Volker Hartenstein
Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
AD
3.6
Overall Rating
Based on 22 Users
Easiness 1.7 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 2.7 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Tolerates Tardiness
  • Tough Tests
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
27.9%
23.3%
18.6%
14.0%
9.3%
4.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

19.0%
15.9%
12.7%
9.5%
6.3%
3.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.1%
29.3%
23.4%
17.6%
11.7%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.3%
29.4%
23.5%
17.6%
11.8%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

26.5%
22.0%
17.6%
13.2%
8.8%
4.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.7%
26.4%
21.1%
15.9%
10.6%
5.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

24.2%
20.2%
16.1%
12.1%
8.1%
4.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

24.1%
20.1%
16.1%
12.1%
8.0%
4.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

16.7%
13.9%
11.1%
8.3%
5.6%
2.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

15.8%
13.2%
10.6%
7.9%
5.3%
2.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (12)

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Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 28, 2022

This class is HARD. You learn soooo much material with so many intricate details about signaling pathways and processes and it's super difficult to keep track of everything and put it together into one cohesive picture. The papers every week were also really challenging to get through and I found the weekly paper quizzes to be a bit too specific (reading the paper one time through is not enough to do well haha). The exams were intense... all multiple choice but very detail oriented and you have to have a pretty deep understanding to answer the questions well. There is just soooo much memorization. Professor Hartenstein is such a sweet and gentle person - he is very helpful and receptive to student concerns and he definitely makes this class better - but the nature of the class is just that it's gonna be difficult regardless of which professor you take it with.

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Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 25, 2022

I am an MCDB major and was looking forward to this class, but it was not what I was expecting at all. There is no understanding whatsoever in this class - just memorization. You have to memorize transcription factors, signaling pathways, etc. that are used again in so many different situations that it gets so confusing. You have to memorize dorsal versus ventral gradients and other pretty much useless information for anything other than this class. The professor is a kind man, I don’t have as much issue with him as I do the actual class. The midterm and final were online and the questions were INSANELY specific. I don’t see how anyone could possibly get an A on these exams. The weekly quizzes on research papers are so specific that I would read the papers twice in order to do well. One of the hardest classes I’ve taken at UCLA (and I’ve taken my fair share of difficult classes) but also the least rewarding. I don’t recommend this class at all unless you are an MCDB major and are required to take it.

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Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
March 19, 2021

I took this class remotely for Winter 2021, it just won’t let me select it as an option. It was one of the hardest classes I have taken. Not because the content is difficult because it is straightforward, but there is just SO MUCH CONTENT and little details you must know in order to do well in the class. The class has 1 midterm and 1 final and weekly quizzes on the papers. There is also group presentations during discussions but they’re really chill depending on your TA. Dr. Hartenstein is a really kind professor and he is super nice. I think developmental biology is just a topic that has so much information it is easy to get lost in a lecture that is more than one hour.

Make sure not to fall behind as each lecture builds on the other. I recommend writing everything he says since exams were very detailed, though multiple choice. I thought the final was hard.

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Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 22, 2021

I really love the topic of developmental biology but was honestly disappointed about how this course was taught. The lectures were disorganized and unclear and I sometimes found discrepancies between what the professor said and what the textbook said. Dr. Hartenstein is really kind, is willing to help, and will take suggestions from students. However, I felt like he didn't really know the material really well or at least he was not clear when explaining it. I got the most out of the papers we read each week and discussed in office hours.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: N/A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Aug. 6, 2020

Selling Principles of Development Wolpert 6 edition pdf for $30. Text **********

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Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
July 3, 2020

This class is quite difficult. As a beginning course into the MCDB major, it makes this class seem even more confusing due to first learning new terms necessary to understand developmental biology. I took this course during the COVID-19 pandemic so everything was online. We had weekly quizzes on readings (that were not tested on the midterm or final) and had weekly group presentations in discussions. All quizzes and tests were on CCLE. The lectures were on zoom twice a week, but lecture is not mandatory. All of the zoom meetings are recorded. The material is very confusing and his questions are specific so you must truly understand the material to achieve a good grade on your work.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A-
June 19, 2019

I walked into this class right after switching from PHYSCI to MCDB, and I automatically knew that this was the perfect field of study for me. Dr. Hartenstein is sooo passionate about what he studies for a living, and it really shows through his lectures. He made what could have easily turned into a tedious subject something that was interesting and applicable.

This class is definitely a lot of material, but I found it very manageable and a very good introductory MCDB upper division course. Your grade is determined by in-discussion quizzes, mini figure presentations every week in class, and the midterm and final.

