Professor: Sedivy Course format: Lecture w/lab Number of respondents: 114 Total Enrollment: 164 Class Composition: Froshs: 8 Sophs: 64 Jrs: 55 Srs: 33 Concs: 65 Non-Concs: 27 Don't Know: 10

Instructor Average: 2.24 Course Average: 1.98

DNA- you know you love it. Genetics teaches students about genes from Mendelian genetics, to population genetics to molecular genetics. Students felt that BI 20 was a necessary prerequisite and previous experience with biochemistry would be helpful.

The course was co-taught by Professors Sedivy and Tatar. Although some people stated that both of professors were enthusiastic and clear and neither was senstive to students understanding, most students described them very differently. Many class members found Sedivy to be funny and knowledgable. He gave clear, organized, interesting lectures, but the lectures covered a lot of material, making them dense. Moreover, students found Sedivy to be completely unapproachable. A small minorityfelt that his lectures were not clear or well organized. Most respondents thought that Professor Tatar"s lectures were dull or slow and sometimes lacked clarity and organization, making lectures hard to follow, though, a few felt he was organized and clear. Also, students found Tatar to be approachable, willing to help and nice. People found the handouts and overheads on the web helpful.

Coursework included weekly labs, textbook readings, three exams and a final exam. There were also weekly optional sections. Reading consisted of about 2-3 chapters per week; some felt the readings were too long or were irrelevant. Some class members described the exams as fair, while others found them to be hard. People also thought that the exams were too long and required a lot of studying. Student spent anywhere from three to twelve hours per week on this class, with a few people spending up to fifteen. Reading period was observed

Respondents put in a moderate to large amount of effort into the course. Many people were motivated by the interesting material and by their desire to learn it. Some students, however, got discouraged by their poor performance on exams, after heavy studying. The majority of people stated they were glad they had taken the course, as they had learned a lot of fascinating and important material. Students warned to only take the class if you are interested and are willing to work. The course is challenging, but worthwhile; so, if you are interested, you should look into it.

View BI/0047 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.