This class is definitely not easy at ALL. It requires sooo much time, to the point where one homework assigned for one night amounts to 3 hours if not more. The midterms are extremely difficult and do not have anything to do with your understanding of the general concepts. They are basically a bunch of diagrams with T/F questions or multiple choice and Maloy makes them so tricky. Many people are failing, however some are doing very well. It all depends on how much time you are willing to put in. This is NOT an easy class and the TAs are not very helpful. The CLC hours are very helpful though. However, I do want to say that the best part about this course was Professor Dasgupta! He was so nice and so kind and helpful and he is a genuinely funny and great professor! I wish he would have taught more than he did.

I scheduled a meeting with him in Week 9. I forgot to go, and I haven't talked to him since.

Dr. Maloy is hands down the best professor I've had . He is really approachable and his office hours are very helpful, He really tries to get to know his students.
The work itself is very doable. My recommendation would be to go to all of the review and office hours he has.
The tests are true/false questions. Not too bad but one word can change the whole answer so read thoroughly.
The class is based on points so try to compile as many as you can to be ready for the midterms and final. I personally did horrible on my midterms and final but because I went to class, did the hw and went to the labs I passed the class. What I'm saying is that if you fail one midterm you still have many more other things to fall back on. It'll be okay.
Study as you go and if you get confused for something ask that same week or you will fall behind.
My grade had nothing to do with Maloy, it was all me. He is a great professor.

Dr. Maloy is a very engaging professor which can really makes a class that much better. That being said, this class is super standardized--so many people take it--so all of my friends with other professors were doing the exact same assignments and activities. Dr. Maloy is great for an engaging lecture, but don't fret if you get someone else.
The speed at which we had to learn new content was a little overwhelming at first, but it was one of my first classes here, so that was just before I had adjusted to the quarter system. If you've taken AP Bio, I've heard its a little easier, but I had not and I was completely fine. Honestly, if you just go to the problem solving sessions every week (you can go almost every day and just study if you really wanted to) its a GREAT way to do practice problems, ask questions, and connect with other students. Office hours were also helpful, and if you put in the work, the midterms and final can turn out to be very doable-- even easy.

This class felt very much like a high school class, where there is a lot of groupwork and collaboration involved. The midterms are group exams and are online.

I thought the final was difficult but since there are a lot of other things in the gradebook (like section participation, homework, extra credit) it isn't hard to get a good grade in the class.

I thought Dr. Maloy did a great job teaching. He goes at a good speed and explains concepts clearly, and also uses fun + easy to learn analogies to help us.

The class goes a bit fast though, so for those who didn't take AP bio/other biology classes in the past this class might be hard.

Points for Fall 2024:
Pre-class reading guides - 68
Pre-class review questions (PCRQs) - 48
Clicker questions - 64
Learning pod assignments - 30
Discussion section assignments - 72
Practice Assessments of Learning (PALs) - 45
Assessment of Learning 1 - 90
Assessment of Learning 2 - 120
Assessment of Learning 3 - 200
Reflection assignments - 10
Total Points 747

Note that the entire LS7 series is standardized, so all students taking LS7 will have the same assignments and AOLs (basically midterms/finals) even with different lecturers. LS7A is also structured in a reverse-classroom format, so you're to do preclass reading guides around the textbook before lecture where it will be more so iClicker questions. While it may help prepare you for the material, I found that the lectures may go into topics other than what the preclass reading guides ask of, and sometimes for Maloy/Braybrook lectures fall a little behind and have to be made up next class lecture.

The AOLs are also known for being very tricky, not because of the content involved, but because of the wording of the questions. You first do an individual phase on Canvas, but you can then change your answers with reasoning provided during the group phase anytime during the allocated days the test is open. Even with the ability to change answers and work with your group, the wording of questions caused a lot of debates and discussions between groupmates and beyond.

Stirring away from the general class, however, Dr. Maloy is an extremely knowledgeable and approachable instructor. I really appreciate how clear he is during lecture, and he'll give very concise answers for questions while also having us think about it considerably. I highly recommend going to office hours to clarify any tricky topics/practice with him, and problem-solving sessions held by TAs and LAs to get more practice questions in. Overall, while content may be similar to AP Biology (and having that experience will definitely help), you'll still learn to think critically about the subject and see even more applications for molecular biology.

Everything covered in this course is a repeat of AP Biology, so if you took that in high school and remember the content it’s a breeze. However, it can be pretty challenging for those who didn’t. It is also somewhat dependent on your pod group (which exists for the entire 7 series), because the group test counted for 100% of your test grade. That being said, Dr. Maloy is a good lecturer and his style of teaching was conductive to actually understanding material. The classroom is flipped such that students learn from the textbook and then review the content and practice questions in lecture. Spending a good amount of time outside of class taking detailed notes is what will set you up for success.

Dr. Maloy is a friendly face, and a very kind, welcoming professor. He is engaging to listen to and explains things generally simply for students just starting college. However, this course in general involves readings before each class and group participation. There are plenty of resources and extra credit opportunities, and small assignments to add up for an A in the course! His office hours are so helpful, but he also makes it easy to be successful as an independent learner. Would absolutely take a class from him again!

I took this class with Prof. Maloy teaching the first half of the class and Prof. Zamudio teaching the second half. Overall, the class was not too bad, but the tests are somewhat tough to crack. There is a lot of workload each week, with a bunch of pre-class review questions, reading guides, a discussion section assignment that is completed in section, and practice assessments of learning to complete. However, there is a decent amount of extra credit offered in this course, which makes it easy enough to get an A if you just do all the required work. The tests (AoL's) are split into two parts, with an individual and a group phase. At the beginning of the quarter, you are put into learning pods with a few other students and this is your team for the quarter. You take the first phase (by yourself) on Canvas and it opens up Wednesday of week 4, week 7, and finals week, and it is open for the entire day with 2 hours for the first two tests and 3 hours for the last two tests. Then, for the next two days, on Thursday and Friday, you can talk with your group about your answers and use your textbook and other class materials. You then submit an identical test on Canvas where you are allowed to change your answers, but you have to submit another document that details which answers you changed and why you changed them to get full credit. Each phase makes up 50% of your overall score for that test. Everyone complains about this class because the tests have a lot of ambiguous wording, which is true. The best way to practice for this would be to attend office hours and problem solving sessions in which you can expand your knowledge on how THEY want YOU to think (though I was able to do well without this). Additionally, you are able to drop a few assignments if you have to miss them, but, if you complete all your assignments, this works out to having a point buffer in case you lose points on a few assignments. You can miss three lectures (lecture participation and attendance is expected), two weeks of discussion (discussion participation is also expected), a week of pre-class review questions, one week of practice assessments of learning, and a week of reading guides. If you are able to master this format, you will be able to get an A in the course.

𝐏𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 (𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞) 𝐭𝐨 @𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬@𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦

LS7 series in general is poorly organized IMO, but I think Maloy is the worst professor by far. Spends all of his time talking about things not related to science (growth mindset, gender identity, etc.). He once spent a whole lecture talking about the qualitative effects of deforestation despite our pre-class work being all about the chemical pathways in photosynthesis. He's a nice guy but it seems like he just wants to lecture people about what he's most interested at a given moment rather than biology.