I love food. Science is an ehhh for me, but I'm not horrible at it. When starting this class, I thought it would be fairly easy because the grade distribution did not look to bad. I was mistaken. To sign up for the class, you must email the professor for a PTE number, but maybe after this review, you may or may not want to sign up for this course. If you have a background in some previous chemistry and it is fresh in your mind, this is the class for you. I had taken a chemistry course in high school, but it had been years since I had to do any chemistry. The only thing that kept me going (alive) in the class were the guest lectures. In these lectures, chefs and food business owners come to class to discuss something related to the course content and sometimes they bring tasty food samples. It was also very nice to have conversations with the guest lecturers, but this class is not worth taking solely to form a connection with one of the chefs for your culinary career future (sad, I know). The grade breakdown is:
Weekly assignments 20%
Includes weekly problem sets and guest speaker self-reflections
Course and section participation 20%
Includes section attendance as well as in-class quizzes
Midterm examination 15%
Scientific bake-off presentation 25%
Includes project proposal, in-class presentation
Final examination 20%
Doesn't look too bad right? Well, it sort of is. Homework assignments are all posted online through CCLE and some questions are multiple choice while others require calculations or written explanations. Attendance is taken in lab and sometimes there are little in-lecture assignments to count towards participation and attendance and this may happen randomly so it is important to attend both lecture and lab. The midterm for my term was around 7 questions or so, but with a few subquestions. Students get to bring a mini "cheat sheet" for both the midterm and final, but frankly, it was just kept as back up. I got a D+ on my midterm and a B- on my final exam. Students are given mini study guides only a 2-3 days before the exam, which isn't enough time, but it is nice that they give out study guides AT ALL. There were two TA's for the course. One was very chill and nice and the other one was a bit harsh and blunt with students. Be prepared to get your feelings hurt by something the professor or TA said to you unless you are very lucky and get a kind TA. There are also LA's (Learning Assistants) in the lectures and lab, but I did not find them to be very helpful. The first day of class was so exciting for me because I was so eager to learn about what makes food the way it is with its taste, texture, smell, etc. I was even more excited to learn that a quarter of the grade would go towards a baking project. I would consider myself an intermediate baker and I thought this project would be a breeze because I LOVE BAKING. But, you guessed it, I WAS MISTAKEN. My problem with this project is that although were are given time a few weeks earlier, I did not have the supplies or a kitchen so the only times I could perform the project were during the two hour lab times. The supplies are donated generously, but they run out quick, leading me to purchase other supplies and ingredients. I disliked the fact that this project was due Week 10, right before finals. Okay, now onto the final exam. Surprisingly enough, the final exam was easier than the midterm, although I studied a lot for both of them. They included multiple choice questions, written responses, and plenty of calculations. In the event you decide to take this class, take it with a friend who is good at math and/or science, or just try to make a couple of friends in the class because a lot of other students will come in the class with their friends which makes it difficult to form new connections with others. Many of my classmates were quite cold, but that could be just because it is a college culture to focus oneself. Although you can ask for help in this class through the professor and TA's, it seems like they only just want to hear little to no questions from students because it is "bothersome". This course is very much a DIY and "pray for a nice TA" course. Don't let the disguise of being an interesting course take you into it because although this course seems relatively easy, it adds unecessary stress. That's all folks.

I think my overall experience with this class is okay. It is a little bit different from what I expected. There is a lot of physics, chemistry, math, and equation in this class. So be prepared to have a scientific mindset.

Professor Rowat is a very nice and supportive professor. She talks clearly and is very thoughtful of her students. I would have had a much nicer experience with this class.

Because this class is 100% online due to the pandemic. The TA becomes much more important because whenever there is a grading issue or general question, I would ask the TA first. My TA is Kathleen Chen, and thank her, my experience of this class is not very pleasant and I feel some of the gradings is UNFAIR. For example, there is one question that asks us to list two ingredients with XXX from the PowerPoint, I listed two from the Powerpoint, but then I got all the points off (which counts 8% for the quiz and it is a LOT). I emailed the TA and explain the situation. In her email back, she said that the ingredient has to be the highest two with XXX regardless of the fact that the question is simply asked us to put the ingredients with the XXX. There is ZERO understanding and patience in her wording and it makes me feel stupid and confused. I also asked my friends and they think the TA is pretty arrogant.

I hope that the TA could treat the student more patient in the future PLEASE because we are here because we are your students, not someone who knows everything.

Dr. Rowat is super passionate about what she studies, and it really shows in her lectures. I came in, not really liking my lower div physics class, but I ended up really enjoying her class and learning a lot about this exciting new field. A lot of people I knew ended up dropping this class, because it is a bit physics/math heavy, but I found that it was manageable if you invest enough time in learning the material outside class.

Your grade is made up of pop quizzes, 2 presentations + 1 optional extra credit presentation, weekly homework sets, weekly paper responses, and 1 final. It is a bit more than most upper division electives, but I found that they were really helpful, especially for learning the material and preparing for the final examination (since there is no midterm and no exams available for reference in the test bank).

Overall, a super dope and interesting class to take! I really enjoyed not only the material presented, but also Dr. Rowat's invaluable research experiences that she was more than happy to share with us. It really challenges you to think about real-life applications of material that you learn from physics 6 (or 5 now I guess LOL) and how your ideas can potentially change medical treatments and perceptions of diseases in the future.

She is so passionate about the material and even cooks for us herself. The class material is not overall hard. There are guest lecturers every week. The grading includes the homework assignments, which are just some basic knowledge and reflections, midterms and finals, and baking projects. The exams are fairly straightforward and the review sheet is super helpful. The baking project is a teamwork. I really enjoyed it.

Although I ended up doing well in this class, I probably wouldn't take this class again if given the chance. Firstly, with two exams, a lengthy project, weekly problem sets, and participation problems there was a pretty good amount of work, especially for a GE. Additionally, while the material wasn't particularly difficult, it also wasn't straightforward either. Furthermore, the grading in this class was, at times, extremely frustrating and unreasonable. If you're truly passionate about cooking and food, then the interesting weekly guest lectures could justify you enrolling in this class. If not, I'd probably try to find another GE.

The class starts out like a fun class, but really it's very dry and boring. The professor doesn't seem very friendly when talking to you and she treats you like a child. This class could be really fun, but it's just not a welcoming environment after the first few weeks.

Dr Rowat is great teacher. I took this class as an elective but it turned out to be one of the best classes I've ever taken. There are no midterms and over 80 percent of your score is based on class participation and projects. I would definitely recommend taking this class the subject is very interesting and engaging. Getting an A should be pretty easy as long as you put in the work.

Took this class blindly but ended up enjoying it. It's about understanding biology (cells, ect) through physics (~biophysics~), but it didn't end up nearly as difficult as it sounded. There was minimal math and mostly required theoretical thinking/concept learning (great if you don't like to memorize). It was refreshing to have a new perspective on bio.

Class was two lectures per week, and for homework each week we read two research papers and finished a problem set. We also had two journal club-style presentations which made up the bulk of the grade (group projects). Sometimes the lecture material and problem set questions were vague, but both the professor and TA were readily available to answer questions. As a plus, the professor is a badass biophysics star and is #goals. Just fyi this class is very new (I took it the second time it was offered) and is subject to change.
If you are comfortable with reading research papers and presenting in front of a class, this will be a pretty relaxed class for you.