| Information | Review |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI283 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2024 |
I honestly really enjoyed this class, definitely the best bio lab course I've taken at UMD so far! However, I wasn't extremely fond of how this course was laid out. The exams were difficult with pretty low averages (like 60-70 except for the final which was more like 75), I didn't understand why Dr. Stein formatted the exams to be so difficult. I mean I understood that this course is content dense + moves fast, but even my 222 course didn't have exam averages that low. Regardless, there's a pretty sweet curve built into the course, and you only need to get like 81% of the points to get an A which is doable with the amount of small lab/participation/hw points throughout the semester. This course overall was fine and I recommend it for micro/cell bio concentrations, but I personally wasn't the biggest fan of Dr. Stein's lecture style and making the exams so unreasonably difficult. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI283 Expecting an A florm 12/26/2022 |
Dr. Stein taught two of the three units this semester, with the other one being taught by Dr. Wade Winkler. For the lectures that Dr. Stein taught, he really seemed all over the place, having few clear transitions between slides and constantly bringing up new ideas. This was reflected in the exams he wrote, which were exceedingly long and often asked about stuff that was simply never covered in lecture. That being said, the exams were all online and open-note/internet so you could look up stuff you didn't know, but with so many weird questions and not a lot of time you have to pick your battles wisely. He was also not clear at all about what he was looking for in short answer questions. The final wasn't cumulative, but was just as annoying in terms of the lack of direction, extreme specificity in the material, and the addition of completely new topics. Stein tended to act kind of pretentious and patronizing when someone answered something wrong. This was especially true when he went through the answers to the first exam in class, saying that our average was far lower than what it had been previous semesters and that he was able to "finish the entire exam in 17 minutes so we should've had plenty of time." Well yeah, of course he could finish it quickly because he wrote the questions... The lectures were also structured very poorly. PAK assignments were due at the start of the week and Monday's class would be spent going through the answers instead of having an actual lecture, so we had to watch prerecorded lectures to make up for it. Wednesdays then had normal lectures, but he recorded those too so very few people showed up to class at all. The labs were super fun, but Stein didn't have anything to do with that. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2011 |
well first off there is a 2 to 3% curve in the class. He tells you all semester theres not, but there is. Also stein isn't a bad professor or lecturer. His exams aren't too tough if you do his study guide questions, but the set up of the class especially the lab is atrocious. Alot of times in lab we did not have to correct equipment needed for the lab and even the Tas were confused on what to do. But for steins class all you need is to get like 85 on his two exams and wont he final, as he gives a lot of extra credit (pak points up to two percent increase), and he has two group assignments worth 10% of your grade that it should be easy to get an A in (my group got 99 and 101 and our projects were that good (we also had a good TA)). Also with this class make sure to read each question carefully because alot of it isn't to hard, but can be tricky if you are not reading the questions correctly. Also this class is made alopt easier if you have taken bsci 222 and understand the central dogma. THe entire second exam is the central dogma and if you get it you are guaranteed at least an 85 on it. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting an A AnonymousTwo 05/27/2010 |
Dr. Stein really wanted us to "understand" a lot of things. His lectures slides were very engaging. I do have to say that his course is a lot of work. He is somewhat approachable, yet I feel that his test seemed unfair at times. He even claimed that "I feel that this was a bad test, since majority of the class got x amount of things wrong." But, if you are up to date with everything, and work hard, hopefully, you will be able to do well in this course. Overall, I thought it was okay, the Module 3 about HIV, and immunology was great :] |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 laura22 05/27/2010 |
Compared to Smith, Stein is a little more difficult. My TA, who took Smith, said the stuff we were learning was harder than what he had learned. That said, Stein really does want his students to learn the material in this course, not just regurgitate the info. He tries to make the information interesting and engages the class through "cool" facts presented at the beginning of each lecture. The book is pretty helpful, so I'd recommend you get it. Also, labs and assignments are actually pretty fun and interesting, but I may be biased because my TA and UTA were awesome. Stein also grades students individually. If he sees you've improved through each exams and do well in labs, he'll definitely bump you up a decent amount. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting an A zhangsta 05/25/2010 |
