2.6
Quality3.5
Difficulty33%
Would Retake84
Reviews33%
Would Retake
84
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
12
4
18
3
12
2
19
1
23
What Students Say
“He cares about the students and is relatable, however, as a teacher he isn't the best”
BIO1050 - 2.0 rating“He's a nice teacher, but he's terrible at making tests, and taking accountability”
BIO1610 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
62%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.90 avg changeRatings by Course
BOI1010
5.0
(1)BIO1100
4.0
(1)BIO1110
3.5
(2)BIO1050
3.5
(2)BIO1010
3.1
(36)Difficulty by Course
BIO1234
5.0
BIO002
5.0
BIOL1110
4.7
BIO1610
4.1
BIO1090
3.7
Reviews (84)
This teacher cancelled class probably 10 times during the semester, many of which were without notice, or the notice was given an hour before class was supposed to start. His lectures were hard to follow. The tests covered several chapters and were extremely hard unless you studied for hours from the textbook prior to the exam. Very nice guy though
Pretty hard class. The tests were based off your homework, and often he'd put questions in there that wasn't in the homework, which he told us to use as a study guide. Also, he corrects homework by judgment, so I spent a lot of time disputing my grade. Nice guy, not a great teacher.
A very knowledgeable and good guy but his tests are terrible. Very hard to understand what he is asking. Though the tests are multiple choice, a good majority of the answers include stuff like 'all of the above', 'both a&c', etc... Hard tests.
Very knowledgeable. Carpenter made the class entertaining and interesting. He would bring in a lot of outside sources that were relevant to our discussions to give us further examples. The tests were difficult yet were based on his notes he wrote on the board.
Nice guy BUT, The tests are absolutely ridiculous and unfair. Multiple choice that have A,B,C,D both a and b,E both b and c. very tricky. not possible to know 100 pages of text per test given the detail of the test questions. No extra credit. I studied 20-30 hours per test and barely got B's. Don't take this class unless you HAVE to.
This Professor gave great lectures when he actually held class. He cancelled class alot and did not tell the class. There was several tests of which he made you figure out what to study by yourself giving you no extra help. There is a paper for your midterm. I would not recommend him as a teacher if you have not had alot of Biology before.
Dan was actually an easy teacher. I am not sure why others didn't like him. I felt like if you took good note, you didn't even need to read the text. All of his tests were from the notes. He also gave you a study guide for each test which covered what was on it. I would take him again. I found his lectures interesting and applicable to life.
Going to his class is a MUST because his tests are solely based on his lectures. Tests are somewhat tricky, but there are no trivia questions (which is great). Just take great notes in class and you should do well, i didn't really need the book (but the review questions in them are helpful). Sometimes he gets way into the subject and i get confused
So who knows exactly how plants work? ya not me.. what are your chances of knowing so much about biology when most of us are taking it just to get our associate's degree. Why would it be necessary to have tests with a,b,c,d,and e. and your tests are your grade! i wouldn't recommend this class or professor.. unless your gonna major in biology.
The class is all lecture. He uses the whiteboard to describe how bio works and a students takes notes. Every thing on the test is only from the class lectures. he does not take roll but you need the notes to follow along. half of the time he will be talking about the topic but then switch and talk about something else that is interesting.
This teacher is great! He is very passionate about what he is teaching. He explains everything really well. He lectures and writes notes on the board, and everything that is on the test is from the notes.
Nice guy, but difficult. took the class in the summer, so the cramming 2 1/2 hour lectures were brutal. Grade is basically determined entirely on the tests, some of which I felt were outrageously difficult. The study guide's were very vague and turned out to not be very helpful.
He was not sociable at all and hard to work with. His tests were very specific with things that he hadn't really mentioned. It was tough and I didn't learn a whole lot.
He was a great teacher! This was my 3rd time taking this course and he is the 1st teacher that has explained things great. Grade is based only on tests.. but take good notes and study and you will do good!
He gives a day of review for the tests and a study guide. If he doesn't cover a topic well he will adjust the test to reflect his lack of teaching. Biology is a hard subject a lot of new vocab so don't expect a good grade without studying but if you put in the work its an easy A.
I don't recommend this class. I took this class because the teacher was really nice and told to us don't worry about the grade, don't worry about the test and at the end of the class if you didn't do well you don't pass the class. so don't plan to get a good grade
Boring guy that will ramble a lot about things he hates. Went off-topic a lot and made a class I was interested in very boring. Dropped the class after four days. I really wish Redwood campus had some decent lower division biology teachers.
The teacher never answer emails and all the time pretend that his class is the best one and everybody going to get good grades.
I bought the textbook, never read it, and still passed with a B. The final grade is based on the tests given. They're multiple choice but they're tricky. Tests are based on class lectures. He's a nice guy, but not a good teacher. If you're planning to take this class, it would help a lot if you have taken a biology class before.
