This class was definitely a challenging start, especially being online, but overall was a very good experience. The launchpad sometimes was a little bit obnoxious but what I actually found most helpful is just reading through and not taking notes. Before the first midterm I spent hours going through launchpad and taking notes but by the time the final had come around I had started just reading through launchpad and taking notes during lecture which I recommend. The exams are all about application so while it is important to know the information, focusing on the LA worksheets and clicker questions is the most helpful. All exams were averaged between an individual and a group score which was a godsend as well as the I believe 10 possible extra credit points.
I did not find office hours helpful because the zoom would have 50 people in it so most of the time my questions wouldn't be answered, but it was helpful to hear the answers of other people's questions. Overall I LOVED Maloy and Braybrook and would highly recommend this class with these professors.

As someone who doesn't have too strong of a background in biology, I'm glad I took this course with Dr. Maloy. He is very qualified and always explains important concepts thoroughly and clearly. His slides are well organized and he provides the necessary study tools to succeed on exams (iclicker questions, slides, exam review sessions, office hours, etc.). The exams and grading of the course were fair in my opinion.

Course Breakdown:

-Midterm 1- 90 points
(2 stages: Closed book individual stage and then open book group phase with 3 randomly assigned peers. Your score is the average of your individual phase and group phase.)
-Midterm 2- 120 points (2 stages)
-Final Exam- 200 points (2 stages)
-Reflection assignments- 10 points (easy free points)
-Discussion section participation- 72 points (Worksheet with your TA and discussion group. Based on accuracy as well as participation)
-Lecture participation- 68 points (up to 4 points each lecture, can get full credit for clicking into 75% of the questions that day)
-Launchpad assignments- 45 points (Busy work in my opinion, didn't help me for exams)
-Weekly pre-class review questions- 45 points (still busy work from launchpad)
- Weekly practice exam questions- 45 points (graded on accuracy)
- Total: 695 points without EC

The exams were manageable because of the two stage system. Additionally, as long as you understand concepts and diagrams, you should be able to answer the questions without memorizing anything because he provides the relevant diagrams on the exams. I used lecture slides and iclicker questions to study and went to the exam review sessions and got A's on all the exams. (Launchpad was too time consuming and didn't help me.) The launchpad assignments, lecture participation, and discussion participation all have a little leeway (ex. you can miss one lecture and still get full credit in lecture participation). This quarter, there were probably about 10 points of extra credit offered, but since there were a total of 695 points, the EC made a minimal difference in the end. The only new thing this quarter was learning pods, where you're grouped with five peers from your discussion section. We met twice a week for about 15 minutes after each lecture to work on some ungraded problems he assigned us. Learning pods didn't really help me for exams, but it was nice to meet people at least.

Overall: Highly recommend this professor for this course.

Pretty organized, medium workload, an overwhelming variety of resources to study from but office hours and problem-solving sessions are particularly helpful for exams.

I absolutely enjoyed my first quarter with Professor Maloy. He was a great lecturer and so understanding when it came to technical difficulties (especially with COVID-19). I truly learned a lot in this class and I think it was due to the flipped classroom style. It definitely is more challenging, but you get more out of it. That being said, I did do Launchpad before each lecture and did my best not to skim, although a lot of people just overlook it. I do agree it's pretty time-consuming, but it did help my understanding of the material. There's room for mistakes in the grading, which I really appreciate, so you can miss a few points on practice exam questions, discussion worksheets, clicker questions, etc. and still get a great grade in the class. Definitely go to office hours as much as possible, as Prof. Maloy cleared up much confusion on harder topics as well. These professors really want you to succeed, and they do so via their office hours, problem-solving sessions, and PEQs. I really recommend this class.

*COVID Edition*

Dr. Maloy and Dr. Braybrook taught the course together. Dr. Maloy gave the first half of the lectures while Dr. B would respond to questions in the chat, and vice versa during the second half. Both are wonderful, kind, and bright, professors and people in general. There are A LOT of moving parts in this class. As you've probably already heard or read, Launchpad is the worst, but it doesn't seem like much can be done about it, so you just have to power through it. I started skimming through Launchpad towards the end of the course and found that lectures, office hours, discussion sections, and CLC Problem-Solving Sessions were way more worth your time. Lectures are mandatory because iClicker Reef is utilized. There are 2 midterms and a final, both of which had an individual phase and a group phase. The exams were almost purely application-based rather than memorization, so working through clicker questions, CLC worksheets, discussion worksheets, PEQs, and creating similar practice problems from those help greatly. Practice is KEY. Form virtual study groups if you can! Collaborating with classmates was really helpful in understanding concepts. There is some leeway for points if you miss a couple of assignments (but trust me, do your best to keep up and write down due dates somewhere), and there are also opportunities for extra credit (which you should take!). I personally did not enjoy this class, but it was manageable and I got through it. The professors and learning team are really supportive, and I found it comforting that I was not the only one struggling! My TA was Maddie Zuercher, and she was nice!

