This class is notoriously annoying in the way that it is taught. However, I think that the professors I had (Ko and Siekhaus) did a decent job at making the class interesting. The main thing that I despised about this course was the shocking amount of group activities. Since my group was essentially useless in completing these, I was forced to work on these with minimal help. This aspect of the course was very frustrating. While I personally did not need these resources, the professors would offer office hours and sessions to help people who were falling behind, which I think were very helpful to people who needed help in this course.

I thought this class was decent. You take the midterms in groups, but if you have a bad pod, this class will be a headache. Luckily, my pod was very smart and we got 100% on both midterms. The final was a bit tricky, but I still ended with an A after getting a 72% on the final. DO THE EXTRA CREDIT! You will want that extra cushion. Also some of the problem solving sessions were helpful and if your TA is helpful that also helps a lot.

Dr. Ko was a great professor, although I think your performance in 7A is independent of who is teaching it since it is a standardized course. I took the quarter where Ko taught the first 5 weeks and Siekhaus taught the last 5 weeks. Personally, I preferred Siekhaus's style of lecturing because she really emphasized learning the material in class and asking questions/for help (she is on the slower side for lecturing). Ko sped through the slides very quickly, so I found that I had to study more outside of class during her half of the quarter. If you don't understand something, DO NOT wait until the last minute to ask. Both professors are extremely helpful during office hours and will literally walk you through the question step by step.

At the beginning of the quarter, you are assigned a pod. PRAY that you get good people in your pod because that makes or breaks your grade. The first two midterms are online, open notes, and collaborative, so make sure to do well on them because it gives you buffer for the final which is independent and in-person. For the final, and the course, I found that studying past PAL's and AoL questions were the most helpful. The PSS's hosted by the TA's and LA's are also equivalent to what they would ask you on the exams. For the 7 series, make sure you know how to 7 series lol. They're really testing your comprehension and analysis skills rather than ability to memorize. REALLY pay attention to the wording of the question. As for the homework, there're 2 pre-class reading guides per week (not that helpful, requires textbook reading) and a quiz/PAL every week. The workload isn't bad, just a lot of busy work. Best of luck!! :)

I had a quarter where I had two professors Julie Ko and Yvonne Chen, so this is a review for both.
Julie Ko: She was teaching the class from weeks 1-5 and it was neutral. She talked about the material, great academic background, and knows what she's doing in the class. The way she taught was reading off the slides and adding onto it followed by an iClicker.
Yvonne Chen: She was teaching the class from Weeks 6-10 and I prefer her over Ko because she was able to explain things in easier terms. Same way she taught like Ko and also great academic background.
7A: This class is point based so everything is weighed the same and one piece of advice is do well on the PAL's despite making a small impact on your grade. Another piece of advice is tolerate your teammates as this class experience is based on who you are assigned.

For any folks going through the 7 series! If you have Ko and you're struggling, I urge you to send her a message or go to her office hours. She is extremely understanding and I wish I could take this class over again just so I could ask more questions and go to more office hours. She responds to messages quickly, one time I had sent a message on campuswire, and she had sent back a response within 15 minutes.

This is not a jab at the professor, but if I'm going to be real I barely paid attention to a single lecture in this class. I don't think it's Professor Ko's fault, she's very nice and I honestly really liked her, but Lifesci 7A as a whole (and maybe the LS7 series in general) is a pretty badly structured class.

You're given a pod at the beginning of the quarter that you work with in discussions, lectures, and group tests. I was blessed with an amazing pod, but I don't think I would've liked the class if I had a bad pod. There were assignments at the end of lecture that you'd do with them which I really didn't like--you're super rushed to finish it and you don't really gain anything from them. Discussions were the only place I felt I actually learned anything because we'd usually just be working through one assignment for the whole discussion and my TA and LA were super helpful. I liked group tests because my pod worked really well together, but let's just say we spent many more hours than were recommended.

I'm pretty sure this is the case with the whole LS7 series, but the class structure where you read the textbook and fill out a reading guide (essentially learning everything yourself and then going to lecture afterwards) is so dumb. It's either busy work you forget right after you finish or it just encourages you to not pay attention in lecture. Maybe this class structure works for some people, but for me it was hard to keep up with and very unhelpful.

On the bright side, there are a lot of assignments to help bolster your test scores and a good amount of extra credit is offered to. (I will say there's a lot of busy work reflections and such which are annoying--just don't forget to do them.) Do your assignments and the extra credit and you should be fine.

Also, unpopular opinion, I kind of liked the iclicker questions you had to do every lecture because they were the only way for me to gauge how well I knew the material since I barely paid attention lol.

Dr. Ko was incredibly kind and understanding and is an amazing professor. Loved this class so much.

LS 7a was an easy enough class that is truly designed for you to succeed. It was taught by two professors (Ko and Maloy) who took turns leading lectures. Participation is graded/mandatory in lectures (iClicker questions) and discussions (takes attendance), but you can miss a few classes without affecting your grade. In your discussion section, you are placed in a group of 4 that is your "pod" for the whole quarter and you sit with them in discussions/lectures. For the tests, there are two online midterms and an online final (called "Assessments of Learning"/AoLs). The two midterms were okay, but the final was significantly harder. Each AoL has an individual portion which makes up 50% of the overall AoL score, and then a group portion where you take the test again with your pod and you have the opportunity to change your answers (the other 50%). Lots of extra credit opportunities are provided as well.

No matter who you get for 7a they're all about the same. My advice is to go to problem solving sessions weekly and Ko's office hours if you have questions. The class is very fast-paced so make sure you keep up with the work and go into lecture with a good understanding of the material otherwise you will get lost.

Although I have nothing bad to say about Professor Ko, I have much to say about the 7 series. To start, the series is set up in an inverted classroom style, where you do pre-class assignments on your own, and the lectures are there to provide further explanations. However, the PowerPoint slides, although applicable to the clicker questions, did not contribute effectively to my learning. This is not the professor's fault since all the professors are given the same materials for the class. Your success depends on your TA and how well they can explain and reiterate concepts. Thankfully, I had an excellent TA. The group portions of the exams were a helpful way to discuss complex topics. If you get a good group, the group portion should go smoothly. However, all the exam questions are set up as trick questions so make sure you pay attention to that and read everything carefully. The PALs, although tricky, set you up for the exams, so do not skip those. Overall, I loathe the 7 series, but it is not the fault of Professor Ko. Her lectures were as engaging as she could make them.