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Carmen Cantemir-Stone BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/11/2024	She is awful at teaching and during the tests she is constantly talking. Her slides are not helpful for the exams and she wants you to memorize the littlest thing that is irrelevant. Would not recommend at all.
Beth Parent BSCI433 Expecting an A- juiceman 08/26/2023	1. Did you think the exams or other major assignments were fair? · The at-home assignments were fair, but the midterm exams were not as fair. They focused on obscure details that weren't always emphasized during lectures. · However, if you consistently study everything weekly instead of right before the exam, you can earn an A. I personally didn't put in enough time. — 2. Did you think the professor had reasonable expectations of the students in the course overall? · The professor had reasonable and clear expectations, except for the memorization of molecule/drug names and tiny details. · The projects were easy and fair. · It's worth noting that she does not curve grades at all. — 3. Were you a fan of the professor's teaching style? · I appreciated that the professor took the time to answer questions and did active learning "exam prep" questions. · I also found her requirements for regrade requests to be strict, needing to use the exact wording or ideas from her exam answer keys. · Sometimes she came off as condescending or harsh. · Memorizing what she said word for word was necessary. · Overall, the teaching style was fair but had some drawbacks. — 4. Was the workload appropriate for the number of credits? · Yes, the workload was light. However, the exams carried significant weight. Midterm was 63% of the grade. Final was 15%. — 5. Was this course a waste of time or was it beneficial in some way? · I did learn a lot about cancer and its mechanisms in this class. I would recommend it to deepen your understanding of one of the most common causes of death worldwide. It also helps enhance your knowledge of genetics. Memorizing drug names could be a valuable taste of medical school. — 6. How much support were you given throughout the semester (office hours, extra resources, etc.)? · The professor provided 2 hours of office hours per week and answered questions during and after classes. She was willing to schedule office hour appointments based on students' schedules. · While support for projects and papers was limited, she thoroughly answered questions about the material. · Only 1 practice exam per exam, so few practice problems. · She took the time to remember students and satisfy their curiosity. — 7. TLDR: If you don't mind studying a week or two ahead for exams, with 10-15 hours of preparation, taking this course with Beth is an option. You'll learn a lot, but be prepared to memorize the slides and what she says word for word.
Beth Parent BSCI433 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/10/2023	I thought Parent was a great lecturer. I enjoyed taking BSCI 433 with her and learned a decent amount about cancer in this course. You should be aware that Parent uses the key words approach when grading essay questions. While you might not know what words she will specifically be looking for in a given essay, as long as you write a somewhat intelligent answer (which does not need to be terribly long) that includes as many relevant key words that you can think of, you will get full points. In summary, just be sure you thoroughly answer the essay questions on each exam and you should be guaranteed an A.
Beth Parent BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/27/2023	Dr. Parent is by far the worst biology professor I have had. I consider myself a strong biology student having no trouble doing well in hard classes like BSCI450 or BCHM463, but Dr. Parent's cancer biology class is just on another level... and not because it's hard. On the contrary, BSCI433 is one of the easiest classes content wise I have taken--I learned almost nothing new from the class that wasn't taught already in other biology classes. It's mostly a review of BSCI330 with a couple of details from BSCI222 and a couple new details sprinkled in here or there. Slides/lectures are recorded and are essentially taken directly from the textbook used in the class (which is also a very easy read and not long at all). In lecture, Dr. Parent is not too bad and I enjoyed her style of presenting. However, her knowledge of the material simply doesn't meet my expectation of what a professor should know for a 400 level class. Questions about concepts/ideas not directly found within her powerpoint are met with answers of "I don't know" or answers that avoid the initial question to begin with. In class, she's also very passive aggressive in a manner difficult to describe; she laughs at seemingly anything she says herself and tries to make everything sound "interesting" in a very artificial manner that is distinctly unconvincing. She herself states that her background is not in cancer biology and she is mainly just interested in the material which is why she teaches the class. While these points themselves do not warrant Dr. Parent 1 star, her exams change the story. Her exams are frankly not that bad content wise, but her rubrics are simply absurd. Short answer questions have points assigned for almost arbitrary strings of words you must say to earn points. For example, on one exam, I lost points for saying "only very few XXX occurs making it unlikely to cause cancer" rather than stating "XXX is rare." Other questions ask you to restate obvious basic 100-200 level biology concepts that you'd assume are already implicit given this is a 400 level class. For example you must state a carrier of a heterozygous recessive disease does not have disease--something that is evident in the first few weeks of BSCI222. This leads me to my second issue with Dr. Parent's exams. Arguing for points back is a nightmare. Throughout the semester, Dr. Parent passively aggressively sent announcements stating that regrades would not be accepted unless they exactly fit the rubric points being described; in other words, your answer could be perfectly correct in context of the question, but you had to have the answer Dr. Parent wanted or you would not get the points. She continually reminded us our regrade requests were invalid and asked us to refrain from submitting them. I found this unprofessional and unnecessary. Ultimately, I struggled to keep an A, because of these minor point losses that quickly add up. Overall, I learned almost nothing from this class, was constantly offended by Dr. Parent's remarks, and the exams were often vague or unclear in what was being asked. Even if you are interested in cancer, you are better off reading the textbook on your own and skipping the class!
