2.8
Quality4.2
Difficulty25%
Would Retake83
Reviews25%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
15
4
9
3
24
2
18
1
17
What Students Say
“As a person she is great, but as a professor she is not”
BIO151 - 2.0 rating“I would definitely take another professor for this class”
BIO151 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
72%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.98 avg changeRatings by Course
BIO273
5.0
(1)BIOL427
5.0
(1)BIOL172
4.2
(5)BIOL303
4.0
(1)BIO405
4.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
CELL303
5.0
BIO150
5.0
BIOL151
4.5
BIO172
4.4
BIO151
4.2
Reviews (83)
She is fairy new and pretty tough. There are 4 exams including final & the 1st exam is on the 1st week or so. There are 3 long papers (10-15pgs) & 5 (5-10 pgs) HWs. The class is mostly based on research and 30% of every exam is research related Qs. Final is little less than 1/3 of your grade. 90% is the cutoff line between A- and B+. A lot of work.
DO NOT TAKE HER!!! WASTE OF TIME, A LOT OF BUSY WORK DESIGNED TO KEEP YOU FROM STUDYING THE CLASS MATERIAL THAT REALLY MATTERS.
Hard! She usually teaches upper division, so she teaches 172 like its a 300 level class. She's really nice and helpful at office hours, but you NEED to do the reading and keep up with notes. It's possible to get an A but it requires a lot of work. Take with caution.
I really did not like her teaching methods. She usually teaches upper division, so she really does teach 172 like its a 300 level class. She assigns pointless busywork that keeps you from studying what you need to know for the exams. I didn't learn anything from her lectures. Do not take her.
Great and amazing Professor! I got an A with the help of SI program! go to Reza's session if possible.all the material that he covers will prepare you for your exams and BIO273 as well
Like other revs said, she gives ridiculous assnmts that take a lot of work & TIME & are not relevant nor help you learn the material. This is a 3unit class, but with her it's more like a 5 unit course. Teaching style & txt not concise. LOTS of material. Have to guess what's imprt. Exams R ok if you studied right material. Highly not recommended
she's really not that bad. she assigns one sheet of written notes once a week. go to SI, study, do mastering bio and you should do fine. she is a very sweet person, just a little difficult. still, the class is reasonable.
Course is a ton of work but the professor was good. Tough grader but there is extra credit. Really helpful at office hours.
Pretty good teacher but the class can be quite difficult. A lot of work needs to be done outside of class and the lectures can be a bit boring. Take if you are committed!
Dr. Miyamoto is a great professor, the only thing that differs with her teaching 172 is that she normally teaches upper-division biology courses. There are in-class activities that go toward participation, tests are confusing and somewhat difficult to get a solid "A" (multiple choice). Overall though, go to class, read the book, and go to S.I.
Although she makes us do tons of work (weekly notes, mastering bio), we would not do well in the course if we did not do the work. You must read the textbook. The tests are very difficult. You will definitely need to work very hard to get a good grade. Only take if you are committed to all the hard work. There is no curve.
Lecture was very difficult. The multiple choice questions had multiple correct answers and you had to find the "most correct" If possible, take a different teacher
Exams are extremely hard. 1pg of short answer and they are very tricky. Multiple choice questions: all answer choices are correct pick the one that is the most correct. Not going to pass this class unless you read the book and memorize those chapters. I would suggest taking another professor if possible.
Extremely nice professor, very knowledgable. However an extremely difficult course. It is no lie what others are saying. Bio comes very natural to me but her class made me earn my grade. I got a B in her class, an A is not impossible, just a lot of work. I truly suggest taking her course if you want to become a better student But you've been warned
The class is not that difficult but grading can be tough. I found it straight forward - read the book, pay attention in lectures and go to office hours if you are not clear. You have to put in the work if you want a high grade. She is not an amazing lecturer but very friendly and helpful 1 on 1.
Her tests were very difficult. It is multiple choice, but the choices are wordy and can really confuse you. Free response is memorization. My advice is to memorize everything. She uses Mastering Bio and weekly homework assignments (scanned) through Titanium. Attend SI for extra credit, and study like your life depended on it.
