She took over for Sokolov during the second half of the semester. She completely changed the way he ran the class. She didn't discuss the new expectations or what material she would be putting on exams. None of the TAs and SI leaders knew what to expect either. She's very serious and unapproachable, and doesn't answer questions about exam content.

Her version of lecture is literally going over several diagrams in the textbook. Rarely is anything described in detail ( if ever). If you have to take this class at umbc, make sure you meticulously read and teach yourself the concepts. You won't learn them in lecture, that's for sure.

Does not provoke profound thought. Doesn't encourage positive mental health. When she stopped lecturing for a part of the year (so another professor could pick it up) everyone clapped knowing she was leaving -- she really is that bad. She claims she answers students' questions, but in reality I question if she understand the content.

Lecture consists of clicker questions, doesn't actually teach, you kind of just read chapters and answer clicker questions on the reading. She looks cold but is nice if you go to her office hours. Class was very difficult, hard to get an A. Tests were okay but tricky wording. Online quizzes on mastering bio (google the question & use quizlet answrs

Not a good teacher at all! i really wish she was the cleaning lady instead.

Okay, So Feeser's tests are super hard! You have to read and study to pass in her class. Also, she is quite rude and sometimes treats her students like high schoolers or even middle schoolers. She doesn't really help and her lectures are honestly not helpful at all, they can actually get confusing. Overall she is not such a good professor.

Terrible all around. Class was extremely boring - lots of students just on their cell phones. Feeser was often rather rude and outside of class, appears cold - unapproachable. Exam questions are tricky - read carefully. Will not take another course with her ever again.

She made the course excessively difficult, and tried very hard to trick you with the questions. She was difficult to approach too, and very cold. She did not actually answer questions either. The course itself was interesting, and I tried my best. But I think under different circumstances, I would've gotten an A.

Worst professor I've had. Her exams are tricky and she wasn't helpful during office hours. She doesn't care about her students and can be rude. I acknowledge that she is brilliant, but teaching is not her forte.

Tough luck to anyone who has to take this class because she is the only professor available. She is really rude when answering questions because she thinks that you should know everything already. I found the material interesting, but her lectures were so boring. Most of the class is wasted answering clicker questions.

You should be prepared for lectures all the time (HEAVY READING). You get a random group assigned and have to sit with them for the entire semester. Also, she's the SASSIEST professor ever!

Her lectures are the most boring thing on the planet. She basically verbalizes the textbook. It's a good thing that there's a starbucks on campus because it's the only way I can get through lecture. Do the MasteringBiology assignments and read the textbook. Also practice hiding your phone during lecture because if she sees it she will take it.

Mastering biology quiz test dates are never told, exams are very difficult, lecture does not help. Avoid at all costs

Too bad there were only one professor that teaches bio 141. She does not allows you to take notes on laptop and on your phone. She will make you sit next to your assigned groups or you won't get partcipation points. I felt like I was in elementary again, one of the worst professor ever!

If you even have the option, don't take this professor. Completely awful. Not quite sure why UMBC cannot seem to get better teachers. Can't get good help these days I guess.

Dr. Feeser is by far the worst professor that I have come across at UMBC. She is brilliant but is not a good educator. Her lectures are useless and her exams consist of questions that were not even covered in class! You can't skip class since you have clicker participation points. I have seen her take A students and turn them into C students. AVOID

She is not a very good lecturer in my opinion. She can seem rude at times and her lectures are essentially just her regurgitating out of the book. I understand that this is just a Intro. BIOL class, but there has got to be a better way to teach this class that is different from her current teaching method. Avoid her class if possible.

hard class- be ready to read the chapter before every class, and still get confused during lecture. attendance is mandatory as this is where the week's participation will be collected. discussions assignments are graded- so don't skip class. multiple masteringbio assignments due every week, 5 major exams and quizzes but the lowest score drops.

Get ready to read every chapter before each class and still get confused. She might be knowledgeable but she doesn't have any good teaching strategies. Her exams are super hard and she doesn't write her own questions, they are all AP bio questions that doesn't correspond to the way she teaches.

