Dr. Joshi is a very kind and knowledgeable professor. The lectures may be slightly rushed sometimes, but all can be cleared up by rewatching them and asking questions in office hours or after class. It's essential to do all the book problems and understand them entirely. Start studying early for this class and stay caught up and you will succeed.
PJ is a very intelligent, caring, professor and he does care about his students. With that being said, lectures were unclear and critical material was not explained.The midterm also had questions relating to things barely talked about or we talked about the lecture after the midterm. Tests were difficult and way too long for the period allotted.
This is a difficult and demanding course, but PJ makes expectations clear and provides many useful resources to set you up for success. Lectures can be difficult to follow but he knows the material well and rewatching the videos and reading the textbook can clarify any gaps. Put in the effort to learn the material thoroughly and you can do well.
A class of nothing but suffering and agony. Some of the concepts should be familiar territory, but he does a very poor job at teaching them.
To give you a glimpse: Had a quiz due the day of the final and he was sending out explanation emails on slides at 8:36pm the night before the final. Terribly disorganized and simply a bad lecturer, which would be fine if the exam difficulty wasn't through the roof. Being sweet as a person doesn't excuse such bad teaching at this point in my degree.
worst mcdb professor I have had what am I paying this school for
Professor Joshi is a very sweet and caring Professor. He seems to really know his stuff and is invested in the material, that being said I had to drop the class Week 5 and I continued to audit the course the rest of the quarter because of how disorganized the course was and how difficult his exams were. I don't recommend him if you can help it.
Great guy-should not be teaching. Rushes through difficult sections, draws out the concepts that you already know from 101B or 1B, and is generally unable to consolidate his thoughts into a clear line of reasoning, with his explanations going on tangents that only confuse you more Steer clear
This class was insufferable. Lectures are very disorganized and PJ contradicts himself often, making it more difficult to learn material. I mainly read the textbook when learning/studying the material because lectures did absolutely nothing for me. Tests were nearly impossible to finish and had mistakes. Do not take unless you want to be miserable.
The average for the second midterm was a 53 and bro said skill issue. Apparently everyone did bad because it was "new content" and we weren't comfortable with it. I think the fact that lectures are incredibly disorganized, difficult to follow, and the fact that the tests are too dense for the 50 minute period are more likely reasons for low scores.
Whatever you do, do not take this class with Joshi.
Do yourself a favor and avoid taking this professor. This has been on of the most disorganized, inefficiently taught course I have ever taken in the UCSB MCDB department. He goes off in tangents, skips larges portions of critical material, then expects to do well on the midterms with questions on material we haven't even seen. Ridiculous.
He tests on content he has barely covered, and his lectures are not helpful at all. I would not recommend.
So hard and so terrible, avoid 101b with Joshi. Never gets through his slide sets, gets sidetracked and rambles, and does not make it clear what content from the lectures will be on the test. No practice exams, or good study resources. You're on your own. My TA was also useless and could not solve the practice pedigree problems she would give us.
Dr. Joshi is by far one of the kindest professors I've had at UCSB. He makes expectations for the course very clear and his exams are more than fair. He puts in a lot of effort into ensuring his students feel prepared and you can tell that he cares about his students. If you go to lectures and do the assigned book problems, getting an A is doable!
The worst class in the biology department/the worst class I have taken in college. There is nothing redeemable about this class. It's just so bad its a little sad.
The absolute WORST lecturer I have ever had. Getting an A is possible but go into it knowing that you will have to do a lot of work on your own. I recommend reading the textbook as his lectures are useless. The LAs are super nice and will give you tips. My TA was also useless lol
Avoid this class at all cost as his lecture is basically useless and he provides no help for you to prepare for his exam. No practice exam or anything, just one paper full of topics that he is going to test on. His exam is vague and expect you to provide all details regarding the question while giving nothing helpful.
Joshi is very intelligent & caring but many concepts were hard to understand. This was the only MCDB class I've had to thoroughly read the textbook in & at one point felt the lectures were just supplemental. Do ALL the practice problems & clarify things with him 1-on-1. Review sessions weren't too helpful. Do the practice tests & review for sure.
You pretty much have to teach yourself the material for this class using the textbook. Joshi is a nice guy but his lectures are not cohesive whatsoever, and he goes on several tangents completely unrelated to what he tests on. He contradicts himself on a regular basis, and only added confusion when people asked questions. Exams full of mistakes
I had PJ for MCDB 101B. Avoid at all costs. Lectures were unclear and he was unable to help clarify with explanations, seemed unfamiliar with the class material. Tests frequently had mistakes on them and were mostly free response. Everyone worked up until the bell for both midterms and majority of class took the full three hours for the final.
Took PJ for 101B. He is the worst professor I've had at UCSB. He is terrible at explaining simple concepts. His exams test on the tiniest details he barely covers. He goes off topic regularly. You get half credit on clickers for getting them wrong + there were almost no clicker questions. It's 4% of your grade. Also giant mistakes in every exam.
I took Joshi for MCDB 101B. I would not recommend taking him to anyone. His lectures were horribly unclear and confusing. He was not very accommodating. His exams were difficult and unfair. Questions on them were confusing and were based on things he briefly mentioned in class. Worst professor and course I have had at UCSB.
I took his MCDB 101B. Do yourself a favor and don't take his class. He does not know how to teach. His lectures are very confusing and he makes a lot of mistakes even in his exams. He expects you to memorize every detail and write 4 or 5 long short answer questions in only 50 minutes plus 4 or 5 genetic problems. Just terrible.