I witnessed a young woman in front of me today being verbally harassed by Olga today. She was crying because of the way Olga was talking to her and she was telling her to stop crying, no compassion, borderline evil woman.
Olga is a diva, and knows her stuff!! She is very respected and knows what she's talking about. It is truly the effort you're willing to put in.
To be blunt, she is not a good teacher. Our class average for the final was 58%, she does not curve at all and there's no extra credit. Barely any assignments so your grade relies on the exams which are really hard. She is dismissive and rude-I can't even ask her a questions without her having an attitude.
I think Professor Azarenko is overqualified for this job!! She is very educated about this subject and she does a great job of explaining the material. This class does take a lot of effort outside of class, such as reading the textbook, but her quizzes and midterms were pretty straightforward and can get a pretty decent grade from simple effort.
She doesn't care about her students and is disrespectful, she will call students out for being late to class or for having to leave early. This is college not high school.
Prof Azarenko is not accommodating or caring whatsoever. The lecture times are horrible, geolocation iClicker is mandatory, and she will call you out in front of the whole lecture if you, for whatever reason, need to leave early. Exams make up almost 80% of your final grade. Lots of dense readings that are essential to doing well on said exams.
Not sure why there are so many negative comments! She's sassy, but in a lighthearted way. It's a biology course- material is dense regardless of professor. She provides a lot of resources like practice quizzes, wkly study guides, a quizlet, review sessions I did well on midterm by reading pgs before class & using flashcards, u'll be fine.
A lot of students hated her for her blunt personality, and while she may definitely be a bit blunt it honestly didn't hinder my learning at all. Lectures are mandotory but helpful and make sure you read the textbook. You'll definitely have to put the work in but the class shouldn't be impossible, especially if you already have some background
3/10 difficulty midterm (average was 85+), 4/10 final combined with 20 points of extra credit for just showing up to class (class was out of 300 total). Not a super clear lecturer but material is straightforward and unconfusing so it didn't matter. Almost all exam questions were dumbed down compared to lecture/textbook so youll be overpreppared.
everyone i knew in the class rly seemed to hate it but it honestly wasnt that bad, biology is just hard. i wouldnt say theres anything about this prof specifically that made the class harder than it needed to be. to be fair, i did take AP bio which is basically the exact same class, and i can imagine it would be much harder if i hadnt
DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE POOR REVIEWS. Language barrier led to misunderstandings sometimes, but they were always resolved. Overall the class is fair. Made a Quizlet for each recorded lecture to memorize all of the info & that worked well for me. Used the TB to understand information that wasn't thoroughly explained in lecture.
everyone is bashing on Azarenko because she can be a bit rude at times like blaming us for tech issues, but she is really passionate about the subject and curved even tho the avg was 80% for the class. You can do well, just read textbook, pay attention during lecture, and know iclicker questions well
She's a great professor if you can get past her blunt personality. Her lectures are straightforward, and she explains topics well. Exams are based solely on lectures, and she offers extra credit for attending lectures. The course was also curved even though the average was 80. She makes a tough course manageable if you study the lecture material.
Unprofessional with blaming students for technological issues they are not responsible for with iClicker, and purposely made the second midterm more difficult after seeing students did "too well" on the first one. proceeded to put a couple questions on the second exam we had never encountered before. she is clearly passionate but wouldnt recommend
This is by far the worst professor I've had at UCSB. The material is taught entirely out of order, she makes everything extremely difficult to understand, and she overall doesn't care for students in general. She is also extremely inaccessible no matter how many times you try to email her. Dont take her do everything you can to avoid her class
she is definitely very blunt. i wouldn't say she is overly difficult, the class itself is hard so the tests are not going to be easy. yes, she did include a single question on the exam that wasn't covered before, but people are being overly critical. she is a good lecturer. if you study you'll be fine, read the book and do the practice quizzes!
During of first midterm, most ppl finished within 30-45 minutes. She noticed this and said that the next midterm would be harder because this one was too easy. She included material we had not covered prior to the exam in our 2nd midterm. She is clearly passionate about the subject and has explained things well but doesn't want students to succeed
She is not a professor that takes their time into explaining things, she rushes her lectures. Along with being. very impatient. I would not recommend if you're trying to understand the material throughly
idk she's just really annoying tbh would NEVER take again would rather drown
This course has just barely started and I am thoroughly disappointed with this professors professionalism. Not only does she blame iClicker issues on the students but she is not very friendly or approachable. I can recall multiple times where she said opposing points and if you have the option I would recommend a different professor.
Pretty scattered, difficult exams, heavy memorization, lectures are really disorganized. Total grading policy was 250 points: 100 points exam 1, 100 points exam 2, 50 points hw (5 each: 10 points), and 10 extra credit points for attending (not correctness)10 lectures (iclicker). but the material was all given in lecture (book not required)
Great professor. Weekly quizzes and lectures prepared you well for final. Azarenko>>>Low
Retook with Azarenko and WOW, what a difference. Graded on weekly lecture quizzes and three exams. As long as you review your notes/slides, iClicker questions, and practice exams, you should pass the class. Make sure to pace out your studying. Azarenko was very passionate and questions on the exams are similar to the practice ones!! Her >> Low!!
Not sure why there are so many bad reviews... she is truly a great professor. Super passionate about bio and it shows through her lectures. Even at 8am shes enthusiastic and professional. Attending lectures is extra credit, 2 midterms, 1 final, weekly quizzes that are easy and very similar to contents on exams. Definitely would take again!
