Professor
Leryn Gorlitsky
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - The professor: - Gorlitsky teaches the animal behavior portion of the course, which is the more difficult portion. - She is clearly passionate about the course material and always has examples to give regarding the concepts she wishes to illustrate. - Gorlitsky is clear during lectures and often seeks student participation during lectures. She seems generally nice and is approachable after class and office hours. She does talk kind of fast, though, and I found it helpful to record the lectures since the class isn't Bruincasted. Everything you need to know for the exams is mentioned in the lecture. The material: - Animal Behavior portion of the class requires a lot of more memorization than the second portion of the class; generally, though, I found it to be really interesting. On average, I think most students will find portions of this class to be relevant and interesting. - class material and lecture is supplemented extensively with relevant videos that are shown during lecture. Grading scheme: - the course is out of 550 points; 2 exams worth 200 points each, 60 points for attendance; the rest is for discussion section attendance (mandatory, 18pts) and for responding to weekly reading assignments (72pts) - straight-scale i.e. no curve unless exam averages are below 80%, which they weren't. --Exams: Relatively difficult due to sheer amount of information covered but honestly very fair with the question selection. She doesn't try and trick you in exams but it's difficult just because so much information was covered in lecture. Gorlitsky knows and is transparent about the fact that Exam 1 is harder and that exam 2 provides as opportunity to boost your grade. -- Weekly assignments: Each week, you read a research article and have to generate three questions that show your understanding of the article. These are graded fairly harshly and generating good questions is more difficult than it seems. I would write 3-5 sentences per question in order to receive full points. Not incredibly difficult but it is incredibly annoying. -- Discussion section: Pointless but mandatory. Each week, a group would be assigned to give a 20min presentation on the research paper of the week. As long as you had slides, read the article a few times, and lightly prepared, you received full points. The rest of discussion section involved answering the questions we generated for the weekly assignments (described above) in small groups. -- Attendance is not taken every class but instead, the professor does "pop-quizzes" randomly, which you turn in at the end of class to provide evidence that you were present. The pop-quizzes are graded on effort and completion, not on correctness. textbook: - Not worth it. I rented the textbook for the first half of the course and I did use it but very lightly when studying for the midterm, if I was confused about a definition. Didn't bother renting it for the second half of the class (ecology). Overall: Interesting material, passionate professors, and fair/decent exams make this a good class in my book. If you're a psychobio student, definitely try and take this class (though the EEB department severely restricts seats), instead of Psych118.
Winter 2020 - The professor: - Gorlitsky teaches the animal behavior portion of the course, which is the more difficult portion. - She is clearly passionate about the course material and always has examples to give regarding the concepts she wishes to illustrate. - Gorlitsky is clear during lectures and often seeks student participation during lectures. She seems generally nice and is approachable after class and office hours. She does talk kind of fast, though, and I found it helpful to record the lectures since the class isn't Bruincasted. Everything you need to know for the exams is mentioned in the lecture. The material: - Animal Behavior portion of the class requires a lot of more memorization than the second portion of the class; generally, though, I found it to be really interesting. On average, I think most students will find portions of this class to be relevant and interesting. - class material and lecture is supplemented extensively with relevant videos that are shown during lecture. Grading scheme: - the course is out of 550 points; 2 exams worth 200 points each, 60 points for attendance; the rest is for discussion section attendance (mandatory, 18pts) and for responding to weekly reading assignments (72pts) - straight-scale i.e. no curve unless exam averages are below 80%, which they weren't. --Exams: Relatively difficult due to sheer amount of information covered but honestly very fair with the question selection. She doesn't try and trick you in exams but it's difficult just because so much information was covered in lecture. Gorlitsky knows and is transparent about the fact that Exam 1 is harder and that exam 2 provides as opportunity to boost your grade. -- Weekly assignments: Each week, you read a research article and have to generate three questions that show your understanding of the article. These are graded fairly harshly and generating good questions is more difficult than it seems. I would write 3-5 sentences per question in order to receive full points. Not incredibly difficult but it is incredibly annoying. -- Discussion section: Pointless but mandatory. Each week, a group would be assigned to give a 20min presentation on the research paper of the week. As long as you had slides, read the article a few times, and lightly prepared, you received full points. The rest of discussion section involved answering the questions we generated for the weekly assignments (described above) in small groups. -- Attendance is not taken every class but instead, the professor does "pop-quizzes" randomly, which you turn in at the end of class to provide evidence that you were present. The pop-quizzes are graded on effort and completion, not on correctness. textbook: - Not worth it. I rented the textbook for the first half of the course and I did use it but very lightly when studying for the midterm, if I was confused about a definition. Didn't bother renting it for the second half of the class (ecology). Overall: Interesting material, passionate professors, and fair/decent exams make this a good class in my book. If you're a psychobio student, definitely try and take this class (though the EEB department severely restricts seats), instead of Psych118.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - DO NOT TAKE CANDACE AS YOUR TA!!!! She is a horrible person and TA that takes off dozens of points for no reason and is completely unfair in her grading compared to the other TAs. The professors have absolutely nothing to do with the course and is the biggest regret of my time here at ucla. DO NOT TAKE.
