Avoid this class if it is being taught by her. She cannot explain the material and you lose points for using colloquial words when explaining concepts on the test. Not very helpful when you ask her questions.

bad explanations and bad marking scheme. avoid her if you can.

Worst professor ever. Her exams are like if I want to become a doctor when it's not my plan. Taking another bio class to raise my gap up for nursing. Evoid taking the class with her.

Tests are way too long and she teaches a lot of stuff that aren't on the midterms....do not pick this teacher

Explains decently in class, but marks her midterms way too harshly. Her expectations before and after the exams aren't clear at all, her way or the highway, makes us guess all the time. Supposed to be an easy class, but she makes it way too hard for nothing. I don't recommend her at all.

A lot of her questions in the exams are stuff that aren't on the textbook or even being though. She doesn't explain that well and you always have to get what will be important for the exams, when you will spent around 12 hours and more to studying it for it. Don't take BIO1540/BIO1140 if it though by her. Good luck if you need it.

Les examens sont ridicules... Plusieurs éléments qui sont dans les examens n'ont jamais été mentionné en classe.

Si tu veux echoue le cours, prend-le avec elle. 90% des choses a l'examen n'ont jamais ete mentionner en classe. Elle veut des mots specifique pour avoir tout tes points dans les questions de developpement. Si les mots ne sont pas la, tu perds des points pour a rien. MAUVAIS PROFESSEURE. RETOUR A MONTREAL MADAME.

Ridiculous prof and ridiculous Final. Completely unfaire and MADE to make you fail. Many students left either crying after the 3 hours or within the first 5 mins. CHANGE COURSES IF YOU HAVE HER!

This teacher is evil, it almost seems she likes to see students fail, the midterms were extremely hard and the final was made for phd students. DO NOT! take this class with her.

She is the worst prof I've taken. Her explanations are horrible, her exams are very long and she doesn't accept the use of synonyms. You have to learn by yourself, and even when you spend forever studying the questions are vague and not on the important materiel covered. She will ask something completely random out of like 9 powerpoints. Avoid her

Not stimulating at all, hard material that he doesn't make any effort to make our understand easier. If you have her, good luck. If you have the chance to switch out of her class for any other prof on the face of the earth, take it.

Her midterm was absolutely inproportionate to the content covered to that point, and the fact that it was worth 40% of our grade... with such an outrageous marking scheme. Previous year classes had 2 20% midterms which were actually harder but had a more lenient marking scheme. She thinks as if adding 1 mark to compensate for this is a big deal.

she is nice lady buy somehow she has power to turn easy material to supper confusing. one of the worst prof in uottawa. her lectures are super boring u have to try hard to get the point out of her non relevant speech.

Makes you miss Houseman's bio BY A LOT. Even if you try hard, you'll still find it difficult. Very unclear to the point as she jumps from topic A to topic C then back to topic A. Midterms do not reflect what was learned in class at all. She twists questions from the material to make them very difficult. Lectures are very dry. Just awful.

SHE IS DIFFICULT

The absolute worse professor. Avoid at all cost. Professors like her are the ones you never forget. I will always remember Dr. Petit-Turcotte and not for good reasons. Her exams are tough, final is cumulative + labs (not hard). I would suggest she sticks to working in labs and not teach. If you can avoid her, listen, avoid her at all costs.

Absolute worst prof, do not take her under any circumstances. Spends the entire lecture asking condescending questions about things we haven't even learned, speeds thru the material at an unreasonably fast pace, then spends a whole bunch of time cracking stupid jokes. Terrible, just awful.

Her marking scheme is horrible. She is a nice person but she is not a good teacher. She can't explain things very well and she is constantly asking question from student which is super distracting. Common on if we know the answer of your questions we would not take the course. She jumps through the material which makes it really hard to take notes.

Most confusing professor I've had so far. Does not teach things in order (i.e., won't teach the steps of a cellular process in the actual order they occur). She does not cover much during the lecture, so you will have to read the textbook thoroughly. The material is interesting, she just teaches it so poorly.

Awful prof, she doesn't lecture during her lectures... instead she asks questions and has us answer them. Midterms were completely unfair and unreasonable (class average clearly reflected that). Houseman was 10x better than her, switch out if you can, otherwise get ready to watch your average drop.

