Took LS4:
This class was absolutely terrible. I came into this class excited since I'm into genetics (turns out I really only cared about Molec. Gen). To put it bluntly, they could categorize this under the Math department and it would be a more accurate classification than an LS class. Seriously, this class is all about learning to do probabilities. I did well on the first midterm because I took AP Bio and I was riding off that knowledge for the first 4 weeks. Didn't learn a single thing until he started talking about gene linkage, at which point stuff got confusing real fast.
Weekly quizzes sucked. All it came down to was memorizing answers to homework problems and regurgitating them onto paper for 5 measly points a week, for 8 weeks.
Apparently he does this thing where you can bomb the first 2 midterms and as long as you do really well on the final he'll give you an A in the class.
Can't speak English, can't teach, keeps saying "I want you to do well in this class/on the next midterm" and he makes the next test harder so the average is 13% lower. This guy seriously cannot teach, I learned everything from the TA's. I don't have a single positive thing to say about this guy. He's not even that nice of a person.

LS3

So Dr. Pham is really a nice guy. He has a lot of office hours, and is always willing to help. However, he is a really bad teacher. He has a very thick accent and his English is sub par. I thought his accent wouldn't be a problem when I read bruin walk the first time, but trust me it is. Often times you are left clueless when he is explaining slides, and even basic, material is made confusing because of his lack of communication skills. I studied a lot for his class, and did well however his tests were always unfair. I really liked Pham as a person, however he just isn't a good professor.

Pham is the best professor in ls I've ever had. Yes he has a strong accent but he teaches so well. When you get familiar with his accent, you will enjoy his lecture because he makes you think about biology. It's a lot of memorization but he makes you understand before memorizing. He gives you a big picture in class, explain the process. Your job is memorizing after you understand. It's not that hard. I hope people won't hate him just because his accent. He has so many other good things that can make up for his accent.

LS4 Summer 2016

"Take him during the summer." These are the words of my TA and I can see why. He graciously provides SO MANY PRACTICE TESTS and it is so clear that his tests were noticeably easier during the summer. We skipped a few topics and he told us that because we had less time, we would not go in depth in some questions (for example, he would give a "two gene" mapping problem instead of a "three gene" one; this may mean nothing to you, but it's shiz like this that made me, and the rest of the summer class, crazy (with joy). This man cares. His accent is a little rough, but it's honestly not something that should deter anyone. He goes slowly enough during the summer to guide us through problems that are similar to the exam. TAKE HIM DURING THE SUMMER. I don't know my grade yet, but I have no reagrets (hah).

LS4 with professor pham is a good experience. Workload is low because he walks through the problems with you in class so you can save time going to office hours. His exams are also fair and easy if you understand the problems he goes through in class and do the practice midterms. He also explains problems clearly and repeats the important parts so just attending the lecture and discussions alone is sufficient to prepare for exams.

Pham is great as long as you are able to get past his accent. He repeats important content over and over again so if you miss it the first time, you should be fine. Tests are very fair, and if you memorize whats on the slides, you'll be set for the class.

2 midterms: 100 points/each
Final cumulative : 200 points
online quizzes: 2.5 points/each
weekly discussion quizzes: 5 points/each

Professor Pham are very nice and helpful. The way to do well in the class is to go to office hour, WORK on his practice exams EARLY. Reading the book is not important as doing practice problems on his passed exams. Think of every exam like running a marathon, in order to do well, you HAVE to practice. Although the workload is somewhat demanding, it is reasonable for the nature of the 5-units-class. I fall in love with genetics after I take the class and I am sure you will too. LS4 could be challenging but it is fun, like solving puzzles!!!

People give Pham a hard time but I don't think he deserves it. Yes, he has an accent but it's not super thick. He is really friendly and can make some good jokes once in a while.

LS4 with Pham is one of the easiest LS classes you can take. The workload isn't light but it's easy to do well in this class if you try. A quiz before every lecture and one during discussion feels like a huge chore but it does help your grade a ton because the quizzes are easy. The textbook is not really necessary because the homework that comes from it is not for a grade but the discussion quiz questions come straight from the homework/book.

The midterms are really easy because Pham gives you all of his old tests. Just do those and you will be very well prepared for the midterms. If you can score 90 or above on every midterm you are golden. The final is difficult compared to how easy the midterms were. Just study a lot for the final and you will be fine.

Enjoy the class while it lasts. I hated/sucked at genetics in high school but I did really well in this class and liked this class the most out of all of the LS lower divs.

Dr. Pham is an amazing professor. The class layout is a little different since it a "flipped classroom". This means that before lectures, you are to watch videos (about an hour long for each lecture) that teaches you the material, and then in class Dr Pham will go over key points and do practice problems. I happen to like this since it gave me more time to try my hand at the practice problems and see the correct way of thinking about them. Dr. Pham also gives all his past exams on the class website. If you spend the time to do them all (which you will need a lot of time to do them), I feel it basically guarantees good grades. I don't understand why people don't do them when it is offered. An A is very doable in this class but you HAVE to put in the time to practice. Highly recommend Dr Pham, he is amazing

I took this class in Spring 2017-- It was definitely very manageable. I wasn't and still am not very interested in genetics, but the structure of the class made it an easy A. It was taught in a flipped classroom style, which meant that every week we would have to watch two 90-minute videos (looked like they were from Bruincast in the early 2000s) and take a 10-question quiz on ccle after each video, which was very time consuming. The quizzes aren't worth very much-- Pham drops the lowest five scores.
There are also quizzes during discussion each week, that test material taught during the previous week. The quiz question is pulled directly from the assigned homework questions, and is graded all or nothing (really not a big deal, as long as you do the problems or look at the solutions before hand). Pham also drops the lowest or 2 lowest discussion quiz scores.
The midterms and final were very very doable-- Pham uploads a BUNCH of his old exams onto ccle. The most effective way I studied for the exams was just by doing all of his old tests-- the same type of questions appear on his actual exams pretty much word for word.

tl;dr: very doable class, long videos, drops lowest quiz grades, do the practice exams.