| Information | Review |
|---|---|
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2025 |
Like a lot of other people, I never met Dr. Fox, and I don't know if she's the one responsible for the BSCI201 lab structure. However, the labs themselves are kind of pointless, because you go for multiple hours just to listen to a TA read off slides for you. The lab practicals are a RIDICULOUS amount of information, way more than what you need to know for lecture. For the 2nd lab practical we had to memorize the name, location, origin, insertion, and action of SIXTY FIVE muscles in addition to 3 pages of bone markings and microscopic structure for muscles and bones. It's genuinely not feasible, especially because the practicals were three days after a lecture exam. Since the lecture exams were way easier and also worth more, I just accepted my fate for lab practicals. I also didn't enjoy the lab practical structure. They tape questions to the table and separate them with folders, and you have to spend 2 minutes at each question and rotate 25 times. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024 |
I've never interacted with Dr. Fox so this is more of a review for the lab portion of BSCI201. Essentially, its an hour or so of your TA reading off all the information you need to know in a pre-made slideshow and then filling out a notesheet or labeling different models. The TA's do the best they can with the material they're given, but you're ultimately teaching yourself everything you need to know for the lab practical. For the lab practicals, theres more of an emphasis on knowing terms and the anatomy of different body systems than the more complex physiology, which the lecture covers more of. The first practical was on anatomical terms, tissues, the integumentary system, and some bone anatomy- it was overall fairly simple and the easiest to study for. The second practical was the most dense and hardest to study for- its on the skeletal and muscular system, which means knowing almost every bone and muscle in the body, every muscle insertion and origin, and some terms for body movements. The third practical was more or less the same level of difficulty as the first one- it was on the nervous system, sensory system, and endocrine system. There was definitely a lot of content to cover and you really needed to grill it into your brain to do well on the practicals. The other reviews seemed to have a big issue with this aspect of the lab, but my issue is more related to how we didn't seem to do a lot of hands-on activities during lab. Like I said before, most of it is the TA lecturing off a slideshow. We rarely did any of the real lab stuff like dissections and such until the end of the semester (there was a sheep brain and cow eye dissection and thats it). For a class I had to pay a lab fee for, it would've been nice if we did more actual lab content. I know high schoolers who have taken anatomy courses and did more lab stuff than I did in this class. Overall this class would have been better and more interesting if I did things that were actually worthwhile more often. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/27/2024 |
In all honesty, a lot of these reviews are... harsh. Dr.Fox coordinates the lab portion of BSCI201, which is worth around 42% of your grade. The lab meets once a week, and rarely goes over an hour and half of the two hour and fifty minute allotted time slot. The class consists of your TA reading the slides already given to you, answering a discussion question with you group, and then leaving. Towards the end of the semester, there are two quizzes on the skeletal system and the muscle system (which are generally grade boosters and everyone does well), and some other non graded activities which were actually really fun (a sheep brain and cow eye dissection). There were three "practicals" which are essentially just lab exams with a different name, and each of them was its own stand alone exam with no cumulative final or aspect to the lab portion of the course. However, the sheer amount of knowledge you were expected to know for each practical was ridiculous, especially for the 2nd one. With that being said, the averages were still around the low 80s, which Is significantly lower than the averages for lecture exams. Each practical is worth 100 points, accounting for a total of 300 points, or 30% of your grade in BSCI201. The remaining 12% came from pre-lab quizzes and in-lab assignments which were all easy. Overall, her low ratings were just because this course is dumb and you don't actually needed to know anything the lab makes you learn, unlike the lecture which I found very interesting. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI430 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/30/2024 |
BSCI430 was one of the most fascinating classes I have taken at UMD. Dr. Fox makes this a challenging class, but you can definitely succeed if you attend lecture, keep up with all assignments, and ask questions in office hours when necessary. There is a lot of memorization, but the exams follow the format of the practice exams. She also provides kahoots for extra practice. There are several paper discussions. I found them particularly exciting because it applied the concepts learned in class to current, pivotal research. I did not have the best personal interactions with Dr. Fox. She can be a little pushy and takes a little too much pride in teaching a difficult course. However, these negatives do not overcome the overwhelming positives of this course. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
I never met Professor Fox but she was the lab coordinator. The TA's that run the lab sessions are fine the problem is the layout of the labs. You are there for an average time of 40 minutes and just get spit information from slides and basically are told "ok go learn all of it in your free time now". The other very annoying thing was for the practicals the information was not clear at all. You need to severely overstudy to do well in the 201 lab which makes you not feel relieved at all when you finish. For instance, they make you memorize maybe 90 bone markings for there only to be 4 on the exam you have to locate. Overall, just study study study and you can get through this lab. If you are a good memorizer this class is for you! |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI430 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/14/2023 |
great lecturer! very available and interesting course material |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/24/2023 |
These reviews are not it. I have had Dr. Fox as a lab coordinator for multiple classes. If you pay attention, read the material, and study the powerpoints you will succeed. She runs the lab so well and teaches her TAs what needs to be emphasized in class (I have been her TA for multiple semesters.) |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI202 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/25/2023 |
I only ever met Dr. Fox once, but she coordinated the BSCI 201 and 202 labs, and this review is for both. Like most lab coordinators, she's not good at her job, and gets away with it because she almost never has to interact with students directly. The activities in lab are incredibly time consuming but aren't actually helpful, especially the design an experiment activities with the lab computer software that never works right. The textbook is expensive and unhelpful, usually providing more info that you need so you don't know what to study. The lab practicals are done in an incredibly stupid format, where you move around the room in timed stations and do a question at each station. Studying for those practicals is worse, because Dr. Fox doesn't give you a good sense of what you need to study other than "everything", which sometimes includes 200 bones or 400+ muscles/muscle attachment points. You wind up studying a bunch of memorization stuff, most of which you don't need, then end up with a bunch of questions on something you barely studied because you thought it wasn't important. Unfortunately, there's no avoiding her if you need to take anatomy, so you just have to deal with the terrible lab. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI430 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/16/2022 |
Dr. Fox was a great professor! Her lectures were easy to follow and she had a lot of smaller assignments for the class so your grade isn't based just on exams. The exams are very reasonable though, and as along as you study you will be fine. I learned a lot in this class and I recommend it if you are looking for an upper level bio that won't take up too much of your time. Dr. Fox is a very approachable person as well! |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI202 Anonymous 04/28/2022 |
First of all... if you are going to make your students purchase YOUR OWN lab manual every semester, at MINIMUM make sure that it encompasses all the material. Studying for the practicals is more of a scavenger hunt than actually learning the material. I spent more time gathering the appropriate diagrams and lecture slides that actually memorizing them. Horrendous professor. Have fun taking her for two semesters. |
|
Caitlin Fox
BSCI201 Anonymous 10/31/2021 |
Unorganized, and does not specifically outline what needs to be learnt for lab practicals. |