Class Grade Breakdown:

6 weekly team quizzes x 25 pts each (lowest quiz score dropped) = 125 points
Midterm 1 = 50 points
Midterm 2 = 50 points
Final = 200 points
Total Points: 425 points
22 points of extra credit given in our quarter

I'll structure this review in the style of a popular Spaghetti Western: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Lots of extra credit points, exams are fair-ish, she provides a HUGE curve at the end of the quarter

The Bad: A LOT OF CONTENT. Lots of pathways, lots of structures - the content in this class is inherently hard . It doesn't help, however, when there is an expectation to memorize an insane amount of stuff each week.

The Ugly: Lectures were pretty disorganized. When I say pretty disorganized, I mean 5th-grade-level slides with a lot of handwritten notes. The speed at which we move through content is insane. TCA + Glycolysis + Gluconeogenesis took up 8 slides and we flicked through them in a solid 8 minutes. It's not always clear what we need to know and in what depth (but at least she tries to clarify). That final was pretty funny. 47% of our grade with a mean of 61% and a high of 87%.

It's a hard class but it is a super fun class content-wise (if you like biochem). Honestly, if you take Koehler just try to stick around the B-range for assignments and you'll come out ok in the end. Definitely don't cram - there's way too much information for one night.

Something you must know about Koehler is that she is incredibly disorganized which can make "learning" this class very difficult. Her handwriting is terrible and because she often projects what she's writing for the class to see if you can't read it you'll have to be going up to her after class after every class to figure out what she meant. Koehler's lectures didn't seem very structured because she would often stop lecturing, throw in a side point, and then continue as if nothing happened. These factors can make surviving in this class difficult.

That said, I am very surprised to say that this class wasn't actually that bad. Koehler's midterms are very fair. Highly recommend doing the practice questions she gives out because they mimic the types of questions you will be seeing on the exams. Office hours and recording the lecturers were also very useful.

She fails half her class (those below 50% overall despite an average of 45%) because they don't live up to her standards. She talks trash on Dr. Nelson's failure as a teacher in biochemistry when Dr. Nelson was far better than her in all respects and had an appropriate curve to the course she taught. Dr. Koehler math: 80-100 pts above the average gets you a B- or B in the course when the course is out of 400 pts and the average is 193... do the math and tell me it makes sense.

Poor concern for students and not helpful at all. People can get an A thanks to professor Gober who teaches the course with her.
Don’t bother to ask questions, she will tell you to look at slides. I mean, really???
She must understand that if we understood something from a slide, we would not waste our time to talk to her. Also, there is a reason why she is the instructor and we are students. So she can fill the gap of understanding of course material.
I am grateful that professor Gober took over for the last half of the course.
For people who read this,
Expect the sense of rudeness and lack of concern included in useless answers she gives you for your insightful questions.

I actually loved Dr. Koehler! She is very kind and cares about individual students. Her lectures are super interesting and clear. Some may disagree with me, but this was my experience and I did well on her midterm solely by relying on her lecture and her slides. Did not even used the book. All you have to do is listen to her podcast, understand the slides, and focus on her notes(written under every slide). I did lose a lot of points on the methionine pathway, but still, the rest of the problems of her midterm were straightforward and the answers were all given during her lecture and the review session (they complain because they didn't pay attention to her lecture). Just make sure to memorize the methionine pathway even if she doesn't emphasize during the lecture. She is usually very clear about what's gonna be on the midterm. If you're confused about anything, go to her office hour. She was very accomodating and tried to answer every question we had. Her notes were in fact very helpful and I personally thought her slides were way better than Gober's. Gober's slides were often vague and did not really help for the midterm and final. I really liked how Dr. Koehler gave many examples of the diseases and applications of each pathway. I wish she taught more upper-division courses. Now, I scored 5 points above average for midterm 1 and 15 points above average for midterm 2. Midterm 2 was mostly composed of Koehler's material. For the final, I scored D- but was still able to receive an A because of the wise curve. I personally think this class was way easier than 153A and honestly there isn't that much to memorize (you just gotta understand the material). Hope this helps.

Might as well write a review of this class, since grades were published 2 days ago. Overall, this class isn't that bad. People who say otherwise might not be studying the right way. I went to class and played games just in case the professors said anything interesting, and by studying the slides, I got a mid A on the first (raw score), SO close to a 100% on the second midterm. If you want pics of them, I'll send them to you for free. (People need to stop tryna sell shit on bruinwalk). All you need for an A- is about a 74.

