Professor Maloy really cares about his students and that is evident by how he helps students during lecture. However, LS 7A is a poorly organized class and requires a lot of teaching it yourself. Lectures are usually just clicker questions, which unfortunately don't really help your learning. However, I thought Maloy was a great person and teacher. I would take another class with him that is organized in a better fashion.

So usually LS 7A is taught with multiple professors utilizing the flipped classroom format, and Professor Maloy is one that certainly knows the in and outs of this teaching style. Lectures consist of him going over slides and some clicker questions (they count as part of your grade, but clicker questions are graded based on completing 75% of that lecture's clicker questions), and he encourages you to converse amongst yourselves. It's a good method that encourages both learning and socializing, so much so in that I found it relaxing and enjoyable to go to his lectures (he brings his dog in, so be on the lookout for that!).
Outside of lecture, you will have both Launchpad and discussion. Launchpad can be annoying sometimes, but usually there is a quizlet (and if not coursehero usually has a free preview lol). I'm not saying this to encourage you to look off of them, but rather to note the fact that Professor Maloy himself said that Launchpad is more for getting the background knowledge, and studying the clicker questions and lecture content is so much more crucial for the exams. In discussion, you will have worksheets to do, which will count as part of your grade. You are encouraged to work in groups, and honestly, most people should get these points, either from doing the work or asking for help from the TAs (who seem more than willing to help you do well in this class).
Like above, study the clicker questions and lecture content for the exams, it is by far the most crucial part. There are really a lot of application problems (e.g. looking at this biological system, what would happen if this part was inhibited?) and very few pure memorization problems. Make sure to utilize the diagrams on the exams, because those can definitely be helpful. Also, all exams (1 final, 2 midterms) are multiple choice (with both midterms being around 60 questions and the final 100 questions), and they provide the scantrons, so no need to worry about that part of the class.
In terms of grading, everything is on a straight scale (unless the average is below a 75%), so you don't need to worry about competition or anything. There are a total of 726 points (76 clicker points, 80 discussion points, 90 midterm 1 points, 120 midterm 2 points, 200 final points, 150 total points possible from Launchpad, 10 weekly survey points), with the straight scale boundary being 93% and up for A, 90%-92.9% for A-, etc. Overall, as long as you are staying on top of your work, because Maloy lectures so well, you should be able to ace this class!

Maloy was a decent professor, but overall for an intro bio class he wasn't as helpful as I thought he could have been. But that could have been for the "flipped classroom" and the clicker questions/speed. The flipped classroom just does not work for a 400 person class, and while clicker questions could be helpful they would spend 10 minutes on one question and everyone would just end up talking. Or he would give us 30 seconds and then not go over it. While I really wanted to like Maloy, I found that I really just liked him as a person not as a professor. For the class in general, it is helpful to go over clicker questions and PE questions for the midterm and final.

Maloy is really, really helpful and nice. He makes it clear that he wants you to succeed in the course and offers you a lot of resources to succeed. Personally, I recommend going to his office hours. That's something I wish I did more after taking the course. There's a lot of assignments in this course that you have to keep track of (reflection assignments, launchpad readings/quizzes/practice exam questions, etc.,) so make sure you're doing all of them on time. He also offered 2 extra credit opportunities my quarter so jump on that. CLC is also a good resource. Keep track of all the papers you get because they can help. Attendance in this class is important (tracked with iClicker); actually pay attention in class because he goes over a lot of important things. All in all, it's a good class. I just didn't take advantage of my resources enough. But there's a lot of points that go into this class so if you don't perform as well on a test as you would've liked, it's okay.

Dr. Maloy is an awesome professor who clearly wants all of his students to succeed. Take LS 7A with him.

LS7A itself was definitely much harder than I expected. Flipped classroom is doable and there are a lot of extra points to get, but you have to make sure you're managing your time wisely relative to other classes as well. Also make sure to take advantage of all the study opportunities and resources, like CLC hours and taking the practice exam questions seriously. With Maloy, in-lecture discussion isn't as important because he explains everything clearly and thoroughly. His teaching style works very well with the exam format. Make sure to understand not only the correct answer but why the other options are incorrect—TA OHs are extremely helpful for this. He is engaging and very passionate about his work. I haven't been to any of his review sessions or OH, so I can't speak on that.

Because this class is listed under multiple professors, avoid Campbell if you can. His lectures are extremely dry and definitely unbearable if you don't have anyone to talk to lol. He also wasn't as clear in explanations as Maloy.

