Professor: Rand Course format: Lecture w/section Number of respondents: 43 Total Enrollment: 73 Class Composition: Froshs: 5 Sophs: 11 Jrs: 28 Srs: 26 Concs: 19 Non-Concs: 15 Don't Know: 5

Instructor Average: 1.60 Course Average: 2.00

"Evolutionary Biology" teaches students about, surprise surprise, the processes, patterns and mechanics of evolution. While BI 20 is the stated prerequisite, a few students felt it wasn"t necessary. Respondents also believed that BI 47 was very helpful.

Class members found Professor Rand to be a clear, organized and enthusiastic lecturer. People also appreciated his funny nature. Class members found the professor to be very knowledgeable and interesting. He was willing to answer questions and encouraged them. Professor Rand also had good handouts and visual aids. Some students, however, commented that the professor tried to teach too much during the class and sometimes went quickly over some difficult concepts.

The work for this course included 2 exams, 3 problem sets, a presentation and a final. In addition, there were readings from a textbook for class and scientific articles for section. People, in general, did not like section, and the problem sets could be time consuming and not helpful. The course packet with the class notes was helpful. Students described the exams as challenging but fair. Students spent anywhere from three to eleven hours per week on this class.

The amount of effort that class members put into the course ran the gamut, from little effort to a lot of effort, with a fairly even spread. People found the interesting material and the professor to be motivating; on the other hand, the focus on memorization discouraged class members, as well as the problem sets and the grading. Students were generally glad they took the class. They found the material interesting, learned a lot and enjoyed the professor. So, if evolution interests you and you are willing to do some work, look into the course.

View BI/0048 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.