To me she seemed a fair teacher, gave you a study guide before each test and many of the questions were from the study guide. I didnt think the tests were that hard. I always went to her office hours and she was nice and available. She also gives lots of free points.
I got a D on my first exam and improved my grade from that rock bottom and passed the class with B! You just have to get used to her exams.. I definitely read the whole text book and attended SI classes! Thankfully the lab isn't hard at all, so it will boost up your overall grade if you do well on your lab. I personally enjoyed this class.
Everyone says her class is hard, but she gives us a lot of free points by doing easy weekly assignments, Matering Biology, extra credit for attending SI classes, the way she grades exams, and such. Her study guides are helpful and lab helped me get a good grade in this class.
Miyamoto's test are extremely hard no matter how hard you study. SI helps give you some bonus points, however it is frustrating to study and prepare for tests with intentionally tricky questions. Try and take any other professor if you can.
The real trick to her class is her tests. They have tough questions on purpose that can catch you off guard. To prepare, she gives you a study guide, and you can go to SI sessions and read through each chapter. If you do all 3 of these thigns on a regular basis, you will pass her class. Otherwise, you're not going to do well.
seriously not that bad if you are willing to study. go to SI for extra points! Her tests are difficult my advice is study straight from the book-her powerpoints are only main points, where she expects you to know little details. Anywho i thought i failed the final and managed to get an A-, seriously learned a lot!
Lab will also boost your grade alot so do good on notebook checks :) ...SI !!!
She doesn't know the topics well herself and even if you do the study guides and know everything you most likely won't get an A on the exams because she wants something more and if you go to her office she will never tell you the answer. This class has A LOT of work! A LOT! so if you have time then take it.
Dr. Minamoto creates a fun class, full of content and she makes it easy to learn; one of the best Biology teachers I have ever had! But unfortunately she has the most unprofessional, childish and rude Lab TA "Ann Song". she will make the lab a leaving hell for you.
Dr. Miyamoto is an AMAZING professor! One of the best I've seen in my extensive time in college. She is challenging and expects you to rise to that challenge but, is always willing to help students understand material. She offers tons of extra credit and homework is more like a study guide for exams. It's apparent that she loves teaching. Take her!
Dr. Miyamoto really knows her stuff and very clear during her lectures. She expects you to rise up to the challenge but they are always doable. Very helpful towards students to clear up anything that is confusing. 4 midterms, 1 final, and 3 writing assignments but very straight forward.
Dr. Miyamoto is an amazing professor. She really wants you to succeed and if you put in at least partial effort you will pass! This is a 400 level course do not expect a cake walk. Go to class, pay attention, and study. Her exams are extremely fair, they're almost identical to her study guides. Plain and simple, go to class and pay attention.
Professor Miyamoto makes it clear what is needed to earn a good grade in the class. That being said she is not a great lecturer. I basically taught myself almost all of the material in the course with the help of the textbook. Her tests are also unnecessarily difficult. Overall this class is doable but requires a good amount of effort.
I would definitely take another professor for this class. I am an A student and I am pretty sure I failed this class. I put in so much time and effort and still failed every exam. Her exam averages are D's at highest, and she only goes over major points during lecture. Her tests are based on "which is the MOST correct answer" and so unfair.
This class has 4 tests, a final, summary notes due every week, iClicker participation, and 3 biology writing assignments that she grades extremely hard on. She does not curve but does have a grading scale factor. The average for her tests were all D's but that never stopped her from teaching us anything differently. She also became strict on phones
Unfortunately, there was no way around not taking her for this class. If there is a way that you don't have to take her, do it. She writes questions for the MCAT and her exams make you critically think about biology. All the answers are right on her test but you need to pick the most correct. Don't take, not worth the time and stress. EC is offered
An easy class if you put at least a minimum of an hour to studying. People who found it hard or challenging were usually individuals who did not put enough time into studying. As harsh at it is, a class requires time outside of the actual classroom, if not, then failure will be the result.
