2.3
Quality3.5
Difficulty62%
Would Retake126
Reviews62%
Would Retake
126
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
7
4
24
3
25
2
35
1
35
What Students Say
“She's aggressive and moody”
BIO114 - 2.0 rating“Wouldn't recommend this professor to my worst enemy”
BIO309 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
74%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.19 avg changeRatings by Course
305
4.0
(1)114L
4.0
(1)BIO409
4.0
(2)BIO 309
4.0
(1)ISCI104
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
BIOL114
5.0
BIO14
5.0
INVERTEBRATES
5.0
BIO114LA
4.3
BIO 309
4.0
Reviews (126)
knows her stuff, frequently gets confused if asked questions
Three words: Random Numbers Table hehehe
Obsessed with Random Numbers Table; easy grader
No Comments
No Comments
get over the random numbers table!!!!! very easily confused about everything!!!
She's nice.. but grades down on assignments without specifying what she wanted.
she's a little spacy, not too hard, but not easy
spits on you, not clear about assignments and not all there. not bad, not good
No Comments
Random Numbers dont work!!!!
wets herself when you mention random numbers. easy,but very spacey and out there
Seems friendly at first, but soon you'll realize that she explains things out of order, which makes it hard to do labs, very random & spacey. Practicals are not easy, but sometimes the labs seem like they're for 10 yr olds.
Doesn't explain clearly what she expects on anything and still takes off points. Seems nice at first, but really, she is spacey and really not helpful at all...She spat on me like 5000 times last semester!
too vague about work assignments. makes bio lab seem like a 10hr. session of hell.
Don't go to her if you have any questions. Friendly though.
tests are ALL fill in the blank with one essay question: impossible to study for because she doesn't make it clear what you have to know. She's really spacey, but when I had to go to texas for my grandmother's memorial she was nice about a make-up test.
This woman is a horrible teacher!!! Her notes and lectures never make any sense, and her tests are unbelievably hard (fill in the blank and essay). You never know what to expect, and you don't really learn anything. Avoid at all costs!
No Comments
She's a little spacey, but I enjoy her lectures. Her tests are hard but doable if you know what you're talking about. The class is way easier if you took AP Biology in high school. Better than Brubaker and McMullen.
She loves plants.
This lady is the worst teacher I've ever had. She's not smart, very unorganized, extremely rude, and cannot teach worth two cents. She's nice outside of class but do not take as a teacher.
This lady is a little spacey but she knows her stuff. Very boring lectures. This is a hard class, but she tries to teach it as well as she can. The tests come right from the lectures, so pay attention in class and you can get a C or B.
holy crackers she's such a bad teacher. her lectures are so long and boring! she's not helpful at all.. all in all, she's horrendous!!
She is a really nice lady, but her class is really hard. The tests are impossible because she never tells you what specifics she wants and you can't memorize everything. Final project is a grade booster though.
Okay, the tests are ALL FILL IN THE BLANK - without a word bank. She's nice, has a funny accent, but she's way too vague about what she's looking for on the tests. The class isn't impossible though. An A is possible, it just requires A LOT of work...
this class isn't as bad as people say, she puts the powerpoints on blackboard so i didn't even go to class except for the tests. everything on the test is fill in the blank, but basicly you just rewrite the powerpoints. not a bad class if you took ap bio
No Comments
Lectures are generally boring and sometimes confusing. But if you go ask her, she is willing to clarify and explain to you.
I wouldn't go near this woman again with a ten foot pole. Her powerpoints are on Blackboard, but that doesnt help because they make no sense. Her lectures will put you to sleep, which doesnt matter because they dont make sense anyway! I struggled for a C.
This class could have been a lot more organized... she is scatter-brained and isn't personable, so trying to talk to her is like talking to a brick wall! Take someone else.
she's horrible. she's long winded and takes atleast 30 minutes longer than necessary to explain everything. she second guesses herself and is very hard to approach with questions because she gets on the defensive.
