Since this is the last part of the 7 series I won't go much into detail, especially about the exams. The class was really fun overall. I loved learning about the body and learned to appreciate how we evolved such complex bodies, and how every second they are working to keep us alive. It's amazing! The class grading wasn't great, though. Every time we had a discussion sheet returned to us with a grade, it had at least half a point taken off, and before submitting we were never told what the grading rubric was or anything like that, so we were in the dark about what to write down and what was expected from us. The tests also sucked, as they were unclear and when I asked on campuswire about the test questions and how they were unclear, the prof said we are only supposed to use info we learned in class, but how am I supposed to know what I learned in class or outside? To me, it all mashes into one, so I can't tell where I learned certain things. Grades kept getting changed after tests came out because even the professors themselves don't know what the correct answers were. The LS7 series is a mess, but it's necessary for all life sciences majors, so you make do.

This class felt like being transported back into high school, probably because the vast majority of students taking it are freshmen and the instructors know this. An incessant amount of "reflection questions", short quizzes, discussion worksheets, pre-discussion worksheets, iClicker questions, and extra credit activities... as a second year taking this class, a lot of it felt very repetitive and unnecessary, especially my mandatory 8 am discussion section.
In contrast to the very "beginner-friendly" tone of the lectures, the exams in this class are quite difficult, with multiple choice questions formulated so that you trip up on them and a very detailed knowledge of the material required to do well. Although this class is taught well and Professor Khankan clearly cares about her students, the combined workload of all the different small assignments was a lot.

Took Khankan in fall 2018. She's a pretty good teacher, but there's a lot of material to memorize. If you're interested in getting the answers to previous launchpad PEQs and PCRQs, email me at *************

About the class in general: 7C is undoubtedly the hardest of the 7 series. While I personally found the content more interesting and engaging than what was taught in 7A/B, it is a ton of material that you really have to understand; merely memorising bodily systems and anatomy will not fly.

The required assignments are time-consuming. The reading guides are four pages and are due at the beginning of the week. The pre-class reading questions are not spaced out between lectures; I remember there was one week where there were over 110 questions due on Tuesday and only 10 or so due on Thursday. I never really read back on a reading guide (though I think the act of completing them was helpful) and the PCRQ questions are quite elementary and are not similar to exam questions. However, I will say that the practice exams (PEQs) each week are extremely helpful as they require an actual understanding of the content.

Lectures are required because there are completion-based iClickers to track participation. Dr. Khankan moves a bit fast but it was needed to cover all of the material. She was clear, concise, and was still able to answer questions in lecture. Sometimes, diagrams were printed out on slips of paper and passed out to help students with understanding, which I appreciated.

The exams are take-home, on Canvas, and difficult. Despite not changing any of my work/study habits from the previous 7 series classes, I got around a 75% on the first midterm, which was certainly a wake-up call. I found that going through the clicker questions and PEQ questions and understanding why the incorrect answer choices were incorrect was an efficient and effective way to study, as opposed to rereading the textbook like some may try to do. Just like the exams from 7A/B, some of the questions are ambiguously worded, some convoluted, and a few where multiple answers seem correct depending on how you look at the problem and which time frame you consider. The instructional team may regrade a couple of questions to address this. The group stage is 20% of the exam grade and has two parts: one part uses the same diagrams and the same questions as the individual stage, and one part uses the same diagrams but asks different questions.

Lab sections were helpful. The worksheets really solidify your understanding of the content and it is a good opportunity to collaborate with your peers. However, I will note that when cross-checking with peers in different sections, there were some inconsistencies in the information that was given by different TAs/LAs.

There was extra credit offered and I would take advantage of every single opportunity no matter how time/effort-consuming they may be; every point matters in this class!

Regarding Dr. Khankan herself: she is clearly knowledgeable in the subject and is readily available during office hours and on Campuswire to answer any questions you may have. Before the class started, I requested accommodation for iClickers since I was unable to attend some of the lectures. Despite it requiring extra grading for her personally, she understood my situation and gave me an accommodation which I appreciated very much!

Dr. Khankan was one of the worst professors I've had at UCLA so far. The entire 7 series is so badly structured, but this class was the worst. It is completely packed with content, meaning that, if you don't have a great teacher, it's completely on you to learn everything from the textbook. This teacher didn't offer support to the students and when I reached out to her about some issues I was having, she completely disregarded me and was incredibly unhelpful. I think that professors should be people in your college experience that help you maneuver the whole situation and feel more comfortable, but obviously, that's not a given. All of my other STEM professors this year have been pretty bad overall, but Dr.Khankan really made my experience in this class a bad one. She gave off an arrogant and unapproachable feeling in class, and I would have felt silly asking her questions, so I didn't. She completely relied on the TA's for all student support, and even told me I should have talked to them before her. I understand that she's probably busy, but in choosing to teach a class, she is also accepting the role of leader and mentor for all her students, which I don't think she fulfilled. The people that did well in this class devoted a ton of time to it, did all the readings (with notes), studied for many additional hours on top of class assignments, and went to all the problem solving sessions. I understand that college level classes are more difficult and rigorous, but this level of workload is kind of ridiculous.
Despite the horrible structure of the class, a good professor would make it easy and even challenging in a way that motivates students. I know because I sat in on another lecture and was completely blown away by the difference. Dr. Khankan is unhelpful and was extremely rude to me when I tried to explain my situation to her. She basically accused me of lying to her, which wasn't the reaction I was expecting or hoping for from a professional. She refused to try to understand my situation and repeated the same things again and again in response. I did not feel like she cared at all about what I was trying to tell her, and it seemed like teaching was a burden to her. I would never choose to take another class from her, and I would never ever recommend her classes to anyone else. If you can avoid her, you should. The average grades in her class are way lower than they should be and this material can be so much easier with a better teacher.
Overall, the 7 series sucks and UCLA needs to find a better way to teach this material. I took IB biology for two years and had already learned it, and it was still a mess when I was trying to relearn everything. Biology at UCLA is so highly spoken of, but I was really disappointed after taking this class. It completely burned me out and I lost a lot of motivation and excitement about my major and experience at UCLA. Don't take her classes guys

