I just wanted to say that I loved this class. Dr. Esdin's lectures were not only easy to understand but interesting. He was also a very nice and helpful teacher. I recommend attending his office hours every now and then when you have a question or need to reach him in regards to the iClicker app.

From what I can recall, the midterm and final exam [100 points each], the lab quizzes (5) [15 points], the lecture quizzes (3)[15 points], the project [100 points] and your attendance in both the lectures (participation is graded through the iClicker subscription- you answer about 3 questions per lecture) and the labs (these are mandatory) make up your grade.

There was really no homework assigned but we were expected to study for quizzes given every other week at the beginning of our lab section. The labs were fairly easy. The midterm and final were not too difficult either, just don't leave the reading until the last minute.

Although there is a lot of material to cover, you are bound to pass the class if you attend the lectures, read the chapters right after class and answer the questions at the end of the chapters for review. I also HIGHLY recommend going to office hours with your TA. They will save you if you have any questions or are confused on a topic covered on either the labs or lectures. If it seems like your TA is not very helpful, I recommend reaching out to another TA.

I cannot express how much I loved this class.
Professor Esdin is without a doubt the BEST professor I've ever had the pleasure of studying under, in regards to your typical STEM classes. I ended the quarter with a B but the professor wasn't to blame at all - I was working part time and he was very understanding of my situation. I felt like I learned so much in this class, and if there was anything I didn't understand, he took his time to explain it the best he could. And honestly, he made everything complex seem very simple.

Plus he talks to his students, which is always a great thing.

I highly recommend taking this class with him!

Professor Esdin and 7C were tough. Professor Esdin was funny in lectures at time, but being in a large lecture hall made it difficult to hear him at times. His lecture slides were not all descriptive so you have to pay more attention to what he says than what is on the PowerPoint slides. iClicker questions were important for participation credit as well as really helpful for the midterms and final material. Discussion sections were also graded heavily on accuracy with both independent and group worksheets working with your assigned pod groups. There are two midterms (wk 1-3 content and wk 4-6 content) and one final (focused on wk7-10 content, but covers a few content of previous weeks). I personally found the second midterm to be a lot easier than the first midterm, but both were relatively difficult. DEFINATELY, become familiar with the diagrams covered in lecture/discussion because 99% of the questions on the exams are linked to diagrams. His grading system is based on points (total of 680 points) which the points come from midterm scores, final exam scores, discussion worksheets, Achieve readings, PCRQ, PCQ, and iClicker. The reading on Achieve can be a bit long and a bit time-consuming, but the questions that follow do provide some help.

Most of the people who have gotten As recently took this course during COVID. IF YOU ARE NOT A GOOD MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST TAKER, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. The project was tedious but easy, but the midterm and final were difficult. It's not like they were super time-consuming, but I kept messing up on the multiple choice and got a C+ on the midterm and a C on the final. I changed my grade from a letter grade to pass/no pass halfway through the quarter. The lectures are mandatory, but they almost feel useless when you have the course reader. The exams are almost all based on the course reader, but it is redundant and terribly written. I hated this class. I will say my grade still would have been a B if I had not changed it. He does given a decent amount of credit for attendance and other things so that helps boost the grade. My conclusion is that this class is easy to pass, but not necessarily an easy A. Had I known, I would not take it.

This class is not as easy as years prior have made it seem. While the content itself is not complex, there is just a large quantity of information that must be memorized for the tests. The information is also not as interesting as the class seems as its more so just learning biology with a focus on lipids, carbs, fats, diabetes, and the endocrine, digestive, & cardiovascular system. You do receive a grade for attendance through clicker questions at the end of each lecture, and while they are graded for accuracy, Professor Esdin tells you the answer so you can change your answer before submission, so as long as you are in class (you can miss 3 classes without harm to your grade) and pay attention for the questions at the end, you should get full attendance points. You are also graded for attendance in lab sections, but they are only once every other week, require minimal effort, and almost always end early. The project is time-intensive but not hard, and be sure to not wait until the last night, because you will be miserable. The project also requires you to track your food intake and activity for a week, which you will be told when to do, but it requires a software that comes with the course reader that you would pay a significant amount for. However, you can also buy the software on amazon and share it with others as you can have multiple logs without buying the course reader. While the class says the course reader is required, it's really not. It is useful as it has all the info you need for the test (plus additional information), but you can buy used ones for cheaper. I just read the course reader and condensed it into easier to read notes to study for tests as it is dense with repetitive information. There are also two lecture quizzes and three lab quizzes that often have confusing wording, so don't be shocked or discouraged if you don't do well on all of them as they as each one is a small part of your grade. However, I recommend studying for them (even if they are online as those are tricky as well) as multiple bad grades on those quizzes can pile up. As for exams, the midterm is weighted just as much as the final and the project, and the final was not cumulative for me (which was a big relief). However, to do well on the midterm and final, a lot of studying and memorizing is necessary (I'd start studying a week and a half before each one especially if you are a procrastinator like myself). There will be questions on the test with confusing wording, but most of the questions were whether you knew the material or not, but if you study enough you should get a high B or low A on the two exams. The tests are also pretty short which is nice. The project and attendance grades will save your grade in the class as they will make up for your quizzes and exams, so make sure to show up to class (which does kinda suck as its MWF at 9am) and turn in the project on time. Also, Professor Esdin seems to bump up everyone's grade a little as I got an A despite having the grade to have a A-. While this class is not as easy as earlier reviews have made it seem, it's still very achievable to get an A, but a decent amount of effort is required. It also gives the lab credit and is helpful in giving advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle. It's a solid class, but I wouldn't take it if you are taking a bunch of work-intensive classes during the same quarter.

this class is extremley hard. the material is very heavy and it is very hard to understand everything. I thought 7a and 7b were super easy. I then took this class and was just hoping to get a B. the midterm 1 is so hard so i would study a lot.

This course was extremely helpful and overall very thorough. If you are interested in biology, then this is definitely a course for you--it covers a lot of in-depth human biological processes. Exams are all multiple choice, and for the most part pretty straightforward. My recommendation is to keep up with the quarter-long project as best you can--do not procrastinate.

The class is super easy and really interesting. Some tasks can be tedious and repetitive but overall the class was really enjoyable. Also super nice that it was online asynchronous.

If you are reading this review, you have probably already taken the other two classes in the 7 series and this class is pretty much exactly the same. The material itself focuses on many new topics regarding human body systems, but also reviews a lot of 7A material. The overall workload is the exact same, but the dreaded wording on the exams make the exams harder than they need to be. People tend to do pretty poorly on the first midterm, but the second midterm and final went much better. Overall, it is not a difficult class, try to review clicker questions, discussion worksheets, and practice exam questions before exams though. There is also a good bit of easy extra credit given throughout the quarter. Esdin himself is a great lecturer who loves to throw in jokes every now and then. He's clear and concise as well.

nice professor, focus on material and the lecture is not such important.
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