Professor
James Lloyd-Smith
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Most Helpful Review
LS 1!! SELLING TEXT BOOK!! I had Lloyd-Smith for LS 1. He was an awesome teacher in my opinion. His lectures were very organized and he was excited about teaching. He isn't a boring lecturer which is a plus. LS 1 is a lot of memorizing. I am selling the book I used for Alfaro/Lloyd's LS1 class. It's used obviously but is in great condition! Some pages have highlighted texts and handwritten notes that may help you (; Evolution: Making Sense of Life textbook Zimmer 1 Pub: Univ of Chicago Press ISBN: **********363 HMU at ********** if interested!
LS 1!! SELLING TEXT BOOK!! I had Lloyd-Smith for LS 1. He was an awesome teacher in my opinion. His lectures were very organized and he was excited about teaching. He isn't a boring lecturer which is a plus. LS 1 is a lot of memorizing. I am selling the book I used for Alfaro/Lloyd's LS1 class. It's used obviously but is in great condition! Some pages have highlighted texts and handwritten notes that may help you (; Evolution: Making Sense of Life textbook Zimmer 1 Pub: Univ of Chicago Press ISBN: **********363 HMU at ********** if interested!
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I would advise against taking EEB C119A with professor Lloyd-Smith. Personally, I rarely pronounce my sentiments against a class or an instructor. However, the applicability of R in an ecological context is minimal. Coming from a technical background, I must assert that this class requires crude memorization and adept tolerance: long psets, quizzes, labs, and papers. Am I a PhD candidate? I have an evident suspicion that the professor does not wish for me to succeed in his class. If you do not have a prophetic gift for ecology or a personal connection with the professor (ie. work in his lab), please reconsider.
Spring 2023 - I would advise against taking EEB C119A with professor Lloyd-Smith. Personally, I rarely pronounce my sentiments against a class or an instructor. However, the applicability of R in an ecological context is minimal. Coming from a technical background, I must assert that this class requires crude memorization and adept tolerance: long psets, quizzes, labs, and papers. Am I a PhD candidate? I have an evident suspicion that the professor does not wish for me to succeed in his class. If you do not have a prophetic gift for ecology or a personal connection with the professor (ie. work in his lab), please reconsider.
Most Helpful Review
I took LS1 with Lloyd-Smith and he was a great professor! On the first day of class he asked us all what fields we were going into to see what kind of students he was dealing with, and when he saw that most of us were pre-med, he made sure that in every lecture he spent the last ten or fifteen minutes on a medically related example. He is very fair- he puts extra credit on the exams to compensate for any ambiguous questions, very willingly throws out any quiz questions that people find difficult or unfair, and he holds extra office hours before the exam. LS1 was really boring, but his section of the course was the most interesting, and he has a sense of humor and was the only professor in my LS1 class who podcasted. Take him if you get the chance!
I took LS1 with Lloyd-Smith and he was a great professor! On the first day of class he asked us all what fields we were going into to see what kind of students he was dealing with, and when he saw that most of us were pre-med, he made sure that in every lecture he spent the last ten or fifteen minutes on a medically related example. He is very fair- he puts extra credit on the exams to compensate for any ambiguous questions, very willingly throws out any quiz questions that people find difficult or unfair, and he holds extra office hours before the exam. LS1 was really boring, but his section of the course was the most interesting, and he has a sense of humor and was the only professor in my LS1 class who podcasted. Take him if you get the chance!
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Most Helpful Review
COURSE TAKEN: LS 1 Fall 2015 Grading Scheme: *Midterm 1 - 200 points *Midterm 2 - 200 points *Final - 200 points Demonstrations - 180 points Participation - 120 points Total - 900 points *The better grade, either Midterm 1 or the section on the final, or Midterm 2 or the section on the final, will be the score that is counted Professor Lloyd-Smith: Lloyd-Smith is an amazing professor! He really knows how to concisely, yet effectively, explain content. His powerpoints were always well organized, and he almost always completed every slide in lecture, unlike Alfaro. He has a bit of dry humor, but he has bouts of hilarity in class. His voice can be dry also, but it isn't too difficult to pay attention in class. TA Jeffrey Lee: He's pretty nice and a bit awkward, but a cool TA. Demos were kind of pointless, but he made them not totally horrible. In regards to his effectiveness in helping teach class concepts, I'm not sure, but he made demo concepts clear enough. Midterm 1 Grade: 159/200 | 29/35 The first midterm took everybody by surprise. It is comprised of 50 multiple choice questions. He put very tricky questions on the midterm and I felt like he didn't prepare us well enough to do well on it. He included questions on readings in the book, so read those assigned sections. However, I did a little better on his portion of the final, which was 35 multiple choice questions, so that replaced my midterm score. I was a little pissed to find that he used a lot of the same questions he gave on the midterm. So I recommend going to your TA after midterm grades are up to go over the answer key. Midterm 2 Grade: 192/192 | 0/33 I was really confident going into the second midterm, I was very sure of almost all of my answers and left knowing I did nearly perfect. Lloyd-Smith is a really great professor and he prepared us well to take his midterm. He didn't really include any content on readings, but there were a couple random ones on demo content. He is also really fair with grading as he took out some questions some students