3.0
Quality3.4
Difficulty52%
Would Retake288
Reviews52%
Would Retake
288
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
55
4
64
3
51
2
64
1
54
What Students Say
“She can hold a laser pointer extremely steady, it's actually quite uncanny”
BIOL201 - 2.0 rating“I definitely cried every other day in this class”
BIOL101 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
83%
Textbook Required
21%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.58 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOL464
5.0
(1)BIOL260
4.3
(6)BIOL104
3.4
(59)BIO201
3.2
(24)BIOL205
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
BIOL205
4.0
BIOL101
3.7
BIO201
3.5
BIO101
3.5
BIOL202
3.5
Reviews (288)
Took this class as a prereq for pre-med, she's a really nice person and loved meeting her! It was her first year teaching and I studied a lot for this class so I did well, but I know that some people didn't really like her. If you take notes on your own and go to class you will be fine. Can be confusing at times. Textbook was my life.
Dr. Evans is one of the best professors I have had at UNC especially for a class in the Biology department. Her lectures keep dry information interesting and she is more than willing to help you if you need it. Outlines and powerpoint are clear and are a good indication for what will be on the test. I LOVE her and would gladly take her again!
Dr. Evans doesn't lecture. She wants you to work with the people around you to learn and doesn't always give the correct answers to her guided notes/outlines for the powerpoints.
Dr. Evans is wonderful at relaying the information she wants you to know for the test and is very helpful when it comes to clarifying something or going back over a concept during review. She posts lecture outlines before class and her powerpoints after class so you have all the materials necessary to study and do well on your exam. She's great!
I basically used the textbook to teach myself, and lectures were nothing but working with the people around you and you never got the correct answers to questions. 12
Go to office hours!
Dr. Evans is enthusiastic and caring, but I would HIGHLY recommend taking Hogan instead. Dr. Evans is still new to teaching, and it shows. There were questions on exams that had NO RIGHT ANSWER. The lectures are all about trying to learn from classmates who also don't know anything. If you can teach yourself and go to SI, you'll be alright though.
Dr. Evans is not a good teacher. She spends too much time on irrelevant things during lecture when we could have gone over important material from the tests. She asks a lot of questions that no one knows the answer to. Tests are nothing like the material she goes over in class. Very difficult.
Live by the text book and you still won't succeed. Ask her questions and she will just read off of her notes again.
Doesn't teach. There are times where she doesn't know what she's talking about and can't help solve problems because she can't do them herself.
I really enjoyed this class. The lectures are usually pretty fun even if you have to learn outside the class by doing the homework. The first unit is A LOT harder than the others, so don't be daunted. The first unit has a lot more homework and a harder test. After that, though, most of the class is very basic vocabulary and pretty logical.
I really liked her as a lecturer and professor!
Hour&15 minute long lectures are usually based on "group" discussion of a worksheet of questions that could be answered individually in less than 15 minutes. Often gives incorrect information during class, asks test questions that are purposely misleading. Make sure you DO overthink test questions, the answer is often not what seems most logical.
She doesn't teach. Be prepared to "turn to the person next to you to discuss" during the lecture. But good luck because they probably don't know what's going on either!
All of her tests except for the first one are easy. At the end of the Semester I did not show up to class for over a month and still have a high A going into the final. Dr. Evans however is not a very good teacher, she is terrible at explaining things and spends all of her class time focusing on topics not relevant to the tests. Would not recommend
This class is easy. If you know the basics of biology its pretty much an easy A. You don't need the test book at all or need to show up to class. I skipped class over ten times and still have an A in the course. The only difficult part is maybe the first section but as long as you show up to the SI session you will get all the material need.
"This is an opportunity for you to be an active learner!"- Mara
I don't know what the other ratings on here are talking about because I loved Dr. Evans. As a junior I have taken a multitude of other biology classes and found Dr. Evans to be one of the most helpful & clear professors. With participation in lecture I needed minimal work outside the class to secure an A. LOVED her so ignore other posts & take her
Honestly, I loved Dr. Evans. Lectures were great and she was really funny and made it that not everything was painful to go through. She is super nice. Like seriously just talk to her outside of class. Yes, she does make you work with those around you, but quizzing my friends in class and making study groups outside of class were super helpful!
Mara Evans is a fantastic professor. Her lectures are clear and she makes class feel lighthearted and interesting. Reading and doing the homework really helped on tests.
great professor but she makes you learn it through in class discussion and activities
Hard class. Totally do-able if you apply yourself and work at it.
Hard tests as with any biology class at UNC but she does her best to make information memorable. You still have to do a lot of reading and learning on your own. Compared to the majority of teachers, though, she is fair, nice, and helpful. Recommended
She is a terrible lecturer. Half the times the lecture outlines that she gives to students do not even match up with her in-class slides. The subject is very boring, which she doesn't do much to improve. The online Simutext assignments are a complete waste of time. After Bio 101 with Mastering Bio, this has been a let down. Find another professor!
Dr. Evans was not a very good lecturer, in fact she didn't really lecture at all. She asks you questions to discuss with your neighbor, but then she never tells you the correct answers to the questions. I found her annoying and not very helpful.
She can hold a laser pointer extremely steady, it's actually quite uncanny
Evans didn't her use her time wisely in class. She made the class watch videos that just made the content even more confusing. It is a very flipped classroom and tests are difficult, however... she lets you drop your lowest exam grade which is nice. If you want to do well in this class, you must work for it.
Sometimes I felt that Dr. Evans was more interested in teaching the class how to learn instead of actually teaching the information. This class can be extremely boring but she works to make it as engaging as possible which can be annoying. She clearly outlines what you need to learn and is a fairly decent professor.
Mara is really nice. Nothing is really hard about the class. Make the most of MasteringBiology assignments and you should be fine. Study for the tests maybe two or three days in advance. Coming to class helps a lot.
Dr. Evans does a really great job of engaging students during class. If you do all the homework and come to class, you should be good! Go to office hours and ask her about her research! She is so cool!
I like Dr. Evans but I hated having her in class. She treated us like we were children, and the videos we watched were not very helpful. My main problem with her was the fact that she was very rude during office hours. She made me feel like I was wasting her time by being there. Also she loves trick questions, so watch out.
I took this class for Evans first semester of teaching. I was shocked by how difficult biology became, since I always made A's in every biology class I took in high school. Go to the lectures for online participation but don't expect to better understand material. She makes class content confusing and doesn't offer much help for students.
Seriously, she was a great teacher. All these people are complaining because she didn't just hand out easy grades. The class was not as difficult as everybody is saying. READ THE OBJECTIVES ON HER POWERPOINTS! It is what she wants you to know, and they will be on the exam. She tells you that her objectives are the things she wants you to know.
Dreaded listening to her lecture because they're focused on learning methods, not the material itself. Class is comprised almost entirely of group work. She dumbs things down to where they seem easy, but when the test comes around things are trickier and more challenging than she prepares you for. Not much supplemental material for studying either.
Do not take classes with Maura Evans. She talks to you like you're in kindergarten and is a terrible lecturer. When you ask her questions, she makes you "Chat with your neighbor" and never really gives you the right answer. PowerPoints are unclear at best, and only have graphs and pictures. Probably my lease favorite class this semester.
Evans is friendly. She'll never cancel class, which can be annoying, and she is very focused on "discussing with your neighbor" rather than explaining during lecture. She's obsessed with online homework. She is, however, pretty good at being clear. Content is pretty easy. If you don't like online homework, or rigid learning structure, maybe not.
Amazing professor, she is so nice, engaging and helps a whole lot during office hours. If you don't read or go to class you will probably not pass. Put in the work and ask questions. That's how I got my A!
She's nice but I hate the way she teaches. She put a 200-something lecture hall into groups (that we do not get to choose, mind you) and doesn't really lecture. Instead, she just has us consult with our "group members" about questions/problems. I do not learn this way. Tests are unnecessarily hard. I'm not a biology major. I just want to pass. Sigh
I am currently in Evans' class for 101 and she's pretty good, imo. The group dynamic is kind of weird but she's enthusiastic, which I appreciate. Tests aren't too hard, and if you study you'll do great. I do minimal or no studying for exams and have a solid B or B+ right now, but I did take a community college bio class before that didn't transfer.
