This is probably the best LS class to take if you're a humanities major. I did bad on the midterm which hurt my grade so make sure you study for that because that and your final do kind of make or break your final grade. Other than that, I think Phelan was really smart and made this class as interesting as possible by lecturing on certain topics that are rarely touched on in other science courses. Discussions are a lot better if you get a good TA who isn't super strict on quizzes and assignments. Overall would highly suggest this class to anyone who is worried about taking science courses at UCLA.

This is the most interesting class I took in the fall quarter. Phelan's lectures are engaging. He always involve real-life examples and personal anecdotes in his lectures. Workload is heavy compared with other GE classes. There is a quiz every week, and we have to post on discussion board for around 5 times throughout the quarter. We are also required to do a presentation and a debate as a group. However, all quizes and presentations are based on a problem set Phelan sent to us every week, so as long as you do all the practice problems and read the textbook carefully, you would get an A for the class.

THE MAN, JAY PHELAN. I cannot tell you how thankful i am of him. he is one of the most generous professors on campus and the class itself was a lot more engaging and interesting than i thought. this particular ls class focuses more on integrating basic bio topics that you learned to some real life examples/concepts that add lil bit of complexity to the topic (if that makes sense....). i would highly recommend this class if you're looking for something a lil different from the same bio lessons you got from high school and middle school. the professor and TAs are also really nice and friendly... the professor, especially, does all he can to try and engage/connect with his students. He had us play a few geo-guesser games for *really* nice prizes. you can tell that he actually cares for the class even if he doesn't know you personally... the workload is also not bad at all, i was just really bad at time management. video lectures averaged about 40 min per week and are where you get the bulk of the most important information relating to the class and its tests/quizzes. there are two textbooks for the class, i would recommend only buying one (mean genes is a cool book but not that necessary); the readings in general are just a nice bonus to review concepts/vocab (the main textbook is really helpful in that they have mini paragraph summaries about each section that cover everything).

Tips:
- take notes on the lectures... if you don't do the readings or pay attention to the discussions, at least take good notes. majority of the information you need will be highlighted in the lectures
- go to the review sessions and take notes on the 'study guide'... the professor goes through a list of questions that you should be able to answer regarding topics that will be covered on the midterm and final... if you can thoroughly answer those questions, you should be able to do well on the tests. the questions aren't exactly the same as the study guide but are fairly similar
- get your debate and question presentation done as early as possible... there are two group project assignments required and they aren't that difficult but, especially the debate, you have to definitely prep for it. so try to sign up for the presentation slots as early as possible. also for the debate... don't worry too much about winning, focus on making sure your reasoning is logical and you are well versed on the topic to answer the questions at the end
- the class is curved at the very end (as well as the midterm and final).... can't guarantee how nice the curve will be but sir phelan is normally very generous about it... i got a 67 on the midterm but pulled out a 90 on the final and got an A- in the class.... so grade wise don't freak too much out about it. again, the professor is really nice and does what he can to help out the students :)... also you get lot's of extra credit opportunities
- out of respect to the teacher, try to do all the readings as much as you can. but in all honesty, don't worry too much about reading every single chapter for each lecture. the video lectures are where you get the bulk of your info and the textbook is really an additional resource to use when studying/filling out the study guide.
- go into office hours... majority of the tests and quizzes are essay based and the grading is very particular about answers... so this is kind of the time to really ask your questions and talk with your professor/TA about what you missed

anyway, all love and support to jay phelan... good luck on the class!

I LOVED this class with Dr. Phelan. I wasn't a big fan of science before, but the majority of the topics in the course were life-applicable and therefore super interesting. Discussion sections were interesting and engaging, and the group assignments were straightforward. The hardest part about this class was the midterm exam because of the time constraint, but for this quarter it was open note/book so that made it a lot easier. I really reccommend taking this class!

Definitely recommend this class!! The lectures were all online recorded and I had an in person discussion. I thought the workload was very fair, almost every discussion has a quiz but it's one question pulled straight from the weekly problem set and open note so you can literally just copy what you wrote. Professor Phelan is super engaging and his lectures were all very easy to watch and the material is pretty interesting and easy to understand. There are tons of extra credit opportunities to help your grade. I thought the multiple choice for the midterm and final were pretty easy and the short answer to be more difficult but they were still very doable. Really enjoyed this class!