She was horrible. Sort of makes sense in her lectures, but then she'll pick the stupidest fact that she covered and quiz you on it. Her tests are too nitpicky and she confuses me because she can't make up her mind about what the correct answers are, she'll change them five times a day. Steer clear.
Easy, but lets see jerk equivalence to Dr. Downey in the Chemistry Dept.
i dont even know what to say about her.. except that she was the worst teacher i've ever had in my life.
What a SPACE CADET! How did this woman ever become a teacher? Shes extremely unclear and cant make up her mind about anything especially answers on tests; she blames everything on "the wording" and 1/2 the time states the wrong info . I did ok but thats b/c i took AP bio ~ DON'T take her !
horrible
she makes lectures miserable...DO NOT TAKE HER AT 8 am! weekly quizes are on the most trivial crap, but she is flexible with answers...power points are posted on blackboard (study only this and review for test)...I never opened my bio book...I never went to class...scored a B (thanks lab!)
She still does not know how to work the projector. What a dumb ass. I have no idea how she is a Dr. Dont take the class cause all she does is repeat the same slide over and over and over and over and over and over
No Comments
she wasnt the worst teacher. she is really flexible with the answers to weekly quizzes. her tests are okay, very into detail though. STUDY EVERYTHING on slides. if u know everything there is to know, u should do fine......
No need to go to class except on the days she gives a quiz. Just print out and study the lecture notes off of blackboard. This class is really boring though.
Class wasn't that bad except that it's really boring at 8:00AM. Notes on blackboard so you don't really have to come to class except for quizzes. Weekly quizzes arn't too bad because of flexible answers. She killed my love of biology though, I was a Biology major untill I took her course.
It's biology, it's not supposed to be super easy. Just study every detail in the notes, pick up on evolutionary trends, and you'll do well. Who cares if she can't work the projector, she explained phylogeny very well i think.
You will need to study and put time into the class. If you do that you will be fine.
Dr. Wyngaard can be very intimidating, but I think she means well. She only made us come for half the semester. She's a fair grader (once you know what she's looking for in your papers). 3 very short papers- 2 of which are written with a partner. I actually learned a lot.
This lady looks intellegent but has no ability to teach
As a senior Bio major I think this is defiently one of the easier and more interesting classes upper level bio courses. She is really nice. Take her!!! Test questions give you options of which question you want to answer- study the notes a lot and you'll be fine
she means well enough but honestly cannot keep a class interested to save her life. The tests are just regergitation from her slide show notes, but it helps to come to class because she gives you details during class that appear on tests. Don't take her in the morning or a time where you're likely to doze off..because you will.
I had some trouble at first understanding what she expected us to get from her class, but once i went and talked to her she was more than willing to help me succeed anyway she could. If you are willing to put the work into it you will do very well in her class.
Great Professor. All of her lecture slides are put on blackboard for you to bring to class. She's very nice and always helpful. Study all of the lecture slides and it is easy to do well in her class. Take her!
Don't waste your time. At best it's a lame high school class, and she teaches it as such. She's ridiculously abrasive and condescending in her feedback. Her heart is in the right place I suppose, but she is not the "savior" of our education as she thinks. Total waste.
worst teacher i have ever had! sooooo boring, doesn't really know what she is talking about-- she has to read off a paper during lecture. no point even going to class. there are much better professors out there for bio 114, avoid taking her!!!
The only good thing about it was it was short.
Not a bad class. She was new to the course but she seemed to know her info. I'm the worst bio major out there and I still got an A in the class. Take her if you can.
She is UNGODLY boring! I have to literally go buy a Vente coffee at Starbucks before I go to her class and it STILL doesnt keep me awake. She goes on and on about absolutely nothing and honestly she confuses herself so easily and so she has to read off of her paper that she writes ahead of time. Avoid taking her at all costs!
Her class is broken down in parts, which make it very easy to understan, she is a great teacher, and explains everything well. If you need help she is there, she works with your schedule and wants you to do well in the class. TAKE HER.. do not listen to the other people on here, they might be lazy. Oh also she has quizez every week and only 3 test!
