BSCI363 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Karen Lips BSCI363 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/23/2013	She definitely should be in research and not teaching. She is a pretty boring lecturer and does not get the class into the subject matter at all. In fact, I left with a bad taste in my mouth for conservation biology. The "dossier" projects were ridiculous. We all chose species to do our projects on from a list which she created. Many of these species had little to no information available on them. So many of the students who, by chance, picked a species with no information available, faced terrible grades. Her exams were pretty bad too. They were big 7-page packets of short answer questions. In the beginning of the year, she stated that her exams would focus on big ideas. But, in fact, her exams ended up being all the nit-picky details from her slides. Most of the class did horrible on her three exams and she had to curve heavily. The final wasn't too bad. Thats the good news. I think she used it to bring up grades. Pretty easy. But, I definitely would avoid this class overall if you can.
Karen Lips BSCI363 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2013	So I ended up getting an A in this class, but I have to say that she was far from an ideal professor of conservation biology. She's not terrible, but I think she's more suited to research than teaching (not an insult, just sort of ironic). She's the only professor who I'd give under a 4 even though I got an A, which is saying something! The subject material - as a whole - seemed pretty straightforward heading into the first (and only) midterm. I studied like crazy and ended up with a 52%. Funny thing is that 52% was right around the class average. She didn't take any blame for the incredibly long exam and said we could have studied more. Alright then. The final was a joke, lots of writing, but very easy overall. The major assignments (both were dossiers) weren't too bad. She graded them easily (as in the average was around 75%), likely because the midterm was so brutal. I ended up killing both dossiers which is why I got an A. There are also random homework assignments and in-class activities. Do them, because she retrospectively decided that since only half the class completed them, a couple would be for extra credit. I actually skipped ~30% the lectures (which she keeps tabs on yet doesn't count for points, which may explain why she had it in for me since I did well despite skipping all the time). Directions on assignments were vague, redundant, and unclear. You may feel like you're answering the same question over and over again - because you are. Just do it. She always started class early. One more gripe. Any time I emailed her with a fair question about something, she'd give me an unnecessarily sassy response. I don't know if she just enjoyed sassing me, but they came off as sort of rude and uncalled for. To be fair, she was understanding enough to curve the class to make >80% an A. But trust me, that's not as easy as it sounds - in a class of 40 or so students, I was one of less than 10 to score above 80% overall, and probably one of 3-4 at most to have at least an 85%.
Leo Shapiro BSCI363 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/20/2009	I was aware that he was a stand-in for the normal professor who was out this semester, but he did a reasonably good job. He is very interested in current events and genuinely interested in conservation. Some lectures seemed to drag on as he read from slides and the TA was strict on grading.
Leo Shapiro BSCI363 moonbeem7d 05/13/2009	I took both the lecture and lab sections of the class. The lecture section was interesting, but he went through really fast and relies on you going back through the lecture notes for everything. He included guest lecturers and grad student presentations in throughout the semester which made for a good change of pace. At the beginning of each lecture, he presents current events in conservation. Make sure you go back and read these after class because they will be on the exams!!! The lab portion of the class was fun and engaging. Each class was either with a guest speaker or a field trip.

Karen Lips
BSCI363

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/23/2013

She definitely should be in research and not teaching. She is a pretty boring lecturer and does not get the class into the subject matter at all. In fact, I left with a bad taste in my mouth for conservation biology. The "dossier" projects were ridiculous. We all chose species to do our projects on from a list which she created. Many of these species had little to no information available on them. So many of the students who, by chance, picked a species with no information available, faced terrible grades. Her exams were pretty bad too. They were big 7-page packets of short answer questions. In the beginning of the year, she stated that her exams would focus on big ideas. But, in fact, her exams ended up being all the nit-picky details from her slides. Most of the class did horrible on her three exams and she had to curve heavily. The final wasn't too bad. Thats the good news. I think she used it to bring up grades. Pretty easy. But, I definitely would avoid this class overall if you can.

Karen Lips
BSCI363

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/17/2013

So I ended up getting an A in this class, but I have to say that she was far from an ideal professor of conservation biology. She's not terrible, but I think she's more suited to research than teaching (not an insult, just sort of ironic). She's the only professor who I'd give under a 4 even though I got an A, which is saying something! The subject material - as a whole - seemed pretty straightforward heading into the first (and only) midterm. I studied like crazy and ended up with a 52%. Funny thing is that 52% was right around the class average. She didn't take any blame for the incredibly long exam and said we could have studied more. Alright then. The final was a joke, lots of writing, but very easy overall. The major assignments (both were dossiers) weren't too bad. She graded them easily (as in the average was around 75%), likely because the midterm was so brutal. I ended up killing both dossiers which is why I got an A. There are also random homework assignments and in-class activities. Do them, because she retrospectively decided that since only half the class completed them, a couple would be for extra credit. I actually skipped ~30% the lectures (which she keeps tabs on yet doesn't count for points, which may explain why she had it in for me since I did well despite skipping all the time). Directions on assignments were vague, redundant, and unclear. You may feel like you're answering the same question over and over again - because you are. Just do it. She always started class early. One more gripe. Any time I emailed her with a fair question about something, she'd give me an unnecessarily sassy response. I don't know if she just enjoyed sassing me, but they came off as sort of rude and uncalled for. To be fair, she was understanding enough to curve the class to make >80% an A. But trust me, that's not as easy as it sounds - in a class of 40 or so students, I was one of less than 10 to score above 80% overall, and probably one of 3-4 at most to have at least an 85%.

Leo Shapiro
BSCI363

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/20/2009

I was aware that he was a stand-in for the normal professor who was out this semester, but he did a reasonably good job. He is very interested in current events and genuinely interested in conservation. Some lectures seemed to drag on as he read from slides and the TA was strict on grading.

Leo Shapiro
BSCI363

moonbeem7d
05/13/2009

I took both the lecture and lab sections of the class. The lecture section was interesting, but he went through really fast and relies on you going back through the lecture notes for everything. He included guest lecturers and grad student presentations in throughout the semester which made for a good change of pace. At the beginning of each lecture, he presents current events in conservation. Make sure you go back and read these after class because they will be on the exams!!! The lab portion of the class was fun and engaging. Each class was either with a guest speaker or a field trip.

Reviews for BSCI363