Dave was a solid 10/10 prof for me. Dude showed up every day and made everyone laugh, kept lectures lighthearted and interesting. Class was almost 300 people and he made an effort to remember people's names if they were somebody that frequently put up their hand. It's clear that he really cares about his students and he's passionate about biology.

Dr. Punzalan is so helpful and takes the time to really explain the course content well. He is also HILARIOUS and actually made me want to attend lecture! He is a new prof at UVIC but you can tell that he really cares about his students and puts the effort in to make you excel. I would 100% take his class again in a heartbeat.

Really fun lectures. Covered a lot of course material very quickly and still explained everything clearly with examples.

He's really chill and he makes us interact in the lectures and it helps me recall things better! He's also very funny, and makes it clear on the materials that are testable. I am more than willing to take another course that he teaches!

David is so sick. He's a hilarious lecturer and manages to maintain that level of comedy while still explaining concepts clearly. He moves quickly but is more than happy to stop, explain, and probably draw an example on the chalkboard if you shoot up your hand. 12/10, I would take his courses again in a heartbeat.

David is new to UVic as a prof but is a great guy! He makes hilarious jokes and brings in neat things that relate to the course (stick bug, etc). Knows what he's talking about.

David is really cool! I enjoyed him the most out of our three profs. The midterm unfortunately didnt go so well for a lot of people but I really enjoyed his teaching style. Hes really passionate and if I didnt hate studying biology Id take another class with him! Loved his leaf bug he brought in and let crawl all over him casually as he talked.

This guy is great, people really be reviewing him too harshly, take his classes its worth it.

Dave is a great Prof, he's super charismatic in lectures and is really passionate about Bio. He brings a lot of relevant ideas and articles into class so marks aside, you'll take away so some stuff. Although his mid-term and section was rather difficult, if you go to lecture and pay attention to his "IQ" slides, success is doable.

I admire Prof. Punzalan, I had him last year for bio 150A and it was so much fun. Online its a little more difficult but he is so passionate about the subject and really wants to help you learn, if you ask him a question he goes to great lengths to explain it better for you. Honestly one of my favourite Profs.

Dave is the type of professor who makes you want to learn everything he has to teach. Super funny, attentive to students' questions and suggestions, and gives comprehensive explanations of his topics. Hope to get him as a prof in future classes!

His lecture style I found a little hard to adjust to because he speaks quite fast and will jump around a bit on tangents, however by the end of the class the content is clear! He is clearly passionate about the content and wants the best for his students. His tests are straightforward and graded fairly. The paper was graded fairly as well.

I thought he was a very caring professor, and I enjoyed his section of the course. I enjoyed the lecture slides he made, and I found them very helpful for the midterm. The midterm did have some very specific questions though.

David was an excellent prof who had informative lectures. He cared about the success of his students and his live lectures were helpful. He did not give the answers to his practice tests which was annoying because you didn't know what you needed to improve on.

Dave had informative lectures. Even if you don't read the textbook you will still do well on his tests. He does have more complicated questions on his tests than the other BIOL184 professors though.

Dave gives interesting lectures, and if you pay attention you won't really need to read the textbook. He does have more complicated tests than other biology professors though. I found him to be an enjoyable prof.

Dave gives clear, informative and interesting lectures!!! Hes a very caring professor and very passionate about this field! Id take him again in a heartbeat. I dont get these poor reviews but to each their own. Hes amazing nonetheless!

Dave is an amazing professor whose passion for Biology really comes through. Literally love this course and Daves approach to teaching it. If you can be taught by him I highly recommend it.

Dave is an amazing lecturer!

He is a great prof.

Dave was fantastic! Great sense of humour and engaging lectures. Really enjoyed his flipped classroom style this semester - pre-recorded lectures to watch before a live session that went to greater depth. Midterms/final were online and multiple choice. Also adding that open book doesn't mean you don't have to study! Figured that one out real quick.

Dave is an average professor but you can clearly tell he is very passionate. His explanations were pretty good. The lecture final and midterms were not that bad as they were mostly based off the slides (I hardly touched the textbook). The lab exam and midterm were harder because many of the the questions were super random and specific.

