Professor
Jessica Lynch-Alfaro
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - Beware of the amount of reading required for this class. The exams are alright as long as you did the study guide and understood all the terms. Overall, this was a pretty generic GE. I am also selling the printed book of Island of Dr. Moreau for 5 dollars. Feel free to message me at **********.
Winter 2018 - Beware of the amount of reading required for this class. The exams are alright as long as you did the study guide and understood all the terms. Overall, this was a pretty generic GE. I am also selling the printed book of Island of Dr. Moreau for 5 dollars. Feel free to message me at **********.
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Most Helpful Review
Soc Gen 5 I had professor Alfaro for the second half of the course (Professor Landecker taught the first half). Professor Alfaro was great ! Everything you need to do well on the quizzes and final were her power points, which I suggest to definitely print out & memorize. She tries to keep the class engage and is really passionate about the subject & she is SO helpful during office hours! Because of office hours, I did really well on the the final :D This isn't a hard class and I totally recommend it !
Soc Gen 5 I had professor Alfaro for the second half of the course (Professor Landecker taught the first half). Professor Alfaro was great ! Everything you need to do well on the quizzes and final were her power points, which I suggest to definitely print out & memorize. She tries to keep the class engage and is really passionate about the subject & she is SO helpful during office hours! Because of office hours, I did really well on the the final :D This isn't a hard class and I totally recommend it !
Most Helpful Review
Actual class taken: Society and Genetics 5 Dr. Lynch Alfaro taught the second half of the course, the first half was taught by Dr. Landecker. Lynch Alfaro was by far the better professor. She did a good job of holding students attention, but the lectures were still somewhat dull. She was very kind when I attended office hours and was happy to help students who asked. The grading consisted of the following: Participation: 20% Midterm 20% Paper 20% Quizzes 20% Final 20% Participation was simply attending discussion, doing the standing assignment each week (read 2 of the assigned articles and write key terms, a 1 sentence summary, and 1 question you have for each article), and actually participate a little bit. It's easy points. The midterm consisted of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. It was graded harshly. You would get marked down for not using specific words on questions or for not including enough information on what many thought was the least important part of the question. The average on the midterm was a C. The paper is 7 pages on antibiotic resistance or the microbiome. It consists of 2 different 3 page mock testimonies to congress on the issue and a 1 page introduction. Pretty easy stuff. There were 5 quizzes (all in the second half of the course). 5 multiple choice questions. They were supposed to cover the readings and lectures from the previous two classes, but honestly just review the lecture notes and you'll ace all of them. The lowest score gets dropped, so 4 quizzes at 5% of your grade each. The final was not cumulative (midterm took place really early) and was actually easier than the midterm. Again, multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. There are a lot of assigned readings. It is worth it to read all of them early on (make sure to highlight and take notes) to help with the paper. After the paper, there really isn't a reason to read more than necessary to complete the standing assignment each week. The class isn't too difficult. There are definitely easier GEs out there, though. Also, I highly recommend you print out the lecture slides and use them to take notes. It will make it much easier to pay attention to what is said in lecture.
Actual class taken: Society and Genetics 5 Dr. Lynch Alfaro taught the second half of the course, the first half was taught by Dr. Landecker. Lynch Alfaro was by far the better professor. She did a good job of holding students attention, but the lectures were still somewhat dull. She was very kind when I attended office hours and was happy to help students who asked. The grading consisted of the following: Participation: 20% Midterm 20% Paper 20% Quizzes 20% Final 20% Participation was simply attending discussion, doing the standing assignment each week (read 2 of the assigned articles and write key terms, a 1 sentence summary, and 1 question you have for each article), and actually participate a little bit. It's easy points. The midterm consisted of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. It was graded harshly. You would get marked down for not using specific words on questions or for not including enough information on what many thought was the least important part of the question. The average on the midterm was a C. The paper is 7 pages on antibiotic resistance or the microbiome. It consists of 2 different 3 page mock testimonies to congress on the issue and a 1 page introduction. Pretty easy stuff. There were 5 quizzes (all in the second half of the course). 5 multiple choice questions. They were supposed to cover the readings and lectures from the previous two classes, but honestly just review the lecture notes and you'll ace all of them. The lowest score gets dropped, so 4 quizzes at 5% of your grade each. The final was not cumulative (midterm took place really early) and was actually easier than the midterm. Again, multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. There are a lot of assigned readings. It is worth it to read all of them early on (make sure to highlight and take notes) to help with the paper. After the paper, there really isn't a reason to read more than necessary to complete the standing assignment each week. The class isn't too difficult. There are definitely easier GEs out there, though. Also, I highly recommend you print out the lecture slides and use them to take notes. It will make it much easier to pay attention to what is said in lecture.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - I loved her. She was an absolute gem. I genuinely enjoyed this class so much. She had a HARD focus on fulfilling the diversity requirement, which I really enjoyed in a science course. You can tell that she cares very deeply about the issues she discusses, is very mindful and caring towards students, super patient, is willing to work with students and is very understanding. I have never had a professor this sweet before, and I never even went to her office hours. Though I probably should have. I would take 10 more courses with her if I could. I feel like a learned a whole lot while also taking it easy and not being stressed out at all throughout the quarter. She gave many extra credit opportunities, including watching a movie on conversion therapy, writing a short page on gender identity, etc. She is so great. She even extended one of the due dates for an assignment in case students didn't have enough time, and she even agreed to drop the lowest quiz score for the entire class because some students were experiencing technical problems on the website while taking them. Amazing! Overall, the class is really interesting. Makes you think about gender and sexuality in a different way. There are 5 online quizzes (she dropped the lowest one), two midterms, and one research paper that is very fluid and very clear on what she wants you to do. Very straight forward overall, she makes sure everyone is on the same page like all the time. We also were lucky to have an amazing TA (Andrew) who was super helpful and sweet and made the class even better. This was probably one of the best classes I've taken at UCLA thus far.
