Dr. Foltz is an amazing professor. She explains concepts very well. The material can be challenging at first, but once you do enough practice problems it starts to become common sense. Highly recommend doing the homework assignments and past exams as they are extremely similar to the midterms and final.
Best professor in MCDB! I learned several interesting techniques and we were allowed to think of our own experiments to perform in addition to the experiments she created. The grading scheme is clearly presented and fair. Professor Foltz because loves to share advice and wisdom about applying for grad schools and getting involved in research.
Based on the in-person lab pre-pandemic, Dr. Foltz is so kind, caring, and approachable and truly wants her students to succeed, understand the material, and have fun in lab! You have to stay on top of keeping your lab binder organized and up to date (checked weekly), but the experiments themselves are super cool. You work with 1 lab partner.
Dr. Foltz is a caring and fantastic instructor. The class is very straightforward, and there are concepts that will help you in a biology career, especially in research. Her homework assignments will help you catch up on what was covered in class, so be sure to do them and understand them. Also, go to office hours, if possible.
Kathy gives a lot of feedback because she wants her students to succeed. If youre not succeeding, youre not trying hard enough because shes there to help you
Dr. Foltz is amazing at teaching and giving you advice on school in general. Class is very interesting, she only tests on the key concepts. The other information is because it is interesting. It's an 8am, which is tough for some people to get to, but I think going to lecture is better than watching Gauchocasts. Go to office hours they're so helpful
Take her if you can I took her for both 135 and 112 both were some of the best classes I have taken on this campus. The material she covers is very interesting and straightforward. Her tests are designed to be very straightforward, and there are zero trick questions. Extremely helpful in office hours as well.
Super amazing professor! Loved taking MCDB 112 with her! Make sure to understand the concepts on the problem sets and you should do fine on the tests! She definitely doesn't try to trick you and is straightforward about what you are required to know about the tests!
Kathys MCDB 112 was easily my favorite biology course Ive taken at UCSB. The class itself is challenging, but Kathy tells you everything you should focus on, and gives you examples that she expects you to recognize, without going into excruciatingly specific details. Shes always available to help outside of class, and provides extra material too
FAVORITE PROFESSOR. This class isn't easy and is very conceptual, but her teaching method makes it so easy to understand. She provides you everything you need to know. Put in the time to study, listen to her when she says "You need to know this" and you will do just fine. Can't wait to take her for MCDB 135 next quarter!
If i could give kathy 6/5 stars I would. Hands down best upper div MCDB professor at UCSB. Tests are concept based rather than memorization and have you apply your knowledge to similar topics. Lectures are recorded and put on Gauchocast (at least for MCDB 112 and 135) but actually being there helps you get more out of it. Super interesting and cool
Amazing. I would go into how amazing she is but it seems like the other reviews already did that. My favorite parts of how she has her class is she knows in the real world you can just easily look certain things up so she doesn't make you memorize them. Based on concepts rather than memorizing. Don't slack off. Its still an upper div MCDB class.