David is funny and passionate but his lectures are a bit chaotic. He spends a lot of time answering questions but tends to go off on tangents. His pre-recorded lectures are only 20-30 minutes and have the majority of the info. His test questions are not easy, even multiple choice and online the questions are confusing so definitely study still!

Dr. Punzalan was a fair professor who gave good lectures. He posted short pre-lecture videos that contained important information in a condensed form. Textbook for this class was expensive, try and find a used copy or PDF. If you are crunched for time, watch the pre-lecture videos instead of attending the longer full lecture.

Great lecturer, and fair examiner. It was such a treat to have him as a lecturer.

Hands down my favourite prof this year. He always took time to connect with his students and answer questions after lecture, and he was very very passionate about what he was teaching. I am taking bio 186 just because he is teaching it badabing badaboom.

David was a funny guy and respectable professor however he is not good at writing test questions and he will even admit it himself. Test questions can be ambiguous, however, he does go through the test after and if many students got the question wrong he will give everyone the point. Very fair.

If you ever get the chance to take Punzalan for BIOL 307... DO IT. This guy is seriously the best, he cares so much about his students, is absolutely hilarious, gives shout outs to minorities (POC, women in STEM), and provides an enormous amount of resources for what you want to do after you graduate... This guy does it all! Massive s/o to David!

Dave made 186 so much better, he was the one prof who engaged students and made the material interesting and digestible. Thanks dave!

Dave made BIOL 186 a great course! He is very funny and makes it abundantly clear what you will be tested on. His use of in-lecture practice questions are extremely useful/helpful. Highly recommend Dr. Punzalan!

David was such a great prof for 186. His method of having us watch a pre-recorded lecture about the material before the class, and then during the class, giving examples and questions (and then letting us out of lecture early, yay!), was a very effective way of teaching the material.

Knows how to keep a class engaged and present the material well. Favourite teacher at the school.

Such an amazing Prof! Super interested in his topic and excited to share it with his students.

10/10 Dave was a gem, super fun and made boring topics way more interesting and enjoyable to learn. Wish I could take more courses with him.

Super nice prof. He does do a flipped classroom so you do have to prepare before every class with a 15-20 minute video. He is always very good about asking if students need help, or understand the material.

if bio isn't your thing this will be overwhelming but fun. more plants than animals which kinda sucked. lab attendance mandatory and the TA's grade like they are professors (extremely hard). he tried making the material more interesting but it's not so there's nothing he could do. interacted with the class and posted a LOT on brightspace.

Favorite prof! Cares about each student and is understanding. Brings his passion (and humor) to lectures, which are always engaging no matter the content. He uploads every recording to BrightSpace but being in class was always enjoyable. I didn't use the textbook at all and he mentioned they may get rid of it next year. Lecture tests felt fair

Dave is a funny, engaging lecturer. As a prof he is very helpful, approachable and always open to any clarifying questions. He obviously loves to teach! His tests and test prep felt unorganized at first but all the questions were fair. The course content isn't hard at all, but it's a lot of broad, general information that can be boring to study

Dave's lectures were super entertaining (although I'm gonna be honest I barely went). He makes sure you have the resources you need to succeed. The one thing I disliked about the class tho were the labs (not run by him). The lab exams are extremely hard and there's not much I found you can even study to do well on them.

David genuinely cares about his students, and was willing to make extra videos, or go over topics when the class was struggling to understand them. He is a great prof to have for 1st year biology.

I was not overly interested in the course material, but his lectures were great. He is very funny and upbeat and you can tell he is passionate about his work. You can tell he wants students to pass, and the class is very well set up for you to succeed. Super kind and great to talk to!

dave is my favourite professor i've had so far at UVIC. he cares deeply about what he lectures on and he cares about his students. he is clearly very knowledgeable on all of his material because you can ask him nearly any question and he'll be able to answer. very nice, allowed open book/open note tests which set us up for success. 10/10 recommend!

be prepared for lots of swearing haha

Dave is the best prof I've had at UVic! He's intelligent, funny, and super engaging. He really cares about the success and experience of his students. He went above and beyond, providing information about future careers/education and applicable skills for science students. If you ever have the chance, take a class with him!