She is THE WORST. She refuses to accept criticism on her marking scheme. She wants you to read her mind in order for you to do well. She asks a question about function, will except a response about something else entirely. When only 30% is getting above 60, it's not because the class is "lazy" (her words!), it's because OF YOUR TEST.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE 47% of people got below a 50 on the midterm. Claims midterm is not hard by looking at the 5% outliers (which is statistically insignificant). Draws a line of best fit that has a 100% deviation to tell us about studying. Claims that 10% participation marks is the same as simply adding 10% to your mark). TheWORST prof ive had

I really dont know what to say she crushed me in every possible way. shes confusing and if you go to class your tim is wasted listing to her ask questions and wait for someone to answer. i wtch podcasts to skip this. the class average is very low. alot of people failed. DONT RECOMMEND THIS CLASS TO ANYONE. im an A student but this was hell

Like many have said, if you want yourself and your GPA to survive another semester- do not take her. 47% of the class got below a 50 on the second midterm she doesn't care (plus she doesn't believe in bell curving.. :)) has SUPER unrealistic expectations for the midterms/final. "Not a memorization course" Yet must memorize everything WORD FOR WORD.

This is actually the worst class i have ever taken. your answer could be and is right but if you dont use her own words, forget the mark. questions are worth alot (10,6,4 marks) so if you mess one question you know what happens. this class gave me anxiety and im stressed 24/7 and the prof is not much of a help. shes unclear and all over the place.

Absolute worst teacher I'v had in my life and this isn't because her class is hard or she gave to much work I was fully prepared for her class but the final exam is what kills you went from 85 for both to a 59 on the final she curved it by 13% for every student and still her class average was 56%.... Simply put houseman is an angel to this lady

Absolutely hated this prof! Her lectures are so unclear, and she gives you super long readings, assuming that this is the only course you are taking. You seriously don't know what to study for the midterms/final. Take the course in French or go to Carleton it will legit save your GPA! I hope I never see her again.

AVOID this professor. The overly specific marking scheme makes it extremely difficult to do well, even if you have mastered the material. If you question the grading and she will deduct marks. Classes consist of the prof quizzing the class on concepts she hasn't yet taught, so you spend hours listening to others make wrong guesses.

She just asks questions during the lectures and doesn't really explain the content of the course. If you read the textbook and go to the dgds going to the lectures won't matter. I only went to the lectures for the participation marks. Don't use synonyms on tests, even if your answer means the same thing it will be marked wrong.

Houseman 2.0 Comes off as nice but her midterms are so specific, at least Houseman said that you need to know everything. She says that you don't need to know everything, and will put everything on the midterms so be prepared to memorize.

Absolutely terrible. Doesn't teach, and doesn't facilitate. She believes she has the authority to give her class triple the workload of any other university class, and she doesn't care (for does the faculty for that matter).

You have to take her if you take this course but she's possibly the WORST prof ever. Teaches the absolute basics and then (judging from previous exams online) puts the most nit-picky details on the exams. Really needs to stop trying to be so interactive and JUST LECTURE.

Have a suspicion she knows very little about what she teaches as she dose not even teach, she makes you read online documents, worst teacher by far

Comes off as nice, but has absurd expectations, considering the fact that she doesn't teach at all. She tries to be way too interactive with the lecture, and spends the whole class answering only a few questions. She gives you huge amounts of readings, yet almost no direction or clear idea what you need to know. If possible, avoid at all costs.

Comes off as nice and friendly however does not teach at all, her "learning sessions" are useless.... do not cover even a third of what you need to learn. She expects you to read documents online, and doesn't think you have any other classes. Doesn't give you any guide lines or expectations. If you have to take her that really sucks .

Funny how the teacher that does "pedagogical research" is the worst pedagogue I've had in university. Simply terrible.

The amount of information she expects you to absorb BEFORE attending each lecture is ridiculous. During the lecture, all she does is ask questions and waits for the students to answer. I was so confused throughout the entire course. Her exams are painful. She's a tough marker. If you care about your grades, avoid this prof.

Study as much as you want but it is extremely hard to do well on exams/ midterms. Questions are always very vague and grading is so very specific. Lectures are interesting and so is the content; however, professor makes it very difficult to keep up with all the heavy readings and succeed.