He's a nice guy with good intent but sometimes he goes off on tangents that I just can't seem to follow. His lectures are good and he helps with taking notes but I just don't find biology interesting.
The only thing that kept me going to class was how hot i thought he was. :)
He was interesting to listen to but your grades are based off of his tests and his tests are very misleading-I know he wants to know you have "learned", but I believe tests should be more straight-forward. My college-level bio teacher is MUCH better (Bill Tanner, love him!).This school needs to have a better entry-level bio teacher, what a waste :(
Not an easy A if you aren't good at memorization. I'd stay away from Dan if you are taking this for GenEd because he gives superfluous information that are unnecessary for an introduction course. Canceled class a lot but I didn't mind. He's quite boring, I would have dropped the class if he didn't look like a hipster.
Dan is a really nice guy, but he is one of the worst teachers I've ever had. He cancels class 5-6 times a semester and doesn't give you advanced notice. Sometimes he only lectures for 10 minutes and dismisses you. His test are tricky and the questions are sometimes hard to understand. I would not recommend taking this class from Dan.
He is a nice guy, but his tests are incredibly hard, he is inflexible, unless it is convenient for him, Last day of the semester is tomorrow, and we still have only 2/5 of our grades back.
Dan is super nice guy and very talkative about all things biology. His test are hard and not multiple question.If you have a good memory from bio1210, and take notes in his class. This will be an easy class. if not, you will not do well.
Dan is a great teacher, his test were pretty easy if you went to class every time and took notes. He basically takes all of his test questions from the notes, so memorize the notes! I did not open the text book once, so I do not feel like it necessary to buy it.
really hard tests but study guide provided- if you use it, you should be fine
Dan is a really nice guy, but his tests are pretty hard. He is flexible on attendance but you do not want to miss his class because he takes his test questions from the lectures and not from the book. Test questions can be confusing and slightly misleading. Overall a good class if you would like a challenge. If you want an easy A don't take it!
Dan's lectures were engaging, he knows his stuff.Tests were multiple choice.If you read the book & take notes you will get a good grade.I hate biology & he made it easy to understand & like. Job well done. Thanks for letting me audiotape you!If you don't understand something,stop him & ask, he is more than willing to help you learn it!!!
Great teacher, very clear. Take all notes that he goes over in class. Test's are exactly from the study guide, i rarely used my book and did well. Make sure you know your stuff and you will do well on the test, since they are multiple choice. Only about 3 tests, very easy going.
Dan is a good guy, but I feel like his classes are ridiculous. I didn't go most of the time because his lectures were so wordy that I didn't understand a thing he was saying. I studied from the book and the study guide and just went for the tests. I did well. Nice guy, not very good at watering things down.
Dan had the right intentions but all he ever did was lecture. It was hard to follow him at times. The biggest frustration was that he would lose students papers and on the day of the final he showed up an hour late and everything we learned didn't apply to the final.
ALL LECTURE, TAKE GOOD NOTES!
Like everyone has said, Dan really is a great guy. He has all the best intentions and really does want to help students out. Sometimes he can be a bit awkward and can also lose people in lectures. At times he will make people look dumb for asking questions but not on purpose. He will help you understand something if you ask and he loves science.
Good teacher! He is a funny guy and made this class interesting! If you show up, do what he asks, and study for the test you will do just fine!
Very easy, and fun Biology professor. No homework, aside from one small research paper. Very easy grader on the tests, which are all multiple choice. The whole class time is lecture, and some cool videos. But the class is very relaxed. If you just want the class for credits, or even if you love Biology, I'd recommend him.
Dan is a great guy, just not a great teacher. He always goes off track during lectures. Also he talks about the subjects very vaguely and doesn't go in depth. Don't even go to his reviews, waste of time. His tests are very misleading and worded in a confusing way. Don't take this class for an easy A. Get a different teacher if you can.
I would not take Daniel again. Like everyone else said he is a good guy but he is a horrible teacher. He does not care if you pass or not. If you never go to his class & study from the textbook you'll be better off. His tests are extremely confusing. Also don't expect extra credit.
Not a good teacher. Goes off topic most of the time and is never organized. Calls of class with short notice. Wouldn't recommend to anyone.
A really nice and caring man. A family member passed away while I took his course, and he was incredibly understanding and helpful. There are only 3 tests before the final, and they are a bit hard. Study! I have very little interest/talent with the sciences, but he made it interesting and fun. Isn't afraid to give his opinions, and very smart. c:
Dan is super charismatic. Sure, he goes off topic in lectures but I learned more in this class than any other this semester. There's only 3 tests and no assignments besides a research paper. But the tests are take-home tests because he cares about you learning. If you pay attention and just do a little studying you'll be fine and enjoy the class.
