I took LS7A with Roth-Johnson in Fall of 2017. While I have never taken the older series that was replaced by LS 1-4, the assignments in this class seemed a lot like busy work. They were not particularly difficult but took up a lot of time. In general, the 7 series will take more time than really necessary. Roth-Johnson's tests are based of of clicker questions and the practice exams on Launchpad. STUDY THOSE. Attendance is pretty much mandatory. The TAs for LS7A are really great at answering questions during lecture. Utilize them, especially if you know office hours are quite inconvenient for you. Discussion sections are pretty interesting. Most of the time the TA will guide you through answers. 10 points of extra credit were offered when I took it. Utilize them because I wish I had those 10 points during LS7B and LS7C.

I am a biology major who got a 5 on the AP test, and yet I had troubles with this course.
First of all, lectures are interesting and are exactly what you would expect. To take this course/series you have to buy an access code+textbook that costs around $100 for a 3 quarter period. This website (Launchpad) teaches you more information that the professor ever does as you have to complete readings/ review quizzes/practice exams. The course is based off a point system. There are a total of 712 points possible:
Midterm 1=90
Midterm 2= 120
Final Exam= 200
Discussion= 80 (Each week there is a 3 point quiz and 5 point worksheet)
Participation= 72 (Clickers- You can miss two days)
Launchpad Activities= 50
Pre-Class Review Questions= 50
Practice Exam Questions= 50

First, let's discuss launchpad:
-Launchpad Activities requires you read/ watch videos/ animations= Guaranteed 100% for this category
-Pre-Class Review Questions are mini-quizzes after the material is presented. You get three tries per quiz. Your score out of these sets of questions is scaled to 5 points a week- Guaranteed 100% for this category.
-Practice Exam Questions are timed tests and are supposed to mimic real exams. You are given 1 chance, and each week your score is scaled to 5 points. YOU WILL LOSE POINTS HERE BECAUSE THE QUESTIONS ARE TRICKY.

Exams:
I struggled with the exams because they were subjective and very strangely worded. They are True/ False and multiple choice but here's the kicker, if you misinterpret what a question is asking you can miss a whole section of 4 to 5 questions easily. The questions are more so applying what you know to situations that would halt or accelerate biological systems. Sometimes knowing so much information about the topics covered in class actually hurt you. The exams do not test what you know and are not a fair representation of how much effort you put into the course. In fact, 5 people from my discussion section said the reason they did so well on exams was because they did not study. Here I am, studying 10+ hours a week to make sure I understand content, and am gettng 70% on my midterms. Tread lightly.

Week 1-Chemistry of Life
Week 2-Cell Organization and Membranes
Week 3-Energy/ Enzymes and Cellular Respiration
Midterm 1
Week 4- Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis
Week 5- Nucleic Acids and Transcription
Week 6- Proteins and Translation and Protein Sorting
Midterm 2
Week 7-Control of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Week 8- Recombinant DNA and Cell Cycle/DNA Replication
Week 9- PCR, VNTR, and Genome Variation
Week 10- DNA Mutation and Repair, and Cell Cycle/Cell Division

This class took a significant amount of work, which ranged from really challenging concepts to busy work. That being said, Roth-Johnson did a great job of working within the Life Sciences framework and making sure we really understood the concepts. Her lectures were very well-organized and as engaging as you can get with cell bio, and her office hours were even more so. If you have the choice, I would definitely recommend taking LIFESCI 7A with Roth-Johnson!