Maloy for 7A was one of the best teachers I have had at UCLA so far. With the new "flipped classroom" approach that the LS7 series uses, it can be quite apparent which teachers are well-versed in such a classroom setting and which ones are totally inept. Maloy clearly knew how to teach in this manner. His lectures are clear and concise, and his clicker questions are very useful for learning the material and putting the concepts to use. If you don't understand something the first time around, he is also great at explaining things in office hours, where he'll clarify concepts and make some practice problems. Structure of the class is fairly simple; you have two midterms (the 2nd one is 30 points more than the 1st so you have a little more leeway if you mess up) and a final, and the rest of the points is obtained through attending discussion sections and completing work on Launchpad. All of that is free points and in 7A actually accounts for like 40% of your grade, so do them. This class is pretty smooth sailing if you pay attention in lecture and really put an emphasis on the clicker questions (what concepts they ask about, how they word the questions, etc.) when you study. Maloy certainly made this class as manageable as possible. If you have the choice, take 7A with him, hands down.

Dr. Maloy is the best professor in the life sciences department hands down. He makes an effort to know and help his students in any way he can and is just a genuinely nice person overall. He replies to emails promptly as well. His teaching is great and he makes it clear what is expected of us in the class. Go to his review sessions before midterms and the final! They're incredibly helpful.
The material itself is easy: more concept application than memorization. Use clicker questions to study. LA problem-solving sessions are useful if you want more explanation of concepts.
Launchpad is a pain and takes a lot of time if you take notes alongside it. But if you take notes, your understanding of the material will definitely be better than those who don't.

OVERVIEW:
150 points - Launchpad
>>>50 points each for reading, review quizzes, and practice exams
90 points - Midterm #1
>>>62 multiple choice questions (2 bonus)
120 points - Midterm #2
>>>62 multiple choice questions (2 bonus)
200 points - Midterm #3
>>>102 multiple choice questions (2 bonus)
80 points - Discussion
72 points - Clicker participation
10 points - CCLE reflection questions
722 total points available (although there were about 8 points worth of extra credit surveys as well!)
There's a lot to love about Dr. Maloy's LS7A lecture. He's an energetic professor and is very passionate about teaching. The use of clicker questions and review quizzes on LaunchPad (the online textbook) really helped me gage how well I understood the course. There are a lot of resources for those who are struggling: I'd highly recommend going to the Collaborative Learning Center's Problem Solving/Q+A sessions to review each week's material and to professor/TA office hours. The lectures themselves are really engaging - full of colorful diagrams and opportunities to work with your neighbors - and Dr. Maloy was a terrific presenter. Dr. Maloy also used worksheets during the lectures to emphasize key points, which were especially handy when preparing for the exams.
However, the LS series may seem daunting at first. LaunchPad can be somewhat deflationary, as the practice exams are very challenging. Each week, you are assigned reading on LaunchPad, followed by straightforward review quizzes, which you can attempt up to 3 times and pause if needed. However, the practice exams are a different story. They are timed and you only have one shot at them, making them very stressful. There are answers posted on Quizlet (everyone seems to be aware of this, even the Learning Assistants), but I'd caution against using those. The practice exams, while they are quite stress-inducing, are very helpful when studying for the exams. Additionally, each one counts for a mere 5 points out of 722, so they aren't especially weighty in final grades. These are a helpful tool to succeeding in the course.
Dr. Maloy really emphasized student learning, which was great! He dedicated 10 easy course points to watching educational videos about the science of learning and filling out surveys about how we perceive our own ability to learn. In the face of my first quarter's near-constant stress, these reflection questions were a pleasant reminder that, even when faced with difficulty, I was capable of overcoming it. I was never able to go to Dr. Maloy's office hours because of an unfortunate schedule conflict, but I emailed him several times. He is very prompt with his replies and cares deeply about addressing student concerns.
It's also great that there are a LOT of points in this course, which gives students quite a bit of room to struggle and learn without seriously jeopardizing their grades. Overall, it was a great experience despite some initial difficulties. I'd give this course a 5/5, although it was certainly challenging, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in life science and cells/molecules.

Before I begin, I'd like to inform those that I took him for LS 107, not LS7A. I couldn't find Maloy under LS 107 or LS 4 for some reason and I don't want to go through the trouble of adding him cause I'm lazy. Anyways, Maloy is not that bad of a professor. He is clear, has good practice problems, reflect his exams on his lecture and clicker questions, and provides a lot of extra credit (I think my grade was boosted by 4% thanks to it). My only problem with him is that he may be too easy. I'm not sure if it's because I took the class during summer, but it seemed very easygoing in his LS 107 class. I'm not sure how it was for others, but the class median for the first exam was a 68/90, avg. for second was 72%, and final probably something like a C to a C+. I would highly recommend Maloy if you want a do-able, yet a little challenging at times Genetics course. Hung Pham is the other Genetics professor whom I believe seems to be harder than Maloy, comparing Pham's exams to Maloy's. Clicker required, textbook not, 2 midterms + final (summer 2018), ~680 points, 1st exam 90pts, 2nd 120pts, final 200pts, video quizzes 50pts, participation during class & discussion 60pts, CCLE assignments (free points) 80pts, clicker ?'s 80pts, 27 pts extra credit you can easily earn.