2.4
Quality3.9
Difficulty23%
Would Retake95
Reviews23%
Would Retake
95
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
16
4
9
3
16
2
24
1
30
What Students Say
“AVOID taking her She is unhelpful, unprofessional, and unrealistic”
BIO250 - 1.0 rating“The only way you will pass her class is by self study”
BIO197 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
57%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
NEUROSCIENCE
5.0
(1)GENETSECT
5.0
(1)BIOL250
4.2
(5)CELLBIOLAB
4.0
(1)BIOLGENE
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CELLBIOLAB
5.0
BIO314
5.0
BIOLGENE
5.0
BIO341
4.7
BIOL1198
4.7
Reviews (95)
she's just not a good teacher
her tests are too long for the amount of time given, and she takes points off for every minute you turn the test in late, And if your like me and would like to have homework to help your grade don't take her... She is a bad teacher
Dr. Smith is amazing! She'll make you work, but she will also make sure the class is interesting. Now that the class is over, I can really appreciate how much I learned from her. She is more than willing to help you out and has a terrific personality. She'll be one of the few professors that I'll keep in touch with after BU!!
uhhh.... be prepared to WORK and WORK and WORK and hen fail.
Very picky
she's horrible. she's really unclear and expects you to know everything by the time you enter the class. she doesn't even tell you to read the chapter before going to class so you have no idea what she's talking about. horrible.
The class is easier now compared to her previous semesters because she now offers homework and quiz points that can help the grade. Offers many bonus pts as well. Exams are a bit long for the time alloted and tend to be pretty specific. She is a bit feministic and likes students who answer her questions in class.Approachable and very nice.
She's horrible. She never gets anything back on time. No one finishes on her tests yet she doesn't curve and she's not very helpful.
Dr.Smith was really nice and helpful. Her classes were fun and most of the material she would go over until it was understood. Her tests ,however, are very difficult and most of the time you don't have enough time to finish it, but she does make up for that with extra points. I like her a lot, so I recommend her just study a lot.
As long as you study and make sure you can do the homework she assigns you should do well on the tests.
SHE IS AWESOME... JUST sit on the first bench, she'll love you. exams can be a little hard if you dont study everyday but overall good teacher.
She is very nice, full of energy, makes you laugh, remeber the name of the scientists that she mentions.
I got a B in genetics with her last semester. I'll tell you the trick- her exams are very long and sometimes tricky. read all her notes- thats what she's gonna ask you on the test. found it wiered that she makes your partner initial ur test so that you dont cheat!!! but overall good teacher- dr.smith
she has unannounced quizez and tests. she is very mean and lets her husband Dr. Nadowlski (math professor) to be present in the research lab 90% of the time. I highly recomend to take this class somewhere else.
Good teacher but tough grader. Her final brought my grade down to a whole letter grade. If you have other choice for teachers, don't take her! shez your last resort. Helpfull but moody at times. she is either too happy or just toooooo mean!!!!
Dr. Smith is a great teacher so I don't know why she is getting such bad reviews. Cell lab is a very tough class, but it's tough for a reason. If you go and talk to Dr. Smith she will answer any questions you have and she will tell you exactly what she expects on her assignments.
AVOID!!!!
If you want to have a lazy,useless, sarcastic, good for nothing teacher, then take her. Probably one of the worst professors i have encountered. Laughs at her own jokes, has this freaky laugh, doesnt care about her students at all, and does whatever she can to torture you if she gets on your bad side. NEVER TAKE HER!
Mean, unhelpful, and simply sadistic. Makes a hard class harder by being obtuse and unclear. Hides assignments on her website. Unfortunately one of the only instructors of this lab. Professionally and personally unpleasant. Plays favorites.
if you read the book and go over the power points you'll be fine for the tests and quizzes
Comments for BIO 197: Overall really nice teacher. If you keep up with the homework, go to class, take notes and just pay attention while she goes through her PowerPoint you'll get at least a B. Study a bit and you'll definitely get an A.
