Professor: Lysaght Course format: Lecture w/section Number of respondents: 62 Total Enrollment: 71 Class Composition: Froshs: 6 Sophs: 11 Jrs: 26 Srs: 27 Concs: ? Non-Concs: ? Don't Know: ?

Instructor Average: 1.34 Course Average: 1.52

“Biotechnology Management” introduces students to the biology industry from both a business and science perspective. The course focuses on such topics as patents, the Food and Drug Administration, management, and the market. Although there are technically no prerequisites for this course, basic knowledge about biology and economics would be useful according to most respondents.

Overall, survey participants praise Professor Lysaght’s teaching methodology. The majority of students suggest that he was an enthusiastic, passionate, knowledgeable lecturer. He was very organized and handed out notes before each class. Reviewers were very impressed that he chose to lead every section and always tried to interact with his students during class. Such class members went on to note that he was friendly and sensitive to student’s needs, although many reviewers pointed out that since there were no prerequisites, his lectures sometimes went “too fast” for people without biology or economics backgrounds.

Respondents thought that almost all the assigned readings were helpful and relevant, although some of the handouts were very long and dense. In terms of grading criteria, the work for the course consisted of four quizzes, two oral presentations, and one final group report. Almost everyone felt that these were all reasonable assignments.

Prospective class members can expect to devote anywhere from three to six hours per week for to course outside of scheduled class time. This was in accordance with what most students anticipated prior to enrollment. In general, take this class “if you ever thought of working in the biotech industry.” For some, it was the best class they had ever taken at Brown because Lysaght was an “amazing” professor, and because they felt it prepared them for the “real world!”

View BI/0008 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.