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All my friends had Pang for this class so I was expecting 14BL to be horrible but it was actually one of, if not my favorite chem class. Russell's lectures aren't that helpful (especially at 8am) but the overall class design really helped me understand general chemistry better than 14A and B. The course design, while a lot of work, was slower paced than the non-lab classes so we really had the chance to learn and integrate what we were studying. Also, I normally don't go into office hours but one time I had to and I expected Russell to be really intimidating in person. However, she is genuinely a nice helpful person. It was just me and her and even though my question was really brief and simple she was patient and even offered to look over the rest of my lab for me to see if i was on the right track. She showed a true concern for what I was doing which is refreshing in all these 200, 300 person lower div science classes.

Professor Russell isn't as bad as some of the reviews below make her out to be. She isn't very effective at teaching at all, as the person below me said her lectures really suck, but you should still go to them because what she talks about in lectures are the concepts which she includes on her tests. Her practice midterms and finals are parallel to the actual examinations which is very helpful. The key is to get a good TA and then provided you put in the work on the labs and the exams, you will be fine.

Honestly she's not as bad as they say she is. Her lectures suck, she doesn't really go over anything important relating to the actual labs, but the stuff she covers in lecture usually are on the test.

Basically do your labs, be sure you get a nice TA, and just study from her study guides and pre-labs and you'll do fine. I don't know if there's a curve, but I got 100% on all my labs, i got below the mean on the midterm, and an 80% on the final and I got an A.

But CPR is bullshit, waste of time, and you can never get 100% on it. But don't forget about deadlines because they're all worth valuable points.

I took BL with Russell last quarter and really liked her. I wish I would have taken her for 14CL!! She is really nice and seems to genuinely care about her students. The exams are straight from lecture and you really don't even have to do that well on them to get an A (me!). As long as your TA isn't super anal you should be fine if you take Russell. She says she doesn't curve but I think she secretly does.

I love Dr. Russell! She really cares about her students, and it's evident in her style, her obvious concern during office hours, and little things she does, like allowing all tests to be open-note. She says the class is "mastery based" which means that it's all about learning the techniques and applying them. She doesn't expect you to get it the first time around, and because it is "mastery based" the tests are open-note and very fair, nothing surprising, all straight off the lecture notes. You just have to get a good TA - some are picky, some are lenient. As long as you're anal about detail in your labs, though, there really shouldn't be a problem. CPR's are a pain in the butt... just don't forget the deadlines. She always takes the time to explain things slowly in office hours too. 14BL gets a bad rap because the labs take so long. Honestly though, if you really want to learn the material, and do the labs well, I can't see how you wouldn't put in all that time anyway. Overall, 14BL (especially with Russell) is much less work than other classes - eg. LS3 - you just have to make the time to do your labs. As long as you get them done ahead of time, you won't have to stay up until 2am every week doing them. She's way better than the other 14BL profs - I heard that Pang gave a lot of F's.. compared to Russell's much nicer distribution. And she wrote the textbook too, which doesn't hurt.

I completely agree with all the negative reviews of this "professor" and can passionately argue with people who gave high ratings to Russell. But here's my opinion about such a difference in ratings: this class tought by Russell does not make any logical sense starting from her confusing lectue outlines and ending with the ridiculous on-line final on which people get 40-50% on average. I know students who are not that smart in chemistry saying that this class is an easy A. Other people who got top grades in Chem 14A and 14B are struggling with the class.
Yes, she is a very nice lady, no doubt, but how is that related to describing her as an effective instructor?? Nice lady, terrible teacher is my opinion. Can't answer questions without confusing you even more. Don't even waste your time going to her office hours, unless you feel lonely and want to have a cute little chat with the warm lady. Go to your TA's hours - more useful. Enroll with Gagik or Sarah - they're awesome!
Whatever Russell teaches in lectures is supereasy and you know all this stuff from 14A and 14B. However, she makes it so confusing that it's even better not to listen to her and just study on your own. Her exams are 100 times harder than the lecture material, and it's really not fair. How can a person who is doing a research on how to teach chemistry more effectively, be such a poor teacher herself?!
To make a long story short - don't take her if you like to be in control of your learning and your grades. Otherwise, good luck!

Russell is very approacheable and reminds me of someone's grandmother. Lectures are very organized and she provides us with the notes for the lecture. Everything she says in lecture relates to the labs; contrary to rumor, there are NO open-note tests (which is originally why I signed up for the class). CPR's are a pain, but they don't count too much toward your score. Midterm and final were "fair."(e.g. she didn't come up with questions that you were not exposed to through lecture). you MUST get a good TA (Stephanie is THE best) or else you'll be getting 5/10 points on a lab you worked on for like 4 hours.

Professor Russel is a joke. I never knew what to include in her lab reports and going to her for help was never a wise idea--as I often came out of her "OH" confused. Her lecture notes suck and really don't explain anything. She never responded to numerous e-mails that I wrote to her about grade distribution (yea, she's THAT helpful.) She often felt she was superior, saying things like "I BET you didn't even know what a pipet was when you first walked into the class." Her exams were ridiculous and her online final exam almost made me laugh because it was so poor and unfair. She pissed me off aGAIN and aGAIN and aGAIN! (that's an inside joke if you have ever taken her class...she has a weird foreign way of saying "again"). This may seem like mudslinging, but there's really no better way of describing good ol' Professor Russel. AND the people who think she's good can SHOVE it.

Lets see. CPR's are pretty dumb computer assignments. Russell tries to teach, but I think it would be more helpful if more concepts were explained and better sample calculations were taught. Otherwise it isn't really her fault that chem 14BL is a COMPLETE waist of a person's time in a classroom. Exams ask the most random questions in my opinion, studying did not necessarily mean a better grade in my case. The class isn't curved.... so get as many points as possible in the actual labs...because exams will bring your grade down. However I still managed to get a B+ in the class with just above average scores on exams. Ray is a cool TA, not like some of the others that I have heard about, try to get him. Notes are allowed on exams, but didn't offer me too much help. Let's just say she is one of the better lab professors you will have.