Professor
Barbara Knowlton
2 of 4
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2018 - The WORST professor in the whole 101 Neuro series. Her lectures are garbage, her slides are garbage. There was no logical flow to her lectures or slides, she was all over the place and extremely hard to follow. Her test was extremely specific and she expected answers and explanations for things which she did not cover in class. Her entire module was psych based even though this was supposed to be hard science class. She gave no molecular pathway explanations for any of the phenomena she presented. She also only had 3 office hours total and cancelled the last one due to public holiday without rescheduling before the final. Overall an absolute waste of time and energy which really sucks since neuro majors are required to take this class.
Spring 2018 - The WORST professor in the whole 101 Neuro series. Her lectures are garbage, her slides are garbage. There was no logical flow to her lectures or slides, she was all over the place and extremely hard to follow. Her test was extremely specific and she expected answers and explanations for things which she did not cover in class. Her entire module was psych based even though this was supposed to be hard science class. She gave no molecular pathway explanations for any of the phenomena she presented. She also only had 3 office hours total and cancelled the last one due to public holiday without rescheduling before the final. Overall an absolute waste of time and energy which really sucks since neuro majors are required to take this class.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Prof Knowlton's teaching was fine; she was clear, the material seemed simple enough, etc. On the exam (which was mainly short answer questions with some multiple choice), the questions also seemed very straightforward, albeit at times vague. In reality, that midterm was a mess. She expected very specific answers which were not addressed in the questions, or deviated from what the questions were asking. The whole class was upset about this. I really do not like when teachers try to be conniving this way, when we clearly demonstrated our knowledge of the material on the exam.
Prof Knowlton's teaching was fine; she was clear, the material seemed simple enough, etc. On the exam (which was mainly short answer questions with some multiple choice), the questions also seemed very straightforward, albeit at times vague. In reality, that midterm was a mess. She expected very specific answers which were not addressed in the questions, or deviated from what the questions were asking. The whole class was upset about this. I really do not like when teachers try to be conniving this way, when we clearly demonstrated our knowledge of the material on the exam.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I was really scared to take this class at first, but it ended up being one of my favorite psychobio electives! Professor Knowlton is very kind and keeps her lectures very concise and clear. She also took the time to learn most/all of our names which was the first time I've ever had a professor go out of their way to do that. The lectures are easy to follow, and if you have any questions, Professor Knowlton welcomes them both during lecture and in office hours. The textbook is also a great resource for this class, it's an easy and engaging read if you want a little more elaboration on the concepts being discussed in lecture, but honestly isn't a requirement for success in the class. The class was on a 300 point scale. There were 3 exams. The first midterm was 15 questions and free response, worth 75 points. The second midterm and final were both 20 questions and free response, each being worth 100 points. The exams are not cumulative so there were only about 4 lectures worth of content on each exam, making it very manageable. The other 25 points came from attendance which you only needed to attend 6 lectures in order to get full points. There was also 16 points of extra credit offered, 10 for completing 2 SONA studies, 5 for completing pre & post test surveys, and 1 for getting 80% of responses on evals. Overall, this class was very fair. You definitely need to study for the exams, but as long as you attend lecture and review, the class is doable and it's a great chance to have a small, intimate class!
Spring 2023 - I was really scared to take this class at first, but it ended up being one of my favorite psychobio electives! Professor Knowlton is very kind and keeps her lectures very concise and clear. She also took the time to learn most/all of our names which was the first time I've ever had a professor go out of their way to do that. The lectures are easy to follow, and if you have any questions, Professor Knowlton welcomes them both during lecture and in office hours. The textbook is also a great resource for this class, it's an easy and engaging read if you want a little more elaboration on the concepts being discussed in lecture, but honestly isn't a requirement for success in the class. The class was on a 300 point scale. There were 3 exams. The first midterm was 15 questions and free response, worth 75 points. The second midterm and final were both 20 questions and free response, each being worth 100 points. The exams are not cumulative so there were only about 4 lectures worth of content on each exam, making it very manageable. The other 25 points came from attendance which you only needed to attend 6 lectures in order to get full points. There was also 16 points of extra credit offered, 10 for completing 2 SONA studies, 5 for completing pre & post test surveys, and 1 for getting 80% of responses on evals. Overall, this class was very fair. You definitely need to study for the exams, but as long as you attend lecture and review, the class is doable and it's a great chance to have a small, intimate class!
AD
Most Helpful Review
Prof. Knowlton is a very nice person; however, she has a tendency to make something more confusing when she tries to clarify it. Her slides are very well made; sometimes you don't want to go to lecture anymore, because the slides + book teaches you better. But I suggest coming to class anyway. Please bring coffee and food and chocolates. The class is nearly two hours long, and while the material should be interesting, she has an ability to make lecture dry. It also takes her about an hour and ten minutes before she lets you out for a five minute break.
Prof. Knowlton is a very nice person; however, she has a tendency to make something more confusing when she tries to clarify it. Her slides are very well made; sometimes you don't want to go to lecture anymore, because the slides + book teaches you better. But I suggest coming to class anyway. Please bring coffee and food and chocolates. The class is nearly two hours long, and while the material should be interesting, she has an ability to make lecture dry. It also takes her about an hour and ten minutes before she lets you out for a five minute break.
AD
2 of 4
