2.4
Quality4.4
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake114
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
114
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
114 total ratings5
7
4
22
3
26
2
34
1
25
What Students Say
“Very hard, goes fast, talks above your comprehension level”
BIO323 - 4.0 rating“Very hard to understand”
BIO323 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
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BIOLOGY105
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Reviews (113)
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Very hard, goes fast, talks above your comprehension level
Very hard to understand. She's nice, but she cannot teach. Do not recommend taking her class.
She seems very disorganized- she'll skip around and go all over the place in your nots. She doesn't like technology and isn't afraid to admit it... we'll have to see the rest of the semester holds...
I hate her stupid quizzes every week! they are pointless!
Her teaching is like she is teaching to people who are already graduated and starting grad school and be a 1 st year student she is treating them like they are stupid teaching like this.
Too Fast.....
She knows alot about Biology, usually that's a good thing but with Beard it means 3/4 of what you're taught is useless on the test. She is very disorganized and does not know how to clearly answer questions. She also seems to like to ask questions which there are multiple answers. BTW Im an A student and a bio major, AVOID HER LIKE THE PLAGUE!
She is very nice and really does want you to learn. Her problem however is that she knows too much. Her questions on exams are impossible. the average in my class is 52% and became 60% with the curve. She explains things well, but her questions don't represent the notes or the book for that matter. She goes off on meaningless tangents often.
She is very knowledgable when it comes to biology. Her tests are quite difficult. If there is an SI session available, GO TO IT!! It made the exams easier. This is not who you want for a professor to get an easy "A"
She's a great lab teacher. I'm not in her Lecture but I heard it's really difficult. I think she does a great job instructing labs.
She is an excellent Lab professor and a Poor lecture professor. She tries to get students to understand but her exams are extremely hard. Much of the questions are random and are hard. It is definetly a class you have to study ALOT for.
All i have to say is you have to study a lot for her tests they are hard... Use the CD you get with your book lots of those questions are on the exams and go to SI it helps a lot
hardest teacher i have ever heard of teaching this class, had her for the first 3 weeks, got a 60 on her test that i studied over 10hrs for and she doesnt know how to give notes. Transferred to T-bone's (kostman) class and got at 98 96 on the first two exams, so much easier and helpful when teaching, stay clear of her, shes hard as can be
She is the worst lecture teacher i have ever had... her notes are everywhere and then she just expects you to know stuff for the test...our class average is like 64 percent that has to tell you something!
it can be pretty difficult to follow her in lecture. she moves through material very quickly and writes sloppily at times. she will love you if you put forth a little extra effort by attending review sessions and seeing her at office hours. just act like you care and you can pull a decent grade.
Do not take her for BIO 105, take kostmann. Never had to study so much for an exam and then get a 68 (which is already curved). Bad lecturer and gets mad when you ask her to put a transparency back up because she goes so fast. She tries to make you think way too in depth which makes her exams difficult.
LEARNERS BEWARE! She is a horrible teacher. She confused me more then helped me. I read the book word for word, studied hard and attended all lectures and labs and still received a bad grade. She had to curve the class at the end of the semester because the class average was a "D"
Not good
I am not sure why so many people gave her bad ratings, I thought she was an incredable professor. She even went out of her way and worked late to provide special review sessions for each and every test. Maybe her organization skills improved before I took her, I thought her classes flowed very nicely. I wish she taught more classes.
I respect Dr. Beard, and I can tell that she's a very intelligent person, but she just doesn't make a good lecturer. When she talks in class, it seems as if she were talking to someone who has the same level of understanding as she does-and obviously...we don't, or we wouldn't be in this class! Her notes are also very difficult to read at times.
She is terrible, absolutely rude and obnoxious and unhelpful
she would be good for teaching a 300's level class, but she expects you to know everything relating to chemistry, when its very possibe that someone taking this class may only have 2 years of sciences in high school. She also really likes to "teach" in the last 10 minutes of an hour class...and talks about hard concepts in those 10 minutes
She makes you feel stupid if you ask her a question. She expects you to know everything and her quizes are impossible. She will tell you to study whats NOT on it
i think beard is a good teacher.. she knows the stuff that she teaches is difficult but she expects people to put forth effort into learning this stuff and not be babyfed it
she is super intelligent, but she does NOT know how to teach! she expects us all to follow what ever she's saying and her notes are always so random and she skips all over the place with them. the only things i've understood in that class were things i had studied on my own! and yea the tests are VERY hard! I do NOT recommend her!
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Dont take her class!
very hard get out if you can
Please try not to take her the two other teachers I heard are much easier but if you do, do not write what she writes on the over head it will not make sense you have to listen and write and things will make more sense. Go to SI!!!! It will really help. Tests are very detailed and hard.
I had her for lab and she was very very very helpful, but that may be beacuse I had Kallas for lecture. I heard that she is not the best lecture professor, but if you can...take her for lab.
I've taken her class before. The CD that comes w/ the textbook, she takes most of her answers from those quizzes on that CD.
Read the textbook and use the cd! a lot of exam questions are straight from the cd. Boring lectures, not entirely worthwhile to attend. She's very intelligent and seems to forget that this is an introductory course at times (especially when reading the exam questions).
