Very interesting course. Really gets you thinking critically. Lots of material, read hole text before the midterm and do presentations after the midterm. Uses lots of interesting examples and good power point slides.

Has unrealistic expectations about the amount of work involved. Expects you to read an 800 page text book before the midterm (but if you focus on the course notes you're fine). However, the material is quite interesting and he does encourage critical thinking. Good guy, but new teacher.

Assigned lots of work!!

The class was better than I expected. He was challenging, both in course material and critical thinking. If you take his class, focus on the experimental details.

Pretty hard class, but his lectures were very clear.

great prof. excellent lecturer and encourages ppl to ask questions with 2 percent bonus. doesn't test on rote memorization like all other pscyh classes. other profs could learn from him. exams are fair but a little tough but his class is worth it. amazing prof

AMAZING class and a great prof. First 9am class I've ever looked forward to. I've never met a prof who was truly a master of his craft until Soma. Do the pre-class readings just for fun. Final is easy if you study; no surprises. It's basically a course that analyzes animal behavior through the scope of natural selection. So cool!

nice class to just sit and learn something interesting. He sure knows his stuff. nice videos too!

The course was interesting, but fairly challenging. There was a lot of emphasis on critical thinking (a plus in my books!). Professor Soma is very clear and encourages class participation. This was my favorite class of last semester.

A prof who knows his stuff and has passion is what he teaches :) a bit challenging for those who are not used to crtical thinking such as experimental design but very good prof for sure

One of the best profs at UBC. Outstanding knowledge of his field and a passion for passing that onto the student. His emphasis on critical thinking made classes fun and highly informative.

Favorite prof ever! Loved him and his teaching style. His exams were more focused on critical thinking which I thought was highly applicable to other courses and taught me a lot. A must for any psych student.

Good professor, really knowledgeable and explains things well. I found the class fairly difficult because it's basically a biology class (it has a 3rd year bio equivalent). Only really need the textbook for supplemental use. Thought the TA marked things pretty hard though.

He has very high expectations of his students and high standards for exams and the paper. I did well in the course but it was a lot of work! I went to lecture every day and it paid off.

The exams emphasized critical thinking and experimental design. I'm glad he said no laptops in class, because that really helped me stay focused!!!

Just took the midterm, which was tough! Attending the lectures is key and reading the book certainly helps. He doesn't allow laptops or cell phones during lectures... That rule wasn't that bad, actually.

The lectures that I went to were clear but overall this class was just so-so. Too much work.

Midterms and final exams were quite tricky. Professor is very helpful and friendly. Lectures were interesting but there is a lot of textbook reading to do.

Kiran is an amazing professor that explains everything clearly--very knowledgable in his field and enthusiastic in getting students involved in learning. MT and Final were very fair considered he gave SAMPLE MT (and detailed answers) that were exactly the same format as the real tests. Study your textbook and go to class will get you a solid A.

I think if you have a science background this class won't be too difficult. Only one assignment, which wasn't to bad,along with the midterm and final. Read the textbook. It will help your understanding of the concepts and I think do better on the short answers that can be hard.

Brutal final exam. Not sure if I will pass. I guess I should have gone to more lectures or read more of the textbook... He does not allow laptops or smart phones in class, which is ridiculous.

He is very clear and interesting, attending lectures is necessary for the notes if you dont want to read the text.

I've never been into animals or anything remotely biology related, but this class is like a really in depth awesome Planet Earth film. You just learn so many cool things! Soma is very clear about what he expects, and I like his no electronics policy, it helped me stay focused. Clearly passionate. Highly recommend him! Do go to class though!

I liked the no laptops or phones in class rule! I was surprised by how much more I got out of class without the distractions...

Such a great professor! He is clear, helpful and passionate about the material. His lectures are engaging, entertaining and very well explained. I would make sure you have somewhat of a science background or an interest in biology. I definitely recommend this course.

no laptops or phones in class?! seriously? i can't unplug for 50 minutes

The class content is fairly easy but his exams are very hard and tricky. Theres a midterm, a paper (easy one, just two pages) and a final. The final exam was the worst thing ever. So hard!! The class average was 69. He is very clear during his lectures and will answer questions when asked.