The worst prof I've ever had in 4 years (2nd degree). Her marking schemes are so specific it's almost impossible to do good. Class average for midterm 2 was 45% and that's with a curve. She claims you just need to know the learning objectives to do good but her tests are barely related to those topics. Avoid at all costs!

Her teaching style didn't work for me. She does not lecture. She stands at the front of the class and asks students questions. She expects you to do massive readings and know everything before class. The marking scheme is too specific, as the amount of knowledge is vast and vague. Would recommend avoiding, unless you like reading.

Read everyone else's reviews for this prof. They are true. This course is painful.

Worst prof all year. Read the other reviews but basically she expects you to know everything before class and then just asks questions. Get ready to teach yourself the material and study hardddd because her grading schemes are unfair (worse than Houseman's)! Avoid her if you can.

Honestly I've never had a worse professor. Her marking scheme is ridiculously unfair and she does not prepare you for midterms or final exams. Our second midterm average was a 36% and she refused to curve it to a passing grade. Basically relies on other students to teach the class for her. Avoid her at all costs if you want to pass!!!

Be prepared to work, don't bother with online readings or learning objectives, just make notes on what she says in what she calls lectures ('learning sessions'??). Be prepared for hard midterms and exam, you definitely cannot start studying the night or even a couple nights before.

Ok, so she was awful I'm sure you've gathered that. But I beg you if you must take this course; the readings DO NOT matter. You will waste so much time with the readings, but I swear save yourself so much stress and stick to the podcasts and look at the readings if you don't understand or if she specifically alludes to them. Best of luck.

Readings are a waste of time. Memorize everything in the slides and any information she talks about and you should be good. Her exams are all about THE KEYWORDS. Memorize the specific names of the structures and the names of everything because that's what she cares about.

In general, don't bother with the readings unless she specifically tells you that a portion will be on the midterm. Focus on what she says in the lectures/podcasts; the tests will centre on that. Very picky about marking criteria. Needs to stop with the new-age 'learning session' stuff and just lecture, because it's only making her teaching worse.

At the beginning of the semester she'll make you believe that her class is going to be better than normal lectures. It isn't, it is much worse. She really can't teach and her exams are ridiculous. You might think you did ok on an exam and your answer might be right but if it doesn't fit her bizarre marking scheme, too bad. AVOID and save your GPA

The only way to really pass this class is to use her powerpoints as a guide on the content and fill in all the information using her podcasts. When you study, prepare for any open ended questions possible and learn her answer by virbatum to get full marks. Do your labs and participation because thats the only way you can save your grade

Probably one of the worst professors I have ever had. She takes a simple introductory class and complicates It way more than necessary. Also she literally serves no purpose, she doesn't teach you at all and expects the students to discuss and do her job for her . Oh Don't forget that all her midterms are on weekends, and she doesn't even show

She is the worst prof I've ever had. Doesn't teach any concepts properly and then screws u for it on the exams. You have to literally write exactly on what SHE thinks is right. I don't get how this school has made her the ONLY prof for this mandatory course. I would drop my degree if I have to take her again. She is the worst part about uottawa.

Marking schemes are completely random, you'll think u did well but end up with a low mark.

I have no idea how she is allowed to teach. She is the worst professor I ever had and will ever have. She treats us like 5 year olds in class, skims the surface of a very challenging topic, and then makes us go teach the rest ourselves. Terrible marking scheme, 25% of people failed the first midterm, the majority got 50-60% and she thinks it's good

Really rude teacher, and really bad at marking papers.

Don't appreciate how harsh her marking is.

She doesn't explain to well, Recommend to read the text book and study in group to pass..

bad explanations and bad marking scheme. avoid her if you can..

Explains decently in class, but marks her midterms way too harshly. Her expectations before and after the exams aren't clear at all, her way or the highway, makes us guess all the time. Supposed to be an easy class, but she makes it way too hard for nothing. I don't recommend her at all..

A lot of her questions in the exams are stuff that aren't.

