LIFESCI 30B
Mathematics for Life Scientists
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours. Enforced requisite: course 30A. Introduction to concept of matrices and linear transformations to equip students with some basic tools to understand dynamics of multivariable nonlinear systems. Examples from ecological, physiological, chemical, and other systems. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Dr.McCully is an overall okay professor. I think that the number of assignments for this class was way too much at times. She would assign multiple pre-class videos that ranged from 15 minutes to 45 minutes that have embedded questions on top of homework, labs, and weekly quizzes. And then, on the day of the lecture, she would basically repeat the entire video during the lecture so the lecture just felt kind of useless at times but it was mandatory to go because of Clicker questions. It is a good way to practice concepts though since it kinda just continuously drills it into your head and practice with it. Homework was a fair amount but not too much. Quizzes were not too tough either since you got two attempts. Her midterms and final were fair as well so you will be fine just practicing the practice tests and quizzes. Labs were a lot more difficult than LS30A but I found them to be fun. The most annoying part of the course was the Capstone Project which was split up between 3 weeks and into finals week. Each week we were supposed to make a model, simulate it, document changes, create more changes, and write a final report. It was just very tedious and annoying, especially if your group mates do not help you with anything and on top of all your other work. This class definitely did take a lot of time but Dr.McCully's method of teaching is very tedious, repetitive, and drilling it into your head which can be both good and bad for people. I found it to be annoying at times but helpful at times when I fell behind. Concepts in this class are much more difficult than in LS30A but it was helpful to hear them multiple times. However, she did have a bad habit of going through 20 slides in the last 5 minutes because she was not able to fit her lecture into the allocated time. So, sometimes, things would be left unclear and vague or not brought up until the next lecture.
Spring 2022 - Dr.McCully is an overall okay professor. I think that the number of assignments for this class was way too much at times. She would assign multiple pre-class videos that ranged from 15 minutes to 45 minutes that have embedded questions on top of homework, labs, and weekly quizzes. And then, on the day of the lecture, she would basically repeat the entire video during the lecture so the lecture just felt kind of useless at times but it was mandatory to go because of Clicker questions. It is a good way to practice concepts though since it kinda just continuously drills it into your head and practice with it. Homework was a fair amount but not too much. Quizzes were not too tough either since you got two attempts. Her midterms and final were fair as well so you will be fine just practicing the practice tests and quizzes. Labs were a lot more difficult than LS30A but I found them to be fun. The most annoying part of the course was the Capstone Project which was split up between 3 weeks and into finals week. Each week we were supposed to make a model, simulate it, document changes, create more changes, and write a final report. It was just very tedious and annoying, especially if your group mates do not help you with anything and on top of all your other work. This class definitely did take a lot of time but Dr.McCully's method of teaching is very tedious, repetitive, and drilling it into your head which can be both good and bad for people. I found it to be annoying at times but helpful at times when I fell behind. Concepts in this class are much more difficult than in LS30A but it was helpful to hear them multiple times. However, she did have a bad habit of going through 20 slides in the last 5 minutes because she was not able to fit her lecture into the allocated time. So, sometimes, things would be left unclear and vague or not brought up until the next lecture.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I've heard a lot of complaints about Dr. V and I was kinda scared to take her class at first, but honestly, it's quite a good class. She's really reciprocating with our requests, like, our first bi-weekly quiz was kind of hard, so when she got the feedback from us she immediately changed her test style and made the rest of our bi-weekly quizzes much more suitable. She's also organized in terms of letting you know exactly what you're learning, and there's a clear outline to each lecture, homework, and quiz. The midterm was pretty much exactly what she taught in lectures and the TA's study office hours. It was very straightforward. Also, she links us to supplement videos to get a better understanding of the content. Obviously, it seems tedious to have to watch even more videos on top of lectures, but I see it as studying, just like how you would read textbooks outside of lectures to gain a better understanding. I had a different professor last quarter which many students loved, but I find myself understanding Dr. V's lectures with ease, and just understanding the content in general much better. To me, the workload isn't too bad either. Every two weeks I probably spend a day doing the bi-weekly homework, and a day watching supplement videos as revision for bi-weekly quizzes. Obviously, this is just my personal experience and opinions, everyone is different and has different learning styles. But yea her class is really manageable.
Winter 2021 - I've heard a lot of complaints about Dr. V and I was kinda scared to take her class at first, but honestly, it's quite a good class. She's really reciprocating with our requests, like, our first bi-weekly quiz was kind of hard, so when she got the feedback from us she immediately changed her test style and made the rest of our bi-weekly quizzes much more suitable. She's also organized in terms of letting you know exactly what you're learning, and there's a clear outline to each lecture, homework, and quiz. The midterm was pretty much exactly what she taught in lectures and the TA's study office hours. It was very straightforward. Also, she links us to supplement videos to get a better understanding of the content. Obviously, it seems tedious to have to watch even more videos on top of lectures, but I see it as studying, just like how you would read textbooks outside of lectures to gain a better understanding. I had a different professor last quarter which many students loved, but I find myself understanding Dr. V's lectures with ease, and just understanding the content in general much better. To me, the workload isn't too bad either. Every two weeks I probably spend a day doing the bi-weekly homework, and a day watching supplement videos as revision for bi-weekly quizzes. Obviously, this is just my personal experience and opinions, everyone is different and has different learning styles. But yea her class is really manageable.
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