honestly, i didn't learn that much in lecture. found it hard to take notes unless you had a netbook because he teaches off powerpoint slides. all you really have to do to get an A is read the book. the labs were relatively easy and the exams were alright if you keep up with the reading. if you find yourself short a few points of your target grade, dont worry since he'll give out a lot of extra credit towards the end of the course. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting an A aralchen 05/19/2010 |
Dr. Stein is actually a very solid and effective teacher. I had a good time in class and overall learned a lot about microbiology. He uses a lot of interesting examples and the last few lectures on STDs were really awesome. Unfortunately, he is NEVER clear about what he wants as an answer on the exam. I'm not exaggerating - this is ABSOLUTELY TRUE: If your answer to a question is correct but does not appear on the answer key, HE WILL MARK IT WRONG! He says it's so everyone is graded fairly, and if you have any concerns about your right answer (that was marked wrong), you can go to his office hours or submit a regrade. This is terribly disrespectful of our time - we don't have time to go chase points we rightfully deserve. Overall, solid teacher but crappy grader. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting a C aberk 06/17/2009 |
TERRIBLE COURSE. Besides that fact, Dr. Stein is ok. He tries to make the subject interesting by adding a few fun facts before every lecture...sometimes they actually are cool. If the course wasnt such a mess, i think it would be really very good. The lab+lecture activities due almost on a daily basis are very confusing, but the upside is that they help your grade quite a lot. The reason i say that the course is terrible is because people have no idea when things are due and the dates change constantly...besides that, the course is actually fairly interesting. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/16/2009 |
Dr. Stein is a really good professor. He tries very hard to make this subject fun, by giving assignments that are actually real fun. At the beginning of every class he shows you one of the applications of microbiology and is always fun. He checks attendance using clickers, but he does not grade you on whether or not you got the right answer. His exams are difficult. The final exam is a combination of a 3rd exam (on new material) worth 75%, and a cumulative part worth 25%. The lab section of this class is very fun (you get to make yogurt! and play with bacteria!) The lab questions are not hard, and the lab exams are easy. Overall it is easy to get a B in this class (because the lab grade will boost your grade a LOT!), but getting an A requires a lot of effort. Even then I would still take Dr. Stein because he is a great teacher, he explains things well, he hold review sessions every week, and his assignments are really fun (content-wise). |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Anonymous 01/21/2008 |
Not a fan. He was not a good teacher, his tests (especially his final which was 12+ pages long) was ridiculously complicated, and he took attendance by clickers each class. Oh, and yes, he was quite boring. The best part of the class was it was close to my dorm so waking up at 7:50 for his 8 AM class was not too shabby. Good luck to any who has to take this class. |
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Daniel Stein
BSCI223 Expecting a B almostdone 12/05/2007 |
Dr. Stein is a very good professor who gives a very thorough explanation of microbio. Honestly, the hardest part of this class is to just keep track of what assignments are due and to go to class every time. There alot of assignments every week, but in general they are all very easy and dont take up much time. Everything in lab is basically guaranteed to be 100% unless you don't put effort into it. The exams are fair and the best way to be ready is to print the powerpoints before hand and take notes on what he says. Dr. Stein is one of the few teachers imo that actually explains as well as the book. If you can pay attention in class studying for the exam will be 10X less stressful and difficult. |
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Daniel Stein
Expecting an A+ scroofoo 10/23/2007 |
Great professor for micro. Really gets you interested in the topic and understand just how important it is in the real world. Lecture being at 8am was the only bummer, but if you like biology, you shouldn't fall asleep. In lab, he will not just teach you the techniques but make sure you understand the underlying chemistry and biology behind them. Micro honors was 2 tests, a final, 3 projects, 1 hw/week, 1 lab/week, and various other mini assignments/ extra credit opportunities. Nothing was that difficult. Alot of what he taught was from bsci105 but then again, the same can be said of 99% of the bsci courses taught. Nice guy, good teacher, fair tests/labs. |