I loved having Dan, he did go off topic often. However, he still lectured well and the tests were easy to pass if you just study. You can miss a lecture or two, but don't miss too many. Powerpoints always added online.
Tests very hard. Teaches minimally. Terrible and unfortunate combination for students. Fairly competent, but sub-par for an educator in higher ed. Definitely make sure you have a solid lab prof. if you have to settle for his class, as he is not a very conceptual educator. Thankful for lack of attendance policy because I really hate going.
Loves the subject but has a hard time teaching it. The ebook and online homework are incredibly difficult and he conveys the concepts in a lax and easy way. It is like taking two different levels of Biology.
at the very beginning of class he tells you exactly what is expected of you and what you need to do to pass. all you have to do is pay attention take notes and study. a big complaint that i see is that he goes off topic but honestly its kind of a nice reprieve from a solid hour of boring biology.
Almost every class (maybe 2 times he didn't) Dan will start the lesson and then goes off on tangents about things he finds interesting but are not relevant for what we are supposed to learn. I learned more going to my lab once a week than I did going MWF to Dan's class. Dan also gives test that have a lot of trick questions. 0/10 would recommend.
Wonderful guy and a wonderful class:)
He is always passionate about what he teaches and teaches it in a way that is easy to understand. It was a fairly easy class and as long as you studied a little You'll do just fine. Side note: hes also pretty attractive.
Unprepared and unorganized. Don't expect to learn much from the lectures. I took notes every day but when I went to look at the slideshows again, I couldn't access them online from the way he set things up. Tests were on things we didn't cover. Homework was on things we didn't cover. It was a very stressful class, because of the unorganized system.
Professor Carpenter was a good Biology Professor, I enjoyed his class this semester even though I did not get an A in his class, but he changes my perspective about Biology. He does briefly cover stuff in class, but there is always room for improvement. Over all, the class was a success and I do not need to retake the class :)
Daniel Carpenter is a really nice dude. He cares about the students and is relatable, however, as a teacher he isn't the best. He is very unorganized and his tests are worded in strange ways. He just lectures and usually, they are full of tangents and random stories. His study guides are never very helpful either.
I really enjoyed this class. I do like biology a lot, so that's probably part of it, but he also finds a way to make things interesting by giving examples and showing interesting pictures and videos. He's also very caring and nice, and actually makes it an assignment to go to his office hours so you can ask any questions without being intimidated.
Prof Carpenter is a great guy, he is very engaging and is one of those professors that can make you like a subject even if you didn't before. Free online textbook is included in class. He gives you very clear instructions on tests and assignments, just follow guidelines and study for tests and you will do great.
I felt a bit of hostility navigating the usual anxiety with speaking up in class. In general I do appreciate that some things are scary, but participating shouldn't be met with "I bet none of you know this". As far as tests go, the study guides and test questions are worded funny, and I've found it hard to find answers in my own notes I took.
At the end of the semester when I submitted my E portfolio project, for some reason Dan could not access my link and so instead of trying to work it out he just gave me a zero. He also goes on weird rants during class about random subjects.
Im sorry, but what BIOLOGY teacher makes the class write a research paper and tells them that they are going to grade it on grammar and if it "looks good." This is a biology class, I get it the signature assignment is required for Gen ED, but how he is grading it, and how HE wants it is so confusing, this isnt English class.
Dan is a good professor during lecture, BUT he is never at his office hours when he says he will. Also, this class is very test heavy. You will need to do a signature assignment. Which requires you to go to the writing center, and him giving you feedback before you turn it in. If you don't do well on tests I wouldn't take his class.
He is very unorganized with the class. He cancelled class a few times because he wasnt prepared for it. His tests are tricky and difficult. He didnt gave me the scores of my last two tests, I had to see my final grade in the page of the college.
Great, kind, and funny professor. Dan is a really great guy. His tests are a little tricky sometime though. If you study and really pay attention on review days you'll do just fine. Also, his final paper format criteria is weird. The people in the writing lab do not agree with his ways but it's doable.
Super unorganized, did not publish any quizzes, had to do 6 quizzes in one week because he forgot to publish them. Canvas is so unorganized you cant access the power-points to study for them. All the test answers are trick questions. He states you only have to attend class to pass the test but you HAVE to read the book to pass.
The worst teachers I've ever had. EXTREMELY unorganized. He has tons of quizzes on Canvas that are locked and will not unlock them for students. He is very condescending and opinionated. Be prepared for him to spend all lecture wondering why certain pages on PP's got there. Tests don't relate to ANY lectures. Do. Not. Pay. For. This. Course.
This professor was very disorganized. He published quizzes very last minute. He would make edits to his presentations and would always "forget" to save them. He is also a very tough grader on the short answer questions and his study guides aren't helpful either. The lab taken with this course is where you truly learn about biology. DON'T RECOMMEND
Prof. Carpenter seemed like a nice guy, but I would not take this class again. He was very willing to work with me on issues, but I didn't always understand what he was trying to explain. It was a CBE course, so the grading scale was an automatic E after anything under a B- and... never again. Study guides weren't super helpful for me either.
