Professor Maloy is an excellent lecturer; concepts are always clearly explained and applied(in fun and interesting ways too!). I highly recommend getting questions answered directly in class either by raising your hand or using the chat function. Prior to an exam, it is really helpful to review Launchpad PEQs, Clicker Q's, and to attend the Problem Solving Sessions that the professor administers. I also found doing the LA worksheets to be very useful as well as reviewing learning objectives that were on the weekly slides. Launchpad for me was beneficial in learning the details of the course topics, and lectures would solidify the bigger picture and how to apply those concepts. Discussion Sections for this class were also really great for elevating understanding. Overall, just stay on top of your work and don't miss out on participation points and getting to solidify your understanding during group phases of exams(and you'll enjoy it)!

Alright, it's LS7A so it's gonna be hard, but Maloy definitely made it a lot more reasonable especially in online learning. Maloy did a lot of stuff that the other profs did not which is why I would definitely try to take him. He offered review sessions before every midterm and the final that were recorded so you did not even have to go. He also gave us learning pods which were small groups that we would we do extra problems with. My TA was really great but I heard mixed reviews about some of the others. My TA was really helpful because Maloy's OH usually had like 100 people in them so I could actually get my questions answered with the TA. The only thing that really bothered me was the disc section points. The syllabus really implied that the worksheets we did in disc would be graded by participation but that was not the case. One of the TAs wrote on campus wire that they told us this early on in the quarter, but my TA never did this and none of my other classmates who weren't in my section were aware of this either. So just make sure that you have everything right on your disc worksheets because those are some easy points you can lose. Otherwise, Maloy is a joy and was super understanding in covid. Midterm 2 is definitely the trickest for whatever reason. My advice for the exams is to do the launchpads but once you relatively understand them never look at them again the test will be nothing like it. For practice, retake PEQs go to review sessions and do the clicker questions. When you're taking the test make sure you don't make any silly mistakes. The midterms are 2 hrs for 60 questions which can be a time crunch. The final was 3 hrs for 80 questions which was really hard to sit through. Retaking the exams with a group was really helpful though and this score made up 50% of that exam's final score. This was a pretty good class all and all!

THIS MAN IS A KING. 100% RECOMMEND. Professor Maloy and Professor Braybrook (he co-taught with her this quarter) were honestly the perfect professors for my first quarter and I will very much miss them while taking 7B. Both professors were very engaging and knowledgable about the subject; I think their lectures were the only ones that I didn't mind going to because they taught very well and answered every question thoroughly. Maloy and Braybrook's chemistry is so amazing, so if you're lucky enough to get a class with them, you are set.
TAKEAWAYS (this was written while classes were online due to COVID, so anything may change when going back to in-person classes):
LAUNCHPAD READING: Ok this is the only downside of the class. Every week you have to do about 2-4 hours worth of reading/video lectures/video animations/review questions (if you are taking notes at least). I personally took notes, but this could be a waste of time. The minimum you have to do is skim the reading, skip the video lectures and animations, and pray that some angel posted the review question answers on Quizlet. Most of the reading is not worth studying in depth but can provide a good overview of what is going to happen in the lectures for the week.
LAUNCHPAD EXAM QUESTIONS: These were pretty helpful, so I recommend taking these more seriously than the assigned readings. The midterms and final were kinda framed like these questions. What's kinda scary is that some questions on the midterms and final had questions that had content that were on these questions but not in the lectures, so its useful to use these to study.
LECTURES/CLICKER QUESTIONS: These are probably the most important resources you get in the class. Due to COVID, lectures were on Zoom, recorded, and posted on CCLE (the slides were as well). You gotta attend lectures so you can do clickers, but considering these are Maloy and Braybrook lectures, you shouldn't dread attending. To study for the midterms and final, you HAVE to go over the lecture slides (all the content you need to know are on these slides) and clicker questions (very similar to questions on the tests). The clicker questions emphasize what you need to know for the midterms and final.
DISCUSSION: I had a great TA (shoutout to Maddie) as did everyone else. What matters, however, are the worksheets you have to submit. I actually forgot these weren't graded on completion so I got a few 50% on some of them (oops). But these can be very usefully when studying for the exams.
MIDTERMS/FINAL: I heard a lot of people struggled with these tests, but if you study smart you can do very well. What I did: reviewed Launchpad Exam Questions (NOT THE READINGS), reviewed lecture slides and clicker questions, reviewed discussion worksheets, and attend the problem solving sessions that Maloy and Braybrook organized. The saving grace: individual and group phases. I wish every STEM class adopted this method of test taking. There are two phases: an individual phase (where it is "closed-book" and you take the test on your own) and a group phase (you have two days to discuss the test with a designated group of students and you are allowed to change your answers on the test); each phase is worth 50% of your overall exam grade. This relieved a lot of stress and actually helps you learn the topics through collaboration and discussion. Piece of advice: please don't memorize every detail about cellular processes (they will provide diagrams of the genetic code, cellular respiration, etc.); the exams are very application based.
Overall, this class was pretty great and the professors were amazing. I would honestly take this again. So far the LS7 series hasn't ruined my love for bio. Lastly, please read the syllabus because everything is on there (it was kinda annoying when someone asked a question that could be answered by the syllabus).

