one notecard. The final is open note as well. Her main goal is for the class to succeed as a whole. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is actually the best BSCI160 this school might have. And I don't say that lightly. I'm usually very unbiased with who I deem an excellent professor, and I can happily assure you that she is the teacher to register with. As someone who was an active participant and made sure to ask questions, Dr. Ngeve was always there to make sure that I understood the material and to continue to challenge me to consider other factors that may play into the content. She is truly a professor who cares for the students. Her exams are fair based on material given in lecture slides, study them and you will do fine. Sometimes her free responses are OD long though so watch out for that, you should still be fine. She gives out so much extra credit, that it would be a shame for you not to do some throughout your time with her. Her homework is long but she gives you more than enough time to complete it (weeks). Her redigests are actually useful and help you understand the material. She engages with you in class and does care about your success, but she does expect you to try your best and seek the help you need. Stan Dr. Ngeve. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Lots of extra credit assignments and points to boost your grade. If you want to succeed in this class, there are many ways for them to help you. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve cares a lot for a students and does her best to encourage her students to get involved in the topics. This course is very content-heavy so, it requires more time to understand the concepts that are being taught. Her lectures are packed with information but, if you miss anything she's more than happy to help in office hours and she has recordings from previous semesters. She does provide a lot of extra credit opportunities which is great. She does weekly discussion posts called "Thursday Night Redigest" and homework assignments occasionally. One thing to note about these homework assignments are that they are very harshly graded so, I'd recommend reaching out to either her or the TAs for help. In terms of exams, her MCQs model after her in-class "clicker" questions so, attending class will help. She drops the lowest exam grade and her final is cumulative and open-notes. Personally, I thought this was an okay class and it does require more work but with time, it is doable. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Great professor, extremely interesting class! I loved the course and how the material was taught as well as the order it was taught in. This class requires you to connect big concepts together and can be a lot, but it is extremely rewarding. There is quite a bit of work involved and you have to make sure you recognize the point at which you need help, and in the weekly discussion, you can post your questions for that week and the professor will respond answering them all! Although grading is a bit harsh, the lowest test is dropped and there are also many extra credit assignments you can do. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Great instructor, cares about students. Explains material well, offers extra credit and is all around helpful in your success. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
She rocked... Whenever there was a problem or concern she would always work with you to resolve it. She also made it an ongoing effort of hers to answer any question or explain any material that is confusing to you. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve truly care about students, she goes well and beyond to help anyone who needs it. She is super encoring and so easy to work with. I really appreciate the time she take to answer any question or address any concerns we have. Her recorded lecture were truly a huge help especially since there's a lot of information to be learned so it's always nice to go back to it and review it for the test. I do have to emphasize that this course have A LOT of information (there's a fair amount of work and efforts needed to be put in) but she gives everything you need to succeed in this class. I recommend doing ALL the extra credit work she provided, it's definitely a boost to your grades. Generally, super helpful professor, definitely one of the best. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
She really cares about her student's learning and offers lots of extra credit! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
This professor truly cares about her students. She posts all of the powerpoints and records her lectures which is very helpful. She posts lots of resources that help you prepare for midterms and makes the practice midterm much harder than the actual midterm, so you're always prepared. If you pay attention, there's never a surprise on the midterms. There is a reasonable amount of work and A LOT of extra credit opportunites to keep your grade high. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
she really cares about her students and is very patient, and wants us to succeed. the course is definitely very content heavy, which she explicitly stated on the very first day, so she treats this class more like a 200 level class. the exams are pretty lengthy but a lot of the questions come straight from point solutions we did in class, so they're definitely doable, and the lowest out of the three midterms are dropped. there's also A LOT of extra credit that boosts your grade significantly and relates to topics we learned so it's great review. the weekly discussion posts are also a great review of what we learned that week so. overall, the class is very content heavy but dr. ngeve does a great job making sure she gives out all the resources we need to succeed and is very understanding and patient. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great teacher! She honestly truly cares for her students and wants everyone to succeed. She's very responsive through emails and was able to help me whenever I was confused about a topic! I would say though, her homeworks are a bit challenging. Other than that, her class was fairly easy! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