Ewww. But if you have to take Cell Laboratory, then you don't have a choice to have her for at least "lab lecture." You just have to bare with her. Nothing more to say.
Dr. Smith is incredibly gifted at teaching. Her tests are difficult and you must put the time in and master all the examples she gives in class. There are no surprises on her exams and she is a fair grader. She is extremely helpful when seeking extra help during office hours and she is always available. Only complaint is her final was impossible.
Honestly, this professor is EXTREMELY helpful as well as EXTREMELY hard. If you go in, she will help you, problem solved. She is moody, she is happy, I'm sorry she's human? People complain because they want an easy A. People need to be responsible for their work and actually study, I studied really hard (more than any other class) and did fine.
Dr. Smith is funny and pretty clear when she explains things. Her tests are pretty straightforward. If you study, you'll pass with at least a B.
Dr.Smith is a great teacher and she is very helpful. I don't understand why people are saying is a hard class is not as long as you study you will do great! Her test can be hard and tricky but if you study it will be a piece of cake. Also she is willing to help you in anything you might not understand. Besides she makes the class interesting!!
AVOID taking her She is unhelpful, unprofessional, and unrealistic. Dont be a second late for class for any reason. If you come in two minutes late for class your homework will not be accepted. No excuses.
DON'T take her for genetics lecture. Her exams and quizzes are 10X harder than the material covered in class and in the book. If you walk in 2 minutes late she won't take your homework. 19 people out of 30-something students failed the 2nd test we just took and instead of helping them, she suggests to drop. Absolutely unhelpful.
Smith is a good teacher for Bio 198 but don't take her for genetics, she is very hard. Her exams are really hard. It will make you work harder. I recommend a different teacher than Smith for genetics. On the exams its way tough because she makes it tricky and if u mess up on one thing, the whole question is marked off. THERE IS NO EXTRA CREDIT!!!!!
Dr. Smith... What can you really say.. Just don't take her! she will compare you to her other classes if you do poorly on her exams and penalize you on top of that. Not reasonable, bad attitude, the way she talks makes you want to walk out... if you really want to take her and risk getting an A in that course... Best of luck!
The only way you will pass her class is by self study. you would need to read the chapters before coming to class and speed write all her notes in class. halfway through the semester she informed us that we did not deserve the lecture notes and chapter study guides. homework was 4 pages long only to be 2 points. would not take her again.
She was a very good professor and if you just listen to her lectures than you should easily get an A.
During the lectures, she doesn't seem that bad. There's not a lot of homework and there are only four tests. However, the material on her tests and quizzes comes out of nowhere. It's like you have to completely read the book cover to cover to get some of this material. Unless you like to spend A LOT of time studying, don't take her.
DO NOT TAKE HER. She had a bad attitude and she does not care about the students or their grades at all.
Dr. Smith is a really good teacher and explains things clearly. Her tests are easier than usual but you have to study to get an A in the class. She can be nice, but can be rude at the same time though. She also complained about her other classes too. But, I would take her over the other teachers teaching BIO 197 at Benedictine.
Her lectures cover a quarter of the exam, and the rest is either in the book or out of nowhere. She is not helpful whatsoever. She constantly complains about her other classes, and takes it out on the students. If you take her, make sure you read the book religiously, and take VERY good notes.
tests were easy and not much homework assigned. do everything on time or else she gets extremely upset and will make future assignments longer and harder
Dr. Smith is very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. Her genetics class is not hard and its not easy you have to work for you grade. You have to read the chapters and pay attention in class. Make sure you do the practice problems in the book and you're guaranteed an A!
Her exams are tough she doesn't curve, her teaching method is different. You need to adjust to her teaching style and make sure you read read and read! Only thing that sucks about her class is her exams are hard!
Though grader. If you loose 50 points you lose a letter grade, and cannot make up.
