The first third of MCDB 1A is a breeze thanks to Stu. He is really clear in lecture and shows a lot of diagrams that help explain things. Doesn't use the iClicker because he doesn't know how, and all lectures are recorded and posted online if you miss. DO THE OLD MIDTERMS POSTED ONLINE he literally takes those exact questions for his midterm.

Professor Clegg is a funny guy, lectures well, has great office hrs. However, he's only taught MCDB 1A for a short time and his test questions are weird. STUDY random details and figure out how to determine what his test questions are getting at! I did awesome on his midterm and not as great on his portion of the final... so weird discrepancy.

Professor Feinstein is an awesome and approachable professor. His tests are pretty tough. He teaches the Biochem section of MCDB 1A. He is super responsive to students through email, and great at office hours. I would definitely recommend him. He asks iclicker questions, so go to class. His tests are based mostly on just his lectures.

Best lecturer of this series. He draws on his slides a lot to explain in more detail and clarify things, so don't just use the slides, watch the lectures online if you skip class. Last few lectures are the hardest so don't burn out before then. Study the slides and it will do able. Also don't let low test scores get you down, the curve helps a lot

I didn't think I was a big fan of biochemistry, but Stu definitely changed that! He's not hard to pay attention to during an 8am and is very straightforward with the information. Favorite lecturer at UCSB so far.

He is very straightforward with the material (literally everything is in the lecture slides). I went to every class but rarely took notes because I found that getting the general idea during lecture was helpful for me. Later on I would review the slides for the more specific details. Tries to crack a joke every class- reminds me of my dad.

Definitely worst lecturer I've had in my 2 years. Why do I even go to class if I'm literally just having the slides read to me? AND it's an 8am. HELL NO. Not something I look forward to. Lecture slides are all over the place and hard to understand. Might as well just stay home and watch the lectures when it's convenient for you.

Really good professor and makes it easy to listen and pay attention in class. Tests are pretty hard, you definitely have to know your stuff and be concise in your answers. He tells you the book is optional which is really nice because you don't need to worry about doing the reading on top of studying lecture slides.

Stu is one of the best professors here. He cares about the material and his students, and gets really into lecture. Grading on tests can be tough, and they're all short answer so be specific and get to the point. 2 midterms + final, no papers.

His lectures are clear and interesting. He is hilarious. His midterm is moderate in difficulty; know the information on his powerpoint slides. His questions on the final were slightly more difficult.

His lectures are moderately clear. His midterm is difficult, but the class is curved. He seems willing to help.

Feinstein is a great and worthwhile professor; his lectures are concise and easy to follow (except cellular respiration, so I would advise Khan Academy and some self-help books) and his tests are a bit challenging. REVIEW LECTURE SLIDES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Book isn't necessary for his portion at all. He rarely uses iClickers as well.

Clegg was my favorite lecturer of the series and I did amazing on his midterm. A lot of people did bad or okay on his midterm because of the amount of memorization that needed to go down and some really specific and minute details he brought up on the test. If you study everything off the slides and have good memorization of details, you're good.

He was my favorite professor of the MCDB 1A series, but his tests were not as generous. The midterm was decent, although it requires you to memorize a TON of info. His questions on the final were rough. He tests you on individuals in the field of cell biology, which was a surprise to many of us, and he focuses a lot on stem cells. STUDY EARLY!

He is a great person and a solid professor, but his tests are pretty challenging. He really does test you on the small details, so going to class and going over lecture notes every day is essential. Make sure you know everything really well, he will test whether you really know the subject or not. on test day.

Meh. Uninspiring and mediocre. Goes over unimportant facts rather than teaching about biochemistry on a more conceptual level, and does not test on mastery of subject matter so much as rote memorization.

The midterm was okay, though it contained a lot of questions that pertained to unimportant information. His portion of the final was absolutely ridiculous. The questions required very specific knowledge of random facts, rather than knowledge of fundamental concepts in cell biology. I do not believe his tests measure mastery of the subject.

Midterm was pretty fair. Final was really tough his questions were super specific and required the most detailed memorization. He's approachable otherwise.

Dr. Clegg conveys the fascinating information presented in this course clearly. He is very involved in research but is also a great teacher. He is helpful and speaks to students with respect. He has high expectations from his students and the exams are difficult but fair. Also, take his stem cells course.

Amazing professor. His lectures were entertaining and he was very approachable during office hours. For the midterm i would say study the slides he doesn't really use the book.

Tests are exclusively on the lecture material. Didn't crack the book once. Lectures are incredible, this man gets me more excited to get into biology every day. He like to set up a big joke for each lecture, and his side tangents about things he does in the field his own personal experiences show you how the material relates to the real world.

Dr. Clegg, or Doc as you will get to know him by, is the best professor I have had at this school. This course is also the best I have ever taken; taught like a grad seminar, attendance is mandatory (and encouraged) but there is no final and the lectures (guests almost every class) are extremely interesting. Take this! And also MCDB 152 with him!

Stu is a great guy, cracks jokes all the time, makes class entertaining. Communicates information clearly and is extremely responsive to requests for help. Don't really need the book, mostly everything is lecture based.

the first 10 minutes of every class is just review of the previous lecture, so we actually go over all the material twice, which is quite nice. Test is very detail oriented, so study the details!!! He's a pretty good lecturer though, not monotone.