One of the best class I've taken. Dr. Ma is very passionate about teaching and it shows. it makes a world of difference to have a prof who actually cares and expects more from his students. Take his class! you'll not only learn so much about biology, but also how develope your thinking skills in the subject. class was very interesting.

He is incredibly knowledgable in the material he teaches, and very friendly. It wasn't an easy course, but I would gladly take another class with him.

i got a C from his class.i'm not a real smart student so i studied a lot to get that C...and his exams were hard. he said he expected us to achieve the next level of thinking above his lecture material. I like him though. Really helpful and friendly, i met him a few times in IV Little Asia and he was nice.

Dr. Ma is the best teacher ever! He's really helpful and entertaining to learn from, a quality of which is extremely rare in the bio department. The only thing that sucks is that his tests are HARRDD as hell, but it really teaches you how to think beyond the boundary of the textbooks.

One of the best profs I've had. Really takes time to help his students.

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Ma is the most outstanding professor I've had in my 4 years at UCSB. His knowledge, charisma, and ability to effectively present large complex ideas makes this so. Read the book- Ma's lecture slides complement the book very well, but don't include small details. Exams test your knowledge well. Live and breath the correlative learning!

Teaches pretty well and seems helpful. He can be a bit boring at times though. His tests are extremely difficult. He tries to make you critically think by asking you questions that require you to really understand the concepts, though he practices some of these questions with you in class. There is also quite alot to memorize.

This class is hard because on top of the mountain of memorization you have to decipher Professor Ma's notes. That makes learning everything take a lot longer and makes it much more confusing to figure out. The textbook isn't much help either, it's unnecessarily dense and contains way more information than we cover.

One of the most intelligent professors I have had. Forces you to critically think and apply knowledge to answer questions. Tests are hard and require you to understand and think correlatively. Very approachable and wants you to succeed. Would definitely take a class with him again

Professor Ma is brilliant. This is a difficult course, but he is concise and has a uniquely admirable way of thinking and encouraging his students to think. Tests are difficult; must have a solid understanding of concepts to do well. Thick accent, so listen carefully. Take the honors section.

Very enthusiastic/passionate teacher. Read the text and pay thorough attention in lecture, some exams had questions only discussed in lecture. Some exam questions are confusing, do not be afraid to address/contest them. She does not curve her test. Lab exams are practicals. Tough class, be prepared to study and know the material thoroughly.

Thick accent so its hard to understand him, he knows alot but has trouble with the language barrier when people ask questions. Lectures are very boring, he uses a lot of slides and there is a lot of info but go to section because the TAs help direct your focus on what you actually need to know for the tests and do the 5 homeworks he assigns!

Tests are very challenging because he focuses on knowledge application rather than memorization! His accent is thick, but understandable! Overall, he is great! If u r premed, def can benefit from his style of testing!

like others have said his accent is thick but he's not difficult to understand. his tests take a lot of thinking, you really need to understand the material and be able to put it all together to apply it to the question. however he is very caring about his students and truly wants you to learn.

Prof Ma is really intelligent and easy to talk to. His accent makes it a little hard to understand sometimes, though. I learned a lot and had to apply my knowledge in less conventional ways than other classes. Attendance is not mandatory, but Ma will take notice if you show up and participate, and may be more forgiving (gradewise) if he sees this.

He is a genius, and pretty much expects you to be one too. His tests are ruthless. All conceptual questions that bring in information from other courses, even courses you haven't taken. His Accent is also very thick and it can be difficult to understand what he is talking about.