Professor
Janel Le Belle
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Neuroscience 102 (neuroanatomy) was taught in Fall 2024 by both Dr. Prins and Dr. Le Belle, so this review will give some information about both of them, as well as about the class in general. TLDR: NEUROSC 102 is a very difficult course! It is an INSANE amount of memorization of information (in my opinion, WAY HARDER than biochem). Anki (or similar) will be your best friend to survive this class, and studying needs to be done over a longer period of time to not fall behind because cramming is simply not feasible for a class with this much volume of information. Dr. Prins: Dr. Prins was quite clear and straightforward during lectures. She was very helpful in office hours as well. In my opinion, her exam questions were definitely much harder than Dr. Le Belle's because she tended to test some niche/lower-yield details and facts that were not a heavy emphasis of her lectures or her slides. Technically, everything on the exams is found somewhere on the slides or said sometime in lecture, but a lot of Dr. Prins's questions (especially on the final) seemed to be testing the smallest details. Dr. Le Belle: Dr. Le Belle was very clear and straightforward during lectures. She was very helpful in office hours and had a shared Google Doc with the class throughout the quarter where she would answer questions for the whole class to see. Dr. Le Belle's exam questions tended to be more straightforward (not necessarily easier) since she would ask about the major facts of her lectures. Dr. Le Belle also provided blanks on Canvas for a lot of the diagrams that we would be expected to know on exams, like the spinal cord, ascending and descending tracts, and brainstem. Indeed, these exact same images did show up on the exams, so overall, I think Dr. Le Belle was more predictable with her exam questions and did not tend to test the minor details as much. Lectures: Lectures were not recorded this quarter (and were at 8am), but the slides were posted on Bruinlearn, and attendance was not taken. Showing up to lecture was still useful because the professors often told us exactly what needed to be memorized and would show up on the exams and what was just for additional interest and did not need to be memorized for the exams. In each week, there were two lectures, and typically one would be given by Dr. Prins and the other would be given by Dr. Le Belle. Roughly, they split the lectures half-half over the course of the quarter. Labs: There was a weekly lab for this course where we did interesting sheep brain and cow spinal cord dissections, as well as some dry labs about neurological tests of the cranial nerves and spinal cord function. There were a total of 5 labs throughout the quarter, each of which had an associated lab quiz. The lab quizzes were written by the TAs and were quite straightforward questions, aka they were straight off the lab manual. Much like the lecture exams, the lab quizzes were mostly identification of a pinned/arrowed structure on an image of some part of the brain or spinal cord, so a lot of memorization and being able to identify structures off a stain/image. In week 10, there was a 100 point final lab practicum with 50 questions, and these questions were also relatively straightforward, but since this lab practicum was cumulative across all 5 labs and it was quite high-stakes (worth as much as a midterm), it did require studying/preparation from the lab manuals. The lab practicum had some questions off images from the lab manuals and other questions where actual brain and spinal cord slices were pinned in different locations, pointing to various structures. Exams: There were two midterms and one cumulative final for this class. The midterms were each worth 100 points and the final was worth 160 points. Each professor wrote the questions for the corresponding lectures that they taught, and like said above, in my opinion, Dr. Prins's questions were harder than Dr. Le Belle's, generally speaking. The exams were a mix of multiple choice, select all that apply multiple choices, and free response/short answer (typically only a phrase or 1-2 sentences max). The final was definitely much harder than the midterms just because it was cumulative and required knowledge of the whole quarter's worth of material. The final had a slight emphasis on the newer material (from after Midterm 2), but it did include questions from every lecture of the entire course. Grading: This class was out of 500 points, and the letter grade scale was standard (93%+ is A, but no A+). Midterm 1 was 100 points, Midterm 2 was 100 points, Final Exam was 160 points, Lab Practicum was 100 points, and the best 4 (out of 5) lab quizzes was 40 points, for a total of 500 points. This quarter, there was 20 bonus points for taking weekly quizzes about the lecture material on Canvas (2 bonus pts/week for 10 weeks). There was also a survey that we were asked to fill out for 10 bonus points. So overall 30 bonus points, which is a good 6% buffer to our final grades!! Long story short, this class is very difficult due to the sheer volume of information and memorization. There's no way around it except to study and prepare on a consistent basis and not fall behind. While the grading scheme is entirely based on exams/quizzes and there is no participation, homework, or any other "free" points, there is 6% of extra credit bonus points, which helps a lot. Getting an A is definitely doable so long as you put a lot of consistent time and effort! Good luck!