Has such a ridiculous teaching method! She would not teach we would have to go up to the class and teach what we know there is a reason we are paying professors which is to teach! You lose 50 points that was a letter grade down! Does not teach at all and oh if you don't know the answers/participate in class well you're on her bad side!
The first exam was harder than the second one. There are 5 tests, lowest one gets dropped. She skips through slides and tells you that it will not be on the exam and then puts it on the exam. She does not post slides, and does not give you enough time to write them down. Lectures are straight out of the book, so READ IT. Overall, she is OK.
She is a tough grader but does her best to stress certain material that will be on the test. From what I read, she has improved a lot on her online accessibility, regarding posting slides and review questions. You have to read and STUDY EFFECTIVELY to get a good grade.
Genetics shouldn't be hard to understand but somehow she did that; I'm not sure what makes her class so hard, but it may be because of the consistent homeworks that take forever to do, and the fact the the exams took my class the whole class time to finish (if we were even able to finish). She's good in her office hours though and does seem to care
Worst teacher ever. She has so much ego to care about the students and why they struggle in the class. She does not deserve to be the Biology department chair as she is not qualified to teach from the first beginning. She enjoys seeing the students struggle and does not offer help. She does not care if half of the class drop or end up with a D or C
Dr. Smith was not a good professor. She was very mean and kind of scary. She could never stay on track with the lectures and was awful at explaining things. I had to learn everything outside of class. I strongly recommend taking someone else if you genuinely want to learn the material.
Dr. Smith is an amazing professor! She curved the exams and tests by a few points so she definitely wants all of her students to succeed. You have to prepare by doing the textbook readings because she's heavy with participation! Her tests and exams weren't too bad as long as you study the notes! I would love to take her class again!
Lee Smith is very challenging. I really felt as if she did not care about her students at all. Just horrible experience overall... DO NOT TAKE HER.
DON'T TAKE HER CLASS!!!!! I can't believe she is department chair. She is a nice lady, but her class is IMPOSSIBLE. Half the class dropped and those who stayed failed. You leave class more confused than when you walked in. Classwork is easy and surface level, tests are IMPOSSIBLE and ask you questions about stuff you never talked about. IMPOSSIBLE!
Professor Smith is a nice lady and all, but a horrible teacher. To pass her class, you NEED to self-study. That is literally the only way you can pass this class. Her lectures are convoluted and do not address topics in an understandable or easy way. YouTube served to be a better teacher for me.
Weekly tests ensure you grasp the concept and push you to think about the concepts on a deeper level. Dr. Smith is always willing to help and took the time to hold multiple review sessions before each exam to clear up confusion. Take good notes, spend time on the worksheets, and go to office hours with questions and you'll do fine
Please take her for Principles Of Biology, you will not regret it. She is super clear with what is on the weekly quizzes if u attend the weekly session. ALSO big plus is that she gave everyone the opportunity to make exam corrections to improve our grade! She is very nice too.
She's honestly okay, would take another professor if u have the chance. She teaches you like you already know the stuff, which is not the case and goes fast. Doesn't really keep her promises.
Dr. Smith is nice. I took her online so Monday were quizzes/exams days, Wednesdays were discussion/homework days, and Fridays were asynchronous. Homework was graded for completion which were nice easy points. Exams/ quizzes were majority multiple choice with some free response. The only bad thing is that I felt that she assumed we knew everythin
the professor tends to stray away from the main topic. very helpful and is willing to negotiate changing grades. over all easy A if you pay attention in class and take good notes.
Dr. Smith is a great professor. She is really fast paced, and expected you to know a lot. I suggest going to the LA meetings or going to her office hours whenever something is not understood. Weekly quizzes were easy if you attended class and participated. Taking notes is a must, open notes tests. She does give great chances for extra credit.
If you can take any other teacher for BIO198, do yourself a favor and do that instead of taking her. you won't learn a thing in her class, u will sit through the lectures very confused, then on top of that u have to self study for every single section/chapter because nothing she says makes sense. her PowerPoints make no sense. S/O YT & Khan Academy
Her lectures are confusing and she doesn't know how to teach. The quizzes and exams are difficult so make sure you understand the material and teach yourself the content. The class was online so it wasn't that bad but I would no take her again in person.
