Actual class taken: Society and Genetics 5

Dr. Lynch Alfaro taught the second half of the course, the first half was taught by Dr. Landecker.

Lynch Alfaro was by far the better professor. She did a good job of holding students attention, but the lectures were still somewhat dull. She was very kind when I attended office hours and was happy to help students who asked.

The grading consisted of the following:
Participation: 20%
Midterm 20%
Paper 20%
Quizzes 20%
Final 20%

Participation was simply attending discussion, doing the standing assignment each week (read 2 of the assigned articles and write key terms, a 1 sentence summary, and 1 question you have for each article), and actually participate a little bit. It's easy points.

The midterm consisted of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. It was graded harshly. You would get marked down for not using specific words on questions or for not including enough information on what many thought was the least important part of the question. The average on the midterm was a C.

The paper is 7 pages on antibiotic resistance or the microbiome. It consists of 2 different 3 page mock testimonies to congress on the issue and a 1 page introduction. Pretty easy stuff.

There were 5 quizzes (all in the second half of the course). 5 multiple choice questions. They were supposed to cover the readings and lectures from the previous two classes, but honestly just review the lecture notes and you'll ace all of them. The lowest score gets dropped, so 4 quizzes at 5% of your grade each.

The final was not cumulative (midterm took place really early) and was actually easier than the midterm. Again, multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions.

There are a lot of assigned readings. It is worth it to read all of them early on (make sure to highlight and take notes) to help with the paper. After the paper, there really isn't a reason to read more than necessary to complete the standing assignment each week.

The class isn't too difficult. There are definitely easier GEs out there, though.

Also, I highly recommend you print out the lecture slides and use them to take notes. It will make it much easier to pay attention to what is said in lecture.