2.2
Quality3.7
Difficulty37%
Would Retake129
Reviews37%
Would Retake
129
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
129 total ratings5
15
4
13
3
17
2
30
1
54
What Students Say
“A lot of people say that they avoid this class at all cost”
PHYL1010X - 2.0 rating“I put tons of work into this class and it was still my worst mark”
PHYL1010 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
58%
Textbook Required
40%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.46 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYSIOLOGY
4.5
(2)PHYL1020
3.5
(2)PHYS1010
3.0
(1)PYSIO1010
3.0
(1)PHYL10XY
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
PHYL1101
5.0
PHLY1001
5.0
PHYL1011
4.7
PHYL1001
4.3
PHYL
4.0
Reviews (128)
distance education section, great prof nonetheless. always answers questions (email/webct) promptly and accurately. thumbs up!
Teaches material way beyond what is necessary for a first-year class. Has no idea how to convey ideas other than how the book delivers them. Lectures cover too much material and there is no focus placed on gaining understanding - only on covering as much material as humanly possible.
its really sad when a teacher cannot properly pronounce the words in the leacture.
Goes way too fast. Covers too much material each class and if she doesnt get to every slide she speeds up at the end and assumes that people will understand the material from the textbook. Only has 2 TA's for a huge intro class - one tutarial per week! Too fast, Too hard, Too much material and to
I think Prof.Penney is a great prof! She provides lots of info and answers all questions. She knows the material very well.Agreed that it seems too much info is covered per class :/
she cant pronounce half the words she says, doesn't understand her own slides or questions on assignments. nice woman. just doesn't know the material.
Awful prof. Worst I've ever had. No concern for the students and their understanding.
Awful. No concern for the students understanding of the material - just blasts it out at a pace that most people can't keep up with. Only uses textbook images and gives WAY too much information - confusing and not condusive to learning.
As a lecture she isn't great. Attending the class for me was a waste of time, I learned more from just reading the text. The grading format for the class is great, and she outlines exactly what readings you need to know for each class.
I thought she was an excellent prof very understanding and easy to talk to!! She was always willing to answer any questions I had, and did so very quickly! I'd take her any course of hers if i had to!
Although the exams were very fair, Prof. Penney lectured in way too much detail and the textbook was not too helpful in clarifying the lectures. Not really a first year level course, although the material was interesting and relevant - but presented awkwardly and overdone for the course requirement
covers alot of info in class. But has an effective teaching style
All I can say is.....WHAT THE HELL??? I'm so confused :S
Man she doesn't seem to give a**** about her students... complete waste of time going to class if we didn't have those push pad questions... other than that the course is online and DIRECTLY OUT OF THE TEXTBOOK... what am I paying $1320 for this course for again?
HORRIBLE..........thats all
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I liked her. While they were annoying, those pinpad questions were often on the exams, and some of the assignment questions were word-for-word on the exam. I thought she did a good job explaining and giving memory tricks.
Definitely a nice and extremely intelligent woman. I sort of found that she treated us like children though. Make sure you don't talk in class, or else she will hunt you down and stare at you and make you feel ridiculous. Thats right, holding the entire class up because a few people are talking.
she is terrible
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Worst professor I've had so far. Should not be a professor. Teaches wayyy too much, does not clarify anything and she is PSYCHO about talking in class. Hello in a lecture hall full of 350+ students can you really expect us all to not talk??? Too bad its a full-year course ... I have to deal with her for another half-semester.
wow. where to begin with Cindy. i can honestly say that sitting on a toilet for an hour would be more enjoyable than sitting in on her lectures. i have never attended lectures more boring, encountered a teacher/prof with less of a sense of humor and never have fallen asleep more than in this class. heres to you cindy, please retire.
Atleast the people who don't shut up won't talk anymore...glad you are inforcing this, however I find the class very boring!
She's an ok prof.there is a lot of material,and maybe she doesn't always know it,but this class is so broad, that there WILL be topics she won't know as well. i don't mind her. so far have done very well in teh class. we do get behind often though. review questions are helpful. may be lots of material, but you need to know lots for nursing etc.