Suggestions: Read the course reader before class, and it'll definitely help you understand the concepts that he goes over better. Bruincast if you don't understand anything, and write/type down everything he says in class because he doesn't have text on his powerpoints. This will really help you when you're studying for his examinations, which aren't easy!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A+
July 19, 2017

This class is challenging but by no means impossible to do well. The previous posts have summarized what I wanted to say so I won't post anything here. The course readers hartenstein posts are extremely useful (albeit sometimes goes more in depth than needed for the tests). I recommend to learn the importance of each slide rather than memorization. The tests do not emphasize rote memorization (has some pure memorization questions though).

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: N/A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 11, 2017

In addition to all the reviews that have been written, here are my opinions!
I felt that even tho the second portion of the class was much more detailed and covered more material, the final wasn't as hard as what I expected. He is very willing to help you if you ask him questions and go to his office hours! His slides can be messy but use his readers to help you create the big titles/outlines.
I felt that this class was hard for me personally because 1) I am really bad at directions, so it was hard to keep track of where each signal was when I can't even tell left from right in real life. 2) It was also hard to visualize some processes because there arent that many good animations out there. 3) The developmental biology field itself doesn't have the answers for some of the questions that my classmates asked in class so as a result, you'll just have to "know" the facts because the reasoning that links these facts is still a mystery, which made it hard for me to "connect the dots."
Overall I thought it was a very very interesting class!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2016
Grade: A
June 15, 2016

The class has a presentation, weekly quizzes, a midterm, and a final.

The presentation and weekly quizzes are in discussion. Every week, there is a different scientific paper that you must read. The quizzes are the exact same format and questions every time. In fact, the TA will tell you the questions and format of the quizzes during Week 1. Basically, all you have to do is write a response to the question beforehand, memorize it, and regurgitate it for the quiz. For presentations, you are split into groups of 3-4, and each group does a presentation on the week's paper.

Hartenstein's lectures are hard to follow because he jumps from slide to slide, and it's hard to figure out what he thinks is important to focus on for the test. Even my TA said she found the lectures hard to follow. However, he is always available to answer your questions. Also, he provides course readers on CCLE, which follow each lecture. Everything that he goes over in lecture (and more) will be in those course readers. READ THEM.

All in all, it's a class that requires a lot of hard work, but getting a good grade is doable. I barely listened in class, and I never relistened to the audiocast. HOWEVER, I did read all of the course readers and I took diligent notes. In the end, I got an A.

NOTE: His midterm and final are very uneven in terms of how much course material it covers. The midterm covers about 4 weeks while the final covers the last 6 weeks. To put it in perspective, my outline for the midterm was about 25 pages long, but it was 50 pages long for the final

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
March 28, 2022

This class is HARD. You learn soooo much material with so many intricate details about signaling pathways and processes and it's super difficult to keep track of everything and put it together into one cohesive picture. The papers every week were also really challenging to get through and I found the weekly paper quizzes to be a bit too specific (reading the paper one time through is not enough to do well haha). The exams were intense... all multiple choice but very detail oriented and you have to have a pretty deep understanding to answer the questions well. There is just soooo much memorization. Professor Hartenstein is such a sweet and gentle person - he is very helpful and receptive to student concerns and he definitely makes this class better - but the nature of the class is just that it's gonna be difficult regardless of which professor you take it with.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
June 25, 2022

I am an MCDB major and was looking forward to this class, but it was not what I was expecting at all. There is no understanding whatsoever in this class - just memorization. You have to memorize transcription factors, signaling pathways, etc. that are used again in so many different situations that it gets so confusing. You have to memorize dorsal versus ventral gradients and other pretty much useless information for anything other than this class. The professor is a kind man, I don’t have as much issue with him as I do the actual class. The midterm and final were online and the questions were INSANELY specific. I don’t see how anyone could possibly get an A on these exams. The weekly quizzes on research papers are so specific that I would read the papers twice in order to do well. One of the hardest classes I’ve taken at UCLA (and I’ve taken my fair share of difficult classes) but also the least rewarding. I don’t recommend this class at all unless you are an MCDB major and are required to take it.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
March 19, 2021

I took this class remotely for Winter 2021, it just won’t let me select it as an option. It was one of the hardest classes I have taken. Not because the content is difficult because it is straightforward, but there is just SO MUCH CONTENT and little details you must know in order to do well in the class. The class has 1 midterm and 1 final and weekly quizzes on the papers. There is also group presentations during discussions but they’re really chill depending on your TA. Dr. Hartenstein is a really kind professor and he is super nice. I think developmental biology is just a topic that has so much information it is easy to get lost in a lecture that is more than one hour.

