Solid lecturer. I definitely think reading before the lectures is a big help. I think overall his portion of the class is quite simple and straightforward. It is heavy conceptually, but there aren't many practice problems to do which is why you should engage with the material as much as you can in the book or in office hours.
Very charismatic professor and good lecturer (condenses material down making it easy to understand) but the midterm questions are worded very specific and some material on the exams is not taught in lecture.
Clegg's lectures are fine, but his test questions are highly specific and intentionally confusing.
Clegg's portion of the MCDB1A was undoubtedly the hardest for me. It was based on the tiniest of details and took a lot of concept relaying to fully understand the concepts. Just try your hardest and if you don't do well, haul ass for the final. The curve really comes through (78 was an A- for Fall 2021). Curve was insanely good for this class.
He is a great professor and his lectures are very easy to follow and engaging. He would go through lecture material really quickly, but the lectures were recorded and posted online later so it was no big deal. Studying the experiments is super important.
Lectures were based off the reading heavily. I honestly found the reading more helpful for the exam than the lecture because he would tend to go off on tangents about his own research or other researchers he knows. If you do the readings and study, the midterm and his portion of the final are definitely doable.
His lectures were my favorite out of the 3 for this class. His midterm and portion of the final were also the hardest. It was all memorization and we were tested on the smallest details. Honestly studying could only do so much unless you have a photographic memory.
he put a question on our practice test and on the midterm but misspelled the correct answer from the practice, so no one got it right. he also made a mistake on the practice test and used the same question on the real test, when a student questioned it after the test, he changed the answer so again, almost everyone's grades dropped. so frustrating.
My favorite lecturer from MCDB 1A. His part of the class is about cellular biology and most of it is memorization. So rewatch lectures, take notes, and read the book.
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.
his lectures are straightforward, but his test is too heavily formatted on knowing more than one answer for the question. I feel like this is very unnecessary especially since his topics are memorization-heavy, and his format isn't needed especially during an online class. Stu did better on formatting his questions than clegg did.
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.
Stu is an awesome teacher and really helps answer questions. He is excellent at explaining and will be patient with you until you understand the concepts. His lectures have lots of information in them so be ready to listen and take notes. Just know that he isn't very good with learning names, but once he knows who you are he will not forget you.
He likes to tell jokes. His exams are very detailed, and the style of the problems is quite unique, which is really effective in testing the actual degree of understanding among students. One must get quite familiar with the material to achieve better grade.
He does not give enough practice problems for students to review, so reading textbook is important. The lecture is good and the exam is normal (especially when comparing with other professors teaching this course).
Probably the best of the three professors teaching the intro series. He usually summarizes the lecture before in the first 10 minutes so its a good review to explain any confusing things. He writes on the lecture slides which is surprisingly helpful. Definitely take CLAS. I recommend Amy Liest. Her packets and review sessions help a lot.
Great professor for the intro series. Material is not too hard compared to the rest of intro bio, but he takes time and explains things in detail. Coll guy.
Feinstein is alright. He is not amazing by any means but he gets the job done and teaches the material in a straightforward way. The tests are also pretty easy and predictable as long as you study. He teaches the first third of MCDB 1A (the biochem section). Goes over material slowly so you can understand everything. Honors section was kinda boring
Teaches the biochemistry portion of MCDB1A. Really good at teaching the material. He goes over material twice so that helps with any loose ends you had trouble with when he first explained it. Midterm was actually very easy (this is coming from someone who sucks at chem). Never went to lecture (watch them online). CLAS is very helpful.
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