We all know that being a bio major is tough at UNC, but it's about 10x tougher when your professor doesn't teach and treats you like an elementary schooler. Lectures are set up in "group discussion" format and firm answers to questions are never given. Tests seem like they are for a different course. Please listen to me. Don't take her.
I have Bio201 with Burch and Evans, both of them don't give good feedback. If you ask a question you'll have to figure out the answer on your own. For a typical exam in this class, you get 10-15 m/c (4-5 pt each) and a couple of FRQs. These m/c sometimes can be SUPER AMBIGUOUS. Anf if you miss two or more m/c, your GPA is screwed. DON'T TAKE HER!!!
She usually teaches the Ecology (2nd Half) of the 201 course. She's great, but you might do bad in class if you're paired with a professor with limited background in teaching for the Evolution section (1st Half) of the course. I don't like how she puts us in groups, but her presentation is done really well, and I like her enthusiasm.
The exams are absolutely awful because if you only miss 2 MC you're already at a 90 and it's almost impossible to get a 100 on the short answer b/c they will take of -1 here and there for giggles. Dr. Evans seems really nice while in lecture but did everything she could to avoid spending time outside of class. Worst class i've taken.
This class is extremely easy, I would definitely recommend coupling it with ENEC 202 because it provides a more in depth understanding of a lot of what is discussed in this class. Mara is just a really downer most of the time and the burden of learning falls on the student, that said they lay out what will be on the test and I found it to be easy.
Respectfully, her lectures are close to useless. You'll spend your time talking to an equally confused neighbor, and you're more likely to learn better alone. Her exams are difficult, and TAs will literally take a point off here and there for fun. To make matters worse, she's condescending one-on-one. She was my least favorite in the bio dept.
She's an enthusiastic lecturer, and covers the material well. Her tests were equally as difficult as the evolution section in regards to free response, but if you write the answers to the free response in r/ELI5 fashion you will do fine.
Mara Evans was an extremely difficult professor. She would give out study guides for the tests, but often the tests (which were a huge chunk of the grade) didn't reflect the material or we never covered in class. I went to class, had a tutor, and went to SI sessions and still didn't do well.
Was this class hard? no, anyone with any biology or math background could get an B+ at the least with 4-7 hours a week . But Professor Evans teaches like a 2nd grade teacher. She barely gets to the basics of the material, encourages "group discussion" that doesn't help you learn, and doesn't give you a clear idea of exams. avoid if ur not bio major
Lectures are very interesting and engaging. The tests and homework accurately reflected what was being taught in lectures. There's a good amount of group collaboration during lecture which keeps you engaged and helps if you have any questions. Really seems to care about her students and their success. Definitely recommend you take Evans for bio 101
She has a great personality that allows you to enjoy class and learn the concepts. She clearly outlines and discusses the things you need to know and it is up to you to study the content in order to do good on the tests.
Evans over Garland, any day. That being said, Evans isn't a great choice. Every lecture is just "talk with your group members about this very simple question". Oh, and yeah, assigned seats in a 400-person lecture hall.
Her grading style is very tough. If you miss 2 questions on her exam your at a B, she likes to ask double negative questions and can be ambigous. There are discrepancies with her lectures and what she gives you on the Exam. You dont really know what to study, and SimU Text is useless. You also get 0 feedback from her.
There is definitely an active element of reading and keeping up with class outside of the classroom but Dr. Evans genuinely wants you to succeed. She tries to make sure every student is understanding and although she tries to trick you on the tests you are given plenty of chances to succeed. Overall, her class was a good experience.
Participating matters. She is paranoid enough to track your location whenever you answer a learning catalytic question. So if you are chilling in your dorm and answering them, you will NOT get credit. If this motivates you to come to the class do not expect anything useful to come out of the 50 minutes. Her test questions resemble SAT CR section.
Dr. Evans is alright. She's not as bad as most people make her out to be as described here. Just come to class, participate in the Learning Catalytics, do the homework, and don't slack off. Lots of homework and assignments so be wary. Exams aren't that bad- mostly her PowerPoints.
Dr. Evans is a good person who cares about students' learning. But she does this at the expense of learning the actual material. She loves using nontraditional ways to learn such as in groups or drawing pictures, but sometimes it feels more like an middle school biology class than a college-level intro course, but her tests are ambiguous and tricky
She is totally normal. Like, she is an effective lecturer and a good teacher for sure, but there is nothing stand-out about her at all.
The class was difficult, but Dr. Evans is a solid professor. If you actually put in the work, a good grade is possible.
Dr. Evans isn't as bad as most people make her out to be. She is a clear lecturer and her PowerPoints are extremely organized and clearly presented. Don't do the outlines or GRQs! I never did them, and I did perfectly fine on her exams. The whole working with your neighbor thing is the only negative part I found. You'll be fine if you have her.
This was my least favorite class, and I am a BIO major!! It is a completely flipped classroom style, which is fine and actually very common in lectures at UNC. However, she completely wastes time during lectures talking about problems and scenarios that either don't relate to the information or that aren't explained. She's an awful professor.
Dr. Evans used collaboration a little too much for my liking in this class. I understand the purpose and use of collaboration, but it's pretty difficult to learn through it when there's 350+ people in the class. Her lectures were more focused on clearing up confusion over material rather than teaching you it - something I wasn't a fan of.
The only reason I didn't rate Dr. Evans a 1 is because her tests were easier than the other section's. She expects you to teach yourself and your group (which you don't choose) because she is incapable of teaching. You have to show up to useless lectures because participation is 7% of your grade. DO NOT TAKE BIOL 101 IF YOU HAVE CREDIT ALREADY
This is the kind of class that will vary widely between people. But it is doable if you take the time to learn the material outside of class. Class time was more of a review session, you should expect to learn most of the material before class. I really liked Professor Evans because she made the class bearable and tests weren't too bad.
Her exams were poorly written quite often, and the resources were bad. But the material was still easy and she was clear.
Mara Evans is a great professor to take this class with. She's enthusiastic, and well-organized, and her slides are thorough. Her tests reflect class material, though sometimes poorly constructed. Be sure to make use of SI sessions and do the practice papers and you should be fine.
Dr. Evans is very enthusiastic about the material she is teaching but she does use the reverse classroom setting which is less than desirable for most students. A lot of her lectures just scratch the surface of the main topic so make sure you do the reading. However she does provide a lot of practice questions in class which is helpful.
Dr. Evans is a big proponent of group work, which takes time away in class for actually learning the material. She rushes through the important information and constantly holds class late due to her own lack of time management. You have to put in a lot of effort outside of class to understand and learn the material.
This class was fine. I took a lot of Bio in high school so I can't speak to the difficulty. What I didn't like was the class setup - it's a flipped classroom and you HAVE GROUPS IN A 400 PERSON CLASS. This seems to be common to BIO101 at UNC, so I don't think avoiding Evans will help. That said, she's accessible and the lectures were alright.
Dr. Evans loves group work and you will find yourself rarely getting factual, correct information from her lectures. Over 3/4 of every class period is spent pondering random topics in your groups and not actually learning. Her lectures are not productive.
Her lectures go along with the material, and when others say "group work" they mean that you have assigned seating next to one another just to discuss concepts a couple of times per lecture. There were 3 times where we wrote stuff down and turned it in, but they aren't like "group projects." Lectures were easy to understand. But the TESTS SUCK!!
Maura Evans is not a good professor. She does not give good lectures and her powerpoint do not give good info. The class is entirely group work and there is not time left to learn the necessary material.
Most condescending professor I've ever had - speaks as if everyone is kindergarteners. Yet, when someone asks a question she never answers it directly. Not a good conveyer of information. If you can take another professor
Evans is a decent lecturer and pretty good in office hours. However, the class best for those who are more self-taught. Don't expect her lectures to provide everything you need to know. Tests can also seem intentionally deceiving, but that's pretty typical for this class.
She talks in a way that makes you feel like you're in kindergarten, but her lectures are helpful for exams. Easy class to skip if you have a friend who can do your Learning Catalytics for you. Hard class. Only take it if you have to.