She does "Active Learning", which means she expects you to watch hours of lecture videos outside of class then come to class and do absolutely nothing. Curriculum is not difficult she is just a bad teacher, you can still get an A she just sucks at teaching. Would be fine if she did not make attendance MANDATORY. Useless lectures, necessary videos.
Grades extremely hard and doesn't give study guides so you don't know what will be on the test. Take notes on the video lectures. Doesn't even give you your test back to see what you got wrong. She also makes this disturbing moaning sound after every sentence. Doesn't give extra credit either.
Dr. Smith picked and chooses who she wants to be nice to. After all the reviews on her I would've assumed she'd stop making the weird moaning sounds but she still does them. She is also NEVER available after class. Her office hours are always booked even though most people aren't going. Her moaning sounds are disturbing.
If you want to take this course, please do not pick this prof! First off she makes a moaning sound every 30 seconds and is quite annoying...Second, she goes WAY too in-depth with the material making it very hard to understand. Don't even bother going to meet with her and ask her questions she snips back at you and asks u the question what a PROF!!!
Dr. Smith is a nice lady but she's not a good teacher. Lectures were boring and extremely difficult. She doesn't pass back tests, you have to meet with her to go over them but she is never available for office hours. You have to make an appointment with her over a week in advance and sometimes you don't know you need help until the week of.
Sweet and helpful if you put in the work.
moans in class, doesn't answer questions, has favorites, useless lectures, over all horrible class. had to self teach myself everything.
Honestly she's not as bad as people say. tells you what will be on the exams, and as long as you pay attention in class and study you can get a good grade. Unfortunately going to office hours isnt helpful she makes you feel dumb when you ask a question or waits for you to answer it yourself
The way she teaches is just very hard to understand specially when you're new with this material. She's very sweet and kind though. She seems to always zone out so…
She has favorites and attendance is mandatory she has a disturbing moaning problem
She was an interesting professor, coming in as a freshman I would say not to take her class.
Smith is terrible. Sure she knows biology, but whoever allowed her to TEACH it should be ashamed. Big difference between knowing things and then being able to teach said things. The adjunct that was hired to teach alongside her was just as bad. Neither give study guides, they just tell you to look at the objectives and you'll be fine (lazy cop out)
Overall, Dr. Smith was a very nice and understanding professor. With the content, you have to come prepared with teaching yourself the material through online lectures. You have to come to class ready to discuss what you learned from the online lectures to ask questions. However, many questions seen on the exams are very nit picky and specific....
She grades very hard. If you spell one word wrong, she will deduct full points. The class is set up to fail you. You have to watch her videos before class because she doesn't teach; she just asks questions. Be prepared to present or talk with a group in class. You have to show up to get points, and you have to participate.
SHE IS A TOUGH GRADER.. Make sure you study for the exam to pass as they weigh most for the grade. However, this is a self learning and teaching class. You watch her videos and self teach yourself. It's hard to get your point across and sometimes it doesn't make sense. MAKE SURE YOU GO TO CLASS FOR POINTS... there no such thing like extra credit .
She doesn't know how to teach. And the actual learning of the material, you have to watch videos that posts, which are not really that helpful. So you basically have to teach yourself the material, otherwise, you're going to fail the class.. MAKE SURE YOU GO TO CLASS FOR POINTS, she takes off points if you miss class.
So messy and unprofessional to her students. Changes her mind about things and is inconsistent with what she promises so do not believe anything she says. Some professors need to be more considerate
The worst teacher I've ever had at BenU. Inconsistent with grading, isn't accessible out of class, rude. I cannot stand her. She's had to regrade multiple exams because she would mess up. Now I have to retake her class next semester and try a million times harder just to pass. B
I would not recommend taking her class, unless you're willing to teach yourself everything.