Dave is amazing and I honestly tear up thinking about everything he does for his students. This man deserves a raise, tenure, an award, everything. He is clear about his expectations and he is genuinely just trying to help you learn. He really means it when he says "we can figure something out" if you are unable to complete an assignment. Amazing

He did a very good job engaging the class. Classes were fun and made you want to learn. Slides were set up well and had good amount of info on each one. You could use the textbook if you wanted, but it was not required and there was nothing from the textbook on the exam. All exams were open-book online. He wanted you to learn, not memorize.

I loved going to lectures! Dave is hilarious and I felt like he truly cared about his students. He even brought in graduate students, professionals, and career educators to help us find summer jobs or think about our future grad studies/employment.

Lectures were very straightforward, material easy to recall, and his strategy of pre-recording a video with the essential concepts was awesome. Exams were online open book, so if you took good notes and showed up you were pretty much guaranteed to get a good grade. Dave was really funny, polite, and engaging. Couldn't really recommend more!!

Funny guy, the content in lectures can be a bit dry but he makes it engaging. Class is fairly easy if you pay attention and study once in awhile. Definitely would take again

I personally dint find the course content interesting but Dave did a great job of trying to make it engaging, bringing props to class to demonstrate concepts - once he even brought a bug! He also had review questions throughout lectures and always asked if anyone had any questions about anything. The exam was online open book, and pretty easy.

David was really nice and his lectures were interesting and covered material well. Textbook reading was not mandatory but can help clarify things. The test was open-book and not too difficult. Attendance is not mandatory but can help. Most info is provided on the slides. Overall, I recommend him!

Dave is honestly just a great prof overall. No readings, made it clear what would be important, and very funny. I'm not a bio major and usually hate biology but I enjoyed his section.

Dave was an extremely engaging lecturer. His lectures were clear and he ensured you knew what would be tested. Although the course had a textbook, his lectures supplemented the need to read the textbook. Dave genuinely cares about his students and strives to make them successful by clearly explaining concepts in his online and in-person lectures.

all of the tests were open book including internet but the class was still in person. all of the lecture slides and recordings were available on bright space and clearly labeled. he was super entertaining and engaging in lectures and always responded to his emails in a short time frame

I had Dave for the second section of this course and he was super engaging and funny! There was a lot of info on his slides which made me confused at times, but he tried his best to go slow through the difficult sections. The only assignments in this course are tests and his questions were fairly straightforward, especially because it is open book.

he is so funny, the class is always so fun to attend. def take the class if you're looking for a course with a lab. his exams are also online so it's chill.

Dave was one of the best profs I had my entire year! Funny and entertaining and just wants students to do well in his class. All material is very reasonable and all of the slides clarify whether or not something is testable content. I'm really looking forward to his courses in upper years!

Great enthusiasm and slides from Dave as always, love having him as a professor. He integrated some guest speakers, group discussions and intro to ImageJ into the lecture time which made the class very engaging and I learned about careers and research in biology in addition to chordate zoology. Super class.

While this class was difficult and at times could be boring he made attending the lectures quite fun and enjoyable, sharing stories and bringing in bugs. He was also very upbeat and easy to pay attention to which helped because the content was hard to pay attention to. I have accommodations and he was great.

Dave is the goat

Lectures are very engaging and fun, he makes the course very enjoyable and his tests are fair and not too hard. He provides good resources to study for and is eager to help you succeed. He's kinda the goat

Dave is a very energetic fun man, he makes biology interesting and you can tell he's passionate about it in his lectures :)

The midterms were both very fair and not too challenging. He gives a lot of good information for studying, as well as uploading the lecture slides online. He really cares about helping his students succeed, and would always make an effort to make his lectures engaging and fun. Dave is the goat!!!

All assessments are online, and Dave encourages using Google for the questions. Class is awesome, you can get away with skipping lectures and just watching the videos, since the lecture is mostly Q & A, but its fun to interact with the profs.