She's a sweet lady but her teaching style didn't work for me. We would spend so much time covering the easiest topics, and then skim over really tricky concepts that I needed more time to understand. Definitely taught myself the whole class out of the text book.
Evans was a pretty good professor - the way bio is set up isn't conducive to her teaching style. If you are proactive about reading the notes/studying, and then come to class and use her presentation practice problems/info, you will be fine. She often uses repeat questions from previous tests so study those. However, she was kinda unorganized.
Dr. Evans is a very caring woman and is very knowledgable about the course material. I just found it hard to pay attention in class because she doesn't actually lecture. You're put in groups and she puts questions up on the board to discuss (which really sucks if you're not a biology major and neither are your group members.)
She's alright. Just read the textbook outside of class and do her practice exams. Lecture's useless but just go and work on other stuff while ur there. Undergrad TAs are helpful if she doesn't answer questions quite well. I appreciate that she took the time to be SafeZone trained and is inclusive of LGBT people, main reason why I rate her as okay
Do you know when you think you are familiar with the material & then you take the test and are hit with that "is it A, B, C, A &B, A&C, B&C, all of the above, none of the above" stuff and you all of a sudden are unsure? Well that is every question on every test. She also focuses on only real-world applications instead of test info. Boring lecturer.
Evans will spend 95% of class time putting you in groups with students just as confused as you to discuss questions that arent even on the test. Tests are extremely hard no matter how hard you study you will definitely be confused. I definitely cried every other day in this class. I still have nightmares.
Tests were predominantly based off of lecture. However, some questions seemed to come out of left field and required a much deeper understanding than she provided in lecture.
An excellent lecturer who really cares about her students. Very energetic and good with questions. The class itself is tough (exams are pretty rough) but she made it bearable. Average amount of homework, some group/individual LC and busywork in lecture, and then the exams basically dictate your grade.
Awful. Unfortunately, unless you're willing to stay over the summer to take BIOL201, you're stuck with Evans. By far the most condescending professor at UNC, talks to students like we're in kindergarten, only to destroy your well being on the exams. Go to class, do the readings, and practice exams. May the odds ever be in your favor!!!
Contrary to popular belief, Mara is a very caring professor who wants you to succeed- something which is very possible! Listen to her advice about attending mentoring session and be attentive in class and you will do well! 201 isn't easy, but she makes it doable.
The lectures are long and aren't organized in a great way. There is an excessive amount of homework for a 101 class. Be prepared to answer 60-80 graded questions in a week as well as filling out multiple pages of notes
You can tell Dr. Evans really, really cares about her students. She always answers emails. However, her exams are very difficult, especially with addition of FRQs, and lectures only scrape the surface of material. Would recommend Tu/Th Bio class over MWF because (since more time) our tests have double the questions so less weight on each one.
Professor Evans makes BIO 101 exciting! However, a lot of her exams are really difficult. Also, attendance is mandatory unless you want to fail. Look over the study guides, GRQs, and lecture outlines to get a good grade! Also, it wouldn't hurt to look at the other bio professors stuff too *hint hint* She really does try and make bio interesting.
Dr. Evans is cheerful and extremely nice and her lectures are clear. She encourages working with peers and her tests are straightforward but a little tough. She has a team of students that work with her, so get help from them the moment you falter. We have textbook readings with quizzes and reading assignments to go with them that are easy tho.
Mara is incredibly energetic and passionate. If you have to take BIOL101 (which is terrible), you might as well go for her. Test averages were a solid C- for the entire class, but Mara Evans at least makes the lectures kinda fun and the peer instructors are helpful. Pretty much a weed out course no matter who you take, but sometimes Mara is funny.
Beware of the first test, it is definitely the hardest. Hated her at first but as I figured out how to succeed in her class she grew on me. make sure to read the chapters before class or else the lectures are extremely unhelpful. SI and PM sessions help a lot! She cares about her students and is passionate about the material. would take her again
Professor Evans is obviously very passionate about Biology. Tests make up 75% of your grade, so you have to do well on them to be able to maintain a passing grade. It is a tough course, and Evans moves very quickly. She does not go over many of the harder concepts during lecture, but rather she sweeps over the surface level concepts. Tough course.
Dr. Evans is not by any means a good professor , she only talks about case studies and never talks about the material. She gives a bunch of time to discuss to classmates and then never explains it. Her slides are a bunch of pictures and then she tells you not to worry about taking notes and to do it after class. She wastes time. Horrible tests
This class has SO much material to learn in such a short amount of time. I had a hard time learning in the lectures because Mara's teaching style didn't blend with my learning style but SI sessions lead by student instructors every week helped me to understand the content. The textbook readings take a LONG time to get through but they're worth it.
I'm going to keep it real with you. I took this class fall 2018. This class is ridiculously stupid. Theres this childish program you have to use and a dumb amount of reading that really just barely prepares you to get a C. The tests itself are awfully worded. study and forget your social life. Evans does try to keep you engaged though.
She spends too much time putting you in groups and she is super stingy in terms of regrade requests. Dr. Evans loves biology, but she is a horrible teacher. Avoid at all costs unless you truly enjoy studying on your own.
Dr. Evans spends too much time assigning seats/groups in a large lecture (it's college...) You are required to read textbook and fill out GRQs which take a very long time. She spends too much on discussion with peers rather than teaching material in lecture. The tests are very long given the time and worded badly so difficult to do well on.
I enjoyed the lectures but the exams are 75% of your grade so you have to work really hard. I liked Mara Evans as a professor and found her lectures to be interesting.
Dr Evans is a really good lecturer and is good at explaining new concepts in several different ways if you dont get it the first time. Shes also really good at handling questions during class. However, the grading on her tests is a bit harsh.
The way this class is set up is ridiculous and is clearly a weed out class. Dr. Evans focuses more on putting us in groups and assigned seats like we are in middle school. Exams are 75% of your grade and the way she writes them make them almost impossible to do well on. The required GRQs are a waste of time and make learning even harder.
(Biol 201)Dr. Evans is probably one of the worst lecturers. Yes, she is enthusiastic, but that doesn't make her a good teacher. This class would be WAY smoother if Dr. Burch taught the whole course. I am not a Bio major, but for those who are, I'd consider changing majors if it means avoiding Dr. Evans , even for a 1/2 semester she was frustrating.
She was really nice and obviously really interested in the subject, even if it is a introductory course. If you go to her office hours she is really helpful. She did put us in groups which is really odd considering its a 300 person class but it was alright.
I did not enjoy the portion of this class with Dr. Evans. She flew through difficult topics, and spent over 30 minutes on easy topics we learned in high school. She was also not willing to answer questions in class and repeatedly used the phrase "for the purposes of this class" as a cop out of answering complex questions.
Poor lecturer, uninteresting material, unnecessarily specific answers required on tests
If you want to struggle an entire semester and speak to 'peer mentors' who aren't sure of what Evans wants either, then this is the class for you. Unnecessary GRQ's and readings. Tests were focused on the weirdly specific things she never spoke about in class. Her expectations go farther than what most first-year students are capable of doing.
Not a fan of Professor Evans and will hopefully never take a class with her again. The amount of work outside of class is a lot and you basically have to teach yourself the material because during lecture she cares more about putting you in groups and talking to your group members. The tests are very wordy and focuses on things not discussed.
i had read this comment by someone before taking the class: 'Dr. Evans is not by any means a good professor .. classmates and then never explains it' and didnt believe it at the time, now that i have taken the class i realized that this sums her up really well. she teaches well but nothing that she teaches is on the exam cuz theyre so different
Do not take any class with Mara Evans. I did not enjoy the second half of the semester with her one bit. The exams are unnecessarily difficult and you are tested on very specific subjects. She doesn't answer questions in class completely and treats her students like children. I cannot stress enough to not take BIOL 201 with her. Save yourself.
dr. evans made me dislike biol 101. Her and the other instructor have standardized biol 101 much like gen chem is so it really does not matter who you take. However, these instructors need to redesign the class. Instructors are somewhat clueless on class expectations and lectures are incredibly surface level yet exams are very tough.