I thought this course was pretty good but kinda hard.

He was a very clear lecturer. Really held my attention.

I was surprised at how long the midterm was.

No need to read the textbook, focus on lecture when you are studying for midtermfinal. Reading the textbook was a waste of time. Overall, the class was alright but focused way to much on experimental design (strengths and weaknesses).

MY FAVE PROF AT UBC!!! Soma is amazing, his lectures were entertaining and he clearly loves teaching. Textbook was not totally necessary, skim it for further clarification, but tests were 90% lecture. Only thing was he focused a bit too much on creating experiments and strengthsweaknesses. Material was very interesting though! Recommend!

Love! A mix of stern, dorky & hilarious, he enjoys the content & is CLEAR on exam pts: 1 strengthweakness, explain results etc. Don't miss class bc it's SUPER helpful & interesting anyway. Explains studies well. Cool vids. So far Im getting a A-. Only tb reading req'd are the parts he focuses on enough to be essay questions. No laptops allowed !

At first, I didn't enjoy this class at all, but I started to really like it! He is a mix of serious, and funny; but the class was fun and entertaining overall. The no electronics rule was refreshing and helped me focus on learning the material. Textbook wasn't necessary but good for clarification. Written exam question criteria is very clear.

Tests were so difficult!!

Go to class!

Lectures are clear and interesting. He provides practice exam questions too. The lab is fun!

Great lecturer, very organized.

Great lecturer, passionate about his work. Lecture attendance is MANDATORY, and they're fun to attend. Exams and assignments are fair and straightforward. No psych or science background needed to do well in this course. He makes it easy to follow along and overall is a great human being :)

He's always very interesting and engaging during the lectures. Even though it was a morning class, I felt more awake during those lectures than any other prof's. He's also very organized so you always know what to expect and how to catch up if you miss a class. I wish he'd teach more courses because I def would take any of his other 300 lvl classes

Just the right amount of bio involved for it to be interesting enough but not difficult at all. Prof and TA are very helpful, he fully prepares you for the midterm and final with in depth study guides. Textbook not needed at all, I printed out lecture slides and took notes on them and have done very well on midterm and paper. Highly recommend him!

He really cares about the course material and being fair. He is kind and seems like he really wants to make the class interesting by playing videos of the animals hes teaching about. His exams and tests are fair and th paper at the end is very well marked. I would take his classes again.

Dr. Soma is a great lecturer. Great course content and he shared anecdotes that made class interesting. The short answer exam questions really test your reasoning and critical thinking skills. Read the text and take detailed notes during lectures. The LAB was so much work though and the TAs were not that helpful. Work really hard for a good mark.

Lectures were clear, and he aways stayed after class to answer all questions. His tests were very fair, and if you have a science background, the written portion of his exams will be easier for you. I really appreciated his slide format - main points were included, but you need to go to class to add additional notes. Overall, a great professor.

Dr. Soma is an intelligent person and a good lecturer but gives the impression that he doesn't care that much about the well-being of his students. He is not very understanding and can be quite insensitive when talking about certain subjects. That being said, 270 is a super interesting course, but do the readings!!!!

This is def a difficult course. But it's well organized and has cool topics. Students who don't want to do the textbook readings or show up for lectures will not be happy tho.

Tests were so tough! Be sure to read the textbook and attend all the lectures!! I was hoping for an easy A but this wasnt it.

Pretty good but a lot of work. Get ready to read!

The prof and TAs were good, and the lab was really useful. I'm not a pre-med and so all the whining by the pre-meds in this class about their grades gets pretty old and annoying!

Be sure to attend the lectures and do the readings! Online tests were open book and notes :)

I was very intimidated to take this class because it came off really science-heavy but it ended up being one of my favorite classes ever. Dr. Soma is a warm professor who summarizes the course content extremely effectively. Lectures can seem overwhelming but he does his best to make things as easy as possible. I would 100% take his class again.