I think she is a good teacher. Not the best, but she is very helpful. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't know what she is talking about, but once you hit animals she knows her stuff, The quizzes every week help learn the info and your grade. I would recommend taking her class if you want an easier class.
Really easy. It is really helpful for she posts powerpoints online. Listen to her. A very easy quiz every week. Her tests are really easy. Kinda boring but what the hell its an easy class.
very vague about material. don't take if want to get an A
Yea she's a biology professor and can sometimes be a little spacey, but she's a brilliant woman. She expects a lot from her students, but believe me it is for your own benefit. If you love science and are really into it, then take a class with her and get to know her. It will be extremely rewarding.
Rude at times, goes off on tangents during her unorganized lectures, which are based off a cluster of slide. Probably the worst professor I've ever had at JMU-it's a doable class but you have to have a ton of caffeine to stay assertive during her lectures-plus she almost lashed out at kids a couple of times for little things
SHe rambleson in class about her stupid copepod experiments and thats all she cares about. She reads off a powerpoint everyday. Class is not mandatory and doesn't help if you go. No homework, just weekly quizzes that are based off of 2 page readings. Her tests are hard and she never goes over half the material you are tested on.
I'm a little confused why Dr. Wyngaard has such bad reviews. She is not the best teacher I have ever had, but she is not what people on here make her about to be. Her class is easy as long as you go and her tests are doable as long as you study! Weekly quizzes that are given are beyond easy it is ridiculous!
Class is pretty easy. Just read the powerpoints and know them very well before tests. She also gives little quizzes once a week that are very easy and count as a test grade at the end of the semester. She also will give more quizzes than necessary so she can drop your lower quiz grades.
WEYngaard expects every student to be a Biology Enthusiast, and if you are only taking this class for the Gen Ed credit DONT DO IT!!! I repeat DONT DOP IT! Along with the lab this is one of the most demanding classes I had this semster and I am a COB Major. There are multiple quizzes per WEEK and the lab is excruciatinglky boring
Grace is hilarious. She loves her job and her zooplankton. I usually performed well on tests, simply by studying the power point slides and extra notes I took in class. She often had to throw out test questions because they were just wrong or poorly worded/confusing. The class averages were usually 75s. She's silly, and you don't always have to go.
Dr. Wyngaard can be a little tricky. She does not take attendance but things she only says in class appear on her Lecture Exams. Weekly quizzes are pretty easy, but make sure you GO TO CLASS!
Awful class, I don't understand how she has good reviews. I used to love biology before this class but then I switched to Chemistry. Her quizzes are so difficult because there's so much info and you don't know what to memorize. Also her tests are impossible, they're made so you fail. I'm not lazy or dumb. Don't take this class
Wyngaard's class is not to be taken lightly. You must study to do well in the class!!! Not as technically advanced as most may expect. She is not always fair on the quizzes and her exam questions are so confusing you want to scream! Take this course with extreme caution.
worst teacher in the world. Expects you to know every little thing she says in the lectures, and won't bring them up again until you see them 4 weeks later on a test. This is just a terrible class, trust me, GET OUTTTTTTTT
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! this woman is crazy. she gives quizzes each week which would be nice except they are only 5 questions each & the wording of them is awful. she doesn't even know what her questions are asking. she is an awful teacher and it is quite obvious she would much rather be conducting research than lecturing. save yourself!
She uses a totally different book than all the other professors that teach this class. Then She gives a weekly quiz that she words terribly. She reads directly off her power point for the most part and babbles nonsense the other 60% and u have to decipher it. Not a good professor you have to practically teach yourself and reread EVERYTHING 4X!!
This lady needs to retire. She's terribly boring and the only way to do well on the exams is to do extra reading besides her powerpoints. Her lectures are so boring and she has weekly quizzes. Her 4 exams consist of 50 MCQ's. Easy B.