Mrs. Evans might have a good knowledge of biology but her teaching and lecturing style suck. She assigns unnecessary amounts of homework and her exams are completely unrelated to the material that's cover in class. Do not take her class if you're not a bio major.
Dr. Evans is a very caring professor who wants you to succeed if you are willing to try. She has engaging lectures and so many resources available to help everyone do well in the class. One of my favorite professors at UNC I highly recommend her!!
Seems very nice and knowledgable, however teaching style is not efficient or very helpful. Lots of examples in class but no real concrete discussion or lectures on ideas or concepts. Expects us to already feel comfortable with material but hard to know what she expects us to know or not
Solid but not astounding professor and class. Although it can definitely be easy to get turned off to the class early on based on the high school style of managing students, as time passed I found it got much better. Do the GRQs and pay attention and youll do fine.
Dr. Evans is not a bad lecturer, but she expects students to justify their understanding of concepts in the same manner she does. The ability to be succinct is valuable in science, but Dr. Evans expects students to over-explain answers. She runs her section of the course like a high school class. Over-explain every test answer and you'll be fine.
Personally did not enjoy the overemphasis on "active learning" in the class. You will hear the phrase "make sure to answer X yourself first so you don't trick yourself into thinking you knew it already!"... I know I don't know things... it's your job to teach them to me... Anyway answer the learning objs to study for exams, it helps.
Her lectures really aren't so bad but her tests are specific and are nothing like the Pearson assignments or the GRQ's.
Mara Evans is an atrociously bad teacher. She treats her students like children as she puts them in groups and spends 5-10 minutes making them discuss questions that you can answer in 30 seconds. Class is just review of the work that was due the night before. Her tests are hard to study for as they are on vague topics and her TA's can't even help
Had high hopes but Dr Evan's seems to pride herself on the fact that her class is difficult and that students struggle. She makes the exams unrealistically specific and partial credit isn't common. Be prepared to read every page of the textbook and never miss a lecture, and still do poorly on the exam. Or just don't take this class
Dr. Evans teaching style resembles that of a high school classroom. She makes you work in groups during class which takes up large amounts of time. She covers difficult concepts at a very basic level but expects you to just know the broader scope of the same topic on the exam with no practice. Besides her teaching, shes nice and knowledgeable
I have never written a rate my professor but Mara Evans really pushed me over the edge. Bio 201 is already set up to make you fail with ridiculously difficult pre lecture quizzes and learning catalytic FOR CREDIT but Dr. Evans makes it 10000% worse. Lectures were okay, but her exams are super vague and she is rude if you want to contest anything.
Honestly a good professor. She gets a lot of hate because she often teaches weed out classes, but her lectures are straightforward and the tests do challenge you to apply a bit more critically, but shes a fair teacher.
Dr. Evans is super nice and passionate about the subject, I'm just not a huge fan of her teaching style. She spends a lot of time having us work in assigned groups that doesn't really help us learn the concepts, I wish she lectured and explained more. You kind of have to figure everything out yourself and the questions on the tests are challenging.
Professor Evans is nice and fair. She expresses her idea clearly and is always ready to help. Many students don't like her just because BIOL101 is tough. Truely the workload is a bit heavier than other classes. But as long as you don't skip the lecture and pay attention, you can survive!
Professor Evans is a perfectly average teacher. She never pretends that 101 will be easy, and provides plenty of help via peer mentor sessions and office hours. Despite the heavy reliance on tests, she grades fairly. So long as you take an active role in your learning and don't passively take the class, there's nothing to worry about.
Mara Evans is reasonable and fair. Bio 101 is a difficult and labor-intensive course, but it's not unreasonable and Dr. Evans provides a great deal of outside resources and is accessible during office hours. Her tests are difficult and little bit tricky, but once you get used them, they're not bad, and she drops the lowest exam grade.
Prof. Evans is nice, but not very effective. She puts you in groups and makes you spend long amounts of time discussing questions that can be answered very quickly. Class is usually a very basic review of work that was due the night before, and then exam questions are way more specific. If you spend a lot of time outside of class you can do ok
Super helpful outside of class if you book her online.
Lectures are not boring and she tries to make them fun at times. You're given much homework and reading, but that's expected for a biology intro course. She's fair when grading, she will take off a whole question from being graded if she sees so many people getting it wrong. The group work in class actually helps if you have the right group.
Prof Evans is a good biology teacher, however, you HAVE to do your daily readings and her guided reading questions to do well in the class. Keeping up with all of them, going to 1 review session a week, and studying with a few friends is the key to an A. Also, you must go to every class because there is an attendance grade through sakai for it.
As a senior bio major, I waited to take BIOL 201 for my last semester because it is not a class of interest to me. Unfortunately this is required for all bio majors, so I was already salty coming into this class. You can tell sees a BIOL 101 professor bc her class is filled with unnecessary busy work, unclear directions, and little room for grace.
Dr. Evans is a great professor! BIOL 101 is inherently awful so she gets a bad rap, but it's obvious she really cares about her students, and her enthusiasm for ecology makes BIOL 201 far more enjoyable. Her tests are very specific, but everything you need to know is in the in-class practice questions and SI slides. Would recommend taking her!
Mara Evans was extremely unclear about tests both for studying & the wording of the tests, she wasted class time with group work & then posted videos for us to learn material on our own time, & spent class covering basic information instead of more difficult subjects. It has been 5 weeks & we haven't gotten back the 2nd exam. Overall the worst.
Dr. Evans is a pretty good professor with engaging lectures. She's always prepared and typically on-schedule with grading and assignments which I greatly appreciate. However, her test questions are stupidly confusing and wordy (and she's evasive in clarifying them), so it feels like you can tank her exams even if you understand the material.
If you do the work you will do well. The tests are very straight forward. Lectures are boring and focused on answering questions with partners.
Dr. Evans is a good lecturer, but her tests do not align at all with what is being taught in class. Her reading quizzes (which count for a chunk of your grade) also do not align with the actual reading. When asking her questions, she avoids tangible justification. A nice person, loves giving career advice, but avoid overall as a teacher.
Avoid if you can. She's a very nice person a cares a lot about the material she teaches but cannot convey that to students. Lots of reading quizzes that don't line up with readings.
Evans is a good lecturer but the exams were the definition of unfair. You might understand the material perfectly but flunk the exam. She is so rude if you try to explain your reasoning (on one exam she actually deducted points when I tried). She expects people to worship the ground she walks on and won't offer real solutions if you need help.
She's fine. Very responsive to students, which is nice. However, her test questions are misleading, and asking for clarification doesn't really help. Even if you understand the material and follow along in lecture, you probably won't do well on the tests. She clearly enjoys what she teaches, but her methods for testing understanding are sub-par.
I've taken two biology classes with Evans and both were unpleasant experiences. It seems like no matter how well you think you understand the content, her tests will make you question everything. Studying, preclass HW, and recitations never pay off when it comes to the exam. It's as if her questions are meant to be as confusing as possible.
She was a caring person but horrible lecturer. She would read straight off of the powerpoints and the digital textbook was no help. Would literally be so lost with no direction.
Dr. Evans isn't too bad but her lectures can be dry. She's an okay professor but I feel like her teaching style wasn't that effective. Her tests are kind of hard but if you consistently work hard and put in the effort, you should be okay.
Bio 101 is hard as it is at UNC. Evans is about as average of a professor as you can have. She did round my B- up to a B which is why I'm giving her a decent rating. However, you can't really win with any Bio professor at UNC.
She gives no partial credit. If your short answers are not using her preferred vocabulary (which you can never predict what she wants) you will receive no credit. She's a nice person, but wasn't particularly understanding of the online learning transition. She's good with communicating though. Also exams are only 25 questions so easy to fail.
Dr. Evans is super sweet and very approachable; however, when it comes to partial credit and grading, it is rather easy to get tripped up. The transition to online was hard and the tests followed suit. As an in-person class though, I think this was a phenomenal class! Group work is required, but it definitely isn't stressful.
Had her for BIOL 101,201, and 464 (during summer session I, 2020). Definitely like her better in upper-level ecology class.
