Most of lab section is spent sitting and waiting for something. The experiments we do are pointless and uninteresting, but every bio major has to take this class at some point. Your TA will determine how easy or hard the research paper assignment is. At least its way easier than 1LL.

The MCDB 1LL course was a mixed bag. TAs were often lost, prelabs were confusing, manual lacked clarity, and the course was disorganized/chaotic. Students were offered a small EC opportunity and GS was regularly updated (2 positives of this class). Email responses were unreliable. Labs could have been engaging if given better instruction/detail.

Honestly just awful in so many ways. Terrible PDF assignments that force students to buy Adobe Acrobat and then bait them into clicking links that make them lose all their work (this happened to me and many other classmates). Having to pay for the stupid lab manual that she probably makes thousands off of. Stingy and inaccessible. Horrible prof.

MCDB 1LL is way too much work for 1.5 units. In the first week during Winter quarter of 2022, we were doing remote learning and the LURE project drafts were so confusing, as no experiment videos were provided and we were just doing worksheets based on numbers/data given to us. The pre-labs are also tedious and time-consuming.

Insane amount of work, very disorganized, the work we are doing seems pointless

Easily one of the worst professors at UCSB. Both of the Intro Biology lab courses are incredibly disorganized. It's almost like Alice was the only one applying to be the head of the bio department and UCSB was stuck with hiring her. If she can get a job, anyone can >:(

The Biolab classes (1LL and 2LL) are horribly organized and a huge waste of three hours every week. This class also has super strict rules on grading and attendance and they will almost never make an exception for students under any circumstance. The only upside is that the final exam is a group test in 2LL.

Not good at her job. Has made multiple mistakes such as telling people incorrect grade cut offs and accusing people of cheating and later admitting it was her mistake. Makes you feel like a number. Weeder class

Half the class was accused of cheating on the last day of the quarter so no one could do anything about it. She didnt respond to the emails. Left us in the dark. Some got letters saying it was a mistake on their end. All exams had multiple mistakes they refused to fix. Waited to very last minute to submit final grades so we could not protest.

Lacks empathy and contributes to the (minimal) toxicity in the bio major. I dont understand how she has a job considering the immaturity and lack of self-awareness that she has. How did she even end up running the Intro Bio Labs? I cant believe the intro lab classes for the most impacted major on campus is this disorganized. UCSB deserves better.

If I could give her a zero I would. She is by far the worst faculty member I have ever had experience with at UCSB. This class was horribly organized, had unclear requirements, and Dr. Nguyen displayed a complete lack of compassion for her students on several occasions. I was actually excited to this class but this professor ruined it. TA was nice

Class is terribly organized, she doesn't respond to emails, changed grading policy to be harsher mid-quarter during a pandemic, even though the class uses 3 different websites to turn things in, all with different times due which is extremely confusing and difficult to keep track of. She is also uncaring and unsympathetic to student hardship.

literally the worst and least organized professor ever, does not respond to emails, is NOT understanding, changed the grading policy mid quarter to be less accommodating during the pandemic, and is m o n o t o n e

The class wasnt well run but not necessarily that difficult besides that. Dr. Nguyen didnt do her PhD in a molecular biology field, which was apparent when she tried do discuss even intro molecular biology topics, and especially more obvious in hindsight as you go on to upper div MCDB classes. Not the same level of quality as other UCSB profs.

They changed the format of the bio labs, and I had hoped that they would be better, but in fact, they have become worse! The grading scales are harder, and the lab practicals are no easier than before. Unfortunately there's no way to avoid this class if you're a bio major, so good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor tbh.

The literal worst, the labs are completely disorganized and the practicals test on tiny details with not enough time to answer the questions. The manual is horrible, and there's no guidance on the research project. WAY too much work for 1 unit.

too much work! should be worth way more than 1 unit!!!!!!!!

She has written down on the course policies that she gives makeup exams but she doesn't. Says you can contest your grade but when I complained about a grading mistake on my practical (and I'm 100% sure), the staff refused to fix it. Reuses questions she threw out other quarters because 1/2 students got another very close answer.

negligent, incompetent, disorganized, lazy

Several videos to watch in order to take a weekly quiz, reading the lab manual before lab, a ridiculous amount of questions in the manual that you need to answer, two practicals, and a fat research project without ANY guidance and sources that hardly make sense or cover necessary material. Good luck!

Trust me, too much work for 1 unit class. Lab manual is so unorganized

I'm going to come off as so extra but I swear, this is most disorganized class that I've ever taken w the most disorganized lab manual that I've ever read. The lab manual constantly has conflicting information in it, is written out of order, is so grammatically incorrect and vague, etc. yet we are graded on our knowledge of extremely specific info

Objectively graded class, no curve or very low curve. Make a good connection with your TA because they grade your paper that is worth about 20% of your grade. Do all the pre-labs and labs on time, these are the easy points. 1 unit class, but if you want to get a good grade, study hard for the practicals.

May be one of the most disorganized people for this job. She is in charge of coordinating the lectures and labs for intro bio classes and fails to do so well. The class is over complicated and the lab doesn't match the class at all. During my final she repeatedly screamed out errors she made on the final in a disruptive way. Very negative person.