Professor: Yap Course format: Lecture w/section Number of respondents: 71 Total Enrollment: 104 Class Composition: Froshs: 4 Sophs: 25 Jrs: 50 Srs: 24 Concs: 29 Non-Concs: 30 Don't Know: 6

Instructor Average: 1.49 Course Average: 1.44

"Principles of Immunology" teaches students everything they ever wanted to know about the immune system. Officially Bio 20 is the only prerequisite, while genetics is listed as useful. Most students felt, however, that previous experience with biochemistry would also be extremely helpful.

Professors Yap was well-liked by his students, who described him as being a great lecturer. One student put it plainly: “He’s funny. He’s clear. He knows his stuff.” People appreciated the PowerPoint presentations he used for lecture notes. However, some found the lectures to be somewhat dull due to the nature of the material, and lectures overall were not found to be very helpful for students who did not do the reading before class.

The assigned readings for the course all came from the textbook, which reviewers cited as being vital for understanding the material. Students read the dense book cover to cover; in it, all of the necessary material was clearly written and diagrammed. The workload for the course consisted of three exams and four homework sets. Survey respondents greatly appreciated the lack of a cumulative final. The most common complaint about the class, however, was the inefficiency of the exams, as many felt that their grades did not reflect how much they knew or how much time they had put into the class.

The majority of students agreed that this was an extremely difficult yet worthwhile course. On average, reviewers spent anywhere from five to ten hours weekly on this class, a number that increased steeply prior to exams. Students recommended taking the course only if you can afford to dedicate numerous hours a week on the material. This class is by no means an easy A, so consider taking it S/NC!

View BI/0053 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.