Fall 2024 - Neuroscience 102 (neuroanatomy) was taught in Fall 2024 by both Dr. Prins and Dr. Le Belle, so this review will give some information about both of them, as well as about the class in general. TLDR: NEUROSC 102 is a very difficult course! It is an INSANE amount of memorization of information (in my opinion, WAY HARDER than biochem). Anki (or similar) will be your best friend to survive this class, and studying needs to be done over a longer period of time to not fall behind because cramming is simply not feasible for a class with this much volume of information. Dr. Prins: Dr. Prins was quite clear and straightforward during lectures. She was very helpful in office hours as well. In my opinion, her exam questions were definitely much harder than Dr. Le Belle's because she tended to test some niche/lower-yield details and facts that were not a heavy emphasis of her lectures or her slides. Technically, everything on the exams is found somewhere on the slides or said sometime in lecture, but a lot of Dr. Prins's questions (especially on the final) seemed to be testing the smallest details. Dr. Le Belle: Dr. Le Belle was very clear and straightforward during lectures. She was very helpful in office hours and had a shared Google Doc with the class throughout the quarter where she would answer questions for the whole class to see. Dr. Le Belle's exam questions tended to be more straightforward (not necessarily easier) since she would ask about the major facts of her lectures. Dr. Le Belle also provided blanks on Canvas for a lot of the diagrams that we would be expected to know on exams, like the spinal cord, ascending and descending tracts, and brainstem. Indeed, these exact same images did show up on the exams, so overall, I think Dr. Le Belle was more predictable with her exam questions and did not tend to test the minor details as much. Lectures: Lectures were not recorded this quarter (and were at 8am), but the slides were posted on Bruinlearn, and attendance was not taken. Showing up to lecture was still useful because the professors often told us exactly what needed to be memorized and would show up on the exams and what was just for additional interest and did not need to be memorized for the exams. In each week, there were two lectures, and typically one would be given by Dr. Prins and the other would be given by Dr. Le Belle. Roughly, they split the lectures half-half over the course of the quarter. Labs: There was a weekly lab for this course where we did interesting sheep brain and cow spinal cord dissections, as well as some dry labs about neurological tests of the cranial nerves and spinal cord function. There were a total of 5 labs throughout the quarter, each of which had an associated lab quiz. The lab quizzes were written by the TAs and were quite straightforward questions, aka they were straight off the lab manual. Much like the lecture exams, the lab quizzes were mostly identification of a pinned/arrowed structure on an image of some part of the brain or spinal cord, so a lot of memorization and being able to identify structures off a stain/image. In week 10, there was a 100 point final lab practicum with 50 questions, and these questions were also relatively straightforward, but since this lab practicum was cumulative across all 5 labs and it was quite high-stakes (worth as much as a midterm), it did require studying/preparation from the lab manuals. The lab practicum had some questions off images from the lab manuals and other questions where actual brain and spinal cord slices were pinned in different locations, pointing to various structures. Exams: There were two midterms and one cumulative final for this class. The midterms were each worth 100 points and the final was worth 160 points. Each professor wrote the questions for the corresponding lectures that they taught, and like said above, in my opinion, Dr. Prins's questions were harder than Dr. Le Belle's, generally speaking. The exams were a mix of multiple choice, select all that apply multiple choices, and free response/short answer (typically only a phrase or 1-2 sentences max). The final was definitely much harder than the midterms just because it was cumulative and required knowledge of the whole quarter's worth of material. The final had a slight emphasis on the newer material (from after Midterm 2), but it did include questions from every lecture of the entire course. Grading: This class was out of 500 points, and the letter grade scale was standard (93%+ is A, but no A+). Midterm 1 was 100 points, Midterm 2 was 100 points, Final Exam was 160 points, Lab Practicum was 100 points, and the best 4 (out of 5) lab quizzes was 40 points, for a total of 500 points. This quarter, there was 20 bonus points for taking weekly quizzes about the lecture material on Canvas (2 bonus pts/week for 10 weeks). There was also a survey that we were asked to fill out for 10 bonus points. So overall 30 bonus points, which is a good 6% buffer to our final grades!! Long story short, this class is very difficult due to the sheer volume of information and memorization. There's no way around it except to study and prepare on a consistent basis and not fall behind. While the grading scheme is entirely based on exams/quizzes and there is no participation, homework, or any other "free" points, there is 6% of extra credit bonus points, which helps a lot. Getting an A is definitely doable so long as you put a lot of consistent time and effort! Good luck!
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