EE BIOL 113A
Herpetology
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: Life Sciences 1 or 7B. Recommended requisite: course 120. Exploration and summarization of evolution, ecology, life history, and conservation biology of world's reptile and amphibian fauna. Topics include conservation assessments both globally and in California, discussion sections focused on student-led critical evaluations of current literature, and in-class meetings with professional herpetologists to share their professional experiences and job opportunities. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - While I do think Dr. Shaffer is very knowledgable on the subject matter, I'll say that this class was not my cup of tea. (Full disclosure that for my quarter, our midterm was online and open-note due to the closures occurring on campus at the time) A major part of the final grade came from a term paper, a lightning talk on your term paper, and the final exam. For my term paper and lightning talk, I got some points taken off resulting in B and C grades for those assignments. However, no comments or feedback were provided to explain my scores, which I would have appreciated. Moreover, the lightning talks did not really feature a solid rubric as to what was expected, other than simply 'make a concise presentation on important parts of your paper'. As such, I found it odd, as did many of my other classmates, that so many points were taken off (out of 10) without little explanation or even initial guidance as to why that may be. Had there been solid, detailed rubrics for the presentation and paper, I would be a bit more understanding as to why I received the grades I did. I had followed the little guidance they gave to the best of my ability and still got points taken off with no comments or feedback. As such, this class gives me mixed feelings. I was able to salvage an A with extra credit, but this is by no means the easiest class.
Spring 2024 - While I do think Dr. Shaffer is very knowledgable on the subject matter, I'll say that this class was not my cup of tea. (Full disclosure that for my quarter, our midterm was online and open-note due to the closures occurring on campus at the time) A major part of the final grade came from a term paper, a lightning talk on your term paper, and the final exam. For my term paper and lightning talk, I got some points taken off resulting in B and C grades for those assignments. However, no comments or feedback were provided to explain my scores, which I would have appreciated. Moreover, the lightning talks did not really feature a solid rubric as to what was expected, other than simply 'make a concise presentation on important parts of your paper'. As such, I found it odd, as did many of my other classmates, that so many points were taken off (out of 10) without little explanation or even initial guidance as to why that may be. Had there been solid, detailed rubrics for the presentation and paper, I would be a bit more understanding as to why I received the grades I did. I had followed the little guidance they gave to the best of my ability and still got points taken off with no comments or feedback. As such, this class gives me mixed feelings. I was able to salvage an A with extra credit, but this is by no means the easiest class.
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