Not an easy class! But Neuroscience is not an easy subject, I guess. The tests were very unfair and difficult!

Amazing lectures. He really does a good job at explaining concepts. His tests are hard but that's to be expected with any psych classes at UBC where scaling doesn't really allow for high grades.

Dr. Soma is a great prof. He is passionate about what he teaches and he cares for his students. His lectures are super engaging and interesting. He explains things well and his exams are hard but completely fair. Don't skip class cuz he will mention things that will be tested in person but they won't be on the slides.

Great Prof! Engaging lectures and content explained in lectures are on the test. Tests aren't the easiest but if you were able to attend/review lecture recordings, you will do well.

Dr. Soma is a nice person and explains his slides well, but a larger than necessary portion on the tests is based on some trivial detail that requires memorization of extra info on the textbook readings and stuff that he verbally mentioned but were not on the slides. Basically, memorize everything.

I thought the lectures were pretty good but the exams emphasized critical thinking and experimental design too much! It would have been much better if he focused on testing us about specific facts.

Not easy but lectures were engaging. He was available via zoom for office hours and scheduled a meeting with me when i could not make his regular office hour. He stayed to answer students' questions after every class. Overall, not too bad

He is a really kind guy but the course is really hard. It really is not psych base but mostly a biology course so expect a lot of science. Midterms are 30% with the final being 40% and cumilitive. Midterms are difficult and short answer has to do with a lot of critical thinking rather then memorizing. Just know the slides inside and out

Tough to get a good grade but good lectures.

Dr. Soma's class was super interesting and you could tell he understood what he was talking about so this class was a great chance to ask questions. The lecture content and especially the readings were pretty dense w info but he was really clear about what we needed to know and provided practice tests.

I really liked the lectures but the tests were not easy!! Be warned...

Professor Kiran Soma is a great man, but the class is TOUGH. I would withdraw if it wasn't past the due date. I don't know how I survived this course, it is very heavy + huge focus on critical thinking as people before have mentioned. He is very strict and sort of intimidating, but if you come to his office hours he is nice. PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS

This course was TOUGH. Be sure to go to lecture and pay attention!!

This is the class you take if you wanted to learn about animals when you were younger but never had the chance to. Do NOT miss a class, you really need to put 110% effort to get a good grade, but this was one of my most rewarding academic learning experiences ever. He is a very clear lecturer with high expectations

Soma was Ok. But I really preferred NSCI 200 with Angie because it was so much easier. The class average for NSCI 200 was 87 and I got an A! I ended up with a B+ in this class, which is terrible and the class average was 79, which is pathetically low and UNFAIR

I know a lot of people thought that Soma was rude and didn't care about his students, but I actually really enjoyed being in his lectures. All of his explanations were so clear and detailed and he always took his time to answer people's questions thoughtfully. I thought he did a really good job outlining complex topics in a more accessible way.

Soma gave clear lectures and posted slides ahead of time. Also gave us practice questions every week which was super helpful. I went to his office hours often and Soma was helpful. The TAs were ok and peer tutors too. Overall a great experience for me

Very tough class. But the lectures were really clear, really cool and really inspirational!

Soma's lectures were clear and helpful, but the exams were brutally difficult. Luckily, tools like Unstuckstudy and the textbook were essential for preparing. Overall, a challenging yet rewarding experience.

Challenging but rewarding. Mostly challenging.

Good professor, fair class. First midterm the hardest, but gets easier. Even then, the questions were fair and based on big concepts not nitpicky information. Grade entirely based on 2 midterms and a final. Self-study, keeping up with the readings, and attending lectures - taking notes and paying attention, are all required for a decent grade.

class was at 9am...i did not make it to all lectures and my grade will be lower than i hoped for!

What an incredible prof

Very kind and funny prof, had so much knowledge on the content and was always eager to discuss and answer questions! There's quite a bit of textbook reading but other than that it's not a heavy course. Exams are completely reflective of what was taught in class and instructions are super clear. Definitely an easy and super interesting course!

great prof and not hard if you go to lecture. this was my first ever psych class and i found it very straight forward