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By far one of the worst professors I have encountered here at Dalhousie. Unable to answer questions, cannot stay on point, completely useless. If you can avoid that class, or her section, I would recommend doing so.
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well she has supersonic eyes that can see invisible pointers for starters that the rest of the class couldn't see for weeks. she would "point" to something with her laser (that didn't work) and we had no clue what she was talking about, but apparently she could see the laser. dumb dumb dumb dumb. and thats just for starters.
She should not be teaching such a material heavy course, she cannot even formulate comprehensible sentences and tends to trail off in others. I'll never know how this woman is department head
Penney is very well organized and her slides ROCK! With her weekly clicker quizzes and assignments, she strives to keep everyone up at the same level. Her only flaw is the fact that she cannot communicate...at all --- nothing she says makes sense and she gets too distracted by little things to effectively teach a university course.
Professor Penney doesn't stay focused on the topic she's teaching, never finishes her lectures on time, is unhelpful answering questions and nothing everything she says is completely incoherent.
She is going to be the death of me. I fall asleep in everyone of her lectures. I have yet to meet a more incompetent professor. She completely lacks any form of viable communication skills and cannot even present her own slides properly. She may be a doctor in her field, which I respect, however she should not be allowed to teach.. period..
I hate this class sooo much, she can't teach at all
She is passionate about the subject and genuinely wants her students to learn. She is always available for help, and provides numerous resources to help her students do well. Because of this, there is no reason NOT to do well in her class if you actually try. I do not understand why people have so many complaints. I think she is great.
She explains things well, follows her slides closely, used visuals & demos. This course has a LOT of material, so you NEED to keep up with it. Assignments, labs, and exams are fair. My beefs are that she often got behind & only finished 80-90% of each lecture, and, guest lecturers weren't as good & their slides didn't follow topics as closely.
physiology was interesting until I met Cindy Penny. I hope to never see her again.
Dr. Penney is by far the worst professor I've ever had. When asked any question, she'd either trail off halfway through the answer or try to obfuscate by introducing new terms she hadn't taught to the class yet. I honestly got the impression she knew next to nothing about phsyiology, and just read from the slides (poorly) instead.
Prof has absolutely not knowledge of the subject, or so it seems. the work load is heavy and she teaches you basically nothing. she should be teaching 4 year olds.
Wow... She has no ability to teach whatsoever. She thinks she's the funniest person in the world. Meanwhile she should be teaching 2 year olds who might actually laugh at what she thinks is funny. She was behind by a full lecture if not more the entire semester. Someone should consider a new job.
Aahh Cindy Penny, probably the worst professor at this university. I hope she reads these comments and UNDERSTANDS how badly taught the lectures are. She takes mid breaks through the lecture to *attempt* to be funny and the time she spends on each slide through the lecture is ridiculous. I have a hard time staying awake in this class. Jeez.
did my undergrad and grad degree at dal and she was a decent prof, no better or worse than any others I had. Unlike most others, she appears to genuinely enjoy teaching. Course material isn't difficult if you know how to properly study for an exam and follow the exam outline.
Dr. Penny is a pretty cool prof, she likes cats and doesn't afraid of anything. She also sparked my interest in physiology which is why I am doing a honors in it next year (this review of her is a tad overdue).
She spent at least a quarter of every other class trying to make the clickers or her laser pointer work.. Her slides were good. She has very dry humor and freaks out when people leave class early. Overall I feel that she knew her stuff but had problems communicating.
she spends the first 15 mins of class rambling to herself about what she did wrong to pull up the slides and get the clickers working. Then starts halfway through last class's lecture (because she took so much time last class trying to work the clickers) and tries to fit todays class into the last 10 minutes. Smart teacher but communicates poorly.
It's like every time she teaches the class is the first time because she doesn't know how to set up her slides EVERY TIME. I'm actually sitting in her class as she tries to set up her slides for about 15 minutes now. Wastes so much time considering its only a 50 minute class. Could actually be a decent prof if she could work a computer.
The most unprofessional and disorganized professor I've ever had. Her class was a waste of money as I learned nothing. She frequently had technological difficulties (DAL, please, train her). She often went off on a tangent, explaining nothing of use. The only good thing I can say about her is that she always responds on the discussion board.