Absolutely horrible professor. She ruined biology for me. Extremely difficult five question quizzes that ruin your grade. Her tests are impossible. Class averages are around a D+. This class will destroy your GPA and any interest in biology you have
Teacher is horrible! DO NOT TAKE HER! you will regret having her. lectures are tremendously hard to understand. Babbles about nothing and ppts are a joke. Teach yourself everything and still fail tests. Her office hours are not helpful; she just tries to make you feel stupid. Absolutely no review for tests and really stupid in class quizzes.
I honestly have no clue what everyone is complaining about. She is VERY nice. And gets every ounce of test information from those lame powerpoints. The quizzes (which she might get rid for Mastering Bio hw instead) is easy. Just study. Seriously. If you're lazy, you'll do bad. But if you're not..you'll be fine. Promise (:
This class was terrible. The material is tough enough as it is, but she is so boring; I was always fighting sleep. I ended up changing my major after this course because I hated the material and the way the class was set up.
SO BORING. Avoid if you can. Class is ridiculously boring. There's no teacher-student interaction whatsoever. Tests are really hard and she purposely tries to trick you. I know several people who switched out of bio major after her class...
On tests, she tries to trick you with "2 of the above, All of the above, and None of the Above." It's so difficult, especially because her tests are only 50 MC. She also refuses to curve test grades. She is boring and lectures through power points.
A nice lady overall, but seems out of place in a modern learning environment; teaches from power points that are full of broken or empty slides and from pages torn from old magazines. test are intentionally deceptive. if you use the online study tools in mastering biology, you'll know enough to pass her tests and move on to someone more qualified.
I really do believe she means well. She is very scattered and mixes up phrases a lot. Yes she uses PP slides and you have to listen BUT attendance is NOT mandatory which is great. Only talk to her during office hours tho, she makes no extra time. She uses mastering biology now instead of quizzes and it is pretty fair. Her tests suck though! GL
I loved Wyngaard. Everything she talked about in lecture were on her tests. I definitly studied for her class, but this is college. Her downfall is that she is kinda boring; although, I would recommend you take her.
Terrible.....Boring....Drop the class or switch professors
You can tell she's intelligent, and she does bring up a lot of interesting concepts in class. But she's very scatterbrained and often repeats things. Her tests are easy if you have good study habits and often asks questions about biology in the news. She's not a terrible teacher and you can learn from her class IF you go to class.
It is incredibly obvious that she is a professor that is teaching at the University just to get research grants. She is unhelpful & she has no idea what PROTISTS are! She stutters so much that you have no idea what she was talking about in the beginning. The whole semester we had three test, online Mastering Biology quizzes & a final. DONT TAKE HER
I warn every science major I know against taking this prof. Her lectures are unclear and confusing, she is boring and is constantly digressing. The tests are decent, especially if you have background knowledge in biology. In highschool, I knew bio is what I wanted to do. This woman made me seriously question this.
Wyngaard is a piece of work. At the start of the semester I aced her tests. But then she started to make the material way harder than it needed to be. Her test questions are vague. Her lectures were very wayward and she never stayed focused. Her slides are always out of place. Avoid her at all costs!
Wyngaard is impossible to do well in. She herself says she doesn't know how to study for her tests. I wasted so many hours trying to be successful in her class, it was extremely frustrating and I wish I never took her. WORST teacher i've ever had.
I went into this as an all A student Bio major, her inability to teach and vague tests that asked for the most obscure facts possible made me dislike biology enough to swap majors. Avoid like the plague.
Her Bio 114 class isn't all that difficult, as she really tends to focus on general trends more than ultra-specific facts. Personally, I can't stand her. She can be pretty passive-agressive/ just aggressive. She seems kind of jaded, and kind of distrusting of students.
DO NOT TAKE HER! She moves very quickly and often seems scatter-brained when showing her power points. Her tests are extremely difficult, and nearly impossible to prepare for. If you HAVE to take her, I highly recommend you get a tutor and read the textbook like it's your job.