Honestly she seems like a good person, cares for her student and very approachable, she is considerate and so nice, and she makes you work hard for your grade and if you ask for help she is willing to help you out figure a way to study and get better grades.
every time a test comes around, its somewhat a surprise. ALWAYS GOES OVER TIME with lecture... so annoying. doesn't care at all about students mental health nor that we are online or in tough times... def my least favorite class and will probably have to pass/fail it... Im rly not impressed at all...
This class is time-consuming (10 hours a week including class time) but is expected that given it being a BIOL class. She's very nice and wants her student to succeed. As long as you take the time to read the book before class, take good notes, and study, you will do fine. Her exams are application-based but if you study you will do well.
I can't even describe how HARD I worked for this class. I tried every single study method there was to try and pass (I didn't). It was NEVER enough. She refuses to drop anything other than 10 quiz grades that are worth a total of 8% of your grade while the exams are worth 72% of your entire grade. Do not take her. Not helpful and during a PANDEMIC!
I was nervous about biology online but Evans helps you think through concepts and gets to the point. We watch lectures and follow alone on course outlines (asynchronous). You are required to read the textbook but its not bad at all. She also does a weekly update to help students keep up. If you are doing online bio she is a good choice.
Dr. Evans is an effective lecturer and a good teacher. Her passion is obvious and she is always open to discuss anything, whether it be related to BIOL, research, academics, life in general. BIOL 201 is relatively easy if you put in a bit of studying! BIOL 201 also has TAs and peer mentors who are more than happy to help you!
1 synchronous (recording posted later) and 2 asynchronous lectures per week; 4 midterms and many quizzes. Workload was manageable. Dr. Evans is a good lecturer and is super patient to explain concepts, as well as discussing research, biology, and life in general if you go to her office hours. Overall I liked this class and learned a lot.
BIology 201 was tough with Prof. Evans. There was not a lot they could do better just because of the online format, which made STEM classes that much harder.
Dr. Evans is a very kind person and she was extremely understanding about missing work or doing assignments late while classes are online. That being said, the exams in the class were SO hard and I had to request multiple regrades for every exam for my answers being marked wrong when they matched the key perfectly, even when she graded them.
I love Professor Evans as a person. She is very nice and understanding. That being said, her class was very hard for me. There were many resources that helped students though. Overall it was an okay experience.
Hardest class I've ever taken (and I have taken many upper level classes). Even if you study profusely and do all the assignments it's 100% possible to fail as the grade is mostly based on tests. Test questions are confusing and ambiguous. She offers little partial credit on tests. She is condescending and tells you to just study harder. Avoid!!
Bio 201 is a lot of work, but Dr. Evans was really kind and usually easy to follow. Being online, it was well organized. Her portions of the class were typically more straightforward than the evolution portion with Dr. Burch. Tests can be tricky and the grade is mostly determined by tests, but there are four midterms which gives more wiggle room.
Dr. Evans truly cares about whether her students are learning and understanding the material, and is kind when asked questions. The class has tough concepts, but they were taught in depth in multiple ways to make them easy to understand. The midterms and finals were very fair. Overall it was a great course!
Dr. Evans' class was the most well-organized of all my online courses this semester, and assignment breakdown was clear and reasonable. She made an effort to connect course topics to real-world events, which kept the class interesting. She was also very encouraging to students both in and outside of class.
Mara Evans would be otherwise forgettable if her class wasn't so hard. Lectures were boring and completely unrelated to the tests, homework was extremely intensive and daily (based on the textbook), and the tests were very, very difficult. Dr. Evans herself is unapproachable, annoying, and doesn't seem to care that much about students' feedback.
Dr. Evans is great for ecology. Exam covers mostly stuff from lecture. Very organized course structure and accommodating with covid semester. She's nice and provide lots of opportunities for understanding the material.
Dr. Evans was very accomodating during COVID-allowed late submissions on HW and quizzes for full credit. Biology is honestly just a tough subject and you will have to put in a lot of work to get an A. Tests are fair and are applications of what you learn in lectures and readings, and if you study effectively, you CAN do well.
Don't get me wrong, this class is insanely boring, but it was by no means hard. Tests are reflective of material covered in lectures, so there are no surprises with her. The textbook she uses is annoying, but it does help. My only complaint is that she talks to students like we are in elementary school but other than that she is great.
I found Dr. Evans to be really caring. She gave me some really generous accommodations due to the pandemic and personal extenuating factors. If you communicate with her (respectfully), she's empathetic. 201 is a difficult class, but my grade also reflects a lack of effort on my part :D You'll be fine if you work hard!
The professor is great but the class? A lot harder. Prepare to have homework every other day. Though, Dr. Evans is almost always understanding and will give extensions!
Dr. Evans was great for the ecology portion of this course. She was very organized which really helped since the course was fully online. Tests make up most of the final course grade and test material comes from lecture content.
Dr. Evans is a great person and wants what's best for her students. Although, sometimes it would feel as though she were talking to children, though not in a demeaning way. The tests were fair and homework, while a lot, wasn't too difficult. Would highly recommend her!
I love Dr. Evans! She's really good at helping students understand the material and her tests are pretty fair. She made lectures interesting and she cared about our success which is rare. Highly recommend (just don't take it with Willet). If you do what she suggests (reading before class, taking notes during, and PM sessions after) you'll be ok.
The class itself was challenging but Dr. Evans is so kind and really wants everyone to understand the material
Poor lectures. Poor powerpoints. Teaches very little and teaches like it is a middle school class. Tests don't reflect her simplicity. You MUST read and study outside of class. PLEASE DO!
This lady is the epitome of passive-aggressive and lacks communication. Whenever I asked a question in our forum, she would read over them and answer someone else' (multiple occasions). She is very smart and passionate in the field of biology however, her tests and lectures can sometimes be ambiguous, and she goes through it very quickly.
Terrible lecturer, she only covers half of the learning objectives in class and you're expected to do the rest yourself. If you ask her any questions, she tells you to redirect them to Piazza where other students attempt to answer it (she rarely does herself). My grade was saved when Burch took over.
The grading policies for this class were quite unreasonable after coming back to in person for the first time in over a year. Evans claimed to make accommodations and fair grading policies though coming up short. The world, life itself has not been the same since Covid. Times have changed in the past year and so should the grading policies.
Don't take biol201 w Prof Evans. She is so passive aggressive and doesn't cover half of the information that we are tested on. She acts like she cares but isn't very understanding with grades when it comes to just coming back to in person classes after covid.
This is my second class with this professor and it is by force not choice since she is the one to always teach this class, and I avoided it until I couldn't. Dr. Evans has very unclear expectations and unclear grading criteria. She does not cover all the material she tests on, and she does a terrible job at fulfilling the learning objectives.
The tests were a bit more complicated than Burch however she is equally dismissive. Where Burch is slow and monotoned, Evans is so fast you can't write all the information down. Not my favorite but it was a fine class.
The professor has unclear expectations and does not take grading feedback well when students express concern about ambiguity in test questions. Unresponsive on piazza. I don't understand why she is the only option for this class. She does not cover all the learning objectives on which the tests are based. Very unclear and unhelpful lectures.
Dr. Evans is passionate about ecology but her lectures are hard to follow with the provided outlines. Felt like there were limited resources for people who needed help. The content in the class is not hard but the short answer questions make it difficult to do well on the tests. Would not recommend for incoming transfer students.
Prof Evans talked to us like we were children, very robotic, and lectures annoyingly hard to follow. Lecture outlines are never in order and she simply doesn't care. Very hard to sit there and listen to her, feels like I am in elementary school again. Her tests weren't awful, but content is pretty boring.
Just don't take Dr Evans. She seems like a wonderful person in general, but everything about this class was so whackexams were so few questions and so much of your grade that missing just 2 questions on an exam could cost you a letter grade. I have had success in other 200 level bio classes here, but for some reason 201 managed to be the hardest.
BIOL 201 is structured the exact same way as other 200 level BIOL courses at UNC (lots of readings and hard exams). I thought Dr. Evans' class was great. Exams are similar to practice exams and reflect the learning objectives she provides. Ecology is boring for many, but I personally find it really interesting so maybe my opinion is biased.
