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 2025 - He's a nice person but not the best professor. He is very vague at telling you what you need to know and often tells you to post a question on Piazza when you ask him something in person (he won't even answer the Piazza question until much later). A lot of students felt that there was a lot of ambiguity and unclarity near the end of the class due to mistakes in lectures and slides that he didn't clear up until last minute. In my opinion, this is one of those classes where you never feel prepared for exams regardless of how much you study. He gives very few practice problems, making it hard to raise your grade once you do bad on one exam. Additionally, exams are graded relatively harshly-- you need to have specific phrases in your answers to even get credit on some of them. This class will also make you question what the point of lecture is. Linsley uses the "flipped classroom" style where instead of lecturing in class, he relies on student questions and like four clicker questions over the span of two hours. To actually understand what goes on in "lecture," you have to watch around three hours of videos beforehand, which he tends to post very last minute (4-6 hours before midnight on Sunday and they are very information overload). He will also sometimes cancel or delay class last minute, which is very annoying considering that this class is typically an 8 AM. Overall, it's a shame that such an interesting class is taught so poorly. The way this class is run with the asynchronous videos, mediocre lectures, vague responses, and lack of practice questions to reinforce concepts makes it extremely unenjoyable and probably one of the worst classes I've taken at this school. He always tells us he appreciates our effort and reassures us that everything is fine (which is nice) but it's disappointing to see the lack of effort on his side to help us succeed as students.
Spring 2025 - He's a nice person but not the best professor. He is very vague at telling you what you need to know and often tells you to post a question on Piazza when you ask him something in person (he won't even answer the Piazza question until much later). A lot of students felt that there was a lot of ambiguity and unclarity near the end of the class due to mistakes in lectures and slides that he didn't clear up until last minute. In my opinion, this is one of those classes where you never feel prepared for exams regardless of how much you study. He gives very few practice problems, making it hard to raise your grade once you do bad on one exam. Additionally, exams are graded relatively harshly-- you need to have specific phrases in your answers to even get credit on some of them. This class will also make you question what the point of lecture is. Linsley uses the "flipped classroom" style where instead of lecturing in class, he relies on student questions and like four clicker questions over the span of two hours. To actually understand what goes on in "lecture," you have to watch around three hours of videos beforehand, which he tends to post very last minute (4-6 hours before midnight on Sunday and they are very information overload). He will also sometimes cancel or delay class last minute, which is very annoying considering that this class is typically an 8 AM. Overall, it's a shame that such an interesting class is taught so poorly. The way this class is run with the asynchronous videos, mediocre lectures, vague responses, and lack of practice questions to reinforce concepts makes it extremely unenjoyable and probably one of the worst classes I've taken at this school. He always tells us he appreciates our effort and reassures us that everything is fine (which is nice) but it's disappointing to see the lack of effort on his side to help us succeed as students.
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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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