DON'T TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. She rambles about nothing, makes her tests INCREDIBLY difficult, repeats useless PowerPoint slides, and does not understand technology. She's DEFINITELY not helpful during office hours. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. She is scattered and does not know what she is talking about. Class is boring and more difficult than it needs to be.
By far the worst professor/ teacher I've ever had in my life. I've never even had a B before this class, and I got a C in it. Avoid at all costs
Hate this class.
She does not teach from the book, she only teaches what she feels necessary. She constantly jumps between topics and does not make any connections what so ever. She does not offer PASS sessions because helping students prepare for tests is "high school".
The worst professor I have ever had. All A's and B's and ended up with a C in this class. You will work the hardest you have ever worked and still get a bad grade. Avoid costs!!!!!!!
She's NOT bad if you're a BIO major. KEY TO SUCCESS: tape record lectures and try not to skip a lot! To study for the tests, make outlines that combine notes, tape recordings, and power points. Tests cover about a months worth of material, so you CANNOT CRAM! I would know… Try to cover three or four PPTs a night for like a week and you'll do fine.
BIOLOGY is memorization!!! If we do not know the terms how are we going to think about biology problems and issues. she spreads out a lot the lectures and I always ended up not knowing what to study for my exam AND CAN NOT MAKE A CONNECTION of things in the power point. do not take her unless she changes the way of lecturing!!
Worst teacher ever! I loved biology and I never took a B in it my whole life. She makes me hate it now and I am thinking to change major just because of her. Grades hard and makes everything seem very confusing although they are not!
Do not take her! I'm a BIO major and this class almost made me rethink that. She is so scatterbrained and all over the place, making it impossible to learn or retain anything. Tests are intentionally tricky. Never tested on the text book or even used it or the clicker. No matter how hard i studied i couldn't get above a C
AVOID HER! She is scattered and is so easily confused/distracted she forgets what she is talking about. Her final exam had misspelled words, answer choices were missing/words cut off and she didn't even come to the final. I studied hard for her class and I'm a BIO major but her terrible teaching style and final killed my grade at the end.
DO NOT TAKE HER. She's aggressive and moody. She is very scatterbrained and she doesn't care about her students i studied a lot, but her tests are very tricky and misleading. I WAS a bio major (after this semester, i decided it wasn't for me) and this class was the main reason i changed my mind. avoid at all costs.
I am a Pre-Med Biology major. I had no choice but to take her. I BEG YOU. DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS. She is extremely scatterbrained. Her lectures do not flow in order. One of the most frustrating people I have ever met.
She's a nice lady BUT avoid at all costs. The tests suck and I have no idea how she comes up with grades. If you're looking for an easy elective, don't take this one! Also don't buy the book, we don't look at it once.
I took this course my first semester of my freshman year and I found Grace Wyngarrd very easy to learn from. She understands that people are shy and allows students to email questions to her during lecture that she answers during lecture. Really goes over everything and relates material back to modern research. I would recommend her.
Hardest class I'ev ever taken, and I am typically a straight A student. The test questions are the most insignificant details about the phyla that she mentions ONCE in powerpoint slides. The grades for this class are 3 tests, 1 easy project, and 1 cummulative final. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE unless you have to. combines anatomy, physiology, phylogeny
I'm a senior at JMU this year. I had professor Wyngaard freshman year. I didn't want to say then that she was the worst professor I had ever had after only being there one semester... but almost 4 years and many more biology classes later... she's still the worst professor I've ever had.
I took Marine and Freshwater invertebrates with her. Hardest class I've ever taken. I got 70s on all the tests, like everyone else but somehow that translated into an A. It is ALL memorization and asks the most detailed, particular questions. I would NOTTTT recommend her.
I really enjoyed her class. It felt long sometimes but I thought the material was interesting. Tests weren't terrible as long as you really studied but she was great in office hours. There is a group project that is an easy A test grade too!