I got an A- . I used to love bio but after taking this professor I realized I hate it. Makes class harder than it has too. But even then it's not "super" bad, do ALL your homework and study at least 2 days in advance and you should do fine. Test are a bit confusing since all the choices are similar and you have to find the one that is "best"
A challenging course but i learned so much! It's simple, if you READ all the chapters and follow along with lectures you will understand the material and do well. She is very helpful during office hours and has extra credit opportunities. I would definitely take her again!
Amazing professor. Really enjoyed learning about animal development. Allows self generated 'cheatsheet' on exams. Students that fail her class do so by their own merit and biology majors that complain about thinking critically have no place in science. Just saying.
Dr. Miyamoto is an expert in bio but she is terrible at explaining. I learned everything either on my own or in SI. It is not necessary to show up to lectures (because you could probably learn better on your own), but participation is required through iClicker so buy it and give it to a classmate when you don't wanna show up.
Professor Miyamoto is a sweet and caring person. She genuinely wants her students to do well and is very accessible. However, she goes by the book a lot. If you don't read and understand the lesson before going to lecture it's very hard to understand. She's a strict grader, but sometimes gives extra credit opportunities. Go to SI and tutoring.
honestly really hard class. if you don't read the book or go to SI, good luck. She is a sweet lady but goes way too fast and doesn't teach very well.
There is a lot of material in the class. If you don't read the textbook, you will fall behind. She goes really fast in her lectures. Go to SI and read the book to pass. There are 4 exams, 1 final, i clicker participation points, three writing assignments and summary notes due every week. Extra credit is offered. Must put in effort outside of class.
Dr. Miyamoto's teaching style is reflective of any instructor who wants students to be able to think like a biologist. She places an emphasis on not merely memorization of biological concepts but their implications on research. I admire the fact that she doesn't baby her students. Plenty of EC opportunities. Great resource for any biology student.
If you study, you can do well. You need to study outside of class from the textbook to do well. She does ask very specific questions on her tests. FOLLOW THE STUDY GUIDES- they guide you for the test. iclicker is essential. Take advantage of the ec opportunities. There r writing assignments that aren't super hard, and easy weekly bs summary notes.
As a person she is great, but as a professor she is not. I love biology, but this class was hard because of the tests. She gives 4 tests and a final. If you are not good at multiple choice, like I am the tests can be very difficult. The test averages for the class were 60's at best. She does do EC, and grades very hard on the writing assignments
This class is definitely on the tougher side and its a GE! If you dont go to office hours or to SI, good luck in this class.
Miyamoto is an exceptional person,OUTSIDE the classroom. Go to office hours!Her lectures are extremely vague and her tests are difficult in my opinion, however, that is considering Im not a good test taker. 4 exams, easy iClicker points, and a cumulative final will essentially determine your grade. Good luck.
Pros: she is smart, professional, and willing to help cons: she wastes lecture time with difficult concept applications/questions, which i think would be better spend teaching us the basic concept more clearly I got an A in her class, but had to work very hard. use the book as secondary help. your main studying focus should be key concepts&slides
She is an awesome help during officer hour if u are ever confused about a concept. However, her tests are hell and not easy. They are hard multiple choice questions. I recommend reading the book and going to SI. Study with a friend as well because it really helps having more brains trying to help you understand and memorize concepts.
Professor Miyamoto is very smart, however, cannot explain difficult concepts. I really hard to work hard and teach myself the concepts. But its not enough because the tests are insanely hard.
Grades really hard, free response most will fail it, MC? If you read you'll pass this. Her lectures are completely pointless like you're there to get credit for participation, by this I mean they don't actually teach you. -I took Bio 151, not 171 but its not a choice on here sooo
I have taken many college level science classes before and her class was the worst, by far. Her tests have nothing to do with the lectures. Regardless of how much studying you do, you won't be prepared for her tests unless you seek outside resources to understand what she lacks to teach in the classroom.
If you dont know anything about biology!!!! DO NOT TAKE HER!!! her exams are super hard. You only get 50 minutes to complete 35 multiple choice and written essay. If you suck at drawingi dont recommend her. You have to be honir student to understand thus class. Toooooo much contents in soooooo little time. Most ppl do fail this class.
