2.8
Quality4.2
Difficulty44%
Would Retake90
Reviews44%
Would Retake
90
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
25
4
12
3
9
2
22
1
22
What Students Say
“Don't get me wrong, Professor Shen is a very smart women and knows the content she is teaching”
BIO141 - 2.0 rating“Shen is absolutely brilliant”
BIO161 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
73%
Textbook Required
13%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
333
5.0
(1)BIOL224
5.0
(1)BIO141LAB
4.7
(3)BIOL141L
4.5
(2)BIOL333
4.0
(4)Difficulty by Course
BIOLOGY141
5.0
BIOL161
5.0
BIO161
4.7
BIO333
4.5
BIO111
4.3
Reviews (90)
She's not a horrible teacher but sometimes she didn't make good connections between the material and so it was confusing at times. She also didn't always answer questions with much clarity.
OK, so here is a perfect example of how she is. My friend and I did a homework assignment together, had the EXACT same words. He got a 7/7 on the assignment, I got a 4/7. When I showed this to her after class she laughed and said, "it must of been the mood I was in." AVOID.
Very difficuly class. She is very hard to understand. You can tell she is smart, but has no idea how to explain it to us. Her fill-in-the blank questions are very difficult, b/c she doesn't speak English very well so they are difficult to understand. AVOID>
Get ready to learn on your own. She will does not explain things very well, and may even tell you wrong. Her tests are hard and the material is unexpected. Do not take her class!
This was the easiest Biology class I have ever taken in my life. People are struggling because they don't read the material before class. She does not expect much of us and her tests pick out details that she has covered in class. If you don't do well, it's your fault, not hers! She is a smart, understanding, easy-going professor.
She's really a nice person, but i think she has to just adjust to the material and teaching the class since its her first year. I have found that her test questions are unclear and confusing, as well as her way of teaching.
She is horrible. Down right horrible. Me and my buddy did the exact same wording on a group assignment, he got a 7/7, I got a 4/7. She tells you to just study review sheet and slideshow notes, she will give you 50% of the test material straight out of the book. Avoid her at all costs. Oh yea, and she can not speak. I used to be a bio major..
This class is like having the book read to you. Shimply put, Shen shux.
Shen is an exceptionally knowledgable professor, but does have some problems in explaining some of the subjects more difficult aspects. This is a FINE CLASS TO TAKE, but ensure that you stay on top of the reading. Tests are difficult only because you need to be able to think constructively about the material. Overall good prof, little to no hw.
I used to do very well in Biology, but ever since taking her course, she can't explain things, and Im doing terrible! she's no help to students at all and very difficult to understand
Prof has very poor communication skills for a professor. She is very intelligent, but you can notice very quickly that english is not her first language. Sometimes she appears frustrated with students when she is asked to explain things again. I also got the impression that she was viewing many of her lecture slides for the first time...
New at teaching, can't explain well. Ensure that you know how to take good book notes and learn everything on your own. Use the books online study guide.
this is the worst prof i've ever seen or heard of. i have nothing positive to say about her. her lectures suck a her tests don't follow the book so there's no possible way to study effectively. the only away to avoid a bad grade with her is to not take her class.
Prof Shen is a knowledgable, good prof. People who struggle with her classes simply do so because they don't do the assigned reading or review any notes. She is very helpful is you seek help from her. This is college... you can't have everything handed to you ona plate anymore.
Worst teacher ever!
OK prof. She's new, and I hear she got better since first semester, but definitely do as much as the reading as possible to supplement the lectures. Fairly easy tests when they're worded right.
Shen isn’t a tough professor if you're willing to do the readings and pay attention in class. She's always looking for new ways to help students understand the material and is very willing to help in one-on-one situations. Her English isn't perfect and sometimes her questions hard to understand, but ask her about it and she'll clear it up for you.
If you seek help from her, she will give it to you. She is a very nice person to get to know and she is also very funny. She wants you to think "out of the box" so don't expect to have a ton of head knowledge. Most people do not like her because she gives bad grades, but her overall goal is to get you to think differently.
She is an excellent professor who is willing to work through any issues you have with the material. If you don't do your work, you will not do well, but that's not her fault now is it?
Shen is a good prof. I think bio 141 in general has some pretty hard concepts. If you go to her office and ask her to clarify things she is more than willing to help you. read the book, go to class, ask questions, study hard, and you will do well.
She was AWFUL. Don't ever take a class with her. She doesn't speak english well and when you ask her a question, she answers everything but the question. She is so hard and not very understanding. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HER. I was going to be a biology major and chaged because of her.f I repeat, DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HER
fails many many many MANY students. (not a nice thing to do- kids)
I'll admit, she's not easy but that doesn't make her a bad prof. She really likes what she's doing and wants her students to understand. For everyone who rated her as awful and took 141 with her I just have to say that yes, that class is hard but don't blame it on the teacher. Read the book and then study your butt off using her powerpoint.
