I took LS2 with Schein in Fall '11.

Schein is a very engaging, enthusiastic professor who deeply cares for student learning. These are things apparent in the way he conducts his lectures: making students repeat important terms and ideas, and asking clicker questions (to reinforce the idea that you absolutely cannot fall behind in his class) and the detail he goes into when explaining concepts. If a concept is difficult but important, it will be something he addresses multiple times (like membrane potentials and the importance of surface area-to-volume ratios - know these!). His passion for the topics he teaches shows in his lectures - at times he might tangent off into explaining things like the historical background behind the discovery of the structure of DNA (to the annoyance of many students), but I appreciated being able to see the things we were learning in class put into some kind of context - to me, Schein's efforts made class more enjoyable.

The most important things Schein tests on can be found in the lecture slides. That's the point of the slides: they highlight what Schein finds important enough to cram into the little time he has in lecture. (As previous entries mention, Schein often goes over time, but that just attests to the dense nature of the material of LS2 - there's just so much to be taught in too little time.) However I wouldn't go as far as to neglect the textbook in taking this course. On the contrary, I think it's necessary to read the textbook because it offers in-depth explanations of the things Schein goes over in class, making some of the more complicated concepts easier to understand. Schein's slides are based on the book after all - and the book, at times, goes into more detail than we really care for, so it becomes important to pay attention to the sections of the book Schein places more focus on during lecture to determine which parts of the book you should pay attention to. This would be why Schein so passionately emphasizes that we should skim the text before lecture, and do an in-depth reading of the text only after.

I would say that for the most part Schein tested on important concepts that would most likely be relevant to our learning in other life science courses: the kinds of thing you'd probably encounter again in a biochem, physci, or neurosci course. It's really not just random, irrelevant details as the impressions of him seem to be, but I suppose these kinds of things are subject to personal opinion... He will, however, ask about certain particular details on his tests - he's gotta create a curve somehow, folks, and that's how he figures out who gets the As. Learn important ideas to discern important details.

I had Sally as my TA and I thought she was a really good TA. She really saw it as her duty to help us better understand concepts Schein might not have explained clearly. I've heard good things about Brian, as well, and Julia - both are great at explaining complicated concepts.

LS2 is a hard class. But taking Schein makes it enjoyable, and having a good TA (TAs are in charge of writing weekly quizzes) helps alleviate some of that burden.

I took LS2:

So I took Schein Fall qtr of 2011 and I have to say that his class was neither hard nor easy. I feel like you just have to put in the work! I read every single chapter assigned and I memorized (slightly) his lecture slides (which are basically the same thing in the book). If you do that then I don't see how not getting an A is possible in his class. There is an additional book he assigns (not very long) but it takes like an hour to read each chapter so its no big deal! I'm sick of everyone bashing him! Don't get annoyed just because you didn't read the chapters and didn't do well on his midterms!

My grades:
Midterm 1: 90%, Midterm 2: 84% and on the final I got an 82%. There are also discussion quizes, I didn't get below a 9 out of 10 on those (I had a great TA! BRIAN ROCKS!!!!) I ended up with a flat A as my final grade, thus HE CURVES. I believe the top 18% get A's.

LS2 Fall 2011 Evaluation of Professor Schein:

After taking LS2 with Professor Schein, I really learned about the material as well about myself. This was my first LS class that I took, but it definitely set the precursor for how I was to study for the rest of the series. First of all, overall, Professor Schein truly cares about his students through his lectures. I admit that he does have some flaws like running past the scheduled lecture time and going into trivial anecdotes and history. Although he would rush through the material, he showed great concern for the learning aspect of the course. His genuine care for his students to achieve proved to be how I got through his class. He made sure that everyone was awake, as he would make us repeat to "say [this term]" and made us stretch out in class during random moments - this was definitely a first, as none of my professors since I came to UCLA have done this. He engaged his students by these measures and more; he would even make us smile and laugh after cracking out a quirky joke or two. It was his concern and humor that kept me awake in class (plus, occasionally getting out of my seat to stretch out my legs didn't hurt either).

