Dines is amazing! The class might have been a lot easier because it was an online course but he is a great professor and I would definitely take another course with him. He writes the lecture midterms and exams which are really fair. The TAs are in charge of writing the lab quizzes/assessments but they are not as nice. Overall, I recommend this course because Dines will make it enjoyable even if your TAs try to make the lab portion the worst thing possible.

I took this class online via zoom with prof Dines and he was really understanding and willing to work with students. I felt it was an easy class to speak up and ask questions. During this time I had to email him a couple times because of questions or personal issues and he always responded quickly. For exams, he allowed students to work together and all exams were open book/open note. His lectures had all the information you needed so it was really hard not to do well. As long as you complete all the assignments and the boring labs, you will definitely get an A (**disclaimer: i cant speak for the class in person since I took it online).

Professor Dines was extremely accomodating during this quarter of remote instruction. He was super helpful in making sure that none of the students had issues participating in the class by providing recorded engaging lectures and allowed students to take the exams at whatever time they wanted.

The lab material, as it always is, is quite challenging especially because we couldn't see the material in person and had to study it by photos only. One of the TAs, however, got hurt after the mid-quarter evaluation when the class said that they liked the difficulty level of the lab exams and made them a lot harder and tedious. While I don't understand what he has to gain from this, I hope he's okay wherever he is and finds peace within himself.

All in all, Professor Dines is fantastic and is the one of the kindest professors I've had at UCLA. Also, shout-out to Felisha who was the best and most helpful TA in the class.

Like several other reviews say, don't make the mistake of thinking that when he talks about things that are not directly on the slides that you don't need to listen or write them down. I made this mistake for the first exam but then got it together for the other exams and practicals and got an A! Overall, Dr. Dines is such an incredibly nice professor who is not trying to trick you and just wants to see students do well. I feel like a much more well-rounded EEB major after this class.

This class is pretty challenging at first, but once you figure out how to study for it, it is no that bad. I recommend using quizlet for the lecture exams and making a PowerPoint with the skulls for the lab practicals. This class is pure memorization and going to lecture is a must since he puts questions on the exams based only on what he said during lectures. Overall, this was a good class. I did much better after the first exam and lab practical and ended up getting an A with a 89% in the class.

Got an A+ in this class. I was struggling a lot at first and really was not sure how to study.... The tests get easier as you approach the finals. I would def take this class! You have to memorize a lot and be motivated.

BEST ADVICE: LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS in lecture that is NOT on the lecture slides! He will have a handful of questions that are only verbally mentioned, so that will save you on the exams. he offers extra credit too and practicals are not that bad. Honestly, don't know why I was so worried about this class for 3 weeks lol. Just make flashcards on anki and stay motivated.

Great class! I knew nothing about the different mammal families before and now I know more than I could've ever imagined regarding this subject. Aside from that, the class is pretty easy as long as you are good at memorization. If that's not a strength of yours, consider taking something else instead. The labs are brute memorization which can be pretty intensive since a lot of the skulls look really similar to one another, but it's doable if you put in the effort a couple days before the test. The written tests are also memorization based, but much easier than the labs. Professor Dines is super clear and for the most part, all of the information is on the slides but I would still recommend going to lecture because there are some things that he says that aren't on the slide. I regret buying the online textbook because I think I only looked at it twice and it was pretty useless. You can definitely succeed in the class without it.

Prof Dines is really friendly and willing to help. Even though this class is not curved, the exams (at least for summer) are really doable and as long as you memorize those family names and characters you will be fine. Actually he gives out tons of extra credit so it's your fault if you couldn't do well.

Unwillingness to help his own students, he lacks the energy to make classes interesting, and he is the type of professor that will never go out of his way to help a student out.
An ignorant and self-centered professor who is condescending to some students, I regret ever taking this class.

This class ranks as one of the worst I have taken at UCLA. There is absolutely no variety in the teaching style and you basically are just memorizing Mammal Family latin names and the characteristics of each family. Not engaging in the slightest. The drudgery gets to you after two weeks. The exams for lecture are fair, but the lab component of the course is absolute trash. Instead of actually doing labs, you spend all the lab time looking at mammal skulls that you just get tested on in la practical exams. Some material overlaps, but a lot of it doesn't. I feel like I learned nothing of use. Also, the lecture slides contain so much unneeded information and the instructor loves using stupid jargon and buzzwords. Example: "polydont dentition." Basically all animals with teeth have polydont dentition because I don't think there are any mammals with just a single tooth. I have so many qualms with this course... It could use a major restructuring and overhaul.

PS: I'm not failing the course, and it actually is quite dry.