She's really nice and wants you to get to the content and questions right. I appreciate that she took our feedback about exams and shortened them after a lot of us had to rush to finish the first exams. Sometimes there's a lot of information on the slides so in class it's better to focus on the information she adds on and not writing down every word on the slide. In class, she puts up point solutions questions -- make sure to take notes on those because they tend to show up on the multiple choice section of exams. She offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, which is great, but some have to be completed in a random group who can be hard to work or connect with but there's A LOT of chance for extra credit and they're really not that difficult to do so try to do as much of the extra credit assignments as possible. She also drops an exam which is really helpful and you can bring a notecard with notes to the midterm. If you have any questions about homework or the material I would recommend going straight to her office hours instead of the TAs because sometimes the TA's answers were kind of confusing because they're trying not to tell you the answer. For exams, long as you give yourself enough time to consistently review (maybe like a week) before midterms and look over all the point solutions, you should be good. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very nice person and definitely knows her stuff, however, her class can be a bit difficult. She does weekly discussion posts, which are very helpful with review. She also does clicker questions in class so those are a good review as well as easy points, especially since those questions show up on the exam. What frustrated me about her class was the homework since they were graded pretty harshly. On gradescope, it doesn’t really tell you what you did wrong and there were times where it felt like points were u justly taken off. Dr. Ngeve does give tons of extra credit for you to work on so there is definitely ways to boost your grade in this class. All in all, the class was ok |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
She is a really nice professor! She really cares about us and only wants us to exceed. She's always available for help and to answer any questions. The only thing is the grading is a little harsh, especially on the homework assignments. There are also no curves but she does drop your lowest test score. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very good teacher; she truly wants everyone of her students to succeed. She offers an insane amount of extra credit assignments that not only help you learn the material but really boost your grade. Furthermore, the exams often are based directly off of content reviewed in class (particularly clicker questions). The Homework assignments can be a bit challenging (and I think potentially going over them more in class could be really useful). She also allows students to use a notecard with information, which makes the overwhelming amount of content alot more barable. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is very caring and always encourages students to ask questions in class. I recommend attending ULA review session if you take this class to perform well. Lecture content can be hard and confusing, but if you take a little bit of extra time to practice the material, it will be worthwhile. Dr. Negeve's exams are also fair game and I never felt like I received a question that was not covered in either lecture or a review session. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
She definitely cares about students' learning and encourages the class to ask questions during lecture. The homework assignments were time consuming but definitely helped with digesting the content. All the lectures are recorded and posted which is really nice. The weekly discussion assignment usually relates to exam content and is helpful to study. I found the exams to be difficult; the content was not unfamiliar, I just felt very rushed especially on any math-related questions. I recommend doing any extra credit assignments - there are a decent amount which can really help your grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is definitely a good teacher. She does push you and give you an ample amount of work, but it is reasonable. The teaching style is fast in order to cover topics but she does try and spend and explain as much on it as she can. She is a fair grader and offers a lot of helpful extra credit which I would recommend starting from the beginning and not just doing it when you need. Her tests are fair and she is a great teacher. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022 |
Professor Ngeve is very understanding and a nice person. She wants everyone in her class to do well and gives you more than enough resources you need to succeed in her class. You have to do a lot on your own though, and the work sometimes is tedious, but rewarding if you really understand her teaching. You have to know your notes from class, and my advice is to take your notes on paper and pencil off your computer while you are in class, because she usually does not finish the slides in class and you are still expected to know it. However, everything is always posted so it is not hard to access anything that you need in her class. I would recommend taking her class because she wants you to learn and succeed, and your grade is not just based on your exam scores. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
Not a great professor, but a very nice person. She doesn't explain concepts well in class, so a lot of it has to be taught by yourself at home. The homework and extra credit are really nice, though, because they brought my grade up a lot. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
She is extremely knowledgable. She moves very fast paced which takes a little bit of getting used to, but she is very helpful when trying to understand a topic. The questions she uses as practice in class are directly related to the key concepts and takeaways of each chapter. Each of her lectures are recorded which makes it easy to review or take notes prior to class. Professor Ngeve also encourages questions and tries her best to answer these questions to make sure the student completely understands the information they are asking about. There is a lot of studying that needs to be done outside of class as most of the content is memorization. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
W fr |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
I would recommend Dr. Ngeve to anyone planning on taking BSCI160. I will admit that ecology is not my strongsuit, but Dr. Ngeve provides plentiful resources for anyone to succeed. She posts her powerpoint slides, recorded lectures, and other resources to help with difficult material. It is impossible not to learn with the abundance of resources and support she provides. It is clear that she knows the material thoroughly and is passionate about sharing it with her students. She has high expectations for her students, but I think it is fair given how much she does to make sure that we understand the material. There are also tons of extra credit opportunities to boost your grade. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