Winter 2023 - DO NOT TAKE CANDACE AS YOUR TA!!!! She is a horrible person and TA that takes off dozens of points for no reason and is completely unfair in her grading compared to the other TAs. The professors have absolutely nothing to do with the course and is the biggest regret of my time here at ucla. DO NOT TAKE.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - This is unequivocally the worst class I have ever taken at this university. Not only does the professor decide it is vital for students to memorize and regurgitate useless information, but she also does not explain concepts in any meaningful depth whatsoever. Her so-called "lectures" consist of a 75 minute verbal barrage in a futile attempt to cover 90+ slides during which students have no hope of following along or retaining any semblance of information. Your grade is solely determined based on three exams and two lab practicals that have somehow been slotted into a ten week class, each of which require memorization of hundreds of vocabulary terms, specimen traits, and specimen names that are selected based on a criterion that cannot be located in any physical dimension. To truly study all of the material is to invest an inordinate amount of time for the abundant return of libraries of trivial and surface-level knowledge that can be acquired with a two second Google search. Taking such exams is a gambler's dream, where one can wager their intellect, time, and tuition for the infinitesimal chance that the terms that the fraction of terms on exam day align with those they happen to recall. Unless your boundless love of fish, reptiles, birds or mammals compels you, DO NOT take this class.
Fall 2024 - This is unequivocally the worst class I have ever taken at this university. Not only does the professor decide it is vital for students to memorize and regurgitate useless information, but she also does not explain concepts in any meaningful depth whatsoever. Her so-called "lectures" consist of a 75 minute verbal barrage in a futile attempt to cover 90+ slides during which students have no hope of following along or retaining any semblance of information. Your grade is solely determined based on three exams and two lab practicals that have somehow been slotted into a ten week class, each of which require memorization of hundreds of vocabulary terms, specimen traits, and specimen names that are selected based on a criterion that cannot be located in any physical dimension. To truly study all of the material is to invest an inordinate amount of time for the abundant return of libraries of trivial and surface-level knowledge that can be acquired with a two second Google search. Taking such exams is a gambler's dream, where one can wager their intellect, time, and tuition for the infinitesimal chance that the terms that the fraction of terms on exam day align with those they happen to recall. Unless your boundless love of fish, reptiles, birds or mammals compels you, DO NOT take this class.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2015 - I definitely recommend taking Conservation Biology with Dr. Gorlitsky in the summer! She's a young professor so I'm not surprised there aren't any reviews on her yet, but she also teaches EEB 151A and EEB 100. I'll start off by saying she is an amazing professor! Her lecture slides give the perfect amount of detail; they basically summarize everything you need to know, and she will tell you ahead of time exactly what you will be tested on for the midterm and final. Her teaching method tends to be fast-paced, making her lectures more engaging. As long as you pay attention and study your notes, it is definitely possible to get an A or a B. Dr. Gorlitsky has a way of inspiring students to make a difference in the world, and you can tell she truly cares about the well-being of our environment. Overall, she's a chill, kind, and down-to-earth person who will hopefully leave a positive impact with you like she did with me :)
Summer 2015 - I definitely recommend taking Conservation Biology with Dr. Gorlitsky in the summer! She's a young professor so I'm not surprised there aren't any reviews on her yet, but she also teaches EEB 151A and EEB 100. I'll start off by saying she is an amazing professor! Her lecture slides give the perfect amount of detail; they basically summarize everything you need to know, and she will tell you ahead of time exactly what you will be tested on for the midterm and final. Her teaching method tends to be fast-paced, making her lectures more engaging. As long as you pay attention and study your notes, it is definitely possible to get an A or a B. Dr. Gorlitsky has a way of inspiring students to make a difference in the world, and you can tell she truly cares about the well-being of our environment. Overall, she's a chill, kind, and down-to-earth person who will hopefully leave a positive impact with you like she did with me :)
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Professor Gorlitsky is one of my favorite professors at UCLA. Her lectures are super interesting and engaging and I happen to love studying animals, which makes this class even better for me. There were two midterms for the class, along with two mini projects, and then a final presentation. Everything is very doable and the projects are always guided and explained by your TA way before it's due. You will not regret taking this class with Dr. Gorlitsky!
Winter 2020 - Professor Gorlitsky is one of my favorite professors at UCLA. Her lectures are super interesting and engaging and I happen to love studying animals, which makes this class even better for me. There were two midterms for the class, along with two mini projects, and then a final presentation. Everything is very doable and the projects are always guided and explained by your TA way before it's due. You will not regret taking this class with Dr. Gorlitsky!
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