This class is really easy, and if you're taking it, you probably have to. Dr. Pfleugl is great, so I recommend taking it with him. He's very understanding and offers a lot of support. The class is structured in a way that makes it difficult for you to fail as long as you try. I highly recommend the writing center for the writing assignments. One thing I will say is that this class took me much more time every week than I thought it would, which sucks since it's only three units. The grading is a bit unpredictable since the writing assignments are entirely peer-reviewed, but I did not personally have any issues. Overall, a solid class with a good professor and material that isn't mind-numbing.

Overall, LS23L was a pretty easy class. All you really had to do was skim the lab manual before lab, do the pre lab, go to lab, take an in lab quiz, complete the lab, and complete the post lab after. However, all of these were only about 4 questions and very simple or straight from the lab manual. The only time-consuming part of the class was the 3 hour labs and the writing assignments which we had 3 of spread out through the quarter. For the writing assignments, as long as you follow the rubric exactly and complete all your peer reviews and finish the reflections, you are basically guaranteed full points even with a mediocre essay. You do have to do peer reviews after each writing assignments which can be time consuming. Other than that, everything you need is on BruinLearn and lecture attendance was not mandatory but I didn't find them very useful since they were recorded, were just reminders, and summaries from the lab manual. Everything you need is in the lab manual. The final was very doable and gives you a lot of room to make mistakes and make up points. He also structures the class where you can miss a certain amount of each assignment and not have your grade affected. Should be a guaranteed A!

Overall, this class was quite easy. We never got the opportunity to meet Dr. Pfluegl in person since he would do Zoom meetings every week for lecture, but he seemed extremely sweet and approachable. Everything is posted on Canvas, and although the format and amount of assignments can seem a little overwhelming, it's very manageable and easy to understand once the first two weeks are done. Labs were also pretty easy and very guided, and my TA was very helpful if my group and I were ever confused.

The writing assignments are the only time when I'd say the workload is a little heavy, but the rubric is very clear and there are also writing office hours offered the week before it is due. We did not have a midterm, but we did have a final which was quite doable. Grading is very lenient as well, and similar to the 7 series in that you can miss an assignment in pretty much each category and still get full credit.

Since this class is a lab, you show up once a week to do some lab that you were given info about the week prior and get started. Mistakes happen, and you don't really get punished for that. My group was really nice and the projects were usually pretty fun! My favorite was looking at cells under the microscope, including blood cells, neurons, skin cells, etc. The last lab was a make-up where you can get back any points you missed and get full credit in lab section (assuming you missed fewer than ~15 points during the quarter). The final exam was 40 questions (I think) in 45 minutes and it def wasn't enough time, but the second part of the exam was with the group (which we did on zoom) in which we review the questions and answer them together. We have like 2 days to do it, and though I don't remember the final grade, we did well enough!

I really enjoyed this class especially with the labs being back in person this spring. This class often feels overwhelming at first because of all the tasks that are assigned however the work is very manageable and the work is not graded harshly, there are a lot of points available to earn. The final was straightforward and you got two attempts with the same questions (your score was averaged between the two). I recommend taking this course with Dr. Pfluegul!

This class is fine and an easy A/A+ if you keep on top of your work. If you're already in a lab or have research experience, some of the experiments may be repetitive, like the ones involving gels or bacterial cells. Your lowest assignment in all of the weekly activities is dropped which is nice. However, your lab experience/how easy your weekly labs are are HIGHLY dependent on your TA and how they run/grade their section.

The writing assignments are kind of a pain. If you familiarize yourself with the example they provide and write based on the rubric, they're fully doable in a few hours though. When you're evaluating your peer's texts, I would highly recommend giving them a 9 or 10, regardless of how good the actual quality is, as that's what most people give and you don't want to be an outlier. There's also a group project which wasn't too bad, but a little tedious to coordinate every week.

Some of the experiments with the goldfish and human physiology weren't as interesting IMO, as I like molecular bio stuff a lot more. But overall, this is a decent class. A lot of the lab lecture content is repetitive so you can get away with just skimming the slides if you want, and maybe reading the lab manual.

The final wasn't too bad, as long as you do the above and have a good understanding of each lab (being able to explain them to someone else is a good starting point).

Overall, not a bad or hard class if you're efficient.

Dr. Pfuegl is so kind! We actually never got to meet him since lectures were held over Zoom and recorded but this man just radiates warmth and care. He was extremely accommodating and understanding of COVID situations.
The class in general is such an easy A (everyone I knew got an A+ even). The workload can be heavy during certain weeks when we have to write research papers but the instructions are very clear and make it easy to get a good grade. The papers are peer-reviewed so usually, the first one is graded more harshly until everyone realizes we should just grade each other's papers kindly since it does not affect our grade if we grade harshly. Even if you don't do well on the papers, there are reflections that usually make up for the points lost from peer reviews. There is no midterm, but there is a final, which was also pretty easy.
During lab we learned so many techniques which were very fun! The TA and LAs usually will guide you very well through the processes. At times it was slightly stressful, but usually, everyone gets full credit on the lab worksheets.

It's like...this class is really easy to get an A in. But I really did not enjoy the process. I had lab at 9am which was too early for me (I work overnight) so I always went to lab in pain, struggled through, struggled through all the random quizzes. For the 3ish essays you do, they're pretty much graded by an algorithm that averages a bunch of reviews from peers so make sure to look at the rubric! And your peer reviews of others determines their grade so in general I found that being more lenient got you a higher grade (yes, you get graded on how accurately you grade others. you can get some extra credit to retrieve points since there is room for error). I never went to lectures because there was no reason to if you do the lab reading. So, I literally never interacted with the professor, it was as if he didn't exist, it's not like they spent a lot of time grading our essays... anyway. THE FINAL WAS DECENTLY HARD AND NOT JUST FROM THE SAME TEST BANK--study lab procedures and why you do each step or use each different material.

This class is very straightforward and low-stress. As long as you do the assignments on time and meet the requirements, you will get a very high grade. The lecture at the beginning of the week is recorded and you really don't have to listen to it in-depth. There are pre-lab quizzes, in-lab quizzes, and post-lab quizzes almost every week, and then there is an in-lab worksheet that you also finish in lab. These are very straightforward. There are also group slides due every week regarding a COVID-19 vaccine, which you will then compile at the end of the quarter and present during week 10. The presentation is graded very leniently. There is also one mini presentation you have to do anytime throughout the quarter which is also very straightforward. The most difficult part of the class is the scientific writing assignments which are basically like a basic research paper. As long as you follow the rubric, you will get a high score. These are entirely peer graded, and you yourself have to grade 6 other peers using the rubric as well. You can make up 5 points on these writing assignments by simply doing a reflection.

LS23L is a required class for a lot of majors and paths, but thankfully it was a pretty good class overall. The labs were a bit of an adjustment for someone with not a big laboratory background but they are definetly doable and the grading was not too bad at all on those. I think the most controversial aspect of this class is the peer reviews but honestly its not that unreasonable to earn full points on those. There will likely be a review from your peer that is unfair but the reflections really helped make up those points. The final was a little on the tougher side but very doable to walk away with a good score with the group exams. Dr. Pfluegl and the lab administrators really do care about their students and their ability to keep up in the class. This was a great class overall and as long as you keep up with the deadlines, you should be good.