The class is hard, and she doesn't give you easy points. That being said, she still really cares that you understand it and is willing to take plenty of time to help you if you ask for it. There have been questions where it wasn't worded well, so I didn't understand what she wanted, but otherwise I think she is a good prof (just a hard class).
Anding was my one of my first profs here at Calvin. She has communication difficulties sometimes, making for some questions on tests that are tricky. She'll readily give points back if you have a half-decent argument, though. Very willing to help outside of class, giving review sessions before every one of our tests.
She is a terrible professor, I studied by butt off in this class and I still had to retake it. Avoid if at all possible. She is used to teaching higher level bio courses, and is a nightmare for 141
hard professor but outstanding nonetheless
Shen was a terrible professor. She does not lecture well and often goes off on tangents. She also looks down upon students calling them stupid and acting superior to them. The class is not too difficult if you can figure the material out on your own.
I had Shen for lab and she is very knowledgeable about the material, but is sometimes hard to understand because of her accent. Very picky about certain things she expects you to know but didn't tell you.
Professor Shen is nice, BUT! she is not a good teacher, couldn't understand her AT ALL!! Wouldn't take her.
She hardly has an accent. Get over yourselves. Yes she's difficult, but her high expectations don't make her a bad teacher. Instead, they motivate students to achieve a higher level of excellence. She is extraordinarily passionate about her area of study and she is able to pass this passion on to her students. Take her!!!!
Knows what she's talking about, but terrible at teaching it. I learned more from the textbook than from anything in lecture. You could skip lecture entirely, except she gives quizzes every Monday and Friday. Online quizzes on Sundays. Poor English can make wording on tests very confusing. Points on homework are way too few for the work expected.
Shen is the worst. Accent is not the problem, wording on tests, homework, and powerpoints is. She told our class the reason we did poorly on a test was that WE were being lazy and not studying(which was not true). She could benefit greatly from improving her english, but mostly from improving pedagogical methods.
Shen is a great professor. She is passionate about class and wants her students to learn it as well. If you follow her guidelines you will succeed. She's clear about her expectations and is very organized. She is great with helping when you ask. People don't do well because they don't want to do any work, but the class is designed for learning.
Not a good prof. She is very passionate about what she does and she is very intelligent but she is not a good teacher. She flies through her lectures at 90 mph and never stops to see if anyone needs clarification. The tests are nearly impossible and there's no way to prepare for them. Avoid this prof!
difficult class, she expects a lot of work, but she will explain everything you ask with amazing clarity. meet her halfway by doing work and asking the questions and the class will be great. you'll learn a ton. ...and she is wicked smart.
Great teacher, but if you want to succeed, you must work hard. One of the smartest teachers I've met
Professor Shen is awesome. She is a genius and knows the answer to any Bio question you ask her. If you study hard use the book and pay attention in class you will get a good grade. I loved the class P.S. She is very easy to understand(Idk why people say she isn't)
Professor Shen is very smart, but her teaching is terrible. She looks down on her students - sometimes even laughs at them for asking "stupid" questions or getting wrong answers. She is not understanding or helpful. Her online lectures are terrible. The only way to so well in her course is to learn from the textbook alone.
Professor Shen is brilliant and a great professor. She has the gift of bringing difficult concepts down to the level that you are at. She accepts nothing but hard work, so if you are willing to work you will do just fine.
This course requires you to listen to lectures online then come to class and ask about whatever was confusing. She was so helpful and tried to make things easy on us. If you want to learn biology, take her. She's passionate and smart. Her accent is noticeable, but doesn't make it hard to understand her. Fair grader.
She's terrible at explaining anything and everything. Not very personable. Tests are more or less straight forward.
Shen was great! Lab wasn't very difficult, but she was always ready to help you out!
Lab with Prof. Shen is pretty good. She will help you if you need help and ask, but chances are you won't need a ton of help in lab because she explains the lab very well before you start.
Straight-forward. Great professor and a genius. You had to put in effort for the class but that's expected at a 300-level.
People give Prof. Shen a hard time for being a difficult professor. I thought that while her class was challenging, the workload was not too much, and her lectures are all pre-recorded online so if you missed something in your notes you can always relearn it from her lectures before the tests.
Shen is the best biology professor ever. She is really great at explaining difficult concepts and making htem easy to understand. Shen also makes class so much fun with her fabulous sense of humor. She has so much to bring to the classroom and I actually love her so much.
I had Shen both for bio141 lab and 207 lab. I'm not sure how she in in lecture but in lab she was very tough. Her explanations were minimal and if you messed something up she would make you feel like an idiot. Not the warmest person in the world but she is very smart in her discipline and if you work for it, you will learn a lot from her.