Beth Parent BSCI433 Anonymous 05/17/2023	why are the tiniest details from 1 slide made into 10% of the exam? When it was covered for 1.5 minutes during lecture? she is a little condescending during office hours, can be harsh when asking questions, but she does know the names of a lot of her students. If you want to learn the material, she does answer questions fully and you will learn. She is very knowledgable about her craft, and you can tell she enjoys teaching this course. To get an A, you should regularly review the material and more because she expects very specific details and reiterate the question being asked. You have to write EXACTLY what she wrote on the key to get credit for the question... she gets mad about "invalid" regrades... Proceed with caution... take Cantemir Stone instead if you want an easy A.
Beth Parent BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/15/2023	Dr. Parent is by far the worst biology professor I have had. Her lectures are uninteresting, basic, and uninformative; essentially just reviewing BSCI330 in context of cancer. Her lectures are essentially copy-paste from the textbook without any additions. She is condescending in class and tries to "act nicely" but comes across as extremely belittling. Furthermore, her qualifications make her ill-suited to teach this class. She does not have a background in cancer research; rather she only is "interested herself" in the topic. If someone asks her a slightly higher level theory question, she just responds "I don't know" or simply echoes what she saw in the textbook. However, by far the worst aspect of this class are her exams. Points are weighed extremely strangely with 1 multiple choice question being worth the same amount as 1 longer essay questions. Her exams are extremely nitpicky and ask for specific language that she does not make clear. You could state something completely accurate, but because she isn't looking for that answer, gives 0 points. I would consider myself a strong biology student with no trouble following tough biological concepts--but has been tough for me this semester to maintain an A due to this almost arbitrary grading scheme. This class treats an upper level like a basic 200 level class and asks me to repeat obvious biological concepts learned in the 100s and 200s levels classes that should be self evident to earn points. I learned almost nothing from this class and would not recommend anyone take this class as long as Dr. Parent is teaching it.
Carmen Cantemir-Stone BSCI433 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/15/2022	This was my favorite class at UMD. Dr. Cantemir-Stone made the course very fair and taught us so much about cancer, while applying concepts that we've learned from other bio classes. You will learn so much, and the content is so interesting and important. If you have the opportunity to take 433 with Cantemir-Stone, please take it!!
Carmen Cantemir-Stone BSCI433 Anonymous 05/19/2022	Great class, learned a lot, really nice professor.
Carmen Cantemir-Stone BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/11/2022	Dr.Cantemir is a very sweet professor. It truly shows how much she has a passion for teaching about cancer and how much she cares for us to do well. There are many extra credit opportunities and the exams are extremely fair if you are paying attention and understanding, nowhere does she try to trick you. She also provides so many resources to do well such as key concepts, practice exam and study guide. She is very approachable and it’s clear that if you have questions, she is happy to answer them. I highly recommend her for this class, you will learn so much, it is applicable to life, and very low stress.
Carmen Cantemir-Stone BSCI433 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/31/2022	After having her for multiple sections, I can say for sure that Dr. Cantemir is hands down one of the best instructors I have had at UMD. She is extremely well read on the topics she covers and is excellent at fielding questions and clarifying concepts. Class material is easily accessible with both zoom and in person options supported, however I highly recommend you attend lectures but the option is there just in case. Exams and what you should know for them is clearly laid out, with extra credit provided as opposed to curving. All in all, great instructor and great classes.