She stars off good, but slowly and surely goes into a downward spiral with no return. Rudest prof when asked a question, not helpful at all, had to re-educate ourselves, horrible at technology, had to learn the entire course by ourselves. Over all, Terrible terrible prof. Please retire Cindy. I bet her middle name is Patricia.
Dr. Penney is amazing, always there to help, so many students complain because they are too lazy to do any work, they expect everything to be handed to them. She goes completely off of her study guides for exams, and she explains things will, as you have to do is read the book prior to class, People need to grow up, and start doing work!
Worst Prof ever. Doesnt know what she is teaching. Cant explain anything. Confuses everyone. Cant use technology. I nicely went to tell her about tophat not working for me and she went off the deep end for nothing.
She is VERY bad at time management. Dalhousie needs to replace her with someone who can actually operate the technology used in the lectures (TOP HAT!!!). Her exams are fair, but be ready to teach yourself everything from the textbook. She is not clear in her lectures and frankly, reading the text will teach you better.
Dr.Penney is so helpful! whenever i have any questions she's always happy to help :) i love her analogies, it really helps me to understand :) by far one of the best professors i have!! :)
I honestly just took notes from the lecture didn't even open the textbook and got an A on the first exam. She explains thing well but, people don't take her seriously so they don't take serious notes on what's important. Maybe she's not the best at a computer but getting answer through TOPHAT is not her fault but the system itself
Her slides are horrible to follow and very disorganized. Considering the large number of people I know have failed her class (or have been close to), she should change something she's doing or they should assign someone else who can teach this class more clear and more organized.
Despite other ratings, I thought Dr. Penney was a great Prof. She always went the extra mile to make sure you understood the material and got you back on track if you were confused. I think people dislike her and her course because the course material was hard and they got a bad grade because they didn't read the text or go to class.
I wish she had a smaller class, I feel as though it would be much more beneficial. 500 is too many for a tough subject. I feel like she does put effort in. Cindy Penney is a nice lady. :)
I was happy with my mark and I felt her very unhelpful. I would send her messages or talk to her after class to clarify something and walk away not helped at all because she used the same wording as she used in class. I feel like if she had steered away from using the textbook's pre-made slides it would've helped with explanations.
Terrible professor. Hands you the book and says "Go for it". no guidance at all.
Stay away.
Terrible professor. Goes too quick, no personality, monotone, and expects way too much on exams.
She is an awful professor, not clear at all. If she can get a phD anyone can
SO terrible. Worst teacher ever. Makes me want to drop out of university.
Her lectures are all over the place, and confusing. Her exams are way too specific, no way to memorize all that
Despite what many people say about Dr Penney, I enjoyed both her and her class. She tries her best to get a lot of complicating information across to a very large class. If you read the textbook and go to class, you'll do fine.
Confusing slide shows, a lot of information and pretty unclear. helpful if you forget to submit an assignment, usually willing to accommodate. other then that a really challenging class.
never take this class if you don't have to.
Not an engaging or very clear speaker, & powerpoint slides are disorganized. BUT some tips from a non-sciency person: if you study all the material on her slides and answer all her objective review questions, you will survive! Be prepared to read the textbook to help answer her review questions. GO TO THE WEEKLY REVIEW SESSIONS-helps a lot!
crankiest prof I've ever had. hates her students (or at least acts like it). not the WORST at teaching, but kind of confusing because she jumps around the textbook a lot and sometimes goes backward through the chapters?
Not much good can be said about her. I'd rather break my legs than have to deal with her for another year.
she should switch her degree to theater because she acts like she knows what shes talking about. dont be fooled, she really doesnt. She can barely pronounce the words and gets winded when she speaks. Read the textbook and do the lecture objectives and you shouldnt have to go to class.
Avoid this class and prof at all costs!!!!!
Lecture slides are unorganized and hard to follow, attending class affects your mark due to learning catalytics, lectures are not online, important information can be left off of online material provided.
There are way too many components to this class. The online labs and quizzes which are worth a minuscule percentage of your grade take hours to do every week, when I could be doing the actual textbook readings or work for my other classes, which is really frustrating.
