Professor
Saori Shiraki
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - Reviewing this class a year late because she wasn't listed as a professor when I first took the class in Spring 2017. I have to say, Shiraki probably isn't the model of what you would like in a professor. She visibly cringes when students don't understand, so even though I don't think it's intentional, she can definitely make students feel stupid. With that said, if she ever teaches 14A in the future, I'll say that this class is extremely flexible and success is definitely possible as long as you know how to approach the material. This is especially true given that her practice exams are almost exactly like her real exams. It's flexible because it's all based on quizzes or exams - no homework, so no accountability. This was daunting for me at first, but once again, not only are her exams similar to her practice exams, her quizzes are incredibly intuitive / reasonable especially in comparison to, say, Lavelle's (from speaking to a friend). In the end, I loved having her because I could not show up to class for 4 weeks and still be able to keep up with material since she posts her slides and answer keys. I'd just read Atkins, Chemical Principles and I was set. If you're a student who learns just as well from textbooks and independent learning, this is a great class because she essentially makes it so that you can do it on your own - especially since she's not an engaging lecturer. In the end my grade breakdown was Quiz 1: 19/20 Quiz 2: 20/20 Quiz 3: 20/20 Midterm 1: 97/100 Midterm 2: 96/100 Final: 179/200 Total: 431/460 (93.7%) = A Even getting a concussion ~2 weeks before the final and not having gone to class for those 4 weeks (and not keeping up), I was able to do well in the class simply by methodically going through the textbook and doing her practice exams. Chemistry is an intuitive subject for me, but nonetheless I think it was definitely feasible to do well in this class. It's just that most students didn't really have a chem background (including me) and also didn't really know how to study for the class because it's the first in the series. She's fair, but chemistry is just hard for people and her mediocre lecturing probably didn't help. So yeah, it'd be tough if you're not an independent learner, but personally her style actually really worked for me.
Spring 2017 - Reviewing this class a year late because she wasn't listed as a professor when I first took the class in Spring 2017. I have to say, Shiraki probably isn't the model of what you would like in a professor. She visibly cringes when students don't understand, so even though I don't think it's intentional, she can definitely make students feel stupid. With that said, if she ever teaches 14A in the future, I'll say that this class is extremely flexible and success is definitely possible as long as you know how to approach the material. This is especially true given that her practice exams are almost exactly like her real exams. It's flexible because it's all based on quizzes or exams - no homework, so no accountability. This was daunting for me at first, but once again, not only are her exams similar to her practice exams, her quizzes are incredibly intuitive / reasonable especially in comparison to, say, Lavelle's (from speaking to a friend). In the end, I loved having her because I could not show up to class for 4 weeks and still be able to keep up with material since she posts her slides and answer keys. I'd just read Atkins, Chemical Principles and I was set. If you're a student who learns just as well from textbooks and independent learning, this is a great class because she essentially makes it so that you can do it on your own - especially since she's not an engaging lecturer. In the end my grade breakdown was Quiz 1: 19/20 Quiz 2: 20/20 Quiz 3: 20/20 Midterm 1: 97/100 Midterm 2: 96/100 Final: 179/200 Total: 431/460 (93.7%) = A Even getting a concussion ~2 weeks before the final and not having gone to class for those 4 weeks (and not keeping up), I was able to do well in the class simply by methodically going through the textbook and doing her practice exams. Chemistry is an intuitive subject for me, but nonetheless I think it was definitely feasible to do well in this class. It's just that most students didn't really have a chem background (including me) and also didn't really know how to study for the class because it's the first in the series. She's fair, but chemistry is just hard for people and her mediocre lecturing probably didn't help. So yeah, it'd be tough if you're not an independent learner, but personally her style actually really worked for me.
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