She's smart but the way she teaches just does not work. Clicker questions and discussion questions literally every 5 minutes instead of just teaching a different way for different styles of learning. GET A TUTOR THE VERY FIRST DAY IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE. Basically you will have to read the whole book on your own to teach yourself.

Feeser is not a good professor at all. I understand that this level of biology is especially hard, because there is a lot material to cover, but Feeser somehow manages to make it even harder. Study guides aren't helpful, and mastering biology isn't helpful. Also if you ask her a question, she'll tell you to look it up yourself, or she won't answer.

Elizabeth Feeser is by far the worst professor I've ever had the displeasure of knowing.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE HER!!! She got some bad attitudes. Very tough grader. She gives a lot of online quizzes and in class quiz (clickers) and you are screwed if u dont have clicker (EVEN ON FIRST DAY). Her online quizzes grading is tougher.

She makes the course more difficult than it should be. Clicker questions are sometimes not clear and she wont clearly state what the answer is for some of them. Tries to move quickly through clicker questions. Written portion of exams are easier but, shes very specific and harsh when grading them. Spelling does matter despite what she says.

Try to avoid Dr. Feeser if you can. She's very strict about not having phones, and will take them away, even though technically she's not allowed to. She also has started to ring a bell into her microphone to get the attention of the class. Her lectures are all clicker questions and barely any content. However, the exams are ridiculously easy.

The worst Biology instructor at UMBC, and I do not say this lightly. She is extremely rude and dismissive towards students, disregarding their questions and concerns completely. I would not wish her upon even my worst enemies.

She doesn't teach anything that is not in the textbook, she doesn't elaborate or provide any outside prospective. Her tests are incredibly hard considering the simplicity of her textbook lecture style.

Probably the most condescending professor I've had. Dont even ask her a question because she will answer by saying another question. The exams were pretty easy if you study. Lectures are boring and dont forget to bring a pillow because her voice makes you want to sleep.

Rude, condescending professor. Super boring and long lectures. People only take her because there's no other choice. Class is ridiculously workload heavy for an intro class. Expect 10 or more mastering biology assignments a week, her putting 400+ students in random teams and calling them out in class and reading 15 page chapters to keep up.

The topics aren't too hard and neither are the lectures but her tests are ridiculously hard. She words the questions terribly on exams and all the answers sound similar. Be prepared to get a C or lower on the exam no matter how much you study.

A horrible professor and does not care if students succeed. Studied my butt off for this class only to fail each exam. And who gives daily homework only to count that, discussion, and participation each only 10% of grade while exams are 15% and the final is 25%. She is very slow and her lectures don't mean anything. It is a teach yourself class.

Worst teacher I've ever had. Does not care about the students and will bore you during lecture. She was on probation and for good reason

Currently taking during pandemic. Unclear of expectations. Our first online exam covered 9 heavily detailed chapters and only 25 questions which were worth 4 points. Students email her regarding concerns- she doesn't address them. Biochem IS a hard subject already, so I understand may not be entirely the professor. I guess COVID-19 is no exception.

Professor Feeser is the worst teacher I have ever taken a class with at UMBC. In my 2 years there, I have never seen such a professor that demands so much and doesnt care about their students. She never liked answering questions, didnt curve the class during a pandemic (COVID-19), and would ignore emails all the time. She is also a hard grader.

Was not clear in her expectations. Tests were difficult and go beyond the scope of classwork. One of the worst professors I've had.

I cant begin to describe how bad of an experience our class had with Feeser. She is easily one of the worst professors I have had in my 5 years of college. She is unaccommodating and does not care about students. The only reason people take her is bc there are no other options. We were in the middle of a pandemic and she was harsh so GOODLUCK.

100% sure she only skimmed the textbook. On almost every assignment there is at least 1 question where the answer isn't covered in the book. She also seems to enjoy making questions as pointlessly confusing as possible, so knowing the material is half the battle. She makes intro biology harder than general chemistry.

HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! She is a terrible professor! The quizzes are very hard for no reason. She gives you 60 seconds to answer one question which is completely difficult. She is not a good professor. She spends the entire lecture answering questions in the chat. She expects you to just know the material automatically which impossible.

Worst professor ever, she doesn't teach, she just comes to lecture to answer homework questions and tells you to read the book, didn't learn a single thing from her directly, doesn't care about other people, gives little time to complete quizzes and exams and rude.

Lecture does not exist its only answer questions that have nothing to do with the quizzes or exams. says read textbook then quiz has stuff that was never in book. ask a question from the study guide she skips it to talk about some bull topic. ask to go over quiz to see what you get wrong, no and hw does the same cant see answer. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Lots of panoto videos to complete. The questions she gives only allow one chance to get the answer and if it's wrong you lose a point. Students tried emailing her about the issue to provide us more chances, but she disregarded our concerns. Her quizzes are similar. If you have a select multiple and you select one wrong, the whole thing is wrong.

A lot of quizzes. There should be more time to complete the quizzes. Also, if you even make one mistake on her quiz question you lose a whole lot of points. She definitely expects perfection from her students. I always thought nobody is perfect. But in this class, you must be perfect. Quiz questions are also very wordy. Not a great teaching method

Online Learning: Lectures done through 5-15 minute videos, with questions embedded which are often on topics she has not yet reviewed. No new material given in lecture, just an online room of the class asking questions. Not entirely specific on what material will given on quizzes, and quiz difficulty is quite high.

Worst professor ever. Everything set up in this class is horrible and is not effective in terms of actually learning. The grading for her tests and panopto videos are set up terribly. Also, she does not seem to care about student feedback. I DO NOT RECCOMEND TAKING THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL!

HORRIBLE! DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. She WANTS you to fail. She tries so hard to make things more difficult than It needs to be. I have never struggled in a class more than this. She is horrible. Do not take.

AWFUL!! If you are looking for the definition of the word "terrible" you have come to the right place. This professor is not supportive or understanding to her students. Will not even curve the class. Good luck to all the future students! Textbook will be your best friend, but also useless friend when it comes to exams.

Her content is badly written. Many questions are written as trick questions with ambiguous answer choices. No leniency in grading. She's also not very accommodating to emergency situations and has an "it's not my problem" attitude. She only allows reviewing quiz answers for a week after grades are posted which she just expects you to know.

This the #1 professor to be avoided at all costs at UMBC. The way she sets up her classes you would think you're getting an MD-PhD but no, just a mere bachelor'. She is the farthest thing from mercy and has no kind of empathy, sympathy, kindness or even human feelings in her heart. Why would a 400 level biology class exam be 3o minutes? 30 MINUTES?

Id rate her a 0. There was a lot of reading a lecture videos but shes a very unfair grader. The panopto videos will drop your grade if you get 1 question wrong and there are no do overs. The study guides will not prepare you for the exams even though they come from the notes. Find another bio 141 Instructor or take at another campus.

Do NOT take Bio with this professor. The majority of the class fails the tests but she refuses to curve them. She claims all test questions are from the study guides but THEY ARE NOT. The class grade is test heavy and the tests are impossible. Test questions are confusing and on topics that were not covered in the textbook or lecture.

awful. actually the worst class ever. you can study for hours and still not pass. its not easy stuff to learn even with in person classes. half the time she doesnt even make sense shes just stating random facts from a textbook. read the book and if you never took chem you better learn it or else you're really screwed. you need to review a lot.

class is the worst experience I have had in my 19 years on this earth. literally impossible. I study and still fail every quiz. she literally couldn't care less that 80% of the class is failing. she tries to convince you to withdrawal so that her pass rate increases. I am trying to save you please do not take this class if you are a sensible human

Dont ever take her. Worst professor in history. Her lectures are terrible, she doesnt care about the class and wont even reply to emails. The TA's were the only redeeming factor about this class. Shes terrible and she needs to give up on teaching. Would give a zero if i could

This is my first semester at UMBC. I should have checked RMP. I should have checked reddit. I should have asked ppl who took the class already. She had me rethinking my entire major. The format of every lecture is the same and awful for learning. She just reads off the screen. She's a nice person, bad prof. She teaches like its a 400 lvl class.