Dr. Wyngaard really isn't as bad as people make her out to be. 309 is designed to be a easy elective, and if you show up to class and take decent notes youll get a B+A- easily. The group project is simple and is only there to help you, and she grades it very leniently.
hard tests but they all follow the same exact format and she tests on information that she has very clearly given you. once you learn how to take her tests, studying becomes a lot easier and you can do well in the class
I know that people from Bio 114 don't like her because bio 114 itself is difficult for most freshmen, and Wyngaard forces you to study differently, but she works with you. She will explain whatever you need her to, and if you take good notes then you shouldn't have a problem. Once you get used to it, the class is great! the group project was easy
Class can be a bit boring but she loves what she is talking about. Not the best with technology. Everything on the exams she has gone over in class, she really is not trying to trick you with the questions. Just studying everything on the slides which she provides you. Group project towards the end of the semester which is also pretty easy.
I like Dr. Wyngaard. She's really passionate about what she does, yet she also knows that everyone taking a course on invertebrates isn't as interested as she is, so she makes the tests very straight forward. They're sort of detailed, but everything is directly from slides and lecture, so just study hard a day or so before and you'll be fine (90A)
Dr. Wyngaard is an incredibly passionate professor that consistently expresses her love for her subject. While lectures can seem to drag on at times, exams are very straightforward and are very fair if you have decent study habits (some extra cr. ?s). Also, she gives the entire semester to do a project/presentation that she grades very leniently.
Super easy lab. Class was only 6 weeks and it was 3 powerpoints and 3 250 word "essays" and you do both with a partner. great lab to take especially if you hate actual lab work
Her lectures are very scattered and unorganized, making it hard to study for tests. her tests are somewhat difficult and very specific. there's a partner projects that she gives you the semester to work on. I would def not take her, find a different bio elective because she is a horrible professor teaching wise.
Wouldn't recommend this professor to my worst enemy. I'd ask her questions regarding the wording of her powerpoints and she couldn't even tell me what she was trying to say. Overall this class can just be presented in a much more organized manner making comprehending the information much more manageable. 10/10 avoid
SO. EASY. The first week of class, she splits you into two groups, and each group attends class for only six weeks. You do three short essays and three presentations all with a partner. Just for doing the minimum requirements, she gives you a 100% no matter what on every assignment, except for the final exam which you submit on Canvas in December.
This class could be very interesting if it were taught by anybody else. Lectures are extremely dry and seem to drag on for an eternity. She is very rude and condescending and if she sees you so much as whisper a single word to somebody else she will stop mid sentence and call you out in front of the entire class. Avoid her if at all possible.
lectures are pretty boring, and not necessary to pass. Powerpoints are pretty unorganized but if you study the powerpoints directly for the exams you'll be fine. 4 exams including the final, and 1 partner project.
Im in her class right now and shes the worst. The material isnt hard at all if youre good at memorizing (A+ rn). She's just a hard person to like. She responds to emails only if you format it correctly for her and if you dont, she'll tell you how and respond only after you resend it correctly. Even if you do it right, she may still say it's wrong.
Her tests are very difficult and specific. If you don't know all the material from the Power Points by heart the tests are hard to do well on.
She was by far the best option for fulfilling the lab requirement in Gen Eds. You only meet for half of the semester. You work with a partner the entire time - 3 presentations, 3 essays (250 words), and 1 individual final essay (500 words). Overall the class is easy but she does have high expectations so be prepared to put time into the final essay
I actually loved this class. Your only grades were 4 tests, and a group project so not a lot of room for mistakes. Tests are purely memorization. She posts slides, but adds in extra things during lectures that usually end up on exams. Group project wasn't bad, worst part is presenting to the class.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
74%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.19 avg changeRatings by Course
305
4.0
(1)114L
4.0
(1)BIO409
4.0
(2)BIO 309
4.0
(1)ISCI104
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
BIOL114
5.0
BIO14
5.0
INVERTEBRATES
5.0
BIO114LA
4.3
BIO 309
4.0