| Information | Review |
|---|---|
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Dorothy Beckett
Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/21/2020 |
She was ok. Not really lenient about technological errors which was very annoying since she experienced a few herself. She expects us to put in twice the amount of work and effort despite being in other classes. We have to watch 1 hr - 1hr 30 min long lectures and attend her zoom lectures every week. Honestly, I would avoid her. |
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Dorothy Beckett
BCHM461 Anonymous 12/10/2020 |
This course was my most challenging and unfair this semester. I am a current BCHM461 student during the Fall 2020 semester (online and during the pandemic). The amount of lecture time we were required to attend was unreasonable. We signed up for a class that meets twice a week for an hour and 15 min each, which in person would be 2 hours and 30 min per week of class time. This semester, we were required to watch 2 x 1 hour long lectures on our own time AND attend zoom calls during our scheduled class time - almost doubling the amount of class hours per week. I quickly began falling behind in the class due to the amount of hours we were required to put in JUST to watch and attend class (not even counting hours to study the material, complete other assignments, and juggling other courses). Also, her lectures were incredibly hard to follow, as they were disorganized, included blurry slides, and some of her explanations were cut off or unfinished. In addition, the way quizzes were conducted in the beginning of the semester were incredibly stressful. It took several weeks of students raising concerns regarding the turning in process of the quizzes and internet struggles before the professor agreed to switch things (which I and many of the students appreciated greatly). Whenever students did experience problems submitting quizzes, as 80 students trying to submit an assignment at once and many using the unstable campus wifi usually resulted in issues, Dr. Beckett responded by saying her students "needed to work harder" in order to overcome these issues. Her lack of understanding and regard for concerns brought up by her students added to the stressful nature of the course and this semester overall. Lastly, I often felt as though Dr. Beckett did not treat her students respectfully. Whenever majority of the class did not understand a concept thoroughly enough (based on exam or quiz scores), she often blamed her students for not studying hard enough instead of trying to teach the material again in a better way for her students to understand. On several occasions she spoke to us in a demeaning manner and it felt very discouraging most of the semester. I understand that this semester was stressful for professors as well, but it was no excuse for professors to take it out on their students. Several students have tried to approach her with clarifying questions regarding the course or the material itself and were often met with angry responses from Dr. Beckett, so that students became afraid to ask her questions. |
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Dorothy Beckett
BCHM461 Anonymous 10/22/2020 |
I can't let this woman have a good 4/5 rating with how terrible she has been this semester. I am a current 461 student during the pandemic. I understand that the online switch is hard, but this woman is the most disrespectful person I have ever met. She gives us 10 minute quizzes that should take at least 20 and constantly gets mad at us when we don't upload on time even though many people experience wifi problems. I do not show up to the lectures anymore because of how terrible she was at explaining all of the concepts. She yells at people during lectures and overall is just not a kind person. I know people write reviews after they have a terrible encounter with a professor as a way to blow off some steam, but I am telling you she sucks as a professor and has been receiving complaints for multiple students for the past 2 months. DO NOT TAKE HER. |
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Dorothy Beckett
BCHM465 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/29/2016 |
Hmm for some reason, all of Beckett's reviews (here and on ratemyprofessor) disappeared. Luckily for her, I am going to say some good things about her unlike all her past reviews. I honestly do not think Beckett is too bad of a professor unlike what all her reviews say about her. Each exam has tons of material and when I say tons, I mean tons! She makes you memorize many mechanisms (e.g., DNA polymeration, amino acylation, all the types of DNA repair, etc) and structures (e.g., the different subunits of DNA polymerase I, II, vs III, the significance of each subunit, etc). She loves asking about old experiments too. If you are good at memorizing material then you should be fine in her class. For all the exams (including the final), I studied the night before and pulled all nighters, and I always ended up getting significantly above average. I think I ended up with a 78%+ and she made a 70% an A. Huge curve. The great thing about Dr. Beckett is that she actually wants her students to learn and she is genuinely interested in the material. I talked to her a few times after class about some interesting questions related to lecture and we spent approximately an hour each time, discussing and searching for potential answers. Her exams were challenging not because of the content but because of the way she asked her questions. She also gave us old exams to practice but even after looking over her answer keys, my friends and I would always be disappointed of some of her answers. Some of her answers were short and vague and others were just wrong. Her exams are also EXTREMELY LONG!!! Our second exam was 12 pages long in a 50 min lecture period!!! Luckily for me, I was able to finish it (had to guess on a question) but many of my peers would leave the last page completely blank. Then for the third exam she told us that she would make it shorter. And she indeed did.. to 11 pages... To get on her good side, definitely participate in class and/or go to her office hours. She definitely favors those who participate in class though. Even if she asks a very simple question, if you answer it, she will love you forever. She will pick on you in the class and will probably consider your participation in the class when thinking about your final grade. Your classmates will probably hate you but if you are doing poorly in the class or if you are worried about the class then you have to be that person. I for one rarely participated in class but I occassionally talked to her after class and asked her good questions. She called me out a few times and I answered questions but I never voluntarily participated. In conclusion, stray away from the rumors you heard of Beckett. She is a little unorganized and she sort of has a childish personality, but she is very welcoming and wants her students to learn. If you work hard in her class you will get an A. |