Ibrahim Ades BSCI433 Expecting a B MSJ 05/16/2014	I took Cell Biology with Dr. Ades a year and a half ago, and found that course exceedingly difficult for me to maintain a B in the class. After some time had passed and I was looking for electives to fulfill, I decided to take the Biology of Cancer course with Dr. Ades again, thinking perhaps I wasn't educationally mature enough the first time a took a class with him. By this time, I had really developed myself in this regard. Yet, a couple of classes in, there it was, the same feeling I had when I took his Cell Biology class. It's interesting to me that so many people rate him so highly. I've been thinking that maybe his teaching style and my learning style simply don't coalesce or something. I do agree with many of the other posts made here, in that he is a nice professor who is very knowledgeable. I also agree with the number of people saying to write down everything that he says, maybe even record and relisten to the lectures. His slides are rather lacking in substantial information. It's hard to supplement the missing information with outside sources because it's what he says the lecture that really matters, and it seemed that if what was said in the lecture wasn't caught and verbatim regurgitated onto the exam page in front of you, you would undoubtedly be marked off. Out of my entire undergraduate career, I have never had so much difficulty with a course. My confidence in what I thought to be appropriate and relevant to the topic did not in any way correlate with my performance on the exams. I have hardly ever felt confident going into one of his exams despite protracted studying, and have subsequently scored within the A, B, and C ranges. The one time I actually did feel very confident going into one of his exams, I nearly failed it. At times I felt his questions were inappropriate, irrelevant, and arbitrarily finicky. At times I felt some questions were very relevant to the topic, and I assuredly respected those. I'm the kind of student that likes to come to class to study and learn the material through the coherency and forth-flowing logic of the teacher's lecture, and not feel as though I am entirely occupied as a scribe for his lecture that he could have preparedly articulated and have written it down so that, if need be, I can return to that material to supplement the lecture. In summary, I was very disappointed with the learning experience in the teacher's class for both Cell biology and the Biology of Cancer.
Ibrahim Ades BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2011	I took his Biology of Cancer class. His lecture style might be a little slow paced for some but is very easy to follow. The tests focused a little too much on details but they are fair. He curved the class at the end. The material he presents are very up to date and kept me interested.
Ibrahim Ades BSCI433 Expecting a C UMDfutbol3 05/14/2011	Nice enough guy, but incredibly tough class. He is clearly very knowledgable on the subject, and goes into incredible detail. This is a strength as well as a weakness as he goes into so many tangents, that it becomes difficult to follow the overall story. While the exams(he'll give you ones from past years) don't look too bad, be warned that if things are not in the exact way described in the answer key, you will lose the majority of the points. For example, when he asks for the pathway by which PAH can cause cancer through monooxygenase activity, it will not suffice to just draw the structures of each compound that leads to a carcinogen. You must also know the exact name of any given structure he posts on his slides. Finally, while it's not directly asked in the question, you will also need to explain how the carcinogen(epoxide-diol structure) causes an adduct in the DNA that the repair system can't fix. In short, the problem has nothing to do with not knowing the information taught, but rather not knowing what exactly he's asking. Making just one mistake like this will cost you 10-15 points in a 250 point class. This is one question among maybe 3 that completely shattered my grade, and there's just no coming back(no curve). This was my only C in my college career , and it had nothing do with a lack of effort. I put in several hours re-listening to all of his lectures (some twice), making study guides, getting into study groups. I threw the kitchen sink at this class, got A's in my other 400 level bio courses with a tenth of the effort. Like you guys, I check these websites to see what the inside scoop is on profs, and I'll dismiss reviews that just seem like bitter kids trying to blow off some steam, but this isn't that. Be prepared to invest a lot of work into this class, learn a lot of really cool stuff about cancer, but not neccessarily get the reward for it at the end in terms of the grade.
Ibrahim Ades BSCI433 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/07/2010	This is a very interesting class, and Prof. Ades teaches the subject very well. Be prepared to study and memorize a lot of facts though!!! Doing the practice exams and review questions definitely helps, and you get to drop one exam. He is very approachable and will explain things over and over again for you if you ask. He also makes you interested in the subject by relating several stories and scenarios. The lectures were rarely boring. Learned a lot in this class!
Ibrahim Ades BSCI433 Expecting an A terpjunkie 07/27/2008	Ades is a wonderful proffesor. This class was def. challenging, but sooo interesting. I came into the class wanting to know the information, so it probably made it easier to get through. The exams are based solely off his lecture slides, and cover 3-4 lectures, each with 60-80 slides. He takes a lot of exam questions off graphs and the tests are mostly conceptual. It's in short-answer format, and asks you to explain things he went over in lecture. You will NOT do well in this class if you don't go to lecture, because his slides don't explain much-- he tells you the important things. In SP08, he made the final optional if you were satisfied with the first three midterm grades. I didn't take the final, but I heard it wasn't bad compared to the midterms. The midterms were all curved a good 2-4%. Take this class if you want to be challenged and think you'll be interested in the material, bc you will learn a lot.