Professor: Quevedo Course format: Lecture w/section Number of respondents: 12 Total Enrollment: 16 Class Composition: Froshs: 11 Sophs: 1 Jrs: 0 Srs: 4 Concs: 1 Non-Concs: 6 Don't Know: 4

Instructor Average: 3.74 Course Average: 3.02

Are you pondering where we all came from? "The Origin of Life" examines the various theories on the origins of life on earth and the whole universe, both from a biological and philosophical perspective. No prerequisites are necessary, but basic knowledge in biology or chemistry would be helpful.

While students noted that Professor Quevedo was a very nice person and had great passion for the subject, respondents found lectures to be dry, incoherent, disorganized and overall hard to follow. He lectured the whole class and did not pause for question; the students had no opportunity for discussion. Quevedo covered a large amount of material during the lectures. While one person felt the overheads were helpful and that the professor tailored the class to the students, this was not the consensus of the class.

The workload for the course included readings, 3 exams, 3 papers and a combination take-home/ in class final. Some found the readings to be irrelevant, redundant, and unclear; others, though, found them to be very interesting. Exams were difficult to study for because of the large amount of information and lack of focus. Class members split on their opinions of the papers. While a few felt they were worthwhile and fair, others felt that the expectations were not clear and that they were limited by the topics. Several people mentioned that Quevedo was a harsh grader. Respondents spent anywhere from three to ten hours per week on this course. Classes continued through reading period.

Students" effort varied from little to a lot. The main motivating factor for people was their interest in the subject, but for some, their motivation fell as they became frustrated with the course. Discouraging factors included the disjointed lecturers, unclear assigments, and the breath of the material. Respondents were generally dissatisfied with the course. Although Professor Quevedo is a very nice man and is passionate about the subject, students found his style to be very disorganized and frustrating. If you have a very strong interest in the subject look into the class (one student suggested taking it S/NC). Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere.

View BI/0033 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.