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.
Great professor and interesting lectures. He's also a sweet and funny guy. Make sure to read the book, take notes, and review his lectures before the exam (and do the practice exam)!
Stu is the greatest professor I have ever had. Truly inspirational. Very captivating lectures and super interesting information. He's the best at lecturing, not to mention how adorable he is! Would love to take more classes with him in the future! . Material is very straight forward and interesting.
Don't try to write every little detail down, but instead, try to pay attention and really understand the material and the processes. The midterm was super easy, although I've heard that some people found it pretty hard. Go to CLAS. It helped me a lot, ended up getting a 97 on the midterm without reading the book lol. About as easy as AP Bio for me.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Loved Feinstein! Crystal clear lecturer, and actually engaging at 8 am. Study every detail on his slides, go to CLAS and you'll do just fine.
Good Professor, Nice guy. Basically everything you need is covered in class, the textbook really isn't necessary. His tests are fair but can be tricky
He's a nice guy, and he provides slides which really help with note-taking! There's a ton of memorization, and the midterm was tricky. Lectures are recorded and posted online, but go to class for the iClicker points!
He was the best out of the MCDB1A professors I had. At the beginning of every lecture he would review what he went over in the lecture before. Make sure to read the book and his test are pretty straightforward
Feinstein is a great guy; he's probably the best biology teacher and for what biochemistry can become, he actually made it simpler and more interesting. He's a great professor and he reviews before he lectures to ensure that people got what he was talking about. Very fair and his tests are directly from what he talks about. No tricks at all.
Very good teacher- I really enjoyed his class. I didn't do any of the reading, just studied lecture notes, and ended up doing really well. Definitely a lot of work, mostly memorization. He's interesting and I would recommend this class.