He is such a nice teacher. The tests were open book and he made the questions very clear and easy. I really liked taking him
Mid professor, awful curriculum. This combination made it so that already unmotivated students were unable to achieve any sort of passing grade in this class. He was a fairly kind man, but his grading and overall attitude over the course was not great. His name and course will forever be engraved into your skull.
His lectures aren't clear and hard to follow. You have to be in class to learn the material. The powerpoints online don't help if you miss class. Doesn't really use the textbooks, so go to class.
A few things that made this semester stressful: The study guide for exams was not helpful at all. It was the objectives for each module put into a document. Youre not allowed notes which is fine I guess. He cancels class, goes off topic, and goes off schedule. overall, the class is easy. Dan is a good professor, he's bad a writing exams & scattered
I really enjoyed his class. The one negative was his exams, but I took the course the first semester the content/structure was changed and he curved the exams to account for errors. He's very willing to meet with students, help them to understand, he encourages questions, and very fair in grading.
Overall he was willing to meet with students who needed help and answered any questions asked. But this class is exam heavy and the study guides did not match the actual exams. Attendance is also mandatory since every class period there is a group assignment ( If in-group assignments are missed it brings your Grade down significantly)
If you want to actually learn biology use a different teacher. He canceled class suddenly like 4 times, and once within 5 minutes of the start time. He is a sloppy teacher, his tests often have multiple mistakes in them. and have obscure questions that don't get attention in class. I learned more about how to pass a class then I did about biology.
Take him only if you wanna fail! worst professor I've ever had.
DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. Carpenter is knowledable however his teaching style lacks clarity. I was always left more confused by his lectures because he rushed through it to get to the class activity, which were not helpful all the other reviews are pretty accurate. His study guides and exam reviews were useless and I felt like he set me up for failure
He's a nice teacher, but he's terrible at making tests, and taking accountability. He messed up every test of ours, and admitted he does it frequently, but wouldn't curve the exams enough or do anything about it. Assignment every class but they're easy. Study guides he gives are useless. won't open late quizzes, DO THEM. class is easy otherwise.
His class was tough and lectures often made me feel more confused than allowed for clarity. There were three sources of information, the videos, textbook notes (provided for online, no textbook needed) and lecture. There is so much information to the material its hard to know what you are being tested on. He is scattered and unorganized.
Do not take this guy if you don't have to. He is very unorganized and does not dod a good job teaching the class during lecture time. He usually goes on rants about random stuff that does not have to do with the class. He has us do a group assignment everyday class and its a big waste of time. He would end class early and has cancelled class a lot
If there was a contest to see which professor should get fired, it should be this one. Absolutely unorganized. Absolutely terrible. Absolutely anything negative, that's him. Doesn't even lecture that well and the in class assignments are a waste of time. Get him outta hereeee.
He is not a good teacher. Disorganized and there's no method to his madness. Show up to class and be prepared to teach yourself. As the previous review states this guys needs to be fired. Students are having to suffer due to his poor performance.
He's very disorganized & all over the place like the majority of the other reviews say. I essentially teach myself during the lecture & avoid listening to him as he often gets things wrong. He's very confusing & not familiar w/ the material that he's teaching, which causes grading issues w/ quizzes. No make up labs allowed, even for school trips.
Dan was quite honestly one of the worst professors I have ever had. He would not teach what was on the exam, and did not even know himself what he was teaching. Dan also liked to ramble and spent most of class rambling about something that would not matter. DO NOT TAKE DAN!!!!
He is so great! His classes are interesting, and he actually gives good lectures and will work with you when you need help. Has been amazing to have him and made this semester easy just from his class.
The teacher is too strict, forbids electronic devices, lectures are hard to understand, and it's very difficult to talk to him.
His lectures are confusing. He changed my grade unfairly and questioned my work because the grammar and spelling were "too good". He was very disorganized, often canceled class or ended it after 20 minutes. He tries to pretend he is a super cool, teacher, but then puts trick questions in tests and acts very condescendingly.
There are no rubrics for anything he asks you to write, so you just have to hope you interpret his pet peeves and vague instructions correctly. His lectures feel somewhat messy, and you just have to hope you get everything written down on time. There isn't any supplementary work to help you get the topics down, either.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
62%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.90 avg changeRatings by Course
BOI1010
5.0
(1)BIO1100
4.0
(1)BIO1110
3.5
(2)BIO1050
3.5
(2)BIO1010
3.1
(36)Difficulty by Course
BIO1234
5.0
BIO002
5.0
BIOL1110
4.7
BIO1610
4.1
BIO1090
3.7