I LOVED THIS CLASS! So interesting and you really learn about concepts/ideas that will help you navigate life. I got a 65% on the midterm and a 86% on the final but I ended with a -A in the class. I got almost perfect scores on everything else. There are multiple other factors that go into your final grade not just exams. He is such a nice guy and you can tell he wants everyone to succeed. DO THE EXTRA CREDIT. The extra credit is so fun and is a easy way to get some extra points that will ACTUALLY help your grade :)

welcome to my comprehensive LS15 review and cheat sheet ~

OVERALL: This class is NOT as easy as everyone says it is, but it is SO WORTH IT!! I'm a psych major and this class scared me because I had no AP bio experience/I'm not a science person at all, but all y'all non-science people have nothing to worry about. Passing should be easy, and getting a B just requires diligence. Getting an A is a little harder but definitely doable if you are dedicated and intentional with your work and studying for this class! I also took this class online, which I definitely feel like helped a lot because I NEEDED my notes for the midterm and final, so I have no idea how you guys who took it in person survived (although I do suspect that the curve was more forgiving in person as well). The professor is super engaging, but your TA/discussion section honestly matters so much more. Kelly Barr was my TA and he did a wonderful job explaining all the concepts to us and drilling it into out heads. At first, I thought he was a harsh grader, but he honestly set me up for success on the SAQ parts of the midterm and final. I also reached out to a few other students in my discussion who I noticed would get good scores on the quizzes/participate during class and studied with them, which helped me so much.

WORKLOAD: We got weekly readings from the textbook and Professor's own book. There is quite a bit of reading but if I'm being honest, I didn't read anything. I would just skim the review sections of the assigned textbook parts and call it a day. However, I do think the reading is very helpful, I was just lazy and still got an A without doing it. We also got weekly problem sets and quizzes. The quiz questions are pulled directly from the problem sets, so as long as you do them, you can literally copy-and-paste your answers into the quiz browser. However, some of the problem sets did get quite long and time consuming, but I always made sure to do them because the quiz points are free points that buffer your grade A LOTTT. There are 5? quizzes and your lowest grade gets dropped, and they're all out of 15 points. There was also a debate and a presentation where you would work with a group to debate a topic in the class (winning debate side gets 2 extra credit pts) and present the answers to a multi-part question from the problem set. These two assignments were honestly free points. As long as you reach out to your groupmates early on and get your work done, there's nothing to stress about at all. Discussion board posts were honestly very interesting and didn't feel like busy work at all!! Just make sure you check the calendar/schedule of assignments that Professor provides and the assignments in this class are super easy to keep track of.

EXAMS: A lot of people I knew ran out of time on the midterm and final because it is a bit of a time crunch but I'm a fast reader so I finished without much trouble. I had 20 extra mins left on the midterm, and 40 for the final. Online, we were allowed to use our notes and textbook which honestly helped a lot. I basically got 100% on all my other assignments, and an 86 and an 84 on the midterm and final, respectively, and finished with an A. The average for both was around 75-79%. Professor gives the top 20 scorers on the final an A in the class regardless of your grade before the final, but I would not rely on that. There is also not a curve on the final or midterm, but there is an overall class curve at the end of the course depending on overall grade distribution. Short-answer is CRUCIAL to both exams so I would make sure you understand all the major concepts like the back of your hand. Imo, final was harder than the midterm but a lot of people said otherwise. A lot of people suggest doing short answer before the MCQ part of the exams so time management is easier, I personally didn't but it's something to keep in mind. For both the quizzes and the exams, make sure your SAQ answers are very THOROUGH! Think AP test thorough. Hit all the critical points, use important vocabulary, and don't forget to define all your terms! :)

TLDR: STAY ON TOP OF YOUR WORK AND YOU'LL BE FINE!! Prof and TAs want to see you succeed. Don't hesitate to reach out to your peers or go to your TA's office hours. Decide for yourself if reading is necessary for your own study methods- don't waste time doing what isn't helpful for you. Don't fall behind because there is quite a bit of content, and go to class/watch the lectures. GOOD LUCK!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS CLASS! As a humanities major, I went into this class with absolutely no expectations whatsoever. I was actually looking forward to this class the least, but it turned out to be my favorite class I took this quarter. Professor Phelan is phenomenal. He is intelligent, funny, and charismatic--he truly enjoys the subject matter he's teaching and he is incredibly engaging. My TA Sam was also great too! Our discussion sections were long but we had really interesting discussions about evolution, altruism, etc. The subject matter of this course is SO FASCINATING and the professor really puts an emphasis on addressing science that applies to our everyday lives. My only complaint is that I didn't get to take this class in person with Professor Phelan, as all his lecture videos were online and asynchronous this quarter--I would have loved to learn from him in person! Take this class. You won't regret it. It's definitely not an "easy GE" in the sense that you won't have to put any effort in, but the effort I did have to put in was 100% worth it because I was really interested in what I was learning and the assignments were fun!

Also: I didn't really read Mean Genes, you can get by in the class without it. Every week textbook chapters are assigned for reading but about halfway through the quarter I stopped doing those, I would just go back and review certain parts in the textbook when studying for quizzes/exams. Pay attention in lectures, take good notes, and participate in your discussion section and you'll learn a lot!

