If any course has to be graded purely on a curve because students have a failing average, that professor should not be teaching, regardless of how kind or respected they are. Maybe it's time to change your pedagogical approach because reading off the slides and expecting students to come up with "correlative study" questions isn't working. 0/10

Genuinely the hardest class I've taken in my undergrad so far. Content is EXTREMELY dense and his lectures are not clear at all (slides jump everywhere and are not coherent). The only thing you are graded on is one midterm and one final, both of which are extremely difficult. Exams are all application of knowledge and are worded very confusing

Personally I would never subject anyone to this misery. Do not take this class if you don't have to. Even if it's a requirement for grad school don't do it. It's not worth your misery or sadness because it's not gonna go well either way.

THIS CLASS IS ABSOLUTE HELL!!!!! Thats all!!! Good luck

I know that Professor Ma is a nice guy and tries his best to be helpful but his class is absolutely insane. The only way to perform decently in this class is to dedicate your entire soul and being to this class, which I personally am not willing to do as I have other commitments and CLASSES. I think the level of depth is so unrealistic/unfair.

Dr. Ma is interested in his student's successful learning. He will challenge you and force you to learn in ways you may never have been exposed to in a lecture setting, but if you put in the mental effort to follow the material, it is manageable. Go to lecture, and pay attention to the types of questions he focuses on.

Professor Ma was one of the best biology professors I have had at UCSB. He cares about his students and wants them to succeed. He emphasizes correlating similar concepts vs memorization which is nice. Go to every lecture! No iclicker but very important because he emphasizes the important topics. Exams were tough and requires you to apply concepts

Prof. Ma really engages you to the material and encouraged us to apply and connect concepts during the lectures and into the exams instead of purely memorizing. That said, the latter is still very important and hence makes 103 a very challenging class. The drawback is that your entire grade essentially rests on only a single midterm and the final.

Professor Ma is an amazing lecturer, and his teaching style is honestly a game changer. I got more out of his class than out of any other class I've taken since being in college. Grade is based almost entirely on midterm and final. Midterm was easy, but the final ruined my life. I would still recommend his class, teachers like this are rare.

Horrible, please avoid his class at all cost. He is a poor lecturer

Dr. Ma is a charming guy, and obviously loves what he is doing. MCDB 103 is just an incredibly difficult class, and will require a lot of your time and discipline if you plan to do well. I never showed up to lecture and let myself get behind in lecture watching, and I regret that. However, someone with more discipline than me could def succeed.

You need to understand each process in great detail because the midterm and ESPECIALLY the final are filled with material applying questions. This is a class you need to dedicate hours of your week studying for and study groups will help your grade. Midterm was easy imo, final was very difficult.

Dr. Ma is an extremely difficult professor-- there is no way to sugarcoat it. This course requires deep understandings of many different concepts in order to do somewhat well. Class average for the final was a 40% to put it into perspective. The "good" news is that if you are willingly to REALLY put in the work for an A, you have a decent shot.

Not a chill class whatsoever. The lectures cover the big picture of concepts while the midterm and final test on applying extremely small details to concepts not ever directly discussed. Almost no resources as far as practice problems. Exams are nothing like anything discussed in class. Take this class if you like being frustrated

Everyone saying this class is dense isnt lying. It was one and half hours reading off the slides with very little extra commentary. Class is comprised of one midterm and a final that tests how well you can memorize small details instead of knowledge of concepts. Class average was a 60, theres no winning, would definitely avoid.

Prof. Ma is a very caring professor. He wants you to succeed and is always trying to get you to think about the material in a deeper way. My problem was that the tests were always so much more difficult than the homework he assigned. This class ruined my straight A's lol. Never really used the textbook unless it was for clarification.

Dense class. Some people who took biochem before did well without even using textbook because of overlapping topics. I hadnt so it was a loooooot harder. Key to class is being able to understand how every detail works in a connected system. Memorizing basic definitions is useless for exams. Average on midterm was highish so he made final impossible

Dr. Ma is a really good Bio professor. The material in this class is pretty dense and sometimes hard to understand but Dr. Ma does an amazing job of explaining and simplifying things. If you listen to his lectures and take good notes, you won't need the textbook. Tests are pretty difficult but they contain no surprises - the material is what's said

Go to class, take notes, and keep up with the assignments and study until you understand things

This class covers a lot of detailed content so keeping up with the material on a weekly basis is a must. Ma is always willing to answer questions after class and in office hours. Midterm and final were very difficult but practice exams are posted so you know what to expect beforehand.

He doesnt test on what he teaches and the class averages are extremely low for both midterm and final. Also the course is curved on a B -/ C curve. Avoid this one if you can

nice guy, very hard class but curve saves you. I recommend recording lectures to make sure you can really grasp concepts and understand what he is saying. Must memorize and truly understand everything and then apply knowledge.

Exams were pretty hard and the average was about 59% on both the midterm and the final.

Ma is the most outstanding professor I've had in my 4 years at UCSB. His knowledge, charisma, and ability to effectively present large complex ideas makes this so. Read the book- Ma's lecture slides complement the book very well, but don't include small details. Exams test your knowledge well. Live and breath the correlative learning!