Penney as a person seems great. Sweet lady. But her slides are so disorganized that if you didn't google/YouTube just about every concept, you're lost. This compared with the other professor is painful because the other professors slides are very well laid out However, do read the PowerPoint's while doing learning objectives. You will pass
A lot of people say that they avoid this class at all cost. It is NOT that bad. If you listen, go to class, and STUDY you'll easily get an A in this class. The exams are extremely basic and deal directly with what is given on the powerpoint slides. I would recommend taking this in your later years, so that you gain better study etiquette.
These reviews should be taken seriously. Worst professor at Dal. I feel sorry for those in nursing and dentistry who have to take this class. If you're looking for a first year science elective choose a different class, I made the mistake of trying to tough it out, don't make this mistake. I would rather sh*t in my hands and clap than see her again
Dr. Penney gives poor lectures and fails to make the material easier to understand through her terrible analogies. You would be better off staying at home and studying the textbook than showing up to class. Nice lady but has a very tough time teaching, or at least teaching this class. Assignments and exams are straightforward if you study.
If you're a serious student who knows that studying hard a good mark then you will be just fine. The people on here who are complaining most likely did not do everything they could to get the mark they wanted. Cindy can get distracted but otherwise she teaches you EXACTLY what you need to prepare for exams. Go in w/ an open mind + work hard
Very disorganized and all over the place.
Not the worst prof I've ever had, but certainly not the best. She has a tendency to contradict herself and the material when she's teaching which makes it difficult to clearly understand, and she's not the friendliest person either to ask for help. Tests and assignments are very fair as long as you make sure to study and go to class!
She means well but she is extremely unclear and makes easy material difficult to understand The course is a lot of work but completely doable
The class isn't too difficult, but she makes it so. Her lectures are confusing and disorganized. I tune her out in class and just read my book and go to the reviews. She doesn't give herself enough time to teach a topic, and rushes through very important/difficult concepts while taking forever on the basics. This class isn't worth the headache
I think people are confusing a bad prof with a tough course. Dr Penney is very helpful outside of class if you're struggling + the fact is this is just a tough course with TONS of components. Put in the work and you will do fine. Tough concepts may just take longer to grasp. Not the prof's fault. This is just a hard subject in general. DONT SKIP
This is a tough course, but Dr. Penney's lectures are extremely confusing. I go to class and relisten to the lectures online when I'm studying in order to make sense of her slides and I still don't understand what she's saying. She mumbles and sometimes confuses herself. I put tons of work into this class and it was still my worst mark.
Yes, the lectures are heavy but Penney does need to cover a lot of things with only an hour long lecture (that are cut short because of people all at once pack up to leave, DISTRACTING from the lecture!) Honestly her slides have everything in it, and any terms you don't get she has them cited so you can literally look them up on in the book!
I took this first year and absolutely dreaded going to her class everyday. Her lectures are very confusing, get ready to read pages upon pages (if you're smart you'll just read the summaries), as well as doing labs almost weekly. Her quizzes also suck, most of the time the questions are worded so weird that it just makes it so confusing!
Would've saved time teaching myself with the text book. Dr. Penney's slides are confusing. The wording on the quizzes/exams are vague. I'd get answers wrong because the wording left things open to interpretation even though I knew the material. The 5 labs are supposed to take "an hour or two at most"- everybody I knew took 3.5-4.5 hrs to complete
Professor Penney tends to make simple concepts harder to grasp. She constantly contradicts herself which makes everything she talks about It is a hard course but I have lots of hard courses at the moment and she is just a terrible professor. If you don't have to, never take her class.
Loved the material, the quizzes/assignments were not hard at all if you study properly. But damn.... she makes studying a real chore. Listening to her lectures will put you into a bad mood and make you wonder if it's worth studying if you need to listen to her cough into the microphone a dozen times per class.
Very tough. Makes things very hard to understand and contradicts often. Won't understand a thing from a lecture just to have it completely explained in a great time by a T.A at a review session. Use the textbook and go to class if you want to succeed.