Prof Ngeve is a nice person but she is not a great teacher. She is lenient with late homework if you contact her! The lectures are not engaging and although it is sometimes helpful to have her further explain the content on the slides, most of the time she just reads off of the slides. It is hard to retain any information because the lectures are boring. I did not do well on any of the homeworks given in this class and the feedback is just irrelevant by the time they give it back usually. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
I actually really like Professor Ngeve. At first, because of the workload and the 8-10 page assignments, I was put-off by her but after going to her office hours just one time, I foudn that she is so kind and really wants us all to succeed in her class. The workload in this class is very heafty and could bring down your grade if you do not do well but she provides so much extra credit just in case that happens. However, the lectures do have a LOT and i mean, A LOT of material. You learn it on day and are expected to come back with all the knowledge in your brain. Its a bit insane but if you stay EXTREMELY on top of it, you will be just fine. The notes on the lectures were a bit hard for me to follow so it is important that you understand the material. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
She truly cares about her students and if you spend the time to ask her a question after class she is very thorough. In the beginning of the year I think she moved very quickly through her lecture slides and it was hard to follow, however after receiving this feedback she began to slow down mid-semester and this was helpful. The extra credit is a necessity, it is amazing. I would recommend her to other students! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2022 |
She is a really kind person, but there is so much material to keep up with that it often requires a lot of last-minute self-teaching studying, especially before exams. She does drop the lowest exam, and for this semester at least she is allowing the final exam to be open book and open internet which is really helpful grade wise. She offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, and a lot of the assignments do balance out the exams so its not totally overpowering. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2022 |
She is smart but holy cow she cannot teach. She will show a practice problem and read it off the screen, and instead of showing how to do it, she will just say, "ok so do the practice problem by finding the answer. Now I hope that was good and you understand". No, prof Ngeve, I did not understand bc you didn't say how to do it!!! Everything in her class has to be self-taught because lord knows she doesn't know how to do it, but you don't have time to stay on top of it and teach yourself an entire biology course. The concepts aren't too hard, they are just boring and weird, so even if you did have the time, you aren't gonna wanna sit down and learn it. I really wish I could say more nice things about her class because she is actually a nice person, but you will be completely on your own with learning this material. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022 |
Dr. Bruns is very passionate about the content in this course and it really shows during her lectures. She truly cares that her students are learning something. As for the course itself, the exams are very fair if you follow what she puts out in the study guide, and you can also bring in a notecard during exams. Your lowest midterm also gets dropped which is a nice perk. Overall, she makes the class enjoyable to attend, and makes the workload manageable, for this course I would take this professor if you can! |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/01/2022 |
She is so nice. It can be hard to understand her sometimes in class, but she really cares about making sure she's always there to help her students out. She does questions in class which help prepare for all the exams so write or take a pic of them, she responds right away to all emails. There are 3 reg exams and then an additional one for the final (cumulative). I would say right from the start do ALL the extra credit it boosts your grade by so much and she drops one exam score. I know her exams cover a lot more than other teachers so if you want to study less then pick another professor cus she treats this like a 200 level bio class. |
Lance Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a D Anonymous 11/29/2022 |
Though the teacher is extremely nice and understanding, there are about 100 other people in the class who may have similar or more significant problems than yourself in this class and if you do not have a decent foundation in biology before taking this class, you will lose track and could fall behind very quickly. Would not recommend taking it as an elective or introductory 100 class. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/12/2022 |
IGNORE the reviews take Reaka. Class is so easy and she's nice and willing to help. Barely studied and got an A. Used lectures to de-stress and look at cool animal pictures. Have to say her graphic design skills need some work. Yellow on a blue gradient background is not the move but this class was a fun time. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/27/2022 |
This is class EXTREMELY BORING. Like all the other reviews have said, she literally reads from the slides word for word. There is absolutely no attempt in order to keep students engaged in the activity. So I wouldn't recommend students, especially people new to biology to take this class. However, if there aren't any other teachers available, here are some major tips to help you succeed. 1. There is a LOT of information in this course, so make sure you stay organized and understand the general ideas of the topics. 2. She points out a lot of examples in class that are also on the PowerPoint slides. These are vital pieces of information, as she very often cherrypicks one of those examples and puts them on a test. 3. Exams require a lot of understanding and critical thinking. Many questions are full of words that you have to be able to decipher like a secret code. Don't overthink the questions. This class requires time and effort in order to earn an A, but it isn't hard to pass since the weight of tests is smaller in comparison to other classes. Best of luck to future students. - |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/25/2022 |
Do not recommend. Her lecture is pretty boring. The final exam weights too much. She drops 1 midterm. Her exams are short but hard and detailed. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/18/2022 |