This professor is NOT warm or caring; she has been on probation too. I had prior knowledge of biology coming into the class and it was definitely a challenge to get through the exams. Although this course is considered a weeding class for most biology majors, definitely don't let it discourage you. The professor is just not the kindest person.

I think abrasive might be a good word. I knew it wasn't going to work out as soon as I realized why my homework grade was so low. That first try she encourages you to use on questions pulls your grade down (25% I think). Why encourage that? Also, there were several times she would single students out for really weird reasons.

Dr. Feeser is by far the WORST professor at UMBC. I studied for days before quizzes and still got Cs. A lot of people are failing but she refuses to acknowledge that the class is struggling. Avoid at all costs if possible

I emailed her many times to ask for help in the class but I have never received a response. After months of not receiving responses, I ended up withdrawing from the class. Even though I had a C, I couldn't stand how she taught the class. I spent all my time studying for this class to the point where I neglected my other classes. Avoid Dr. Feeser.

Honest to god never had a worse experience in a science class before this. Tests are insanely hard, grading is confusing, rude to students in lecture, the list goes on. Her lectures were probably some of the worst I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through. Do yourself a favor and either take this class online or with a different prof.

This professor must be avoided at all cost. After reading her ratings on rmp still decided to take her because she was the only professor teaching the course and of course I wanna graduate. She uses old videos.

She is the bane of my existence. Soulless, exams full of trick questions, studied 25/8 and still couldn't get an A. If you can avoid her, do it.

I failed Biochem chem based and decided to take the bio-biochem to graduate because I heard it was easier. The concepts were easier, but her tests were brutal. None of the TA's had taken her class and even they had no idea how she got her answers. Studying the learning objectives will only get you a passing grade.

Notice how no one wants to take her class, and if they do, it's because she's the only professor available. Save yourself the herartbreak (and cash) and take her classes at community college. The only professor I know with a DUI who is still allowed to teach multiple gateway courses. Ridiculous

Dr. Feeser writes her lectures directly from the textbook. She does promote asking questions and does answer them well. Be prepared to live off the textbook. In person she is very rude and condescending.

I worked my tail off all semester long just to get defeated and beaten down by her trick questions and elaborate exams. I am tired of the Biology department. I am tired of Elizabeth Feeser and her lack of effective teaching. She is better off behind the scenes as a research scientist; She is not an educator that makes an impact on students.

All we do during class is group activities, called "active learning". She doesn't actually lecture. Prof gets paid to walk around and tell everyone to read the book or ask a group member if they have a question. Most of us (including half of the TA's) are confused. TA's do majority of the question answering (giving major hints with the key)

What a traumatizing experience. Made the mistake of not checking RMP before the semester...don't be like me. I should have taken this at community college, but since I live on campus it was hard. Feeser is the only professor, and so I was stuck. If you are able to, seek other options.

Quite literally didn't teach at all. Whenever someone had a question, she'd tell us to "figure it out with our teammates". Refused to offer us help or explanations when we didn't understand. I think she genuinely lacks a soul.

Her exams are absolutely insane. Course seems easy until exam day. Even if you feel confident, you will be getting at highest a C.

Useless professor, a monkey could have taught Biology better.

Mr. Piavis, my 10th grade Biology Teacher from Urbana High School, could have taught this class better. I would have actually learned something. This is the only class I've ever failed.

(4/4) (Continuing criticism of homework) It makes the user afraid to make mistakes, thereby encouraging the student to google every single question so that they can preserve their grade as best they can, but without learning anything. - The discussion sessions are decent, as those are led by the TAs, who are at least somewhat competent.

(3/4) (continuing the criticism of the homework) With each wrong *attempt,* you lose ~33% or 1/3 of the credit you would get for getting the question correct. This is extremely bogus because this is supposed to be HOMEWORK AND NOT A TEST. The resulting googling of the questions halts the student's learning, and turns exams into mental bloodbaths.