Furthermore, the material is straight-forward. Just read the text before and after his lectures. Understanding is key. His exams consisted of two midterms and a final, all of which were non-cumulative (so, the final was basically like a third midterm as my fellow LS2 students have stated). It definitely played in my favor with all of the finals that I had back-to-back. Study everyday and don't get behind. Learn the material as well as remember key facts; although he claims to test us on "learning the material," it is a mix of both learning and memory. Keep up with the lecture slides, as I found that rewatching the lecture that same day reinforced my learning. Don't get behind. The sooner you realize that you're behind, the more time you have to catch up again. In the end, I didn't get what I wanted in the class, but I earned what I put in - which unfortunately was not my best effort due to my busy schedule this quarter. Now, I know how to study for the rest of the LS series by taking this class with Professor Schein.

Overall message: Professor Schein may not be the best professor or lecturer, but he will teach you how to study for LS and much more in life. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change my professor but only how I learned the material. It's not what you get out of the course, but what you get from it. Professor Schein showed me that through his concern for his students as well as their learning. I definitely recommend him, but keep in mind that you have to put in the work to earn the grade that you want. If I had worked harder, it would have been a different story for me. Thank you, Professor Schein, for all of the smiles, laughs, and setting me in the right direction. I have much to learn, but he provided the first stepping stone in my adventure in LS.

I took LS2 in Fall of 2011.

I'm writing this evaluation before I get my final grade in the class so I can be unbiased.

With that being said, he's terrible. The biggest issue I had with him was that he could never ever finish a lecture on time and when he lectures in La Kretz and I have to get to Royce 5 minutes later after every lecture, it's very frustrating. He also makes you answer about 2, sometimes 3, clickr questions per lecture so be prepared to be in a crowded lecture hall every Monday, Wednesday and Friday...

He has two midterms and a final, but the final is structured the same way as the midterms so it's basically 3 midterms. Yes, they are all multiple choice questions, but don't let this comfort you. At the first lecture, he'll tell you some bull like: I don't ask you questions about stray facts that you'll forget the next day. And yet on the midterms, he still asked questions like "What is the diameter of the eukaryotic cell?" and "How much will the sea level rise if all the ice in Greenland melts?" (answer is in the movie An Inconvenient Truth that you have to watch).

Yes, he'll learn your name if you sit in the front and he gets all jolly and giddy when he lectures, but let's be real: when you see your grade at the end of the quarter, are you really going to comfort yourself and say "well he was a nice guy" ?

Don't be stupid, take a different professor wait for another quarter for someone better.

I took LS2 with PROFESSOR Schein.

I was a little off put at first, because he was very unapproachable outside of class. I called him Mr. Schein by mistake the first day.. DO NOT DO THAT, he made it clear that was not his name and was not very nice about it. I have heard similar experiences about him being unapproachable by several other students as well.

However, if addressed in a group he seems to be nicer, and he is a good professor.

I did not see any sexism, as people suggest, nor did I think the class was overly difficult. He expects you to know the information, but his lectures are his main focus. I didnt read the book, and did considerably above average simply by thoroughly listening to his lectures.

Do not be fooled when he says at the beginning of the course that he only asks conceptual questions though. He asks a TON of memory questions. I.E. how many years did civilization occur or how big is the average cell size he said in class.

I also took LS89, the honors part, and he was WAY more approachable there. He is extremely knowledgeable in a lot of subjects so his random rants are actually pretty interesting.

Overall:
He is a good lecturer
He is slightly unapproachable outside of class
Not overly difficult
He is pretty funny
&& Brian was an AWESOME TA, who knew a lot and was extremely helpful (I recommend going to the TA's office hour instead of Schein's because he is scary)

DO take the class, and DO show up to the class, because the lectures will get you an A.