Leo reads nearly word for word off of the slide. Although slides are posted after class, you've lost the chance to take notes on what he is actually saying since you have to scribble down whatever the slide said to make your notes somewhat relevant. Exam Pts were taken off for the smallest of mistakes. I had to self-teach myself most of this class. HW (LearningCurves) are very tedious. I don't recommend Leo at all. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/13/2022 |
Good fucking lord. I thought I had my fair share of bad teachers in high school and MAN was I wrong. I attended two lectures of this class ever because there is literally NO POINT in attending lecture. Her ENTIRE lecture is just her reading off a powerpoint slide WORD FOR WORD with incoherent rambling mixed in. Half the time she won't tell you ways to remember them but rather go on some completely unrelated and irrelevant tangent. If you ever wonder why communications is a gen ed requirement, the average Reaka lecture is your answer. You can get a rock fuckin solid 10 hours of sleep the night before one of her lectures and you will still nod off. Shit, she should stop being a professor and be an anethesiologist so she be paid for putting people to sleep on purpose. Shit dude, I am more invested in writing this dumbass fucking review than I was in this class for the entirety of the semester. You will gain nothing from her lectures. You don't even have to be there for the first lecture because they. are. all. the. same. So ok, she reads her powerpoints out loud. So what? Well, here's the kicker. In my last year of high school, I downloaded some of my textbooks because covid and whatnot. HER SLIDES FOR ONE TOPIC ARE BIGGER THAN A FUCKING TEXTBOOK. Now, to be fair, images take up more space than text, but look, on average, this shit is roughly 60 to 70 slides long. It takes multiple lectures to get through one topic. The individual slides look like shitposts for a biology meme group and are crammed with the skimmings of a wikipedia article. As for her tests, she will usually release a "study guide" a few days before the test. Your best bet is to study from the slides or the study guide by writing copious notes on whatever is mentioned. It's not just that she is a horrible lecturer, she can't be bothered to make the material remotely learnable. Heck, I don't think she even tries to cut out shit that's not relevant. So overall, you may notice other reviews that say you have to work hard to earn an A in this class. If you do things right and be very smart about what you study, it's almost like an async class. But I'll be honest, it's not worth your time. You will walk away from this class with less than you started, because you will have spent your sanity studying whether or not a certain species of bacteria grows a second anus before or after it grows a mouth because she mentioned it in half a sentence on her slide on a whim. Dogshit "professor" and I hope I never take a class with her again. Don't take this class, enjoy college. |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/13/2022 |
TERRIBLE PROFESSOR. do not take. exams are extremely unfair. 0/5 rating. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/09/2022 |
She is a really nice professor and you can tell she genuinely cares about her curriculum and her students, but her teaching style was not the best. She did not provide a lot of opportunities in class to practice problems and go over how to do the homework afterward. Her exams are okay (7 or 8 free responses + 35 multiple choice questions per exam). It isn't too bad if you studied and know the material, but if you don't, it's an uphill battle for sure. I don't typically struggle with school, but this class was very challenging for what seemed like no reason. Also, she goes very fast in person so having the slides up while in class is helpful and/or going back and watching her pre-recorded lectures helps a lot. Overall, she's okay. I've had better and I've had worse. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2022 |
She clearly cares about teaching and will spend time answering any questions you have. Very attentive and a good teacher |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/09/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very nice women and cared about her students' success. However, lectures were really hard to follow. Some of the exam questions were not related to anything we learned. There were a lot of weirdly worded questions on the exams that tripped students up to the point where she just gave us back points. She does provide so many extra credit opportunities, which is saving my grade to be honest. She lets us drop one of the midterm grades and the final is open book/note/internet. The homeworks are graded too harshly and I feel like I am rushing through my exams. Overall, she is a very nice woman and cares about us, but this class was difficult for me. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/09/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a very kind professor who cares about her students, but I found her lectures difficult to learn in. Her slides are difficult to study and she puts really specific questions on the exam. The exams are almost entirely memorization and hardly conceptual at all. She will provide extra credit assignments though which is nice. However, I am a fairly good student and am someone who loves science (I am even a bio major), and I found this class to be a struggle that made me like science a lot less. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor and one can tell she actually enjoys teaching. There is a lot of information to cram into a semester however. The tests are all on your computer , in class, so the math questions are difficult to do in this format. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/08/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor, She is really nice. I struggled at the beginning of the semester and she offered to help. I am also international so she provided good resources and study session that can help me. She gives a lot of extra credit, she answers quick her emails. I would definitely take her again. the final is open note, she literally want everyone to pass with a A. As long as you do everything as asked for, you will get an A. I am expecting a B+ because I didn't study properly on my exams. thank you -Laetitia |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/08/2022 |