The bottom line is that this class is hard. I honestly did not think that I would do well up until the final. I almost failed the first midterm, which was terrifying at the time. The content of the class is awesome - I think I learned a lot and would take it again - if there were no tests. Adding on to that, the tests were awful. Not the best experience. My advice would be to earn as much extra credit as you can. Every point does matter. I think that if you are able to do well in the other categories, it can bring up your grade immensely. Khankan is a good lecturer, but going to lecture isn't enough. Go to the CLC hours and do extra practice. If you actually study for this class and learn the content, you will probably do well in it.

Anyone planning to take this pretty much knows the 7 series by now and knows the things that make it frustrating and discouraging. This is the trickiest class in that series to be sure. The tests are worth a lot, and the first one is set up so that most people do poorly. I’m not sure if they’re just trying to teach us a lesson, but don’t be too discouraged if you don’t get the score you want on it, because the second midterm and the final were a lot better for most people. It is doable, but it often feels unfair, and it feels as though the assignments don’t actually test your understanding of the content, but rather your ability to read the test creator’s mind. You’ll probably have to work harder than in A and B, but you’ll be ok. Dr Khankan is a good lecturer and explains things clearly and completely. She does not control the content of the course, so I won’t hold it against her.

Where do I start, for the first biology class you take at UCLA isn't extremely hard. This course was pretty interesting but if you didn't do the reading/homework you'd get super behind due to the content and the quarter system as a whole. This professor was great, super interactive, genuinely cared, and made this course for me enjoyable. Though it doesn't matter which professor you get as 7A has the same coursework all across the board regardless. She's an amazing faculty and be a plus for your 7A journey but not needed! Most people say that the hw is tedious, however, I thought it wasn't too bad and for the most part not a difficult thing to complete. The weekly quizzes or "PALs" were annoying at best but nothing too unbearable when it came to difficulty. The true horror of this class comes from the AOL's which in my opinion is the reason many people find this course difficult. The questions are structured horribly and getting a correct answer is more about knowing how to answer rather than the content you know. Overall I wouldn't want to do this course again, though the topics are interesting and engaging, just make sure to do the work and study for the midterms/finals. You should do decent if you do that!

Professor Hsiao and Khankan taught LS7C together, and I think they both did a marvelous job as lecturers. They both explain content very well, and it is clear that they want to help students (felt welcome during OH, walk around during class to answers questions, listen to students, etc). However, I loathed LS7C. The entirety of the LS7 series really upsets, frustrates, and discourages me. The exams are not a direct test of your knowledge of the material, the questions are convoluted, and there are often multiple ways to interpret a question. The readings were way too much (why am I teaching myself the material before learning it from the professor??) and the reading based quizzes are ridiculous-- how and why is a student tested on something they taught themselves, that the professor helped with in no way at all? Please note that my point is not the professors; they are both great. It is the structure of this class. I think the LS7 series is horrible at keeping students engaged, and it makes people want to either switch majors or run through the class to just get it over with regardless of whether the students understand the material or not. Also, why are the reading guides due Tuesday, when they cover Thursday's content??? That means that the students have to do a week's worth of homework over the weekend. The structure of LS7 classes seriously needs to be fixed. Moreover, TA's aren't allowed to directly help you during discussion. They don't answer your questions, or tell you if you're right or wrong. They just "ask you questions." TA's should be there to explain things, not leave us to figure it out ourselves. If that were the case, we wouldn't need them, but we do. And when they were on strike, we didn't even have TA's or LA's to help with the discussion worksheet, which was still due. There was 0 explanation provided for the context of the discussion worksheets. Student's are basically on their own in this class.

I spent over 10 hours each week writing my notes and making sure I get everything. Thankfully, the final exam was easier than the midterms, and because of my extensive notes, I was able to find a lot of the answers in them-- I recommend you work really hard during the quarter, because that will allow the final exam to be a not-so-stressful experience (I personally did not study for the final exam thanks to the hours of work I put into the class prior, and got an A- on the final, and A in the class).

I am selling my reading notes (170 pages) for $20 and my lecture notes (87 pages) for $15. I am also selling all my completed reading guides for $15. Contact me at ********** if interested, or if you have questions.

Good luck...

KHANKAN IS AMAZING, this class is not. Khankan was a very concise, clear, and entertaining professor, and I would highly recommend taking her if ever possible. The workload for this class is very time consuming, but mostly completion based. Discussion worksheets are graded on correctness. There were two midterms-- each with an individual and group portion--, and a final with the same setup. Quizzes and prereading guides were due weekly and there were a lot of sections for each class. These tests are claimed not to be there to trick you, but they do. LOOK AT THE ARROW DIRECTION <-- biggest piece of advice.