One of the most professional teachers you will ever get to meet in your life. If you want to become a serious scientist, she is the teacher to learn from. She will let you know when you did something wrong and will not hesitate to correct you. Expect to learn and become discouraged for your lack of knowledge. But let that become good soil for you.
She's clearly incredibly knowledgeable about biology, but her class is mediocre at best. She leaves a lot off the powerpoints, then mentions information offhandedly (so you don't realize you need to write it down), then it shows up on tests. If you can, take Wertz instead. Her class is doable but not preferable.
She is a nice prof and you learn a ton. The class is extremely hard tho and you need to study a lot. I waited until the day or 2 before tests and it was brutal. There is a lot of material she covers, but she tries to make it as manageable as possible.
Prof Shen is really incredible. She may not be super personable, and be ready to be called out if you are wrong, but just talk to her outside of class and you will realize how wonderful she is! She understands that Biology 207 is naturally super difficult and regularly gives back points on tests. Print the notes, write down everything you can!
I had Professor Shen for Lab. She was great! She was funny in an awkward way but it made lab fun. If you don't understand something she will help you, but be prepared to feel dumb (she throws some light shade). She makes you take quizzes every session on the lab from the week before. These can sneak up on you and hurt your lab grade so be wise.
The worst prof I have ever had at calvin. She teachs bio 141 (keep in mind it was a 100 level course) and she curved the tests by 20% everyone did so awful. She is hard to understand, and her tests asked about content that was not in the book or in her lecture. So unfair, she knows her stuff but thats about the only good thing I could come up with.
Do not recommend. Hard to understand, quizzes are unfair and contain info she doesn't teach.
Worst Professor EVER! Have her as a Prof? Drop the class. Definitely not worth your time. She tests are very wordy and hard to understand, and contains materials not covered in class. She is merciless. Her lectures, tests, and the way she speaks is very hard to understand. I love Bio, but that almost changed because of her class
She is very sweet and genuine! She wants the best for her students and she is willing to sit down with you and explain things. HOWEVER! You will have to put the work in or you wont do well. Its all memorization and a lot of teaching yourself. If youre not studying at least 2 hours a day you probably wont get an A...
Must spend a lot time studying in her course if you want to pass. Does require book but rarely use it in class. Tests and quizzes are ridiculously difficult, so recommend rewatch her videos and make quizlet. She is flexible in grading, sweet, mastered in her area, empathetic, fair, and have high expectation, passionate. Not understand sth? ask her!
She is helpful, knowledgeable, and passionate about her study area. It's a little bit easier compared to her normal BIOL141 course. If you don't understand any part in the lab (or in lectures), ask her, she is willing to answer anything.
Don't get me wrong, Professor Shen is a very smart women and knows the content she is teaching. However, all we do is watch video lectures and then re listen to the same lecture again in class which becomes very boring and makes it hard to want to learn. Shen also gives a lot of hard tests, so be prepared to do a lot of self teaching and studying.
Professor Shen knows what she's talking about. She's got high expectations, and wants you to have a deep understanding of each unit. Great Professor.
Shen may be the worst professor I have ever had. Her lectures are useless, as she simply reads off of PowerPoint slides for the entire class period. There is either a test or a quiz every week of the semester, and the content covered in these exams is nothing she teaches in class. They are incredibly difficult regardless of how much you study.
Her class is incredibly hard; her lectures are not applicable to the tests or homework. Tests have really obscure and specific questions, mentioned once or twice in class, and her lectures involve constant note-taking. Be ready for plenty of homework and tests. If you don't have a photographic memory, or already know the info, don't expect an A.
Professor Shen expects a lot of her students and will challenge you to think about the material in a real world sense. I highly recommend finding someone to study with and if you have any questions teams calling her. Her lectures aren't very helpful because she reads off the screen, but if you can teach it to yourself you'll be fine.
I really enjoyed this professor. She is defiantly harder on you because she wants you to do well. She responses to emails quite quickly and answers all your questions. Her lectures are VERY IMPORANT, so attend class and take notes! The test are on the harder side, be ready to think conceptionally! It is not a memorization class.
A lot of people give Shen a bad rep. however, she honestly was not as bad as people make her out to be. She is totally willing to work with you outside of class so take advantage of that (especially before exams). You will have to study, but good grades are possible. Learn the info for the quizzes, it makes it much easier come test time.
Shen was fine. She was difficult and there was a lot of memorization involved, but she lays out what she expects in the first class. If you do the work, learn how to study and utilize your resources, you'll be fine. The tests are difficult and application based, and require a lot of studying. Her class also requires a lot of group work.
Dr. Shen is absolutely brilliant. She has her PhD from Hopkins, and is one of the most accomplished professors at Calvin. This being said, she does NOT take B.S. If you want to actually learn, are willing to put in the work, she will help you, challenge you, and push you to be the very best you can be. She is amazing.
