Professor
Chase Linsley
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - This class was the bane of my existence. I would rather be in BE 100 than this class any day. Besides a handful of guest lecturers, this class was pretty much a waste of time and it has wayyyyy too much busy work for a two-unit class. I can see this class being semi-useful if you are a freshman. But if you are a sophomore or a transfer (junior) it is pretty much a waste of time. I am not someone who leaves everything for the last minute but this class was super annoying in that I always ended up leaving all the work last minute. The class has two long article summaries which u have to write in single space, 11pt font, and a final summary about what you learned, and a bunch of other busy work. My best advice is to try and get all the assignments as early as you can so that you can focus on your other classes that actually matter. The assignments are not hard, they are just extremely pointless and boring.
Fall 2023 - This class was the bane of my existence. I would rather be in BE 100 than this class any day. Besides a handful of guest lecturers, this class was pretty much a waste of time and it has wayyyyy too much busy work for a two-unit class. I can see this class being semi-useful if you are a freshman. But if you are a sophomore or a transfer (junior) it is pretty much a waste of time. I am not someone who leaves everything for the last minute but this class was super annoying in that I always ended up leaving all the work last minute. The class has two long article summaries which u have to write in single space, 11pt font, and a final summary about what you learned, and a bunch of other busy work. My best advice is to try and get all the assignments as early as you can so that you can focus on your other classes that actually matter. The assignments are not hard, they are just extremely pointless and boring.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - This class is very different than other engineering classes and it is heavily designed for all the pre-meds. However, the class still has lots of very very interesting information and I learned a lot about biocompatibility and the immune system. However, Professor Linsley isn't the best at telling you what you really need to know for the exams. The lectures COVER a lot of information and although he says "not to memorize" you do have to know the content very well to do good on the exams (aka memorize). The exams test deeper understanding and not just memorization but you do need to have all the terms memorized so you can give deeper explanations. This year was his second time teaching and so the exams were mostly free response and some multiple-choice questions. The main problem for this class was that since there was so much information on the slides and he never told us what are the important things we needed to know it meant that it was very easy to lose a few points here and there which resulted in lots of % drop (since the exams were only out of about 50 points, so each one point mistake was worth 2%). However, he and the TAs were nice enough to offer a small extra credit opportunity and they also graded the final exam very leniently. We also did lose a few days of class time because of all the annoying protests so he had to cut out some stuff. The main problem for this class is the fact that he doesn't use his own slides, and rather uses the ones from the previous professor. Overall this class is very different from other engineering classes as it isn't very computational and rather much more understanding of biology and how that incorporates into the design of biomedical devices and implants. He is a good guy but just not a very good teacher but I am hoping he will be better next year since he will have more experience.
Spring 2024 - This class is very different than other engineering classes and it is heavily designed for all the pre-meds. However, the class still has lots of very very interesting information and I learned a lot about biocompatibility and the immune system. However, Professor Linsley isn't the best at telling you what you really need to know for the exams. The lectures COVER a lot of information and although he says "not to memorize" you do have to know the content very well to do good on the exams (aka memorize). The exams test deeper understanding and not just memorization but you do need to have all the terms memorized so you can give deeper explanations. This year was his second time teaching and so the exams were mostly free response and some multiple-choice questions. The main problem for this class was that since there was so much information on the slides and he never told us what are the important things we needed to know it meant that it was very easy to lose a few points here and there which resulted in lots of % drop (since the exams were only out of about 50 points, so each one point mistake was worth 2%). However, he and the TAs were nice enough to offer a small extra credit opportunity and they also graded the final exam very leniently. We also did lose a few days of class time because of all the annoying protests so he had to cut out some stuff. The main problem for this class is the fact that he doesn't use his own slides, and rather uses the ones from the previous professor. Overall this class is very different from other engineering classes as it isn't very computational and rather much more understanding of biology and how that incorporates into the design of biomedical devices and implants. He is a good guy but just not a very good teacher but I am hoping he will be better next year since he will have more experience.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - I deeply care about this class as I am pre-med and find the information valuable, but I believe it needs a major redesign, especially the slides. There is often too much information on the slides, including figures that are sometimes skipped or not explained well enough, leaving students confused about what material is essential and what is just extra information. It is also overwhelming to see a slide filled with content all at once—it would be much clearer if points, pictures, and figures appeared gradually with animations. Additionally, some concepts taught in class seem to contradict information from other sources. I understand that models of complex systems require assumptions, but these assumptions are not always clearly outlined, which can lead to confusion depending on the logical approach taken. Beyond the slides, I also believe the grading system needs improvement. It does not seem fair that grades below an A are curved while an A is not—either all grades should be curved or none at all, similar to other STEM courses. The exam grading could also be adjusted, as the questions are often broad, and it feels like every possible detail must be mentioned to receive full credit. A better approach might be to award full points if a student correctly identifies most key points rather than requiring every detail. While I find this class valuable, I believe these changes would greatly improve the learning experience.
Winter 2025 - I deeply care about this class as I am pre-med and find the information valuable, but I believe it needs a major redesign, especially the slides. There is often too much information on the slides, including figures that are sometimes skipped or not explained well enough, leaving students confused about what material is essential and what is just extra information. It is also overwhelming to see a slide filled with content all at once—it would be much clearer if points, pictures, and figures appeared gradually with animations. Additionally, some concepts taught in class seem to contradict information from other sources. I understand that models of complex systems require assumptions, but these assumptions are not always clearly outlined, which can lead to confusion depending on the logical approach taken. Beyond the slides, I also believe the grading system needs improvement. It does not seem fair that grades below an A are curved while an A is not—either all grades should be curved or none at all, similar to other STEM courses. The exam grading could also be adjusted, as the questions are often broad, and it feels like every possible detail must be mentioned to receive full credit. A better approach might be to award full points if a student correctly identifies most key points rather than requiring every detail. While I find this class valuable, I believe these changes would greatly improve the learning experience.
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