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So I took this class with 14 other units, this is LS 107 BTW. I didn't put much effort into studying so I got a C. But basically its a flip classroom, where you watch videos at home and do online quizzes and you go into lecture and do clicker questions. His exams are based on old exams which he provides you with. They are the same exact questions as old exams so just study old exams and you will get an A.

This professor definitely tries to help students, but he's just a bad professor. In the class portion, he takes forever to go over a single problem, and when people ask him legitimate questions he doesn't quite answer them. The tests are not really like anything in class, either. In the end, what you learn from this class is how to understand his questions and memorize his tricks, and you just have to compromise and be okay with not understanding the actual genetics behind it. This class was just one giant frustrating experience. If you just do his previous practice tests and study clicker Q's if he emphasizes a new concept (for us it was cloning and cancer, wasn't on any of the previous tests), you'll be fine.

Pham is a nice guy, he really is. But, he has an accent that's extremely hard to understand and during class he goes back and fourth between slides a lot so it's really difficult to get his point. And, the workload is so much with Launchpad activities, and those aren't even on any of the midterms/finals. The questions on the tests I feel were very unfair because they were ALL true/false and the ones that weren't were worded super confusingly.

I took LS3 with Pham over the summer during session C. I thought he was a very fair teacher. His accent is a little hard to understand at times, but he basically just reads straight off the power point. His tests are straight from the slides so you really don't have to read the book. It can be tricky, but the class definitely wasn't as hard as it could have been. He gets 1 or 2 short answer questions from the practice midterm he posts. His short answer is where most of the points are taken from- he looks for key words so make sure you memorize the names. This class is more vocab than anything and is really doable.

I took Dr. Pham for LS3 instead of Dr. Pires and I regretted it once I was in week 5. This guy doesn't teach very well. The first five weeks, he was very slow and no one paid attention. The last five weeks, he was very fast and no one could follow him. His class is heavy on exams which are heavily based off of previous exams. If you memorize the questions and answers to previous exams, you have 70% or more of the upcoming of the exam done.
Dr. Pham makes biology more rote memorization than anything. Better to take Dr. Pires. Her tests are fair and take a bit more thinking. Preps you up for LS4 much better.

LS 4
Grade: A

Listen to the reviews. You do NOT need the textbook and the solutions manual for this class. You do NOT need to do a single book problem that he has listed in the first page of his slides.

Do ALL of the practice exams, understand them, and you should be fine. At some point, you will have to ask Dr. Pham or your TA, so go to their office hours. Even though he was not my assigned TA, I went to Vincent's office hours before the midterms and asked him questions on the CCLE forum before the final. Although his sense of humor isn't for me (kind of sarcastic, just letting you know), he is one of the most helpful TAs I have had! If you ask him a question, he should answer it in a clear manner. I am glad that he was a TA for a class this quarter, as he made LS 4 more bearable. Vincent, if you are somehow reading this, thank you! You will go on to great things, and I sincerely hope that you plan on being a professor. Thank you for your help this quarter.

Now, on to Dr. Pham. He seems to be a fairly nice person, although I never went to his office hours. I emailed him once, and he responded fairly promptly. You should attend lecture because you have to do clicker questions. Fortunately, he does not grade on accuracy, so as long as you do all of the questions for a given lecture, you should get all the points. You can miss up to three lectures and still get full credit. Class was at 8 am, so just be prepared to get to class on time. Don't memorize his slides like you would do for LS2 and LS3. I reviewed them after each lecture, but I made it my priority to get each and every one of the practice exams done. There are 15 for MT 1, 15 for MT 2, and for the final, he gives you previous final questions, which take less time than all of the practice midterms, but still take them seriously. Also, one exception for the slides: Be sure to especially look over the molecular genetics slides-more specifically, the questions on the plants and whether or not there is an RFLP mutation or something like that. Again, just be sure to do all the exams Dr. Pham gives you and you should do well in the class. Avoid making stupid math mistakes (averages are high for the exams), and a good thing about Pham is that he doesn't curve down. Good luck!

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.