Ecology and evolution are subjects that have always interested me and still do, but this class really took the wind out of my sails. I like Dr. Ngeve as a person, but I personally could not connect with her teaching style which is nobody's fault, it's just the way it is. I didn't attend class for almost two months because this class was at the top of my "Stress Inducers" list, as there was just so much information to obtain in so little time. I think this course is definitely too work heavy and demanding to be a 100 level course; the minimum of at least a 200 level course. I am barely passing this class, and my passing score is mostly due to the extra credit assignments I spent a lot of time on that I could have been doing other work. I recommend this course to anyone who thinks they can handle the workload, and usually I am one of those people, but I took 17 credits this semester and didn't think much of it as most of my courses are supposed to just be gen. eds., but this class was a lot to handle. The exams are incredibly difficult, as they usually consist of asking questions on a bunch of random information, so I can only say good luck when taking them. The homework assignments were also not easy, again centering around random questions that had to do with the lectures but indirectly. If you take this course, I wish you the best of luck and hope you can connect with the professor's teaching method. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/08/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a good teacher and it is obvious that she cares about her students' success. I personally learned the most by attending class or listening to recorded lectures on ELMS. However, the course covers a lot of information in one semester and the exams are difficult. The open-ended questions on the exam are extremely time-consuming, as you often have to show your work by typing long equations in addition to your answers. This made it difficult for me to finish most of the exams on time. As someone who doesn't plan on going into the sciences, I would only recommend her course to people who are truly interested in ecology and evolution. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
Not a very engaging professor, lectures are long and almost not worth your time, better studying the lectures for yourself as most of her exam material will be about the lecture slides. Different teaching style, though she is forgiving as she does provide extra credit and one dropped exam. The concepts taught in the class are on par with what you would learn in high school biology, though I found myself struggling in this class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
I think Dr. Ngeve is a really nice professor and is very knowledgable about the class, but I think the exams are the most difficult part of the course. They are really long and you have to rush through the questions. I'm a senior, so I am used to this type of testing environment, but I think this would have scared me as a freshman. The extra credit opportunities were very beneficial though. Overall, I would recommend her to others, but just make sure you study the material enough to have a solid understanding before exams. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
Dr.Ngeve is very straightfoward. On the first day of class, she told everyone that in order to succeed we must put in the work. She offers extra credit opportunities which I found to be very helpful. You can earn up to 1-5 extra credit points per assignment, Doing these really helped my grade and she also drops the lowest exam. Exams are also a little difficult. For me it was too many questions for the specific time limit, I would recommend going to the review sessions which the TA offers and learning how to answer the questions quickly as possible. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve was very good at explaining material and was very thorough in her explanations in lecture recordings. The only reason I'm doing bad in the class is because I always forget to do assignments on time. Other than that, the class is a little hard since there's so much information to process, but other than that Dr. Ngeve was very good. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
She's a great teacher. BSCI160 is basically a weed-out course so a lot of people are gonna be mad about how they did, but she teaches the subject very well. I hardly read the textbook, just took a lot of notes from the class lectures, and did well in the exams. (The TA review sessions are also an absolute must for highlighting areas you don't know very well.) Also a lot of small extra credit opportunities at regular intervals. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is really kind and nice to work with, but her teaching style is not my favorite. There are a lot of lectures and subunits to study for per each exam, which screw over my grade. The study guide is just a sheet with the lecture summaries, which is not helpful at all. The exams are in class and online, but they've brought my grade down quite a bit because there are no study suggestions. The class average was a C on one of the exams and she blamed the students for not succeeding instead of trying to change things about her teaching styles. I'm not sure why we have to write our suggestions for improvements in surveys because they are never applied. I will spend a long time writing about what I think should be done better in class, but then she says that no changes can be made in her teaching style. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is one of the most caring professors I have met at UMD. She really cares about her students and improving her own teaching. She frequently asks for feedback from her students, spends a lot of time answering questions, responds quickly to emails and is looking out for students. She could improve in the organization of her lectures. They usually are kind of hard to follow and don't seem to be in the most logical order. My suggestion would be to look over the slides and textbook after class and rewrite your notes in a way that makes sense to you. Unfortunately, she does not give old exams or practice tests made by her so its difficult to know what will actually be tested on and questions are sometimes ambiguous. Do not even bother with the TA's practice test they are abysmal and she has no idea what she talking about. There is a lot of extra credit given and I would recommend doing as much of it as possible because it can sometimes give you an idea of what will be on the test and is a good buffer against some of the ambiguity. TIP: all of the LAs + pre and post are extra credit. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a professor who will provide you with multiple opportunities to succeed. She is very understanding. However, in terms of lectures, she is not the greatest. Her lectures are slow-moving, and she does not elaborate on terms that you would think are important. She often times would ask students what they think a term or idea was, and then wouldn't add anything original to it and use the students definition, which is not the definition we are tested on. If you are good at Bio in general, Dr. Ngeve is a professor you could be fine with taking, but if not good luck. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Thisclass wasn't too difficult, definitely not organic chemistry level difficult. Professor Ngeve cared about what she was teaching about and even more so, cared about her students. She gave lots of opportunities for extra credit. I wish she would slow down a little during her lectures because the material is pretty heavy so that students would have time to process it. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve tried very hard to make the material easy to understand and while there are a lot of assignments that can feel tedious, they were very helpful in learning the material. It's also helpful how many bonus opportunities she gives. It's a class that if you put effort into there is no doubt you will succeed. Her lectures are fast paces and exams are tough but rarely unfair. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is a great professor. You can tell she really cares about how the students perform in the class, she was always willing to take student feedback and adjust due dates throughout the semester. All of the PowerPoint and lecture recordings are posted on the course page so if you miss a class you can go back and rewatch the lectures (however the PowerPoints do not always have all the information you need and sometimes it will only be in the lecture). I took BSIC160 and the exams are hard. I attended every class and still struggled to remember all of the information. If you don't need BSIC160 I would not recommend taking it as a gen-ed. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
Chill professor but the material is overwhelming. Please review the lecture slides as much as possible in your free time or it's hard to get a good grade in the class. Dr. Ngeve also gives an ample of extra credit which boosts your grade up a little if you do all of them. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/06/2022 |
The lectures were a bit slow paced for me but that will always be different for different people. I would say as long as you are willing to ask questions, Dr. Ngeve will always help you and clarify things. If you don't ask questions then she can only assume that you understand. There are lots of extra credit opportunities and I may even end with above a 100% in the class since I took advantage of those. If you complete all the assignments (yes, they are tedious), I would say you really don't even have to attend lecture. Doing well on the assignments indicates that you will probably do very well for the tests. The tests are quite fast paced, but you are allowed to bring a notecard with any information you wish. Lost 1 star because if you are someone who learns from just the slides, you will probably struggle a bit -- you have to understand concepts in this class (meaning if you only look at the slides you will not know what is truly being taught and will probably not do well unless you have a lot of previous knowledge that you can draw from, which is why I would actually recommend doing all the assignments and extra credit over going to lecture). |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve cared about her students and their success, but the lectures are difficult to follow and you have to listen because the important information is not on the slides, and sometimes she does not even go over necessary information-you have to look it up yourself. The exams were difficult because it is a lot of random information questioned that you wouldn't necessarily know to study. She provides opportunities for extra credit which are very nice and dropped one exam. I have been a straight-A student all of my life, but struggled in this course due to the teaching and exam styles. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
I really like Dr. Ngeve, but I struggled a lot in this class. My grade is average, but I am used to excelling in these subjects. I felt that I could learn the content more when I taught myself/ went over the review pages to understand what would be on the exams. I would go into exams very confident, and walk out feeling crushed. The exams are very long, and complex. The wording of many questions is hard to understand, and the short answer questions take up so so much of your 1 hour long exam. Overall, I learned a lot and appreciated all of the extra credit opportunities provided, but it’s not conducive for someone with test anxiety. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve is one of the most caring professors in the entire biology department at UMD in my experience. She makes a huge effort to make the material easier to approach and digest. She also gives a ton of bonus opportunities which can make up for the exams. I think her exams are very fair, but it's still a memory based science class so it is what it is. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
you can tell she really enjoys teaching and loves what she teaches but i don't lol so it was kind of boring she explained well and used examples that apply to things we know, but sometimes the lectures were very boring she also posts an accurate schedule along with lecture videos but not going to class bc its boring = not wanting to watch the lecture videos bc they're boring.. overall good professor in terms of knowledge and explanations, just a boring class in general imo |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
Dr. Negeve speaks very quickly and her lectures are fast paced. The textbook was extremely helpful in this class and clarified topics from her lecture. Be aware that this course requires lots of work, but the more work you put in the better grades you get. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
Nice and understanding professor. The class has a lot of information so missing class is detrimental if you actually want to retain the info. Exams can be difficult are a hit or miss type fashion of questions with some worded strangely. She gives lots of extra credit but the homeworks are graded unbelievably harshly and most likely will be the main reason for your grade drop. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
she is accomodating and nice when you need help or with homework assignments. A lot of extra credit opportunities. class material is not the easiest though. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 05/05/2022 |
The exams are fast-paced and excessive, the homeworks are graded harshly, and the weekly workload is excessive for a 100-level class. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/26/2022 |