People need to cut Koehler some slack. Yes, her handwriting is messy, and yes, she goes off on tangents, but she when it comes to her grading (which is all you guys care about), she is very fair. If she says something's gonna be on there, it will be. If you were in class that one day right before midterm 2, she told us that she was going to put methionine catabolism/SAM on the final. That's why we could eliminate midterm 2's amino acid catabolism question to only the branched chain amino acids. Why are people so surprised when it actually showed up on the final? Her teaching isn't terrible either. Sometimes, it's hard to follow, but if can overlook the fact that she brought a small bag of cheetos/1 small bottle of coke for the whole class to share, she does give alot of pointers as to what she wants us to focus on. For Koehler's exam, everything you need to know is either one her slides or on the footnotes of the slides she publishes on CCLE. You never need to know enzyme names unless it's specifically talked about in class/mentioned in the footnotes. Memorizing structures are only necessary when told. Overall, I'm glad I took this class with her, and I would take 153B with her if she was offering. (tl;dr no need to pay attention in Koehler's part. Just read her footnotes and your'e good to go)

Gober's great. He's really funny and kept me awake during the 9 AM lectures. He tells you what to focus on, so you should go to class if you want to do well. He asked a question on the final that wasn't on his slides, but was emphasized in class alot. His slides are okay, but contain alot of extra info that might confuse you. Just pay attention in class and you should be fine. (tl;dr pay attention in Gober's class, that's all you need to do)

I was not a fan of Prof. Koehler. I found that I had to teach myself the material because she wasn't effective at explaining anything. She became repetitive sometimes or skipped over entire slides, always claiming "you don't need to know this." She spent a lot of time on things we "didn't have to know" instead of all the things she expected us to know. I didn't receive a good grade in her class, which was partially my fault because I fell behind, but I think I would have had a better experience with a better professor. Bottom line: stay caught up on the material and know how to draw structures, because she LOVES asking you to draw every intermediate in a pathway. She's a nice lady, and she put in time to have review sessions and she did put up old exams. She didn't seem to know anything about the class material without consulting her notes, though. I'd avoid taking her if you can.

I really enjoyed the subject and the class is not too bad. But you do have to memorize a lot. Her exams are pretty much based on how much you can memorize. If you like to memorize, and not think too much, then this may be the class for you. Also, you don't need the book. I never even opened it. All you need to do is memorize all of her slides and you will do great.

A lot of memorization. Midterms were ok. It is possible to predict the question because sample midterms were given. Final was a disaster with several questions about writing the pathways to synthesize strange molecules and hypothetical molecule. Her lecture note are kind of random and repeated. I found the website where she used for most of her lecture: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/bcbp/molbiochem/MBWeb/mb1/MB1index.html. Good luck!

let start by saying alot of reveiws complian that this class is pure memorziation. which is true, this class require momrization but think about this way, how would you rember the TCA and glyyocsis, AA making and breaking down process withoput memroizing the structure and enzymes.

miss koehler

she is very enegetic and funny i mean if u go to her class at 9 am you wont fell sleep beacuse she makes jokes that will keep you awake. also before she starts the new material she always reviews the material that she went the day before.

- another cool thing about her is that she gives you a week to study for her midterm. so if the midterm is on next Friday she will finish the material a week before the midterm which you can study and ask her questions druing the OH. she did that for the second and the final. for the final she finish whole class matrial on week before the final exam even thought we missed class like 3 days.

- her TA are awsomeone, one of the TA give you notes that summriaze lectues and the other one give you problems to solve. both of the ta will have no prlbolem to have OH for you if talk to them.

-exam style, the firts midterm was not easy beacuse the questins were wrttin in very bad way or indert way which was confusing, the second mitrem was easier beacuse it was direct and the final was direct and indierct. her exam conatins alotr of pathways so you have to know the structure and cofactors ans the only key enzymes, radiolableing, and what happens if you got mutation or disesase.

-lecture style, you wont be bored to death and you wont sleep beaucse she is enteratinig. she kinda disorganized but that oaky cuz her pdf files have alot of the writing at the bottom that she mentions in class so you qill be fine if you just understand the slides.

to pass her class
- go to the TA OH and disscustions
- understand the slides connect the patways alot of paawthways can be conneted
- know sturcture of the pawthways
- read the book
- do her problem sets that she puts on voh
she is very good teacher nad i will take her again she made that class very enjoyable.