Dr. Miyamoto is very intelligent but gives very quick and easy lectures. Her exams, though, are very tough and detail oriented, much of which is not covered in lecture. If you choose to forego the book, the maximum grade you can get in this class is a B. Tough class, tough teacher and overall, unpleasant experience. She is very intelligent, though.
She mainly uses figures in her lectures which aren't helpful at all. There are 3 tests and 1 final which are EXTREMELY difficult. I would recommend using the study guides and videos she provides, it is basically what is on the test, and going to SI. There are also 2 writing assignments which she grades hard.
Lectures are so informative, and she is brilliant. However, lectures are not helpful if it is difficult to absorb information quickly. I recommend reading the textbook and going through the study guide two weeks before the exam to truly prepare yourself with specific details for the dense test. There are only 4 exams, so good luck studying.
Professor Miyamoto is very intelligent, but she seems so far removed from learning the material that she does not know how to effectively teach it. She expects students to have prior knowledge that I personally didn't have, and lectures were extremely difficult to process and follow. If you have the option of another professor, choose them.
Everyone was extremely dramatic about this class. Her lectures are heavy, but she is very kind and will elaborate for you after class if you ask. There are two small writing assignments, and if you send it to her, she will send back corrections. If you thoroughly complete everything on her study guides, you will be sure to pass all of the exams.
One of the most intelligent profs I've had but delivers the most difficult lectures to absorb in 50 min. Each class scratches the surface of each lesson but you are on your own to really comprehend the material. She offers extra help during office hours & SI but don't take if you have no prior knowledge. Weekly assignments, tests, & 2 small papers.
Loved working with Dr. Miyamoto and will continue working with her in both lab and lectures. I feel elevated as a developing Biologist, stronger in a few more areas than I was before I took this course. If you want the A, you have to earn the A. I invested the time and hard work, and it paid off. If you do the same, a B is an easy floor.
She's smart but has poor teaching skills. Exams were different than lectures. I found her class to be unnecessarily complicated with too many different components - evaluate, apply, learn, engage, sync lecture, async lecture, group project??? Just stick to exams and an essay or two. I spent way too much time just figuring out structure of the class
She shouldn't be a prof w 200 students in her class bc she can't manage it. She took nearly a month to grade every assignment/exam. Barely available for help/questions, doesn't answer emails or reply to posts. I'm an A student and studied 20+ hours for each exam and still got C's. Class average was in the 40-60 range. Avoid this class if you can.
I found her to be really out of touch and disconnected with the class. Like the other review mentioned, she took at least 1-2 months to grade every essay and exam. The class is hard, but doable if youre willing to put in a lot of study time. Her teaching style isnt the best. I dont think I learned very much from her this semester.
Professor Miyamoto is caring and provides so many resources for this class. She posts lecture videos explaining concepts, then during lecture she answers any questions the class might have about the chapter. You do need the book. She responds to emails quickly. 4 exams, weekly assignments, group project (only present if you want to), and a final.
I've never had a professor that was as unclear & difficult to understand in lectures as her. It's a tough subject but having her made it so much worse bc of the way she explains concepts. And 80% of the lecture she'll talk about irrelevant things & then go through the important parts real fast. Exams are extremely difficult & fast paced. No curve.
She sounds like shed be really nice but I spent 20+ hours a week on this class and still got 74-82% on the exams. Takes the whole semester to grade. Dont take this class online especially not with her. Frequently gives wrong info and has to correct it so teach yourself with the book :,(
Tough grader. Takes 2-3 months to grade. Terrible at explaining concepts clearly. She stutters, mixes up words and goes back on what she says constantly, making it really confusing. Too many different components to the class. Exams are fast paced, with vaguely worded questions that don't match study guide. Overall I hated this class.
Yes, the class is difficult. Its clear Dr. M wants her students to actually understand biology. Even though the class is difficult, there were many opportunities to better our grades (such as dropping two lowest writing assignments). The zoom lectures were different than other classes, but she does post recorded lecture videos which are helpful!
