LS4

Pham can teach genetics as well as he can speak english (read: can't teach for his god damned life). He is honestly the worst teacher I've ever had when it comes to providing explanations. Part of it is because his accent is horrible and he constantly says the wrong thing without correcting himself. Most of the problem, however, is the fact that he was clearly never meant to be a professor. He can't convey concepts.

Ignore the course, I took Pham for LS 4 during the Spring of 2011.

I found him to be, overall, a great professor. He brings a certain excitement to genetics that I didn't think was possible. This was by far my favorite class of the LS series because of Pham. I ended up with an A- in the class, and I think that as long as you make sure to read the sections he suggests from the book, along with doing the homework problems and going over his notes, you should be able to achieve at least the same grade. That being said, there are a lot of other smart kids in the class, so you have to stay on top of the material, because if you fall behind, it is hard to keep up, as one concept seems to build on the other. Pham is extremely approachable, and holds many office hours and a weekly review session of his topics (something he is not required to do at all). He truly cares about student learning, and if you get the chance, I would strongly recommend this class with him!

Pham is a great professor and really puts efforts into ensuring that his children understand every word he says. He's very patient and solves all doubts with genuine interest. His lecture slides are very helpful, and the online textbook and videos aid in concept clarity. His exams can have some trick questions that may be difficult to deal with, if you don't pay attention in class.
The discussions are compulsory, and so are the quizzes and the online videos. All of them carry substantial weight, so this class requires a lot of consistency.

This review is for LS 107 which was one of my first courses at UCLA (I'm a transfer). I have to say I was intimidated at first, but ended up enjoying the course very much by the end.
The previous reviews are very accurate. Dr. Pham is an incredibly kind man, super knowledgeable in the field of genetics, and just wants his students to succeed. He has a decently thick accent but I got completely used to it by week 2. The most important study tool in this class are his previous midterms which he posts on CCLE. Pay very close attention to the format, length, problem style, and problem wording when you practice these tests.

In regards of study material, the class consists of:
-Textbook (used it in the first weeks, realized it is not needed at all)
-Clicker questions (critical for getting the basis of concepts for the more heavy problems, and worth participation points)
-Discussion worksheets (sample midterm questions your TA solves)
-Weekly CCLE worksheets (more sample midterm questions for practice)
-Weekly discussion quizzes (depends on TA, based on prev week's wkst)
-Lecture slides (for general concept and clicker Q's)
-Previous midterms (many get posted on CCLE, do as much as you can starting with most recent ones)
-Bruincast videos (Dr. Lasky explaining concepts, since LS107 is now a flipped classroom where you come to class primarily to solve problems)
-Online quizzes (based off the videos)

As you can see there is a ton of study material here. I think you will have no problem getting a high grade in this class if you understand how to solve nearly all problem types that he emphasizes. I went to my TA many times for help, and by the test time I knew how to solve pretty much every problem.
My scores:
Participation 44/44
Online Qz 26/26
Discussion Qz 30/30
MT1 97/100
MT2 100/100
Final Exam 191/200
Final grade 488/500 = 97.6%

The averages for all exams were really high (MT 1 was about 78%, MT2 was IN THE 90's!!, final was 83%). You will be fine, don't worry.
I hope my review was thorough and helpful! Good luck in the course and in your future endeavors.

It doesn't really matter who you have for LS7A, as the class is standardized (everyone takes the same exams, has the same assignments, same text, lectures, etc.). So if I were you I'd pick the time that's most convenient rather than going for a specific professor.
The most important thing to remember about this class is that everything you do matters. Go to every discussion, don't miss a single assignment, and don't miss more than 2 lectures (you get two free absences) as there is no curve in the class and there are a lot of "non-exam" points, and you wanna optimize on all of these points since the exam can get quite tricky at times. I wouldn't say the material itself on the exams was difficult, there was minimal memorization and the concepts were pretty easy to understand, but the questions would get quite obscure and the wording was designed in a way to trick you at times. They key to doing well in the class is practice over absorbing material, if that makes sense. You have to get used to the way questions will be framed in exams. So focus on clicker questions and practice exam questions, and I'd also recommend going to the LA review sessions because they give you more questions to practice.
Pham specifically was alright tho. He definitely has an accent but you get used to is pretty quickly so it's not that bad. He's also very nice and willing to help you if you ask him.

