I enjoyed the second quarter of this cluster more than the first, maybe because I found the biology topics more interesting and easier to understand than the physics/space/etc. of the first quarter. So if you struggled a lot first quarter like I did, don't worry, it gets better! The professor is very fun and engaging, he is very knowledgeable and you can tell he cares a lot about the subject and student understanding. Like the first quarter, it can be a lot of information packed into one lecture (which is always very difficult for me). However, the teaching staff is extremely nice and helpful, which made the experience very enjoyable. :)

Worth it, totally worth it. Pace gets pretty fast in second quarter of this class (clusters are two quarters for class). Quizzes did got harder, and the labs can be quite weird (make sure don't let your CPU catch on fire!). Lectures can feel quite intimidating but you really don't need any background to know the stuff.

I liked the second quarter of this cluster much better than the first one. It incorporated a lot of biology and concepts about micro and macroevolution. They introduced reading quizzes (open note), which everyone complained about at first, but then changed it so getting a 2/3 would be 100% and made the time limit longer. The biweekly quizzes were manageable as well and in my opinion so much easier than fall. The writing sections didn't take nearly as long and some parts were intuitive and/or a review if you took a biology class in high school. Those quizzes were also open note/internet due to COVID. The discussion sections and labs were fun, although I wish we would have been able to have real field trips! The teaching team did a good job of responding to feedback and trying to make labs interesting despite challenges posed by COVID.

This part of the cluster was less interesting but much easier for me. So basically 70A, the first quarter, is focused on the history of the universe so it has more to do with space and stuff... which is what my interests are. The second quarter focuses on the evolution of life. There's a lot of interesting stuff– reminds me of bio in high school. So it was a lot of stuff that's commonly known but with more detail. So it's easier to follow bc its not all new stuff like the first quarter. So yeah overall this quarter was easier but less intriguing to me. Friscia's nice though- he graded my final paper and met with me to help.

This class was definitely easier than 70A but still felt disorganized and a bit chaotic. Lawrence is the hardest teacher out of all of them to follow and its so weird having 4 professors teaching one class. It makes it difficult to follow when they each have their own teaching style. I wasn't particularly fond of this class but I guess it's worth it to be done with my science GEs

Dr. Friscia, Dr. McKeegan, and Dr. Ellingson are the main lecturers during the second quarter of the cluster. I really enjoyed ALL of them, especially Dr. Ellingson. They definitely try to keep the course engaging and interesting despite covering some heavier topics. While they can occasionally move through slides a bit quickly, they do podcast the lectures (and the exam review sessions) and post the slides, so if you missed anything, you can check the course website.

This class is geared toward non-STEM majors, so the material does not go too in depth, and the tests are pretty straightforward with few conceptual questions. There is one midterm and one final as well as weekly quizzes that are submitted online before lecture. The median on the midterm was 86%. They do keep track of attendance via iClickers, but they are pretty lenient. You can get a good participation grade as long as you attend a majority of the lectures.

In terms of the sections, I did find them to be a bit dry. However, they are pretty easy and my TA (Teni Adewumi) was super nice and very lenient. There is one paper that you have to do, but it's pretty easy, and you are guided through the process throughout the semester. Truthfully, the grading of your paper depends on your assigned grader - some graders are more harsh than others.

Overall, this is a pretty easy (but engaging!) GE cluster with professors who are really knowledgable and put a great amount of effort into making the cluster enjoyable.

Friscia is a dynamic, interesting lecturer. He's the lead guy of this class and has clearly been running it for a while. He and Ellingson are a great pair, and you can learn a lot from him. Just put in the time and you'll be fine.