Final was very hard to study for, as you have little to no idea what it will be on. Make sure you have a 100% in the grade book before the final, so don't miss more than 2 quizzes. Overall, pretty chill class until finals week, where you basically have to teach yourself all the material.
Very mediocre guy... not great at explaining concepts and spent a lot of time on topics we were never tested on. Slideshows were mostly textbook screenshots. Class was nice during the quarter (no HW or midterms) which was nice but caused a lot of fear and stress during finals. He seems nice but seems to put MINIMAL effort into the class.
His lecture style is very fast paced and leaves gaps in understanding. While he suggests that there is no need to use the textbook as all information will be covered in class, the only reason I was able to succeed was to teach myself the entire course from the textbook as his slides only contained images with little explanation. He's enthusiastic
There were 6 open-note/internet pop quizzes (only grades 4) for 40% and a final for 60% (allowed one double-sided sheet). His lecture notes were just ok. Be prepared to study and learn on your own time. Biggest issue was the final (needed to know specific details not emphasized in class, while other topics (nucleic acids/lipids/carbs) were ignored)
This class was so hard, I studied every week and still struggled so much with the final. They said the final was easy but the questions were nothing like the practice ones he gave us. Also he literally told us that most of us would fail one question and still put it on the exam?? Take the bio version if you can!
Lecture slides (no recorded vids) are screenshots of textbook and they provide almost no information. Pop quizzes = 4 x 10%, Final exam = 60%. Expect the Final to be much harder than the practice (barely any of them), to which he claims "youll be surprised by how easy the final is". The keys to these practice were also frequently incorrect?!?
His slides have mostly things we don't need to know for the exam. He also focuses on making us write structures on our cheat sheets. The final exam is all about the cheat sheet, less about understanding. I don't like that.
This class was an absolute joke. Don't get fooled by his grading system, the homework seemed easy, but no partial credit (averages ~ 50/100). Studying for the exams were a nightmare because there's so much material, and he never emphasized anything. The exams were insanely difficult, NO amount of studying could have prepared me for them. avoid!
The exams were so hard and non related to the lecture materials. Slides contain minimal amount of word explanation. Teaching us like graduate students. Always write random things on board which make the whole class note so messy and disorganized. The worst professor at ucsb and avoid this person for your own good. Recommend MCDB 108 series!
He's a very smart professor and it shows during lectures. I really liked the content of this class. But the exams were grueling- He teaches so many topics but only covers a select few on the exams, making it hard to prep for. The TA was very nice tho. I would really recommend taking MCDB 108/110 since those classes are more clear and fair.
His grading policy may seem fair according to the syllabus but then each homework assignment and his exams are graded on what seems like a completely arbitrary rubric. We never even found out what our final exam scores were and then they posted our grades after the due date for GOLD. doesn't really seem like he cares that much about students
He made his class incredibly difficult. Homework assignments were vague and unclear and his exams were taken home and open note but he designed them to be extremely difficult so it doesn't really matter what resources you use. His slides don't really contain much info so you really have to write down what he says.
The material is interesting, but the class is unnecessarily difficult due to poor structure. Exam topics are briefly covered in lectures, making it hard to study. Grading policies are unclear early on and very harsh, with little to no partial credit. There may be a curve at the end but overall the course feels stressful and disorganized.
Being Prof. Hai's student is the luckiest thing ever. I'm really grateful to him. He is not only my science hero but also my life role model.
An amazing introduction to diverse reactions presented in nature. May require good sense in advanced OChem to gain better participation.
He is better than Lehninger.
Prof. Hai is very caring professor, he is helpful in explaining concepts and values student participation in his lectures. His lectures are absolutely fascinating even if you are not a Chem/Biochem major, and he makes sure that everyone is on the same page. You have to put in an effort into this course, as it is difficult but absolutely worth it.
Actual meme lord who freestyles his lectures, really teaches the class like it's 3 unit course. Exams are very curveball but interesting. Low class average, thankfully the curve was generous.