I took this lecture asynchronously and the discussion was in person. Although the lecture was asynchronous, Professor Phelan is an engaging and interesting lecturer. I learned genuinely interesting things as a non-life science major and didn’t feel alienated by a bunch of scientific jargon. You can tell Professor Phelan is kind and cares about his students even though the lectures were asynchronous.

The class itself consists of weekly quizzes in discussion, a few discussion posts which are easy, and then the midterm and final. There is also a lot of extra credit offered throughout the course. If you study the material in the lecture thoroughly, go to office hours if you don’t understand something, and take advantage of the extra credit, then the exams are remarkably straight forward and an A is attainable. My TA was Alexis and she was engaging, insightful, and helpful. For a science GE, this is a solid choice.

“You’re never gonna hear ‘The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.’ I will never say that!”
—Professor Phelan

Before I delve any deeper, here is a brief summary of the class: Great professor, somewhat challenging workload, difficult midterm, easier final, fun lecture videos, a moderate amount of group participation, definitely not an easy A class but as long as you read and pay attention to the lectures, you should do well.

Professor: 5/5
Textbook: 4.2/5
Lectures: 5/5
Discussions: 4/5

The Professor
Professor Phelan is great. He is not only passionate about what he teaches, he is also very funny and – dare I say – relatable at times. He is able to break down the most complex biological concepts and make them very interesting and understandable. I was honestly terrified at the beginning of this class because I had a horrible time with AP Bio in high school and I didn’t want to memorize random bits of scientific jargon. But this class was nothing like any biology class I have ever seen. Phelan’s lecture videos were very well-made and surprisingly funny. He also cares a lot about his students and responds very quickly to emails. He knows what it’s like to struggle in school and he comes with a lot of unique life experiences. As much as I enjoyed learning about biology, I also really appreciated how he gave us study tips and strategies for better comprehension. He did a great job of preparing us for the tests. Probably my favorite professor this quarter :)

Was it fun?
Yes: LS15 was such an interesting class. You will learn topics that you had no idea were even connected to biology!

Was it hard?
Yes: This class will give you a decent amount of academic rigor so if you like that, you won’t be disappointed. The hardest part was applying the knowledge during discussions and tests. It was not the hardest class in the world though. If you stay on pace, you won’t fail or anything. Still, don’t expect it to be a piece of pie.

Life value
High: Goes beyond STEM knowledge with many practical life lessons in health, happiness, and relationships.

Highlight
The complete theory of kindness: This is something I still think about in my daily life. It really changed how I view friendships and interact with people.

Topics
Scientific literacy, evolution, natural selection, genetics, DNA fingerprinting, the nervous system, animal behavior, altruism, hormones, nutrition, happiness.

Textbooks
What is Life?
This was the main source of reading material for this class. For a biology textbook, it is written in a very digestible and simple manner. Great pictures and explanations.

Mean Genes
Not required to do well in the class but it is still a very fun read. I would highly recommend it.

Assignments
Discussion board: This was an easy discussion board post due every two weeks or so. We had to answer a prompt in 100-300 words and reply to at least one student. The more replies, the better. Make sure to actually give insightful responses though.

Discussion participation: You don’t have to talk at every discussion section but it is strongly encouraged. The talking points are not calculated for each person. Instead, it is more of a cumulative thing. Try to talk at least once per discussion and you won’t get called on.

Problem Sets: Not really an assignment but something that will help with the quizzes. They picked one question from the problem set and gave us a 20-minute quiz on it. Very chill and easy because you already have the answer.

Problem Set Presentation: We had a small 5-minute presentation on one of the problem set problems. Our group just made a Google Doc and a brief outline. It was very chill.

Debate: Okay, this was worth a massive amount of participation points so it is kind of a big deal. It is not as bad as you think though. The debate is about 30 minutes and your team of three goes against another team of three students. The debate topic is chosen from the syllabus, mostly things related to technology and biology (have humans transcended evolution? is technology good or bad?) You get some time to prepare for what you’re going to say but I recommend starting earlier than later. It was actually very fun.

Midterm: This was honestly very difficult. You have to be able to apply biological concepts, not just memorize. The format is multiple choice and short answer. Phelan does a midterm review session where he explains all the questions you will need to know for the test. I highly recommend going to it because it will really help you out.

Final: Easier than the midterm. He also did a review session for this and it was so helpful! The final wasn’t really cumulative and mostly focused on the latter half of the class after the midterm. It was still decently difficult so don’t expect it to be a piece of pie. Still, much easier than the midterm.

Extra credit: Phelan provides a fun extra credit assignment where you make a music video parody or movie trailer parody about something you learned in the class. He will give you 10, 20, or 30 points based on the entertainment and scientific accuracy of the content. The top 5 videos get 30 points. I highly recommend doing this. It can make a massive difference if you are taking the class for a letter grade. Very fun too.

Thank you for reading :)