While nice and approachable, her lectures are annoyingly hard to follow in relation to the notes outlines she gives us. Homework is manageable, but feels tedious. Her test questions are either oddly vague or incredibly specific. For this sem, tests were timed on gradescope and open note/open book.
Dr. Evans is very passionate about the material in this course. Her lectures were clear and exams were pretty in line with what was emphasized in class.
She's not a good lecturer. She's very boring and not very clear.
Hate this class so much. We have quizzes everyday before lecture and they suck! You're expected to know everything before coming to class, so if that's the case attendance shouldn't be required, but no, it is. What the hell do they teach if they want us to already know everything by teaching ourselves by reading 80 pages before coming to class.
If you want a good grade, use the book and your notes for online homework and quizzes. Take your time if you can so you can ace them. Attend every lecture for participation points. Go to a peer mentoring session weekly. Use all the resources posted to sakai. Follow the Learning Objectives. You get a front and back exam cheat sheet for each exam!
Focuses on irrelevant topics and you are tested on things that you don't learn in class. You're not given strict rubric for written response questions and if you don't use specific words you won't get full credit. It's as if they want to make an easy class, hard. Or they just don't know how to teach and if that's the case, they should leave.
Gives good lectures, but the tests have nothing to do with the lecture material. grades written response VERY harshly, even missing a word or two will cause you to get the whole question wrong. likes to give trick questions on exams to trip you up.
Disorganized, and the lectures are not interesting. I was personally told that I could get a study sheet I made for an exam back, but was denied when I asked a week later. Her reasoning was "it would be too difficult to look through a stack of papers". Ultimately, if you have to take her section, you'll be fine, but try not to.
Dr Evans is great and she's really passionate about biology. There's a lot of work and the tests aren't easy but that's on the department, not her. She gives lots of opportunities for you to learn the material. One thing I'm not a fan of is whenever you send her an email she says "go post it on the forum" instead of answering your question.
Evans is mediocre at best at teaching but writes ridiculous exam questions that are vague and unclear. She is incredibly unaccommodating and has been rude this semester. Biol201 should not be hard but Evans and Visions make it so due to their poor teaching and unfair exams- a senior bio major who has always gotten As in unc bio classes prior.
She means well but her tests are confusing and out of 25 points so there is no room for error. She is a good lecturer but the grading policies in this class mean you have to be an amazing test taker to leave with a grade better than a B.
I honestly feel like professor Evans' rating is improperly impacted by the rating of Dr. Todd Vision, who she co-taught this course with. She dedicates time to her lesson outlines, Sakai structures, and makes sure that she has everything ready for students well in advance. Make sure to read and go to lecture to do well on her exams.
Evans is so significantly better than vision, she genuinely cared about the students, but this class is extremely difficult. The tests are vague, the homework are hard, the reading is long, but hey it's an intro biology class. However, she tries her best to make her students understand and give participation opportunities.
Evans deserves more credit for being a decent lecturer. However, she is unaccommodating & bad at answering follow-up questions. Her 25-point exams often have vague, poorly-worded questions, but if you politely email her to ask for clarification or explain why a question was misleading, she is not open to changing anything nor criticism of any kind.
I love Dr. Evans! she is actually the best professor I've ever had. She thanks you every day for coming to class and putting in work.
Dr. Evans cares about her students a lot, she let us have a note sheet for every exam, including the final exam. Lectures were useful, but I personally believe the homework best prepares you for an exam. I believe the pace was pretty steady and easy to handle. Tests could be confusing but were mainly straight forward if you knew the material.
She's really sweet but the class sucks. However, I also took the class when it was co-taught with Todd Vision so maybe that had something to do with it.
Wasn't able to present information in a clear way. Most of my learning in this course was in recitation or on my own.
Dr. Evans was very kind and arguably one of the professors who respected students and students' dedication the most that I've ever had. That being said, 201 is unreasonably difficult to do well in compared to the other core biology courses. Also, if co-taught with Vision, she cannot make up for his shortcomings, dont take.
She was generally very thorough about her expectations for the course. She respects her students. Not only did she teach biology, she taught study skills and college skills. Make sure to know the learning objective for the exams!
Dr. Evans was such a good professor. She give us plenty of practice before exams and you can tell that she put thought into how to allow her students to succeed. You did need to read before the lecture and the guided reading questions really helped. Her test were straight forward and followed the lesson objectives.
I wasn't the best with attending or engaging in class, because I felt like you can easily learn the material from doing homework and attending peer mentor sessions. However, Prof Evans is caring and had more lenience than most, allowing a note sheet for every exam and allowing extensions for a few assignments. Good choice for BIOL101 overall!
Had incorrect, outdated study guides and her clarifications were extremely vague, which almost screwed me on the final. Everything else was okayish though.
Professor Evans seemed like a very caring person. Her class was hard, but never unreasonable. Most students seemed to prefer her to her co-teacher, who gave much faster-paced lectures. I thought this class was challenging but worth it.
Compared to Dr. Vision, Dr. Evans is a fabulous lecturer. She adds practice questions relevant to the exam, and speaks with vivacity and passion. She is quite engaging, and super approachable to boot. The ecology tests are still a little tricky, but do the readings and LOOK AT THE PEER INSTRUCTOR SLIDES and you will do well.
Truly one of my favorite professors EVER! Dr. Evans made BIOL 201 such an enjoyable experience, and she alone made this class worthwhile (with NO help from Dr. Vision). She was enthusiastic about the material and made me feel so cared about. I think all professors should aspire to teach like Dr. Evans, so try to take a class with her if you can!!!
Flipped classroom was not for me. I felt like a lot of my time both in class and at home was wasted for this class. Did not enjoy at all. On the other hand, it was very easy and well organized. Did not take AP Bio and barely studied but still got an A. Dr. Evans is very nice and has great intentions and very clear expectations and grading.
Mara Evans is very nice and tries to help all her students. The midterms and test very quite tricky, but not impossible. There is a heavy workload, but if you manage your time while completing the homework, it should not be impossible to get done.
Dr. Evans genuinely cares about her students' well-being. Assignments are not considered late until the unit test. She works to not give us HW over the breaks. She is accommodating. She listens to feedback (shortening homework, pushing back deadlines, etc.). And she has given me the best career advice. I highly recommend going to her office hours!
Dr. Evans is, most importantly, a kind and intelligent person who cares about her students. She is responsive to emails and can address any questions that pop up in class. For BIOL 104, the content is very easy if you have any background in environmental science. Tests are intuitive but the TA-prepared review slides are essential.
She was very kind and helpful. The lectures were interesting and the homework is really easy. The tests are multiple choice and short answers. I am a bad test taker, but my test grades weren't too bad and they offer regrade requests (be careful about these because they can also lower your score)
Dr. Evans is really inspiring and wants you to succeed.
Dr. Evans is honestly really nice. I had her for Bio101 and have had two good experiences with her, now. For example, I only made 70s on the tests I took with Dr. Burch teaching the class. and made a 93 when the material switched to Dr. Evans. Her lecture style is more interactive and she explains the material way better. Take her if you can.
Throughout the entire portion of her teaching BIOL 201, it was very evident that Dr. Evan's cares for her students. She is extremely patient and accommodating, which was refreshing being a STEM student. Class is straight forward and not difficult. Just go to class, do the homework, and study for the tests. Pay attention to the learning objectives.
Dr. Evans is a very good, engaging lecturer. She is nice and seems to care about your success. Exams are fairly written.
Dr. Evans is one of the most caring professors I have met. She cares about her students and listens to them and encourages feedback. The lectures were interesting but were difficult to follow if you didn't do the pre-class readings. the PM's were very helpful and with hosting weekly zoom sessions. The exams were difficult, but manageable.
Evans specializes in talking while simultaneously conveying little meaningful information. Tests are designed to coalesce students into the high C/low B range at the expense of A students. Missing just one vaguely worded MCQ is enough to drop you half a letter grade. Quizzes sabotage course grade instead of help. Acts nice but is aloof in person.
Dr. Evans seems like she genuinely cares about getting students to learn. Her lectures are engaging and easy to follow, even if you don't care too much for ecology. You'll do fine if you study for tests from lecture recordings - most other grades are attendance based.