Maloy is one of the best professors I've ever had! His lectures were always so fun and engaging, and he's really great at explaining concepts. Reversed classroom is difficult to adapt to at first, but once you get the hang of his format, this class is very straightforward.
People love to hate on Launchpad, but I think it's important to at least read through to get a general background on the information. However, it is a waste to re-read the book to prepare for exams. The exams in this class are mostly application MC questions. The best way to study for this is by a) going to the CLC sessions (these are SO helpful and very similar to exam questions), b) reviewing clicker questions, c) attending Maloy's exam review sessions, and d) reviewing learning objectives if you have time. That will set you up to ace your exams in this class! Good luck (:

The LS7 series is very standardized, so regardless of who you have as a professor, the objective difficulty of the exams will be basically the same since they pull from a standardized test bank across all of the 7A/B/C professors. On top of that, the class is a flipped classroom format meaning that you are expected to do the Launchpad readings (long and annoying busywork tbh) and learn the material on your own ahead of class. In class, Maloy will explain the information in a deeper context and will give you practice questions called clicker questions (these are graded on live completion and you need to answer 75% of the questions each day for full participation credit). Differences in exams between professors will typically be in a structural change rather than a question change (for example, Maloy may give you a two-part midterm where one is individual and one is group and take the average of the two parts for your overall midterm score while another professor may only give an individual portion but will allow for the exam to be open note).

That being said, while the class is standardized, if you are strong in biology when you enter this class, you most likely will observe very little difference in the difficulty of the class between professors. The quality of the professors and how well they explain concepts will only be of considerable concern to you if you find yourself confused or struggling in the class (at which point you'd better hope your professor can properly explain things. Fortunately, Maloy can explain very well). I did not have to attend his office hours or get extra help, so your mileage may vary compared to my review.

Maloy is a sweet professor who really encourages collaboration (so much so that he will assign you a peer group for the quarter to work with after class). You can tell that he really cares about teaching and that he wants to give you a fair and proper lesson every class. He never skimps on the quality of his lectures and will take any questions you have. You will enjoy having him as a professor. As a consequence however, since Maloy teaches at a slower pace in order to fairly accommodate everyone's learning speeds, the class may feel excessively slow to some (that's me. I'm some). Regardless, if you pay attention in class, you will learn the material more than well enough to do well on the exams. If you do not pay attention, you better be confident in yourself.

Dr. Maloy is super nice and really accommodating! I switched into this class right before the week 2 add/drop deadline and he was really nice about helping me get caught up. I think he really put a lot of effort into trying to facilitate small groups and problem solving sessions to get us to interact with each other, which I really appreciated.

That being said, I still didn't like this class. Launchpad is a nightmare and felt like a waste of time because it's so much harder to skim for important information on an online textbook where you actually have to click through the pages, and anything important was always surrounded by entire paragraphs of useless information. The content covered in this quarter was mostly a repeat of AP Bio but funnily enough I feel like I actively forgot things I learned in AP Bio over the course of this class. However, the stuff we covered this quarter also happened to be the stuff I've never liked even in AP Bio so that could've contributed to my lack of interest in this class's content.

Honestly I don't think this class is that difficult to get an A in as long as you 1) join on time and 2) stay on top of things. I literally forgot to do the entire last week of PEQs because I didn't know they were closing early... don't be like me. Midterms + final were really nice because you have an individual phase and then a group phase, which was just repeating the entire individual phase except with your group and access to notes/internet/etc. Lots of extra credit offered too.

I don't think he rounds grades up... I got a 92.8 and emailed him asking to round me up to a solid A and never got a response back (rip). You can ask for assignments to be regraded if it'll change your grade though, so I don't know if that would've made a difference for me.

One last thing: there are quite a few 'growth mindset' activities that were unrelated to the course content. Basically free points and pretty easy to complete but really annoying to have to sit through, especially when it was like "an external locus of control, which is bad, is when you attribute your difficulties to your circumstances" during a pandemic... felt a little callous, but that might just be me.

Professor Maloy is a great professor. I enjoyed his lectures and is interactive with the iClicker program. Because the class is relatively large, he mutes everyone and lectures aren't that interactive in terms of communicating with the professor or with other students. He tries to answer students' questions whether that is through the Raise Your Hand Zoom function but rarely the chat function. If you have a quick question, other students can answer you in the chat.
There was a lot of content to go over in the online textbook, Launchpad, but I learned a lot from it. He offers a good amount of extra credit which served me well! The midterms and final can be a little bit tricky when considering the specific wording. The class was also grouped into groups of 6 from discussion sections and because I took this course online, it was nice to talk and work with other students. Overall a good class, I learned a lot.

Dr. Maloy is an amazing and kind teacher. He is very clear and engaging in his lectures. Although his tests are tricky and require more analysis than memorization, I highly recommend him. Weekly launchpad readings may be long but they are clear and very necessary. A lot of people are lazy and complain about them but honestly it's less reading than I had in AP Bio. They are long so I would take notes and do active recall when studying to make it easier to memorize. Very similar info as AP BIO as well.