Make sure not to fall behind as each lecture builds on the other. I recommend writing everything he says since exams were very detailed, though multiple choice. I thought the final was hard.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
Jan. 22, 2021

I really love the topic of developmental biology but was honestly disappointed about how this course was taught. The lectures were disorganized and unclear and I sometimes found discrepancies between what the professor said and what the textbook said. Dr. Hartenstein is really kind, is willing to help, and will take suggestions from students. However, I felt like he didn't really know the material really well or at least he was not clear when explaining it. I got the most out of the papers we read each week and discussed in office hours.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: N/A
Aug. 6, 2020

Selling Principles of Development Wolpert 6 edition pdf for $30. Text **********

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A-
July 3, 2020

This class is quite difficult. As a beginning course into the MCDB major, it makes this class seem even more confusing due to first learning new terms necessary to understand developmental biology. I took this course during the COVID-19 pandemic so everything was online. We had weekly quizzes on readings (that were not tested on the midterm or final) and had weekly group presentations in discussions. All quizzes and tests were on CCLE. The lectures were on zoom twice a week, but lecture is not mandatory. All of the zoom meetings are recorded. The material is very confusing and his questions are specific so you must truly understand the material to achieve a good grade on your work.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A-
June 19, 2019

I walked into this class right after switching from PHYSCI to MCDB, and I automatically knew that this was the perfect field of study for me. Dr. Hartenstein is sooo passionate about what he studies for a living, and it really shows through his lectures. He made what could have easily turned into a tedious subject something that was interesting and applicable.

This class is definitely a lot of material, but I found it very manageable and a very good introductory MCDB upper division course. Your grade is determined by in-discussion quizzes, mini figure presentations every week in class, and the midterm and final.

Suggestions: Read the course reader before class, and it'll definitely help you understand the concepts that he goes over better. Bruincast if you don't understand anything, and write/type down everything he says in class because he doesn't have text on his powerpoints. This will really help you when you're studying for his examinations, which aren't easy!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: A+
July 19, 2017

This class is challenging but by no means impossible to do well. The previous posts have summarized what I wanted to say so I won't post anything here. The course readers hartenstein posts are extremely useful (albeit sometimes goes more in depth than needed for the tests). I recommend to learn the importance of each slide rather than memorization. The tests do not emphasize rote memorization (has some pure memorization questions though).

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2017
Grade: N/A
June 11, 2017

In addition to all the reviews that have been written, here are my opinions!
I felt that even tho the second portion of the class was much more detailed and covered more material, the final wasn't as hard as what I expected. He is very willing to help you if you ask him questions and go to his office hours! His slides can be messy but use his readers to help you create the big titles/outlines.
I felt that this class was hard for me personally because 1) I am really bad at directions, so it was hard to keep track of where each signal was when I can't even tell left from right in real life. 2) It was also hard to visualize some processes because there arent that many good animations out there. 3) The developmental biology field itself doesn't have the answers for some of the questions that my classmates asked in class so as a result, you'll just have to "know" the facts because the reasoning that links these facts is still a mystery, which made it hard for me to "connect the dots."
Overall I thought it was a very very interesting class!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2016
Grade: A
June 15, 2016

The class has a presentation, weekly quizzes, a midterm, and a final.

The presentation and weekly quizzes are in discussion. Every week, there is a different scientific paper that you must read. The quizzes are the exact same format and questions every time. In fact, the TA will tell you the questions and format of the quizzes during Week 1. Basically, all you have to do is write a response to the question beforehand, memorize it, and regurgitate it for the quiz. For presentations, you are split into groups of 3-4, and each group does a presentation on the week's paper.

Hartenstein's lectures are hard to follow because he jumps from slide to slide, and it's hard to figure out what he thinks is important to focus on for the test. Even my TA said she found the lectures hard to follow. However, he is always available to answer your questions. Also, he provides course readers on CCLE, which follow each lecture. Everything that he goes over in lecture (and more) will be in those course readers. READ THEM.

All in all, it's a class that requires a lot of hard work, but getting a good grade is doable. I barely listened in class, and I never relistened to the audiocast. HOWEVER, I did read all of the course readers and I took diligent notes. In the end, I got an A.

NOTE: His midterm and final are very uneven in terms of how much course material it covers. The midterm covers about 4 weeks while the final covers the last 6 weeks. To put it in perspective, my outline for the midterm was about 25 pages long, but it was 50 pages long for the final

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 2
3.6
Overall Rating
Based on 22 Users
Easiness 1.7 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 2.7 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (8)
  • Tolerates Tardiness
    (7)
  • Tough Tests
    (7)
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