BIOL 2970
Principles of Biology II
A broad overview of genetics, including Mendelian assortment, linkage, chromosomal aberrations, variations in chromosome number, mutation, developmental genetics, quantitative genetics, population genetics, mechanisms of evolution, and phylogenetics. Three lecture/problem solving sections and one laboratory period per week. Does not fulfill the laboratory requirement of the biology major. This course must be taken for a grade to count towards the Biology major.
Instructors
April Bednarski, Barton, Bednarski, Chalker, Craig Smith, Cruz, Douglas Chalker, Elise Walck-Shannon, Hafer, Hanes, Heather Barton, Janet Goins, Kate Hanes, Kathleen Hafer, Maggie Schlarman, Mary Lambo, Mitchell Kundel, Smith, Walck-Shannon, Wilhelm Cruz
Reviews
6-8 hrs/week
1000x better than 2960. Chalker is fantastic and made me feel like I could enjoy biology again after being so upset in 2960. If you do the problem sets and quizzes, review your notes, and clarify questions with the professors early, you should be fine.
12/27/2024
4-6 hrs/week
I agree with most of the comments- I don’t actually love the flipped classroom. I like the amount of drops. The content is very interesting. The 95% A cutoff is a little insane though
12/26/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Agree with everyone, this is 10x better than 2960. Lecture is flipped, there are more drops on quizzes, the labs are more engaging (Hanes is the BEST AI), the material is more genetics based. If math and stats are your thing you will do well in this class. You also get a double sided cheat sheet for exams. Put brief lab notes on your cheat sheet cause they ask a few lab questions on the exams. The material of this class can be a bit confusing, but when studying reference/redo all of the in-class activities, extra help sessions, knowledge checks, quizzes, and provided worksheets because the exams are pretty similar.
12/26/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Retweeting the comments below. Def easier and much more interesting and engaging than 2970. Flipped learning style helped me understand what they want us to think about and how to apply the information for tests (this is why everyone does better and the cutoff for an A is higher).
11/21/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Felt pretty boring and organizationally a mess. Not especially difficult compared to other STEM courses but disappointingly boring.
7/9/2024
2-4 hrs/week
Loved the flipped classroom layout. Super helpful especially reviewing graded exams in office hours + semi-lenient in regrade requests. Overall loved this class.
5/23/2024
4-6 hrs/week
This is so much better then bio 1, the exams are much more straightforward and if you put the time in, you should do fine, however the cut offs are higher.
5/21/2024
2-4 hrs/week
The course was a flipped classroom setup, where you watched a lecture on your own time and completed a short quiz, and then worked on reviews/practice problems in class. The lecturers had good rapport with individual students. Hanes was a great AI for the lab portion of the course. A note sheet was allowed for tests.
5/18/2024
Just put everything on the cheat sheet and then you should be fine to get an A. Chalker seemed pretty enthusiastic about teaching, but some quiz/test questions weren't great since they were poorly worded. You don't really need to watch the lectures, just complete the activity packets and you should be fine.
1/20/2024
I was not a huge fan of how certain quiz and exam questions were written in this course. However, Professor Chalker does everything else well in my opinion. He is caring, funny, kept me interested during lecture, and was helpful inside and outside of class.
1/20/2024
He's a funny and caring person and wants to be involved in your learning process which is rly nice. But whenever he writes a quiz or exam question, he makes mistakes often or writes them under certain assumptions that you have to figure out and solve under. But he is very accessible outside of class and helps you understand material thoroughly.
1/10/2024
Could be a more organized lecturer and Bio 2970 is hard, but honestly easier than 2960 - I liked the flipped classroom style.
12/31/2023
Professor Chalker is very nice and I believe he is a good teacher but 2970 does not lend itself well to his teaching style. I did not like the way 2970 works with pre recorded lectures and the in class worksheets, it did not incentivize showing up in person to lectures and more of stuff that just had to be done and not particularly well too.
12/29/2023
I like Barton a lot, but I don't think that she's a great professor. Doesn't seem to have a full grasp of the material she is teaching, and we often didn't get through the in class activities when she was leading them. One of her lecture videos straight up has wrong information in it (how to calculate lod scores video, she does it wrong lmao)
12/26/2023
Chalker is a very sweet and genuine man who is committed to his students. The format of the class wasn't my favorite but he tried his best to help people within said constraints. His quiz and test questions were not written very clearly and often contained assumptions or errors. He wasn't very accessible over email.
12/22/2023
Nice and understands the difficulties with being a students and juggling schoolwork and other commitments. She is a bit informal with students and sometimes has a bit of an attitude. She is helpful during office hours for her own content but isn't super knowledgable about the content from other professors in the course (taught by multiple people)
12/22/2023