The ecology half of 201 is pretty engaging with Prof Evans even if you aren't that interested in the material. Lecture content is easy to follow with the outline provided and exams are straightforward and align with content covered in class. Make sure to attend class (in person or watch lecture videos) and pay attention and you should do fine!
Do not take 201 if you don't have to. Pretends she cares and doesn't, not accessible, and graded by little things. Is patronizing when asking questions, doesn't reply to emails. Not a good look
Dr. Evans gave interesting lectures and encouraged students to work together in class. She even took an extra day to work with students on a super difficult subject, which was super helpful! As long as you do the GRQs and quizzes before class, you'll be fine, but you can also go to the Peer Mentor sessions for help (they're like mini-lectures).
Dr. Evans definitely tried to be caring but there were several aggravating things about her class. Be prepared for quizzes all the time, readings in a textbook that waste your time, and really poorly written test questions. She can be very patronizing. Also slow grader (2 weeks for a test for a class of 20) Would take again but not happily.
Dr. Evans has been possibly the worst teacher I have had at UNC. In a 50-minute exam, 12-13 questions were administered, meaning each question was worth 5 points. Missing one question is enough to take you down a whole letter. Also, worst wording for exam questions I have ever seen. Went from good grades w/ willet to terrible with her. AVOID
DO not take this class if you can avoid it. She is one of the most condescending professors and does not understand students perspective. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS I AM WARNING U RN!!!! avoid at all costs.
Obviously Dr. Evans cares about her students, and she makes the ecology part of the course super clear. Exams are not hard, but you want to take time to understand the wording, which can sometimes be ambiguous. The textbook (simutext) is so stupid and time consuming, focus more on the lecture slides then you will be fine.
I think this class was bearable and the subject was interesting, but I disliked the way Dr. Evans led the class. It was extremely discussion-based (not ideal for a STEM class), and it felt like we never really got a clear answer to any of our questions. She didn't answer questions before class, and barely on piazza, and was a little inaccessible.
Dr. Evans' lectures were easy to follow and were applicable to the tests. I thought she was a good lecturer and the discussions worked well with how the ecology section was more conceptual. If you like ecology you'll like her. Tests were tricky. Recitation was meh. Only handwritten cheat sheet allowed and the online hw platform sucked.
I've seen a lot of people saying she's patronizing - I have found the complete opposite to be true. She clearly has genuine care for individuals, and I have found just taking her class to make my time at UNC better. Fair grading and I found lectures to directly relate to the exams. If you understand the slides, you will do well on the exams.
This is the far the easiest biology class I've taken here at UNC and Dr.Evans has made it enjoyable and interactive during lecture. I find myself interested in the topics she's presenting but also not drowning in work due to the light homework load. Tests are easy because you get to have a cheat sheet, just put down everything from lecture.
She was not accessible outside of class. I tried to ask her a yes/no question after class she took the time to explain how I could post that question on Piazza but did not actually answer my question. Her class slides were not helpful, I learned 100% of material from the peer mentor materials. She was passive aggressive and condescending Don't take
104 itself is a very easy class, and the TA's were super helpful during lessons. Evans however treats the class almost like kindergarteners in the way she talks to us during class. Lectures are generally unhelpful and lesson note outlines seemed to be missing all the important info. Granted, exams were easy and very similar to review material.
I don't understand why Dr. Evans's rating is so low on here. She is a great lecturer. She is engaging and always get students to participate actively in class. The homework was a good bit of reading and could take lots of time but helped with content comprehension. Her exams were simple and fairly easy.
Pretty easy class, put minimum effort and still got a B+. Would recommend taking 104 with a different professor, she has very poorly written test questions that aren't clear and lecture was boring
One of my favorite bio professors at UNC. She was extremely caring and passionate about the subject matter, and the tests required minimal studying if you paid attention in lecture.
Dr. Evans is a great professor, and her lectures are interesting! Her tests are very clear cut if you focus on studying what she discusses in lecture. The i-Naturalist project was super fun. I would totally recommend taking Biol 104 with Dr. Evans!
The content of 104 is a lot simpler than other bio classes and Dr. Evans does a good job of teaching material without making it more complicated than it needs to be. The peer instructors are the main contact for assistance, I found that I hardly ever communicated directly with Dr. Evans. However, she was reachable and helpful if needed.
Dr. Evans is probably the best professor I've had so far at UNC. She is kind to each and every student, and she clearly wants everyone to succeed. There are a few quizzes and exams for the class, but if you do the homework and go to lecture, they're all pretty easy.
The content of this class was not very difficult however the way test questions were graded made harder. Free response questions generally only had one right answer and very few points back were given for any answer that did not explicitly include that answer. However, Dr Evans genuinely loves what she teaches which shows in her lectures.
Dr.Evans is for sure caring towards her students and passionate about the subjects. However, the lectures in general are not that helpful, most learning are done by reading the textbook. There's quite some homework to complete after each class. She is generally accessible outside of class, but not really when it is before exams for some reasons.
Dr. Evans had very compact lectures, but she covered a lot of information. She was very understanding when circumstances on campus were tense at the beginning of the semester. She allowed us to use cheat sheets on exams too, which was very helpful. She also responded very quickly to questions on Piazza!
Dr. Evans is a very sweet person and a fair grader. You get participation points from attending class. She does assign readings, but most of her tests come from lectures. However, her lectures aren't always super in depth so I would recommend writing your own notes with stuff she says in class. Her tests can be tricky, but they aren't impossible.
She wants us to succeed and makes it easy to talk to her and do well
If I could recommend one professor at UNC in my short time, I would definitely recommend Dr. Evans. She is extremely caring, and when asked questions, explains in great detail. When met one-on-one she is extremely personable and delightful. 104 was also a very simple class, lectures were extremely thorough, and homework was not extensive.
Dr. Evans is a very kind person who truly cares about what she is teaching. I had her for my first year launch and I have 0 regrets about taking her class. She allows students to sign up for her office hours, granting more individual time, and encourages participation to help ensure student understanding.
The most condescending professor I've ever had. Lectures are boring and don't match up with the blank notes she provides, so you spend half of the class debating whether to write down what she's saying or not. She will call out random people in class for talking and force people who are sitting alone to find a partner to talk to.
Dr. Evans is an AWESOME professor! She made this class so interesting, and she's honestly the best professor I've ever had at UNC. Her lectures and class discussions were always very interesting. I didn't find this class super difficult, and the resources she provides for studying are very helpful! Take Biol 104 with her if you can!
Dr. Evans is great and wants to see you succeed. She offers office hours, but also has super amazing ULA's that make getting help accessible to everyone. The class was fun and gave many chances to participate. Be ready for what seems to be a lot of homework, but it isn't really time-consuming. I highly recommend Dr. Evans for BIOL104.
This class is fine if you're a freshman but if not prepared to be treated like one. Dr. Evans is very condescending and operates her classroom like high school. She is far too concerned about whether or not every single student is on task than about actually teaching. The class isn't hard but the exams often have annoying select all trick questions
Very knowledgeable about the topic, but lectures can be very boring if you are not interested in biodiversity. Tests are lowkey really easy with minimal studying, but don't let that sneak up on you. Lots of things get dropped, which is very nice. Overall really easy class to take that is interesting. Learning catalytics is used.
Mara is a fine lecturer and knows her stuff - this class is more standardized, so the professor matter less, but she is not a bad option for BIO 104.
I was scared after reading professor evans reviews but honestly she exceeded them. The class is very structured and easy to navigate. If you study, the tests are easy. One thing, there is a lot of unneccessary out of class reading and the mastery quizzes suck. Overall would recommend.
Lots of reading and homework. Tests were pretty easy but the lectures were super boring. She also was a little condescending during and class and tests and treated us like elementary schoolers. Not the worst professor but I would rather have done this class with Dr. Claytor.
Mara is a great teacher who really cares about her students. Her lectures can be boring but they are important and you should invest yourself in them. You have to do two assignments per week that contain readings, GRQs, and an online quiz (which is easy if you read). Seems like a lot at first but is definitely manageable. Would recommend.
Class was really easy, but tbh I really disliked Dr. Evans as a professor. Many questions were misleading and points were taken off for things that weren't asked in the question. Puts the facade that she is super nice, which she may be, but the only interactions ive had were very negative.