I took the lecture that was taught by both Professor Maloy and Professor Braybrook. Honestly the professors are both gems, but the course is difficult. You have weekly Launchpad readings that take a long time, but they post reading guides on CCLE. If you just take notes on what is on the reading guides and skim through the rest of the Launchpad readings, you should be fine. Since it's a flipped classroom, you are expected the learn the material before class and come to the lectures ready to apply the concepts you learned. You can miss a few clicker questions, but they do count for participation and are extremely helpful for the midterm and final. For all the midterms and finals, we had an individual and a group portion, and our final score was the average between the two scores. Maloy and Braybrook hosted problem solving sessions before the midterm and final, where they gave us practice problems and we could work on them individually or in a breakout room. Maloy and Braybrook are great lecturers and explain concepts very clearly. They are very approachable and patient, and they will answer any questions you have at the end of lecture or during office hours. If you need to take this class, take it with either of them

There are a lot of reviews about this class being tough, and maybe that was true before, but Professor Maloy was EXTREMELY accommodating during the remote learning transition.

His lectures were reasonably engaging, especially since the clicker questions (graded for participation, not correctness) forced you to pay attention. The online textbook and activities were a bit tedious, but they are very easy. You read through the textbook, do some brief quizzes (many of which have multiple attempts available) and you get participation points. It tracks your progress, and a lot of people lost points here for no reason.

Aside from the easy participation and clicker points, discussion worksheets were fairly simple and our TA went over everything in depth at the end of each session.

Exams were designed for our success. You completed the exam individually and then worked as a group to compare answers. If the group decided to change an answer, you simply filled out an answer change reasoning form to show that you actually understood the concept and learned. Then you'd be graded on your corrected collaborative exam (as well as your participation with the group.)

Even if this class were in person and more difficult, I'd take it again because Professor Maloy is a great instructor who genuinely cares about his students.

Overall pretty generic class. Nice prof. This starts off a bit like AP Bio, but don't get caught off guard or else you'll do bad (same with LS7B).

LS7A is tough but you're provided a lot of resources (reading guides, practice worksheets, problem solving sessions) to help and you should absolutely take advantage of them. They really stress the idea of giving you problems that demonstrate you really know the material and can make conclusions or do analysis rather than just regurgitate the textbook. Highly recommend going to problem solving sessions (super helpful) and putting effort into studying clicker questions, discussion worksheets and launchpad questions to get a sense of what kinds of things they ask for.

Launchpad is really tedious but very doable if you do a little each day. The online textbook has a lot of details that don't show up on exams so focus more on what's covered in video and class lectures.

Maloy is a great professor - definitely take the class with him if you can.

Maloy is a fantastic professor. He is extremely accommodating and understanding. As for every LS class, you have to purchase LaunchPad, the online textbook. If you buy it online, it gives you the option to buy it for one year. LaunchPad is pretty easy points, and although it is a lot, you should only pay attention to the learning objectives. We had an individual portion and then a group portion for the exams, which was extremely helpful. You have to answer why you changed your answer if you choose to do so during the group portion. Maloy himself is a wonderful professor. He has so much passion for this subject, which makes it way easier to stay engaged during lecture. All the lectures are recorded as well, but you have to attend to receive participation points via iClicker Reef.

A teacher who really seems to care about their students. Maloy is all about studies on learning so he uses a "reverse classroom" way to teach. You have to click through assigned readings on Launchpad (which by the end of the quarter I was not even reading because it was so long) before nearly every lecture for points. Exams I thought were pretty fair and mostly based off of the clicker questions for points during lectures and from the lecture slides. I'm not sure if it was because my class was online or not but we were allowed to work with assigned groups of 3-4 people and use our notes on going over the test -- probably why my average on the final and midterm were mid to low A's. Also Maloy is very accommodating to students (even gave us 100% on our final when BLM protests were picking up and many students were concerned about testing in these circumstances).

Dr. Maloy is an AWESOME professor!!! If you need to take LS7A (or any other class for that matter), I highly recommend you take it with him! I felt like he genuinely cared for his students' wellbeing (especially given the Covid situation amongst other things) and tried to accommodate students who were having a difficult time. His lectures are very clear and he clearly outlines which information is relevant to the exams. He also explains the clicker questions very thoroughly. Overall, 20/10 professor, would take him again.