Dave was quite fun to listen to during lectures and very caring towards students. Dave wanted to see you succeed in this course and encourages the use of google for the online tests. Very understanding of personal issues and doesn't make a huge deal of missing the midterms.

Super cool guy. Brought insects and bugs to class to show everyone. The content was somewhat unclear as the slides were hard to follow and he would get sidetracked talking about insects or whatever and it was unclear what was examinable or not. But take his courses, Uvic is lucky to have him

The absolute GOAT prof, I could not have asked for a better prof as a first year coming into UVIC. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Punzalan > Lebron

Dave is so nice and genuinely wants the best for his students. During lecture he is enthusiastic, encouraging, and entertaining. He is so passionate about biology and teaching and it shows through his efforts. Would totally take more classes with him.

very entertaining and engaging, best prof & class year 1. The lecture slides do jump around a fair amount but are easy enough to follow as long as you pay attention. Not sure why people are saying you don't know what's testable or not when anything not examinable is labeled as such. Overall super passionate prof who is easy to reach when needed.

Best prof ever. I was excited to go to his lectures, they were fun, funny and interesting. Dave cares about his students so much and hosts office hours where he gives away plants and great advice. The unit tests were all online but still super hard. Though the labs for this course was very boring but very easy expect the lab exam.

Dave is a wonderful lecturer. He was entertaining and very smart. He kept things light and made sure everyone felt heard. His lectures felt like a conversation instead of a rant, in a good way. Grades came back quick for everything and his tests were exactly what he said they would be, no curveballs.

Dave is a very enthusiastic professor who truly cares about what he teaches. I would recommend reviewing the material after the lecture as well as watching the pre-lecture videos. I would also recommend attending the hosted student hours as they were very informative if you had any questions or difficulties understanding the content.

Dave was super funny, his lectures were really engaging. Recordings of lectures are posted on brightspace so attendance isn't necessarily mandatory, but it's definitely helpful. He really cares about the material and the students.

Dave is super funny guy and made class entertaining and all the information seem really interesting. His slides were super well organized and easy to follow and use as a study guide and the pre-videos were really useful. Would definitely take again.

Kinda the goat with very enjoyable lectures and the class was made for you to succeed. It's not too hard to get by in the course while not going to lectures however he makes you want to show up for them and pay attention. Very good prof and would definitely take a course with him again.

He was really nice and gave interesting lectures!

Great person, super fun glass. Good distribution of grades, so lot's of chances to get a good mark.

I think Dave is just UVic's best instructor, hands down. He is realistic, empathetic, approachable, funny, and can make statistics extremely fun to learn. If he ever falls short then he will apologize and make it up to the students. Every instructor should take notes on humility and kindness from Dave. We are lucky to have him! Class is great too.

Dave was such an engaging lecturer. I enjoyed this class and I don't like ecology. Lectures were a little hard to follow but slides were comprehensive. The exams were on brightspace but I recommend studying because the timer runs out quickly and you won't have enough time to check your notes if you don't even know what the question is asking.

Best prof ever

I LOVE THIS GUY! every professor should be like him:)

Daves a great lecturer, super engaging, shout out to the stick bugs. But when it came to exams his slides were of minimal help. Practice questions handed out were impossible to answer with the info he provided. TAKE NOTES and READ THE TEXTBOOK. he prepared us incredibly insufficiently when compared with Greg (a previous prof - of the course).

passes around awesome bugs during lectures. Great guy

I enjoyed Dave's lectures a lot! All tests were online (including the final), so the course itself wasn't hard. Sometimes it was hard to grasp the concepts, especially if you don't watch his pre-lecture videos beforehand. I really do not like those damn pre-lecture videos lol. Overall, Dave is a genuine guy, and I don't have many complaints.

David was one of the funniest profs ive had. Idk if its the same for his other classes but for BIOL184 both midterms and the final was online witch made everything so much easier, enjoyable and not stressful at all. Provides his notes and slides as well as recordings for every lecture. Overall the lectures were fun and understandable.