Key to success in this class: GO TO PEER MENTOR HOURS. Dr Evans is an ok prof but not as nice as she seems. Exam and quiz questions are built to trick you, but not too hard. The class is manageable although GRQs can be a lot at first. For exams just review lectures and lecture notes and DO PRACTICE EXAMS. In terms of bio classes, this class is easy
Dr. Evans is a very nice woman who is very passionate about what she teaches. The class is quite easy, although a bit homework heavy at the beginning. I know people say to take it with Claytor, but I don't see an issue with Evans at all. 3 midterms, lowest of which is dropped, and a final make up 2/3 of the grade, but I though exams were very fair.
She's a great teacher but the class is very test and quiz heavy. Her questions are also worded difficultly but you can tell she really cares and will take your thoughts into consideration. My advice is to attend the peer instruction meetings as soon as you need help.
her tests are really misleading so you think you are prepared but you actually are not because she throws random questions from past content and you don't know. very unclear instructions, assignments/grqs are extremely unorganized, run-on sentences everywhere, shall I go on
Holy cow, do not take a class with her. She wastes so much time in class and is super unorganized. She will post practice exams that are nothing like the real exam, and she will have at least 5 typos per an assignment that sometime change the meaning of the question. Take this class with Claytor, because it is definitely a struggle with Dr. Evans.
her quizzes are tough because you randomly get things wrong, then try to ask about it on ed discussion, get no response, email her, get no response, and never get your points back. shes so unorganized take this class with claytor because you will not hear from her if you have questions. she keeps emphasizing using ed discussion but never responds
Dr. Evans is nice, but her lectures were always super disorganized. Most of the time we would only get about 1/2 of the way through her them before class ended, and she would only go back to finish them on occasion. The practice exams were helpful, but they were way easier than the actual exams we were given. USE YOUR PEER INSTRUCTORS!
Practice tests are way easier than the actual exams. Unorganized, typos or mistakes on HW and tests. Lectures are annoying. Tries to treat the 300 person class like a 30 person class. Kind of condescending without meaning to be. Attend the BioCell meetings if you are struggling, Robin (the younger one) is really helpful with this content.
I hate her just take it with Claytor. Evan's is super unorganized, seems nice but is actually mean, offers regrades but never gives points back, hates being told she's wrong even when she is
Take it with claytor because Evan's is super condescending, doesn't respond to emails, doesn't acknowledge her mistakes, makes the exams much harder than the practice exams, never finishes lectures ,
Would not recommend her honestly but she was the only BIOL104 course instructor available so I had no choice. I hate her exams as well. She is just an average instructor at most so nothing too difficult nor incredibly amazing in anyway.
Dr. Evans is so sweet and 104 is a fairly simple class. Work includes GRQs and lesson quiz due before each lesson, 3 midterms (lowest is dropped), and a semester long iNaturalist project (pretty easy, hardest part is collecting pictures of samples). Accessible outside of class and super friendly to meet with!
This class reminded me a lot of APES in high school. I think she kind of "babies" us in the way she talks and engages, but I did not mind that because this was my easiest class this semester. The preclass quizzes were annoying and I think had mistakes she wouldn't acknowledge. Be able to connect all the main themes of the class and you'll do fine.
Even though we are adults she totally babies her class, she wastes a lot of time, isn't great at replying to emails. Performative in her understanding of the student experience but doesn't actually accommodate much. far to many grqs and assignments are riddled with typos. but the class is very easy, and she teaches good content
Easiest UNC BIO Course. Dr. Evans lays out what you need to know
This class was just fine. The content itself is super easy, I only studied by looking through the lecture slides and performed well on all exams. However, lectures are pretty much useless and she often wastes a LOT of time in class. There is also busy work (GRQs and quizzes) that are kind of useless. But super easy A!
The class content had so much potential because it was actually interesting and the iNaturalist project was very fun. The only problem was that lectures were so boring. If Professor Evans gave the lectures with more enthusiasm and made them more engaging, this class would be a 5/5.
Not hard at all. A lot of busy work, but manageable. Evans is really caring, but treats us like children. Clearly passionate about what she teaches. Lectures can get super boring if you're not interested in the topic. Tests are not hard. If you only read the SimUtext, you'll be fine.
Overall, class wasn't bad and content was pretty easy but the midterms/final was overly confusing for no reason. Always behind on content and seemed to waste a lot of time on unnecessary topics during the lecture and not really what we needed to know. I would recommend Claytor since this class was just harder than it needed to be.
The guided reading questions were annoying, lectures were pretty okay, but those midterms...I hated every single one of them. They tanked my grade. Like chem department, the questions were misleading or hard to understand. She seems like an okay person, friendly and tried to keep us engaged, but beware of the midterms.
She is a good/nice professor but the level of busy work in this class is unbearable at some points. The GRQs are long, the Simutext readings are tedious and take a while, and there is always a pre-lesson quiz. The lectures also become very boring; the content is not difficult, but as a result, they try to make the test harder than it needs to be.
Dr. Evans is a really cool person, and she is a really good teacher. She knows how to get material across, and even though the class sometimes feels a little easy, she does a good job of building up to larger subjects. Expect a good amount of out-of-class work- there were pages of GRQs multiples times a week. Great professor though.
Dr. Evans is a great person outside of lectures and is passionate about biology. However, her lectures are boring, and the amount of busy work this class requires is excessive. The information is not hard to learn and memorize, so she tries to make it difficult. This class is definitely doable, just be prepared to do a lot of busy work.
This is from FA 2025, I wish I didn't take this lecture. The only reason I took it was because there were no other professors during registration. The class has so many GRQs and twisted quizzes which don't help much and practice tests are extremely easy compared to the tougher midterms which trick you. I found the lectures to be boring too.
Prof Evans definitely babies her students but honestly, it was a nice change of pace. She is SO kind and cares about her students. A little quirky and lectures can be boring. The only negatives to this class were the LONG GRQs that I didn't really see the point of and the midterms were semi difficult considering how easy the class topics are.
She's good at teaching the information and makes the tests fairly easy. If you do the homeworks and pay attention in the lectures you will be just fine. She had us do a project throughout the semester that was very hands on and straight forward.
She seems to teach more about HOW to learn rather than WHAT to learn. I'm left bewildered before every exam. The content is fairly simple in class, but the exams are comparatively nonsensically difficult. Overall she's just not very straightforward- just not my preferred learning style.
I loved Dr. Evans. She was so kind and showed she wanted you to succeed in office hours. Her exams can be pretty difficult, she loves a select all that apply question but gives partial credit. There is A LOT of homework and it was hard for me to stay on top of it but as long as you did it, you would get a good grade. one midterm gets dropped.
Dr. Evans is a very nice and understanding professor. You can tell she genuinely cares about all of her students. That being said, the exams were pretty challenging. There are a lot of preclass assignments to do and lecture depends on you already having some understanding through the grqs. But as long as you study for the exams, it should be fine.
Dr. Evans is very nice, and definitely knowledgeable in her field! Even though the tests are a bit confusing, I saw a noticeable improvement in my scores throughout the semester, especially when I specifically reviewed her lecture slides as opposed to the online textbook that she provides. Overall, a manageable class if you put the work in!
Dr. Evans is very kind and her lectures are amazing! Exams are fair and you get to drop your lowest midterm. A lot of your grade is essentially participation. Easiest bio class I've taken.
This class was alright. Professor Evans is mostly nice but she's not very helpful. She makes her tests overly hard for no reason. She's kind of condescending and expects your undivided attention even though her class is pretty boring... I think if I had taken it with professor Claytor I would've gotten an A, take it with him if you can.
My least favorite biology class I have taken at UNC. Her lecture slides were extremely easy but her exams were atrociously difficult. Sometimes the exam median will be in the C/C- territory. Getting an A still isn't hard, but she somehow made biodiversity harder than both genetics and anatomy. Take this class with someone else!
The GRQs are pointless. The content is fairly simple, but the questions on her exams seem like they are made to trip you up rather than test how well you actually know the content. Also, the “guided notes” do not match up to her slides whatsoever.
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