Reviews for BSCI412

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Erin Tran BSCI412 Expecting an A florm 05/22/2023	Dr. Tran only ran the lab portion of 412, which counted for around half of the points in the class. She made a prelab quiz due before each session, and they were always unnecessarily tricky. I feel like I always lost points over some dumb or confusing wording. The lab protocols weren't written very well, and often just had straight up wrong directions, so it's important you really listen to your TA. I think Dr. Tran used the protocols from a previous professor, but never bothered to update them so hopefully she does in the future. The labs themselves were usually pretty fun, and ended early most of the time. It could get monotonous with repetitive pipetting and diluting, but nothing we did was particularly complicated. The semester was divided into three projects: 1) UV mutagenesis in E. coli for phage resistance, 2) lacZ plasmid transformation and mutagenesis, and 3) P. aeruginosa transposition's effect on biofilms, motility, and lacZ. At the end of each section, we had to write a pretty lengthy project report which was always a pain. The guidelines were very clear though, she pretty much tells you exactly what you need to include in every part of the report. The grading on them was lenient, pretty much everybody got an A.
Wade Winkler BSCI412 Expecting an A florm 05/22/2023	In his first time teaching this 412, I think Dr. Winkler did really well! He taught 412 much like 283, and made very thorough and detailed slides for every lecture which he always shared before class. He often goes off on tangents and almost never finished lecturing within 50 minutes, but he still made class fun and is good at making you pay attention. I don't know if there's a professor more passionate about what they teach than Dr. Winkler is. We had four assignments throughout the semester where we just had to read one of two given micriobiology articles and summarize them. We also had to make two discussion board posts about articles of our own choosing, and respond to two other posts. He makes these assignments well in advance, though, so you can easily knock them out as early as you want. Beyond that, all the other assignments came from the lab part of the class. Each exam we took was formatted different; Dr. Winkler was just trying to figure out the best exam style given that he hasn't taught this course before. Each exam had multiple choice and short answer in some combination, and he was very willing to give out points. He seems like one of those professors who wants everyone to get an A. Overall, Dr. Winkler is super passionate about microbiology and is a nice, nerdy guy who puts a lot of effort into having good, informative lectures.
Vincent Lee BSCI412 Anonymous 12/17/2021	Dr. Lee is a terrible professor and just an all-around mean man. His class is designed to make you fail and he belittles you at every step when you try to improve. He does not deserve this position and he is a stain on the otherwise remarkable Cell Biology and Genetics Department. If I could give 0 stars, I would. ( - ) Completely resistant to feedback ( - ) Impossible exams ( - ) Makes fun of students for not understanding ( - ) Unapproachable in office hours or in lecture ( - ) Poor teacher
Vincent Lee BSCI412 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/23/2021	This man is the absolute worst. He is condescending, arrogant, and downright mean. I was so excited going in to this class because I really love the subject matter but this man made our lives a living hell. He sets you up to fail and then laughs at you when you do, exams are intentionally designed to trick you. Don't take him unless his is the only class you are taking that semester and you enjoy being miserable. Thumbs all the way down.
Vincent Lee BSCI412 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2021	He's fantastic. Probably one of the best biology teachers I've had at UMD. His class definitely requires some work and his exams are pretty difficult, but if you really want to learn genetics he's a great teacher.