She is the worst professor. Does not know how to teach and help students.
just dont take her
She really doesn't care about students. The lecture's are heavy and hard and she doesn't explain things well if you don't understand it. Tests were much harder than expected and people often failed.
Students who complain about Shen haven't put enough effort in. If you study hard and watch her videos, you'll do well. Cell bio was a heavy course but if you're willing to invest your time and listen to her suggestions you'll succeed. She's super smart and caring- listen to her advice!!
Professor Shen is a great professor! her class is difficult but very manageable if you put the time into the class and ask questions. She has a process for each lecture which can be time-consuming. Her tests have tricky wording that can easily trip you up but she curves most tests. Overall, she is a fantastic professor who wants you to succeed!
The only things that count towards your grade are tests and quizzes. Her questions on the test are very poorly worded. Her slides are great but she will manage to ask a question on every single thing on them. Study on whiteboards for her class to learn the processes.
Professor Shen is a very knowledgeable person. However, she is unsympathetic to you not understanding the material. She has told my section along with many other that when the class average on tests were below 70%, it was the students' faults for not studying hard enough. I am currently retaking the class with another professor and have a B+.
She knows what she is talking about and is very knowledgeable and passionate about Bio. She will often make you feel stupid if you don't answer a question correctly. Her test are very wordy and often are hard to understand.
Prof. Shen is knowledgeable and expects you to know a lot of material for every test. She often makes you feel stupid and is not good at answering questions. The homework is easy, but the wording on her tests is complicated to read, and they don't make sense. You have to study for multiple hours a day for her class or you won't do well.
Do not take whatsoever. Worst prof at calvin, way to much work, no human feedback, software for tests and quizzes is so broken the whole class always has problems with it, yet she uses it and is aware of it. Guarantee at least 10 mins of the test time is used trying to load in.Lecture vids and quiz are due before class,then class is the same as vid
Professor Shen is very smart and knows what she is talking about but I recommend not taking this course with her, especially if you are a nursing student. She has no respect for her students, when she asks the class questions she often laughs at us and makes feel stupid. I went to her office hours and she laughed in my face when trying to get help.
In general, is very smart, but I often noticed that she had a hard time getting it watered down for a 100-level nursing course. Oftentimes, we were told that a certain subject would not be on the test or quiz, but then would still end up on the quiz. She often curved quizzes, which helped only because we were doing so bad, usually laughed at us.
Professor Shen is definitely a tough prof but you will learn SO much from her if you put in the work and really try to understand the material. Most people who didn't do well on tests didn't do her recommendations on how to study and how to prepare. Also be prepared to spend about 1-2 hours everyday on the work she gives.
Shen is VERY smart, too smart for a 100 level biology class. She had a hard time explaining things in simple terms. Her slides were very broad, while tests featured very specific content. The only thing that really matters is your test/quiz grades. Additionally, in class she asks questions and will laugh at you if you get it wrong.
Dr. Shen is an amazing teacher who has allowed me to really understand the material. You may read about how her tests are very hard. That is not true, as they are indeed difficult, but she gives you ample material to review so that you can do well. She also curves most tests, so you get a better grade than what you get at first.
She definitely felt power seeing kids not understand her.
Whatever you do, do not take Professor Shen, even if it means graduating a semester late. She overcomplicates basic topics and expects you to understand things at a PhD level. She makes you feel stupid for not asking questions. Her test questions are just straight up confusing. Good luck, because you'll need it.
Incredible class!!! Tied in extremely well with previous classes such as BIO 160, Genetics, and Biochemistry. Topics were complex, but Shen did a very good job at explaining them and encouraging the class to work through complex ideas. Very interesting and high-yield class for anyone seeking to enter health professions. Would 100% take again.
She is very intelligent but I do not think she is a good professor and should maybe stick to research.
Personally, the best professor I've had at Calvin. I really enjoyed her lectures, especially the ones that incorporated her research. Some students say the exams are challenging, but if you put in consistent effort, earning a good grade is very achievable. If the course feels difficult, it's probably a sign that you didn't study enough.
You can tell that she is very passionate about what she teaches and wants to see you succeed in this class. Her tests are difficult and you kinda have to master the materials that she discussed in class. But if you show up to lecture and study based on the study guide, getting a good grade is achievable. She is also always there to help if needed.
Very hard teacher that doesn't explain the material well. Test are word very confusing and answers are all similar.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
73%
Textbook Required
13%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
333
5.0
(1)BIOL224
5.0
(1)BIO141LAB
4.7
(3)BIOL141L
4.5
(2)BIOL333
4.0
(4)Difficulty by Course
BIOLOGY141
5.0
BIOL161
5.0
BIO161
4.7
BIO333
4.5
BIO111
4.3