(2/4) - The online homework is absolutely awful. "Mastering Biology," believe it or not, will not actually help you "Master Biology," and will more just have you google the answer to every question if you want a good grade: You get 3 attempts for every question.

(1/4) - The lectures are so jading that it is easy to lose yourself either in social media or even falling asleep. She explains things as she understands them -- not in a way that actually makes it easy for someone who doesn't already have a background in biology to understand. If you're taking this class for a general credit, good luck.

She reads off slides and gives terrible and confusing answers to questions in lecture. The homework assignments are not even given the right dates on BlackBoard, and if not done within 10 hours, results in a 0. Still wish there was any other professor option in this class, because it is a very important class.

She's just bad you lose attention for one minute you'll be lost for the whole class her exams are very difficult and she actually expects you to understand the content instead of just memorization also its so much content per exam you have to study ahead otherwise you'll lose yourself If you're freshman majoring in bio wait until spring to take 141

We shouldn't be given chances at all if our ability to make a mistake and learn from them is penalized.She does not give any opportunity for students to redeem themselves of their grades. whether we do excellent on our homework, quizzes, or discussions, does not affect our grade except the exams. grading scale is poorly made.

Shes terrible, no accommodations were made for students who could not meet outside of office hours. very cold and lacks care.

Had her in the Spring, and years ago for Bio141. She's extremely cold and unaccommodating. Would not respond to my emails ever and when she did, responded in a very unfriendly/snarky way. She creeps around during class & doing assignments. Is quite unforgiving with makeups and grading. I don't understand how she's kept her job for this long.

Don't expect to come into lecture without reading ahead of time, because she will jump into lecture and over explain a simple concept. The discussions are irrelevant. If you like memorizing previous questions, then you'll love her exams! Especially the final, which is structured disproportionate to the amount of time we spent on each subject.

I took this course a while back with Dr. Feeser. She was very strict. This course requires lots of studying outside of lectures. Having prior knowledge of the material is essential to doing well on discussion & the exams. As a TA, I asked her for a huge favor, crucial to me graduating, she never replied my emails/ followed up.Take at your own risk.

Please never take her unless you absolutely have to. She never responds to emails no matter how urgent the matter is. She sends out announcements which means she's seeing the emails but just decides not to answer and blames you for not telling her from the beginning of the semester like i knew i was going to have an emergency mid semester. HORRIBLE

There's a HW every other day as if i only have this subject. Come late to class and recieve a 0 for the in class activity even if you complete it in class. The worst professer.

Said we would get a bonus point if we completed a handwritten cheat sheet that included information from all 4 units on one side of a plain 8.5" x 11" white sheet of paper. Nowhere did it say we couldn't write it on an ipad and print it. I did that and she refused to give me the point because she couldn't make sure it was my handwriting. unfair.

If I had to describe her in one word, I'd use a word that begins with B and rhymes with stitch.

final exam was made when she was on something. this class was a total mess and a waste of time. she never responds to emails, and only gave 2 poiints of extra credit. yep read that again points not percent. umbc needs to start firing and iring new people

Dr. Feeser's lectures were hard to follow and often disorganized. Key concepts weren't clearly explained, making the course especially difficult for those new to biology. Despite putting in the effort, I left class confused. I recommend taking BIO 141 at a community college instead. Her mask and loud delivery made understanding harder.

She does not explain things well at all, she goes so fast and disrespects students. She told one student that she is literally trying to fail us because she wants to prove that the material is outdated. She's not a good teacher at all. My friends and I will never take her classes ever again

She's a very cold and calculative professor. Needs to learn how to make her lectures more effective. It would be nice if tests were not the major grades of the class. Also PLEASE do your mastering biology assignments on time

Actually the worst teacher i have an ever had. She does not seem to understand that she is teaching in college and talks to her students like 1st graders. Her exams are awful and very unforgiving and she generally just has a bad attitude and is rude. Would recommend taking bio 141 with literally any other professor if you can.