Everyone who is reading this, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PARTICIPATE ON THE SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR RATING.. I realized that rating and commenting about them here isn't going to do a thing for the real change at University. I don't believe universities take any consideration into this website as a reference.. and not many people actually do surveys.. :(
Dr. Penney was not a good professor. She made easy concepts difficult to understand. I had to use the textbook for the majority of my notes. I did well in the class from reading the textbook, not her lectures. This class is not hard, it just requires lots of effort and going to class. If possible, avoid this professor.
Her slides and lectures are confusing. Honestly your better off reading the textbook chapters and using youtube. Her tests cover random little nit picky things from the book or lab.
she is literally the worst professor I have had. she doesn't even know what she is talking about half of the time and makes everything way more confusing than it has to be.
I know that I speak differently than most, but I absolutely love this professor. The course is VERY dense, but she does an immaculate job at what she does, she is a hard tester? No she isn't. She NEEDS to make sure you know this material, and she really cares.
I think other commenters are confused about what it takes to get a good mark in uni. Dr Penney's job isn't to hand us an A; she's trying to make sure we know as much as possible about the human body so that we can be good nurses/scientists/etc. I enjoy lectures. Her explanations+metaphors make things clear & the slides include all needed info.
She's available outside of class and sets clear expectations for what she expects you to know. Honestly, the course isn't that hard, but you feel like you're actually learning something for the money and time you put in.
Very dense & requires ++self-lead work, but this shouldn't come as a surprise. Any first year PHYL is difficult for many students; a lot of the concepts are new and (obviously) heavily science/chem based. The labs take A LOT of time, put 4 hrs each. Dr. Penney does her best to cover material, but you're solely responsible for your own learning.
This class is NOT difficult and Dr Penney is no where near a bad professor. She explains everything that you need for the tests in lecture and doing the labs and quizzes help further prepare your for exams. There is a lot to memorize but that is a given in any science course.
Lectures slides are a mess. I could know the course forwards and backwards and I'd still struggle on her tests. Complexity of her tests exceeds her ability to teach the material. Difficult material is compounded by test questions that are specific and worded poorly with subtle differences in available answers
Dr. Penney is neither the best nor the worst prof I've ever had. Exams and labs were fair. Lecture wise, she basically just reads off the slides but go anyway for the learning catalytics questions. I've gotten A's on every exam and I've studied the night before; the material is very straightforward, much of it is high school review in my opinion.
Dr. Penney does her best to teach 500+ students, who are mostly 1st years and not willing to put in the work that is necessary to get a good grade. The subject matter is tough, but she is always available for extra help and really tries her best to give you all the information on what to expect on the exams. You just have to earn your grade...
Amazing in everything related to the course. Exams are very easy and straightforward. If you study lecture slides, you are guaranteed an A. Watch the videos along with the slides and you'll easily get that A+. She holds an online review session and gives weekly announcements on what the course is covering on that week, along with due date reminders
Labs take a very long time as well as the weekly quizzes and are worth next to nothing. Cindy is very knowledgeable in her field, but her teaching abilities can use a bit of work. Go to the exam reviews and meet with Cindy outside class, one on one she is great.
This course is tough. Labs and quizzes take a long time and worth nothing, tests poorly worded and very specific for the amount of content, boring lectures/disorganized slides, requires hours of work outside of class. Studied harder for this course than every other course and it is my worst mark and I already have a science degree.
People struggle with grasping the course material and blame it on the prof teaching ability. This is a very challenging course but Cindy is available outside of class if you need help, shes great. All quizzes and labs are easy A. however, exams are made way to hard. Very tricky questions and all answer options very similar. Study like crazy.
Exams for this class are ridiculous, many questions are based on super tiny details which were not mentioned in class. Labs and quizzes are worth nothing but take hours. Cindy's slides as well as presentation are very unorganized and only a small amount of what is presented will be on exams and tests. Overall unenjoyable and difficult class.
Im sure she is a brilliant person. But she is not a teacher. The amount of work put into the labs and quizzes means basically nothing. The midterms/exams are incredibly specific and difficult.. this course covers A LOT of info. Spent the most time on this course for my lowest grade. Do not take if you dont need to.
Very boring, unengaging, doesnt explain thoroughly, tries to be funny but fails.