Genuinely don't know how she was hired - UMD please fire her - fast, confusing, slides out of order, commonly makes mistakes then says " idk how that got there" even though she made the slide - rude: whole class is failing tests she's acts like she's wants to help and has us take a survey, then posts our replies in her lectures and tells us we are dumb and its our own fault for failing - doesn't know English well - says kahoot/tophat/moblab (online question forums to test knowledge during lectures) are too advanced for her and will take years to understand and use only way im passing this class is through the hours of EC assignments I have to do each week |
Marjorie Reaka
BSCI160 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/20/2022 |
This professor is probably the worst professor teaching at UMD. Her slides are filled with text that doesn't even make sense. I cannot begin to explain how horrible trying to understand what is on her slides is. Do not take this professor if you have other options. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/18/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve was an understanding professor and was pretty approachable. The lecture slides were posted so if you missed information in lecture you were able to go back and we were allowed a notecard on each of our exams which was very helpful as you did not have to memorize specific examples from the slides or difficult concepts that you just couldn't get before the exam. The lowest exam also got dropped and some exam questions were extremely similar to the group activities we did in class. Overall, I thought grading was very fair and we often had exam reflections that gave us extra points so it is very possible to do well in this class as long as you also put in effort since there is a lot of information covered in this course. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/24/2022 |
Dr. Ngeve was a really great professor. She filled in for Dr. Shofner and was able to explain the material well while also taking the time to answer questions. She did talk a little fast initially but adjusted her pace after we mentioned it to her. She is very accessible and also responds to emails quickly. The class also had plenty of extra credit and exams were often curved by 10-20 points. I really recommend taking her because she explains otherwise complicated topics really well. You will still have to study and memorize a large amount of material throughout the semester, so be prepared, but like any biology class, repetition of the material will help you be successful. Don't let negative reviews discourage you from taking her, because you can't expect to receive a good grade after not putting enough effort into the class and then blame the professor for it. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PROFESSOR! |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ florm 12/18/2021 |
Bruns is clearly very passionate about ecology, and does a fantastic job teaching it. Her lectures are easy to understand and usually have a couple clicker questions for easy participation points. Quizzes and exams are very fair, especially since we get a full page of notes to use on the exams. She drops the lowest quiz and exam, which can be a midterm OR the final. There are a few projects throughout the semester, one of which is a group project about different ecosystems, but grading seemed pretty lenient. Bruns is by far the best choice for 160. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/10/2021 |
She was a really nice professor, she just tends to talk really fast. Since she goes fast, she sometimes skips material. However, she always highlights the most important stuff in a lecture and posts all lecture slides. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/08/2021 |
she does this thing where she goes over review or easier topics slowly, blames the class for going slowly, and then goes through the rest of the lecture really fast and makes it really hard to understand the topics shes going over. however, she did take our feedback and improved a little so i give her credit for that. |
Magdalene Ngeve
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/06/2021 |
DO NOT TAKE BSCI160 WITH THIS PROFESSOR. I was expecting to take a different professor who had the highest ratings for this class and instead was stuck with Dr. Ngeve as a "guest lecturer". She is very hard to interpret as she doesn't understand what she's saying. Going to class doesn't help. Thank god our professor who we were supposed to have had recorded lectures because otherwise everyone would be failing the class. The numbers of people coming to class started getting lower day by day as people started realizing the lectures were online and were less time than the class itself. The one time people actually come to class is when we have our group "activities" which has nothing to do with the lecture. On these days the professor lectures for about 10 minutes and tells us to finish the lecture at home. Then she gets up and leaves before anyone can ask her any questions about whats going on in the class. Every week we have a 10 page assignment which is impossible to do. If we didn't have the previous professors lectures no one would be able to complete them. Any time Dr. Ngeve tries to engage the class by asking a question she gets nothing but blank stares across the room. Even the front sitters can't answer. When someone finally has the courage to raise their hand and attempt to answer she just responds by saying "interesting thought, does anyone have another answer?". Then when she finally says what the right answer is she doesn't explain why it's right and moves on. Also, don't bother asking any questions cause she won't have answers to them. During her lectures she skims through the slides, doesn't explain them, and still manages to not get through all of them. The exams are impossible to finish in time. We have 80 multiple choice on a scantron and and short answers on top of that. The graders are looking for exact wording from the slides and enjoy taking points off by missing a single word even if its synonymous. She gave us an exam 2 days before finals week. There's also no curve in the class and the averages for the tests are in the 60's. She claims she gives us a lot of extra credit but she really doesn't and the extra credit isn't enough to actually get a good grade. AVOID THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COST!!!! |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/03/2021 |
Although her assignments are relatively easy, as well as the homework. She hasn't been present for any of the lectures for this semester and has had a sub. The sub goes too fast, and is a bit difficult to understand, but her exams are okay as long as you understand the material completely. |