Shame on the University of Ottawa for turning a blind eye to the current situation with this professor. It is not fair for the students to be paying thousands of dollars in tuition to receive a prof who is entitled and unfair towards the students. She is very rude and creates the midterm in a way to make you fail miserably on purpose.

im sorry if u have to take this class hopefully they get a new prof for u froshies next year

Dr. Turcotte is great as a person. With that being said, she is just brutal on exams. I honestly think that she is taking away the beauty of biology for most students. Hopefully, uOttawa will decide something soon as courses like these are what make people avoid studying here.

Throughout history, it's been the tradition that the student learns from the teacher as it pertains to gaining knowledge. Unfortunately, an ideal comparison to the student-teacher interaction in this course is lagging Wi-Fi connection. Hard to follow in class, and not to mention bad marking schemes. Which makes for passing the torch impossible.

she uses an 'active learning style' that other profs don't use. But there's a reason other profs do things differently; her students leave her class confused and feeling like it was a waste of time. She should teach instead of asking her students questions and then not telling us the right answer! May as well just teach yourself from the textbook.

When she is lecturing, if you listen very carefully to what she is saying, she is repeating the same concept over and over again but rewording it (which confuses the students because they think it is a new thing but it isn't!). The result of her repeating everything ends up taking her 30 min to finish 1 slide when it could have been done in 10 min.

Her course is the main reason that made me switch from biology! Awful prof, the worst ever. Students shouldnt be experimental subjects for your Active Learning researches!

Probably the worst prof I've ever had. Her "teaching" style is basically making you read the textbook and then asking students in class to explain the concepts themselves instead of going into detail herself. Barely any of the readings assigned correspond to her lecture material and her exams are wayyy too hard. I would avoid her at all costs.

Makes life difficult for no reason. IDK why she's the only professor for the course. UOttawa needs to get it together.

She uses Active Learning in her lectures. Much time is wasted on each slide, as she asks the class questions to prompt her to expand on the slide, yet changes her explanation multiple times to fill up class time. Each Active Learning question puts about 6 minutes of break time in the class, which is her way of filling up the lecture class time.

My midterm is on Tuesday and I still don't know what to study.

Honestly the worst prof I've ever had. 3 months into the course and I have not learned a thing from her. She basically uses 1.5 hours of class time to give you a VERY brief summary of things you need to know. You have to construct all the content to study yourself based on her vague lectures which have no actual content.

Dr. Turcotte actually lived up to the hype. Never did I think that a professor could be this bad. Touches the surface on material in class, just enough for us to know the basics but setting us up for a ridiculous trick question on the midterm. Comes up with hypothetical 10 mark questions from the top of her head that make absolutely no sense.

I was warned about the tough time I'll have to succeed in this course. So I did all the textbook readings, went to every class, actively participated, but for what? Only to be hit with questions on material that were in neither. Always thought that a hard prof simply wasn't hard if you work hard enough and do everything they say. Guess I was wrong.

don't ever take this prof for anything. she doesn't know how to teach properly; only talks about the basics and then expects everyone to know every detail for the exams. the slides are useless and people only attend for participation marks. please avoid. the class averages every year are so low for this teacher.

I somehow got an 85 on the first midterm when the average was 70. I studied the exact same way for the second midterm and got a 69, with the long answer portion being a 54%. ?

Does not know how to teach, makes students speak into the microphone instead of teaching concepts herself. People only attend for the participation marks as her lectures are useless. Her slides and explanations are vague and expects students to know every detail on exams. Avoid!!!

midterms and exams consist of things that have not been covered, She is horrible at responding to questions, changes syllabus and the rules, horrible at responding to questions, horrible lectures, leaves everyone confused after lectures. She is a nice person but a horrible teacher, you are better off just studying on your own.

Avoid at all costs. I'm actually not kidding, if you speak french, take the french section. I've heard its a lot better. She loves interactive learning, and none of it is helpful. doesn't teach anything in the lectures, impossible to know what to expect on the exams, doesn't grade or make questions fairly. She's also condescending and rude

90% of the material in the course must be self-taught. She expects students to teach other in lectures. Exams contain material that was never talked about in the lectures or even textbook. Buy the textbook if you want a chance in the course

To everyone reading this because there mad and fed up with her bs, please complain to the school. Go over her pay grade, its the only for things to change!