Definitely more work than my other classes combined (chem & physics) yet somehow I feel like I learned basically nothing? She has a weird grading system, shes terrible at teaching, many pointless assignments, purposely designs the test so that most will fail. I used to love biology but she made me hate it. Basically just a terrible class.
she's a nice person but this class was a v unpleasant experience. yea its hard. I've had many difficult classes w great professors. she isn't one. her basic lectures didnt prepare us AT ALL for her extremely detailed exams. even if u try your hardest u probably wont succeed in her class. its discouraging to say the least. take someone else if u can
SHE EXPLAINS EVERYTHING SUPER CONFUSING, AND THEN MAKES THE EXAMS HARD AF. DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!!!
The class was HARD, like the hardest I've ever taken. She makes you work for your grade. She's also not amazing at teaching. Lots of easy points help make up for the tough exams. Prepare for a tough semester with her and spending lots of time every day to study. I barely got an A but it was literally so stressful and had me in tears at some points.
This class itself is super hard because of the amount of material we need to learn for each exam. I found her lectures helpful in clarifying stuff from the book. There is a group assignment so choose your partners well if you can. Definetly a hard class but do your work and go to class and you will be fine.
You make your own notes off of the textbook and the curriculum is the only thing she cares about. She is really nice but the class is so difficult. she also doesn't answer questions directly, she answers around the question. 5 modules, 5 exams, 1 essay, all of which are difficult to get a good grade
Exams are tough, even after understanding the lecture. Does not teach during zoom sessions, so you have to learn everything on your own. She does not directly answer your bio-related questions. I did like the term project, but everything else I could not stand. I'll repeat: exams are tough. If you want to pass, do not take BIO151 with Dr.M
I would not recommend taking this professor at all if this is going to be your first bio course. She made me start hating my major and this was my first major course. Her exams make absolutely no sense and even if you read the textbook or your notes the question will still not make sense. she barely used the textbook but still made us buy it.
lots of things to go over in a short amount of time; try using her lecture videos instead of the textbook for the notes
During the time I took her class I installed a bathtub because I bought myself a new toaster and was debating on taking a bath with it. She will not give a lecture its a 50 minute discussion where she asks if anyone had questions but doesn't really go over the questions you have. Get ready to read a chapter a day along with videos with no help
She seems super sweet, however if you actually want to learn anything don't take this class. It's not even the end of two weeks into the semester, and we're supposed to have already gone over four chapters worth of material (all on our own time). She also doesn't teach during class time.
I got an A in the class but she will make you WORK for it. I watched the lectures and typed literally almost every word she would say down. Then I went to the University learning center and got tutoring twice a week. Teach someone back the content in your own words and understand their connection. Also, attend SI! If I got an A, so can you guys !!
Dr. M is amazing for 405. The class isn't hard as it is dense. She gives directed readings to keep you sharp. They're not graded, but it is in your best interest to stay on top of them. She allows a cheat sheet front and back for exams. The one downside to her class is she quizzes on a lecture topic before she lectures on it.
Tough grader on exams, assignments, and group projects. She provides very little helpful feedback, takes forever to respond back to her emails. Seems to have preferences in class especially when it comes to asking for help on assignments.
When I took her class her quizzes were impossible and we were required to read up to 1-3 chapters per week. She had both short answer and multiple choice quizzes and all had impossible questions that no one understood. The average in this class was around a C to a B-. So beware.
I had the class online but there was a lot of reading for the class. I had to read multiple chapters before class. Had little homework but required you to ask questions about the chapter which was what we would talk about in class. 2 papers but the latter is optional. Has a final project where you work with partners so make sure you are prepared.
This class is only taught by her, but basically its a ton of material to sift through. Balanced grading scale, exams are 40% but other assignments you do are like 10% each. Gives a nice study guide that narrows down concepts well, and puts more questions but only grades up to 100%. Finnicky grading, seems like she wants specific answers.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
72%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.98 avg changeRatings by Course
BIO273
5.0
(1)BIOL427
5.0
(1)BIOL172
4.2
(5)BIOL303
4.0
(1)BIO405
4.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
CELL303
5.0
BIO150
5.0
BIOL151
4.5
BIO172
4.4
BIO151
4.2