Emily Bruns
BSCI160 Expecting an A sbhatta6 12/02/2021 |
Bruns is an amazing lecturer with a real passion for the things she teaches. She often integrates her own research into the lecture information and provides many different examples that make the content both easy to understand and retain. She makes this class very interesting with her enthusiasm for the subject and her exuberance for specific phenomenon is invigorating! She is very understanding and grades come back quickly (homework set grades within a week, exams within 5 days and frequently within 3), and she drops lowest midterm and quiz grades. Overall, I highly recommend Bruns for BSCI160 |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 kimbean1919 09/16/2021 |
Dr. Shapiro is a very intelligent professor who really has a passion for teaching. He does give plenty of notice when things are due. HOWEVER, lectures are basic lecture styles off slides and are very boring. The worst part is the homework/launchpad/quizzes which is also a ridiculous amount of work for the level of class this is. Would definitely not recommend taking this class. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting a C- Anonymous 04/16/2021 |
Very, very boring. If you do not have a passion for ecology or evolution, I do not recommend taking this class. It was extremely hard to stay awake in this class, let alone take notes that are useful for the exams. Dr Shapiro is knowledgeable and passionate about the topics covered in the class, but he is not very personable and his lectures are often confusing. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2021 |
I really enjoyed Dr. Shapiro. He had hands-down the most well organized class during my first semester in COVID online classes. He tells you every upcoming due date at the beginning of every lecture and lets students watch lectures at their own pace. The exams were exactly what was taught. As long as you listen to the lectures and complete the assigned LaunchPad activity you will be fine. You do not need to infer anything or do supplemental learning outside of what he assigns. I really appreciated having him as a prof for BSCI160 when most of my other classes were so mixed up and unorganized. |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/25/2021 |
She is such a sweet person. I got very sick with COVID last semester and she was more accommodating and worried about my well-being more than all of my other professors combined. Her tests are pretty straight forward. Definitely go to her office hours if you have any questions, especially on the exam. She is very understanding. |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Anonymous 01/12/2021 |
Dr. Shofner is a very sweet person, and it's obvious that she cares about her students and is really invested in the subject. That being said, I took BSCI160 with her in Fall 2020 and it was one of the worst classes I took that semester. The class was unfortunately asynchronous, and while I can't blame her for that decision, she did not adapt to the format well at all. For one thing, she did not have a syllabus, which was incredibly annoying, and instead had all material on her lecture schedule on ELMS. The problem with that is that this lecture schedule wasn't very well put together, it was incredibly disorganized and made it difficult to locate assignments sometimes. She would also sometimes post more than one lecture video for the day, exceeding the time that the class was originally meant to be. She hosted office hours during these originally scheduled class times, so you either had to watch her lectures before her office hours (and sometimes she wouldn't even upload the lectures until late in the afternoon) or hold onto your questions until the next time she had them. The lectures themselves were even more disorganized than her lecture schedule. They were not structured well and seemed to jump back and forth between broader topics and more specific topics. It's hard to truly explain how bad these lectures were, but it was very frustrating trying to take decent notes from them. The bulk of the assignments for her class were LAs (Learning Activities) and her worksheets. The LAs were super, super easy group assignments that were never an issue, and the worksheets were larger assignments that were probably better at teaching the subject than her lectures were. She didn't have any quizzes and would often have extra-credit activities that could get you a few additional points. She also technically assigned textbook reading, but since the textbook is an overall biology textbook, the readings would often go much more in depth than what was being taught in the lectures and didn't always line up that well; I stopped reading the textbook about a month in. The class had three midterms, with one being a week before the final exam. She drops one of the midterms and the final exam is optional, which was nice. Definitely study for the midterms! They were genuinely a little challenging. Again, she definitely cares about her students and wants them to succeed. I somehow got an A in this class when I was bordering between a B+ and an A- for almost the entire semester, so it's not a difficult class to succeed in. But, if you're very "Type A" like me, this class might also prove to be pretty frustrating with how extremely disorganized it is. I'm literally an Evolutionary Biology and Ecology major, so I find it impressive that she managed to make me hate this class. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/07/2021 |
Amazing lecturer. Makes this class very interesting even if you're not a Bio major. |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2020 |
Nice professor. Exams are straightforward. |
Leo Shapiro
BSCI160 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2020 |
Such a great professor! You can really tell how passionate he is about the material and is eager to talk during his office hours. The work load was very manageable too. Don't hesitate to take him. |
Danielle Adams
BSCI160 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/05/2020 |
goes extremely fast, take schofner for 160 |
Marcia Shofner
BSCI160 Anonymous 12/13/2019 |
I definitely recommend Shofner over other professors. She is passionate about the materials as well as teaching. Very approachable during class and office hours. She does go through the slides VERY quickly and would sometime skip materials that would be on the test later. She does drop the lowest test grade and her tests are like most other BSCI 160 tests. BSCI 160, like many BSCI courses, has a lot of materials to memorize and to understand so be sure to keep up-to-date with the material. |