Put the effort in, watch the videos before going to lecture, and you're going to be fine. Ask questions during lecture from the pre-recorded videos, and DO THE WORKSHEETS they will appear on the exams and tests. She loves her experiments and graphs, so make sure you are on top of those every unit.
She has videos for you to watch and teach yourself. Coming to class is honestly pointless because she just asks questions about the video and tries to make the class "interactive" but it ends being a quiet and awkward class. If you can self teach yourself,this class is easy because the videos are good. Otherwise,read the textbook and take notes.
WORST PROFESSOR EVER!!!!!
There's a big difference between knowing the material and how to teach it. It's obvious she lacks the skills to teach the course. Very incompetent.
TERRIBLE professor she does not TEACH expects us to now everything. DO NOT TAKE HER. If u do, good luck on learning an entire class by yourself in just a few weeks.
Do NOT take this professor. Coming from someone who did all the worksheets, took notes, had great attendance, and participated, you're better off taking the class at a whole different institution than taking it with her. She's rude, condescending, and completely disorganized. She acts like she cares about learning but just sets students up to fail.
The tests are all difficult, the exams are all so bad, everytime i took a test i felt like it was like going through war, she puts small details you dont even expect, and u wont know anything on the test. the final was so HARD, it was not cumalative, i studied for everything on the studyguide, then the final was mostly on one topic
she makes me not want to become a doctor
Genuinely the worst class I have EVER taken, she is rude, does not teach the material, does not respond to emails, and the structure of the class is horrible. During lecture, even if the entire class of students does not know the answer to something, she'll stare at you in silence until someone gets it, with no feedback or help offered.
Smith is so tough such a hard grader tests are always 80% or more free response. The final was super hard and extremely cumulative asked such niche questions way back from unit one. If you're forced to take this class you can't mess around from day one stay on top of lecture videos + detailed notes. Literally the only way to ace this class.
doesn't know how to teach at all, continuously makes that really weird moaning sound. doesn't care for her students at all. very very condescending. i would say never to take her class but its BU, there's like no other options so you're actually cooked
If your a freshaman and you major is health science/bio plz plz dont take this class, she will seem chill but she isnt she dosent really teach in a way youll understand , take any other peofessor they are way better prfoessors, take this class and im telling you that you will have a hard time and struggle.
She doesn't give beneficial advice and the way she teaches is weird. When you ask a question, she will ask you questions back and if you don't know them then she won't help you answer your own question. She moans when she talks. Very hard class, wouldn't take her a my teacher ever again.
She was just insufferable, very unable to teach the class cohesively, whenever she asks the class a question and its silene for 3 minutes she just moves on without giving us the correct answer and how she got to that answer. Honestly, taking her class was just a way to miserably fail and not know what the hell is going on.
Dr. Smith is definable by her way of speaking. Her lecture style is very scattered, and her grading is very specific. You will need to read every page and more that she assigns to know what is going on, because her lectures cover 2% of it. She is a kind professor, but her teaching is very unique. Wouldn't recommend for freshman.
Great guy, horrible intentions.
Honestly Dr. Smith was a great Professor. She tells you the questions on the tests bc they are literally her objectives before each lecture slide. If you can answer the objectives, you can ace the tests. GO TO CLASS! she tells you questions she puts on tests during the lecture and will literally give you the exact answers she wants to see on it.
Have you ever wanted to meet Helen Keller? If so, take this class and meet her for yourself. You will not be heard, seen, nor will she communicate with you. Doesn't answer questions well, and when she does it's with sass and annoyance. She does give points back occasionally if you go during her office hours and meet with her. Depends on her mood.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
57%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
NEUROSCIENCE
5.0
(1)GENETSECT
5.0
(1)BIOL250
4.2
(5)CELLBIOLAB
4.0
(1)BIOLGENE
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CELLBIOLAB
5.0
BIO314
5.0
BIOLGENE
5.0
BIO341
4.7
BIOL1198
4.7