I have absolutely no clue what Im learning in this class.
She's very enthusiastic about the material but she CANNOT teach at all. I had no idea what I was learning throughout the entire semester and had to attempt to teach myself the course material. I highly suggest Khanacademy for extra help. Her lecture material is very minimal and basic compared to tests and exams which are very in-depth and difficult
AVOID. TAKE ONLINE. FR. SHES TERRIBLE. Cannot teach to save her life. Dismissive, cringy, disrespectful towards students. Treats you and talks to you like a child.
This prof schedules midterms on days of other midterms that is overburdening. Worse, they scheduled the final exam during "study day" ( a period of time where exams are not allowed). However, because it was the online edition, she was exempt from these criteria, booked it anyway, and REFUSED to work with students, even if that meant failing.
I just got a high 90 in the online version of Human Physiology. It's not really that hard. I'm not some sort of genius. Something that would have saved me a lot of time: ignore the nonsense they throw at you. Ignore the text, ignore the videos, ignore the extra resources- study the slides they provide you and you will have everything you need.
Very bad lecturer. Never seemed to know what they were talking about, everyone I've talked to failed/did poorly on the final and in the class. Specifically said not to memorize a certain section there would not be questions on the final about it, yet there were. Awful class experience, I expected a lot more from an experienced university-level prof
Dr. Penny is not a good teacher but she is a nice person if you meet with her one on one. I struggled a lot on the quizzes and the labs but they weren't impossible. The exams and midterms need proper studying for and just memorizing facts is not enough. You MUST be able to understand concepts. Overall there were 3 exams, 4 labs, and 9 quizzes .
nice person but i always feel like shes rushed or unprepared when in lecture.
Dr. Penney is very knowledgable and I feel like people criticize her because of their lack of understanding of the concepts of physiology. Physiology is tough, but it isn't her fault. Her slides and information can be overwhelming but in the end, it gives you a solid foundation to work from when you advance into harder classes.
The class is demanding, hard and lots of material to cover. It is hard to grasp the concepts and I find her as a prof is horrible. It was founded that majority of the class failed and I discovered a lot of students fail this class due to her teaching ability. Both her & Beaudoin are on academic probation due to a lot of students failing. Stay clear
Every week there is a test and usually a lab or case study as well. Beware of the lectures, several times she made a point to say not to worry about something being on the exam, yet it was a question on the exam. She's very knowledgable just maybe doesn't have the best approach to getting things across. Tests and exams are tough.
I think a lot of people criticize Dr. Penney because physiology is a very difficult topic to grasp but she gives you all the resources you need to succeed and is very approachable if you need clarification. Also explains things very well, definitely a hard course but if you put the work in you can get the mark you deserve
Interesting material. BUT, the lectures are not helpful so you better be ready to read the book and do some online research on your own. Lecture notes are terrible. Exams are very tough and you're expected to have advanced knowledge of the materials taught to answers these questions. Quizzes are fair. Labs are pointless. Teaching style is BAD.
Was scared to take this class after reading the horrible reviews... they are misleading. Took the online summer class (3 weeks) very fast paced b/c the condensed time but still manageable. It's a hard subject but if you put the work in you will be more than okay. My one advice is ignore the book and focus on the slides & lectures for exams!!
Took this class pre-COVID. Ignore these reviews; they had me so worried before taking this class but it was honestly not difficult at all. Labs and quizzes take up a big chunk of time for what they're worth but they're definitely not hard. I didn't use the book, attended class semi-regularly and just studied the lecture slides and I did fine.
I was a worried to take this class because of the bad reviews, but it really wasn't that bad. I didn't read the textbook ever. Some of the material is tough, but the profs have done a really good job of listening and providing a lot of resources to the students during COVID/online courses. Take good notes on the lectures and you will do fine.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
58%
Textbook Required
40%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.46 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYSIOLOGY
4.5
(2)PHYL1020
3.5
(2)PHYS1010
3.0
(1)PYSIO1010
3.0
(1)PHYL10XY
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
PHYL1101
5.0
PHLY1001
5.0
PHYL1011
4.7
PHYL1001
4.3
PHYL
4.0