Fall 2018 - I loved her. She was an absolute gem. I genuinely enjoyed this class so much. She had a HARD focus on fulfilling the diversity requirement, which I really enjoyed in a science course. You can tell that she cares very deeply about the issues she discusses, is very mindful and caring towards students, super patient, is willing to work with students and is very understanding. I have never had a professor this sweet before, and I never even went to her office hours. Though I probably should have. I would take 10 more courses with her if I could. I feel like a learned a whole lot while also taking it easy and not being stressed out at all throughout the quarter. She gave many extra credit opportunities, including watching a movie on conversion therapy, writing a short page on gender identity, etc. She is so great. She even extended one of the due dates for an assignment in case students didn't have enough time, and she even agreed to drop the lowest quiz score for the entire class because some students were experiencing technical problems on the website while taking them. Amazing! Overall, the class is really interesting. Makes you think about gender and sexuality in a different way. There are 5 online quizzes (she dropped the lowest one), two midterms, and one research paper that is very fluid and very clear on what she wants you to do. Very straight forward overall, she makes sure everyone is on the same page like all the time. We also were lucky to have an amazing TA (Andrew) who was super helpful and sweet and made the class even better. This was probably one of the best classes I've taken at UCLA thus far.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - I just couldn't help to leave a review. I liked the class, it was pretty easy and fun. Dr. Lynch Alfaro was a very very nice professor. The only thing that bothers me is that her lecture was not well organized. It was compiled with abundant facts here and there. At least to me, she did not present a full picture of her topic. Everything else was good.
Fall 2016 - I just couldn't help to leave a review. I liked the class, it was pretty easy and fun. Dr. Lynch Alfaro was a very very nice professor. The only thing that bothers me is that her lecture was not well organized. It was compiled with abundant facts here and there. At least to me, she did not present a full picture of her topic. Everything else was good.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - CLASS: The class, Hormones and Behavior in Humans and Other Animals, is highly interesting if a bit confusing in the beginning. It covers hormones in humans, fish, birds, rats, and other species like many non-human primates. It didn't feel like I went to class since there wasn't a discussion section and it was at 9:30 so I was asleep for it most of the time. The tests are doable if you study the material. UNDERSTAND TINBERGEN'S FOUR QUESTIONS (anthro term if you don't know it) LYNCH ALFARO: JLA is a highly helpful professor who teaches the majority of the course aside from Schlinger and some guest speakers. She makes herself available for Skype office hours and is always helpful and availabl e. SCHLINGER: Schlinger is grumpy old man who doesn't really care about students. He's obsessed with birds, which is what he teaches about (songbirds, manakins, and general physiology of male/female reproductive systems and hormones associated with it). His lectures aren't podcasted and he flaked on me for an office hour once. He only teaches like 5-6 lectures so I still recommend the course, and his material is not ultra heavily tested on the exams.
Fall 2016 - CLASS: The class, Hormones and Behavior in Humans and Other Animals, is highly interesting if a bit confusing in the beginning. It covers hormones in humans, fish, birds, rats, and other species like many non-human primates. It didn't feel like I went to class since there wasn't a discussion section and it was at 9:30 so I was asleep for it most of the time. The tests are doable if you study the material. UNDERSTAND TINBERGEN'S FOUR QUESTIONS (anthro term if you don't know it) LYNCH ALFARO: JLA is a highly helpful professor who teaches the majority of the course aside from Schlinger and some guest speakers. She makes herself available for Skype office hours and is always helpful and availabl e. SCHLINGER: Schlinger is grumpy old man who doesn't really care about students. He's obsessed with birds, which is what he teaches about (songbirds, manakins, and general physiology of male/female reproductive systems and hormones associated with it). His lectures aren't podcasted and he flaked on me for an office hour once. He only teaches like 5-6 lectures so I still recommend the course, and his material is not ultra heavily tested on the exams.
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