said were confusingly worded. I didn't bother looking at his section on the final, 35 multiple choice again, since I got a 100% on the midterm. But I heard from a friend that the questions were harder. I recommend just paying good attention in lecture and writing good notes. In studying, I found that I understood the concepts well enough through lecture that I didn't need to go over them too much later on. Final Grade: 42/50 Yeh is very soft-spoken, so I recommend sitting closer to the front, though she tries her best to keep the microphone loud enough. The final was 50 multiple choice questions, but there was no way to replace this score, so you only got one shot. Yeh's lectures were a bit boring, as she's a bit monotone and goes quite slow, but the content was easier to grasp I feel. The questions on the final were fair I think. Demonstrations Grade: 193/200 In demo you'd have in-class assignments to be turned in at the end of the class, and then take-home assignments, which include worksheets, short papers, etcetera. They were all a little bs, but they're easy to do. You may get knocked off a few points for small things, but overall, they're fine. Participation Grade: 42/43 There were five participations each section, so fifteen total, and you were allowed to miss two of them. Alfaro had all in-class ones, Lloyd-Smith and Yeh both had a mix. The latter two were better with keeping in-class participations shorter. But their outside participations were longer than the in-class ones, especially Lloyd-Smith's, which was a bit annoying. But they're not graded intensely, so as long as you do them basically, you'll get credit. There was also a participation grade for demos, but I barely participated, if at all, and I only got one less point. Overall Grade: A- Overall I think this is a decent crop of professors to take LS 1 with, if only for Lloyd-Smith. The course material isn't too difficult, and the exams were kind of stupid but doable. I was expecting an A, but I guess I'll be content with an A-.
COURSE TAKEN: LS 1 Fall 2015 Grading Scheme: *Midterm 1 - 200 points *Midterm 2 - 200 points *Final - 200 points Demonstrations - 180 points Participation - 120 points Total - 900 points *The better grade, either Midterm 1 or the section on the final, or Midterm 2 or the section on the final, will be the score that is counted Professor Lloyd-Smith: Lloyd-Smith is an amazing professor! He really knows how to concisely, yet effectively, explain content. His powerpoints were always well organized, and he almost always completed every slide in lecture, unlike Alfaro. He has a bit of dry humor, but he has bouts of hilarity in class. His voice can be dry also, but it isn't too difficult to pay attention in class. TA Jeffrey Lee: He's pretty nice and a bit awkward, but a cool TA. Demos were kind of pointless, but he made them not totally horrible. In regards to his effectiveness in helping teach class concepts, I'm not sure, but he made demo concepts clear enough. Midterm 1 Grade: 159/200 | 29/35 The first midterm took everybody by surprise. It is comprised of 50 multiple choice questions. He put very tricky questions on the midterm and I felt like he didn't prepare us well enough to do well on it. He included questions on readings in the book, so read those assigned sections. However, I did a little better on his portion of the final, which was 35 multiple choice questions, so that replaced my midterm score. I was a little pissed to find that he used a lot of the same questions he gave on the midterm. So I recommend going to your TA after midterm grades are up to go over the answer key. Midterm 2 Grade: 192/192 | 0/33 I was really confident going into the second midterm, I was very sure of almost all of my answers and left knowing I did nearly perfect. Lloyd-Smith is a really great professor and he prepared us well to take his midterm. He didn't really include any content on readings, but there were a couple random ones on demo content. He is also really fair with grading as he took out some questions some students said were confusingly worded. I didn't bother looking at his section on the final, 35 multiple choice again, since I got a 100% on the midterm. But I heard from a friend that the questions were harder. I recommend just paying good attention in lecture and writing good notes. In studying, I found that I understood the concepts well enough through lecture that I didn't need to go over them too much later on. Final Grade: 42/50 Yeh is very soft-spoken, so I recommend sitting closer to the front, though she tries her best to keep the microphone loud enough. The final was 50 multiple choice questions, but there was no way to replace this score, so you only got one shot. Yeh's lectures were a bit boring, as she's a bit monotone and goes quite slow, but the content was easier to grasp I feel. The questions on the final were fair I think. Demonstrations Grade: 193/200 In demo you'd have in-class assignments to be turned in at the end of the class, and then take-home assignments, which include worksheets, short papers, etcetera. They were all a little bs, but they're easy to do. You may get knocked off a few points for small things, but overall, they're fine. Participation Grade: 42/43 There were five participations each section, so fifteen total, and you were allowed to miss two of them. Alfaro had all in-class ones, Lloyd-Smith and Yeh both had a mix. The latter two were better with keeping in-class participations shorter. But their outside participations were longer than the in-class ones, especially Lloyd-Smith's, which was a bit annoying. But they're not graded intensely, so as long as you do them basically, you'll get credit. There was also a participation grade for demos, but I barely participated, if at all, and I only got one less point. Overall Grade: A- Overall I think this is a decent crop of professors to take LS 1 with, if only for Lloyd-Smith. The course material isn't too difficult, and the exams were kind of stupid but doable. I was expecting an A, but I guess I'll be content with an A-.
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