It's really hard to rate this class because it honestly just depends on the amount of effort your willing to put in and your interest/dedication to the subject. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of bio but I dedicated a decent amount of time to understanding the material. Professor Pham is a really great guy, and very knowledgeable on the subject. That being said, who you have has a professor doesn't really matter. The 7 series is completely standardized and you do most of the learning on your own anyway (flipped classroom).
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There are a few important things to keep in mind if you want an A

These are the tactics that worked best for me:
- Always do the launchpad and do your best to get every point possible
-Don't skim the launchpad, actually do it and make sure you're reading the textbook
-Don't focus on memorizing minor details and molecule names: Your primary focus should be the topics in the pre-class review sheet
-If something is discussed in lecture or repeated multiple times MAKE SURE you know it- It's definitely going to be on the exam
-If you're reviewing the clicker questions before an exam and you're stuck just review the lecture on bruincast- all of his lectures are recorded and posted there
-Clarify topics you don't understand with your TA and don't be afraid to ask questions

Pham was so cute and cared about his students' learning. People complain about his accent, but it isn't that bad... just pay attention and you'll know what he's talking about.
In general, I don't really like the 7 series, but the class is quite standardized, so don't worry TOO much about the professor. Read lecture slides, skim over Launchpad, DO Launchpad (don't miss out on easy points here), attend lecture (you don't have to pay attention to understand material, but just do the clicker questions), and make sure you really understand the thought processes behind the clicker questions.
I loved AP Bio in high school, but the 7 series will be different lol... regardless, just don't get too overconfident and sleep really well the night before the tests. Don't overthink the tests and don't dwell on challenging questions; go with your gut.
Also, study for the final. I did decently on the midterms but didn't study much for the final and it was significantly harder than the midterms for me. Could have been the difference in material too...

Honestly, I didn't really find lecture to be incredibly helpful for learning the material. The course material wasn't incredibly dense and was very manageable; there's no textbook just online lecture videos. One thing to note is that this course is a flipped classroom, so lectures mainly cover clicker questions (similar to other LS 7 series courses, but with videos instead of Launchpad).

There are years' worth of old tests and quizzes available for students to study, and the exams we received were very similar to these past tests. As such, I found that simply studying the past exams' questions and learning how to answer these problems was the most efficient way to study for this class. Honestly, I crammed a day or two before exams and did pretty well using this method.

I highly recommend this course as an UD elective!

I have the old quizzes for sale cheap, email *************. These are not found on quizlet

I dropped this class Fall 2018 because I bombed the first midterm. So I was determined to retake the course, learn from my mistakes, and do well. What I did differently: never looked at the textbook, went to every lecture for participation, printed at least 6 old exams to practice from. I really put in more time and effort into studying the old exams and past problems which is what I think really helped my performance. I printed out enough exams that go back 3 years, per Dr. Pham's advice, and started them as soon as possible, typically after discussion so we knew how to start the problems. I had Leanne as my TA, who is phenomenal and I think the best TA for this class. She has really easy techniques that make solving problems easier to memorize and easy to understand. I also went to the professor's OH often to reinforce all the problems and get help on any other problems. I think these strategies are truly what got me an A+ in the course, which is very doable because I was taking 11 other units and worked part-time. My scores-- M1: 93.5/100, M2: 100/100, Final: 200/200, Online Quiz: 30/30, Clicker: 30/30, Discussion: 50/50. He did not curve because the class did well on each exam. Just put in the time to do those exams, and your midterms will be very similar if not exactly the same.