Honestly her grading criteria makes no sense. You can walk out of the exam thinking you did alright and get a low mark. Her lectures are very disorganized and exam questions are wayy beyond the scope of the course. Try to do really well in the lab and get all the participation marks to hopefully boost your mark a little!

I have taken this class before at a different university and received an 85. In this course I will get maybe 65. Her expectations for a first year course are too high. Expect 3x the workload as other classes, including daily "fun quizzes" which are definitely not fun at all. Don't take this class with her, take it somewhere else, seriously.

one of the worst at uOttawa for sure. She doesn't teach, but tests you on. everything. Extraterrestrial marking scheme.

Exam question: what is your name? (1 mark) Your answer: Joe Doe Marking scheme: (0.5 for the student age; 0.5 for the student number; zero if they only include their names) that's how she marks the exams. She asks direct question and looks for irreverent answers.

Has to read textbook (sometimes long chapters) before going to class in order to understand what she is saying

she is the worst prof in the history of profs. her teaching style is terrible, says the textbook is essential but nothing from it helps, midterms and exams are marked in such a way it is sooo difficult to succeed; if you do good and youre not a super genius it was chance. she needs to be gone

The readings and lectures might give you a false sense of confidence, but the marking scheme on the exams are nothing short of an enigma.

The worst prof I have ever had at UOttawa. I found that I had to read the textbook all the time because her explanations were horrible. Every time I went to her lectures I felt like I absorbed nothing. She puts nothing on her slides which becomes a nightmare especially when studying all the specific pathways. Just horrible!

One of the worst profs I've ever had. Had Chapleau last semester so I thought this class might be just as good. Nope. You think you're confident before the exam until you see the questions which makes no sense. Speaking of making no sense, her marking scheme is so confusing. Avoid her or your participation and lab marks are your saving grace.

Don't write word for word what she wants? Expect low. Most difficult class I've experienced.

Make sure you play Biolingo EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE or else you won't get the 5% cus she completely screwed the entire class up by changing the syllabus halfway through the semester. Horrible prof.

She's not a terrible person, but just a terrible prof. Tests seemed okay, but then her marking scheme is some next level answers that nobody would have thought of, which messes everyone's deserved grades. Do all the assignments and do well on the labs. I hope she never teaches this course again.

It is the worst class I ever took in life. Wish there was another professor who taught BIO1140. You think you did good on your midterms and exams until you find out your mark.

THANK GOD SHE QUIT. SHE IS NO LONGER AT uOTTAWA. THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER

I am a hard working student and dedicated MANY hours to this class over the semester. Unfortunately, the midterms and exam were much harder than expected. Most of the content is a review/build on grade 12 biology, however, the way she tests her students was unfair. No matter how much you study, be prepared to not end with the grade you hope for.

Still haunts me everyday...

Lectures are mandatory but useless, you could study everything in the textbook and slides and still wouldn't be prepared for the mess of an exams or midterm that she has prepared. Incredibly tough grader and there are always surprises on her tests. Steer clear of this one...

Only prof that teaches BIO1140 so you don't really have another choice for a prof. Does not teach in her lectures and she expects you to know the material before class. Just get the course done with, it'll be your lowest mark even though its the course you spend the most time on.

I would not recommend her, she is a tough grader and it is difficult to meet her criteria. I know many people who dropped the course because of her and some who failed.

Had her last year and ended up dropping the course because she expects you to know the material before coming into class. She seems to be the only prof who teaches this course too. The participation questions she would have on echo would be on things that were never learned in the lectures previously.

The material is not hard, but she demands EXACT wording, which makes exams exponentially harder than they should be. Midterm average was 35% before the bellcurve. Often asks questions for material that was never taught. I dedicated more time to this class than my other four combined and STILL almost failed. Worst prof I've had by far.

she is the worst grader ever

No over-exaggeration. Changed the course of my entire life for the worst. She is the worst thing that ever happened to me. I hope she loses sleep at night for being honestly such a terrible person. I'm writing this 6 years after I took her class (I forgot this website existed and had to come back to warn the masses).

im writing the exam rn and its some of the hardest stuff ive ever done. shes nice but omg the midterms and the exams just aint it. it isnt worth it i wish i dropped out.