While she's obviously a very intelligent person who really knows what she's talking about, she's just not a good teacher. She does a poor job of explaining things and teaches class as if her students are at the same level she is. If you MUST take her class, be prepared to work very hard.
its easy to get a higher grade if you read the book and use the cd and go to si. its alot of work but in the end you learn alot more. she is very intelligent, intresting to hear about her work experience.
she has spent too much time at a microscope and not enough time working on her people skills
Honestly one of the most confusing teachers I have ever had. She's horrible at explaining anything and everything. She teaches it like the students are all pre-med. If you dont have a chemistry backround, you dont have a chance to do well in this class.
ummmm its called showing up for class, taking notes and also reading the book... like any REAL student should!! lol come on people she is a very intelligent normal basic biology Prof. give her a little credit and up your goals in life a little
She did not go in order and skipped around a lot.
Terrible
Beard knows a lot and expects her students to put forth effort. I think it was a rude awakening for most freshman in the class. It helps to review with the CD and go to SI sessions. Exams are pretty in depth, but I am pretty sure all of ours were curved quite a bit. She is very willing to help and is a super nice lady.
She is a good teacher, but the class was a joke. How does the university expect a person to learn such an in-depth subject in a 200 person pit!? Thats why everything was curved, so people had a chance to pass.
Terrible. I had her for lecture and you'll get the same grade on lab reports whether you spend 2 hours on them or 2 minutes. Expects you to know everything she knows. Teaches stuff in lab that you have yet to learn in lecture.
A lot of the freshmen complained about her being too hard and getting bad grades, but personally I aced the class with normal effort: I went to class and I read the text. Maybe freshmen should wait a semester or two until they're used to college? Otherwise I definitely recommend her.
This professor believes that this Bio 105 course is like a Bio 1000 course. She expects you to know way too much. I didn't go to class and studied on my own because she really doesn't know how to teach. I WAS an straight A student until her. She curves everything, but if she didn't everyone would be failing. Horrible.
She talks very quickly in lecture and doesn't give a lot of time to write down any notes.
tough teacher
She has to be the worst teacher I have ever had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She was a nice professor.
I didn't bother to go to lecture. Read the chapters and use the CD. Far more helpful than she is.
avoid at all cost! I had her and she failed my class... i got one of the highest grades which was a C and that was tough enough to get...and the only reason i got it was because my lab teacher rocked and pretty much gave us A's for lab because she hated beard and didnt want us to fail
She is a very difficult professor but not impossible. She does curve grades at the end so you don't end up with as bad of a grade as you think. If you have questions, ask her! You'll look back on the course and realize it wasn't that bad.
IS very good one on one
She was a very difficult teacher and I admit that her lectures weren't always as useful as they could have been, but she is actually a very nice lady if you talk to her, she truly cares for her students.. the CD was also extremely helpful
she is ok. just carams a lot of stuff into a small amount of time and does not expalin stuff clearly. Moves too fast
Expects far too much from her students. Fliew through the class and does not even slow down when asked to pause. Tests are insanely hard and you even get points marked off when you give the correct answer.I have no problem with hard classes, prefer tehm to BS classes, but this is insane. Take a different teacher, there is always a way.
Moves waaaay to fast in lecture. For a intro biology course she covers too much too fast. Expects you to know every minute detail about everything. I'm sure she would be a great professor for a higher level course but for an intro course it's too much. Take someone easier if you just want your lab science credits.
Try to avoid at all costs, she deff knows her stuff but cant dump it down for ya, she goes about a mile a minute, try and keep up, learn short hand, she'll prolly teach ya. If you have to take her, go to SI's, get help, have her in lab, "buddy up" with her, let her know that your trying and that you care, really helps she might bump your grade up.
this class shouldn't be as hard as she made it. if you missed a small keyword in your essay it was half off basically. goes through everything as fast as possible so you wont get it. the grading was NEVER consistant. on exams where i had no idea what i was talking about, i did good. when i knew what i was saying, i did terrible.so frustrating!
Very hard class. If you ask her for help, she will help.
go to lecture to know what's gonna be on the test then go home and basically teach yourself using the cd. She very frusturating, the way she writes using the overhead. still got an A
This professor should not teach lecture. I am three lectures into the year and I have no clue what is going on. She will give you 10 different definitions for one word and will not explain anything. She expects you to know what she is teaching and she is just refreshing your memory on it. Don't take her
I really don't understand how Beard can teach this class. In all honesty she should not be alloud to teach. She knows that she is talking about, BUT NO ONE else does. this class is horrible, I have never had a teacher this bad in my life. I'm 21 years old.
omg. margaret beard will make you want to shoot something if not yourself. do NOT take her. she doesn't make any sense. if you have no other choice but to take her be prepared to teach yourself everything at home with the book and cd. she shouldn't be allowed to teach...
OMG HORRIBLE professor! Avoid at all costs! Her notes are SO scattered and make no sense..you're better off sitting in lecture taking your own notes out of the book. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
WORST TEACHER EVER DONT TAKE
by far the worst teacher i have ever had. i tried, went to SI sessions, went to every class and still failed. do whatever possible not to have this teacher for any class. she was the reason i had to switch majors because i could not pass her class. do not take her class!
She is a nice lady but gives hard tests!
Sure the class is hard, but what college class isn't, she's a nice lady and knows what she's talking about. she has study review sessions before every lecture and lab exam to answer any questions, extremely helpful!! My advice is to attend class, don't skip you'll be more confused, she does have helpful ways of remembering things.
She's very nice, cares about her students, all u have to do is ask for help and she will help u, has a lot of study sessions out of class, and group extra credit, and sends print outs about chapters.
lectures go fast
first test is hardest, but if you keep attending classes she gets easier to understand. If she goes too fast to understand, just ask her to slow down and she will. she really cares about the students and wants us to learn. overall, i enjoyed her as a teacher.
Very Hard professor. Her emams are hard. She likes to think outside of the box and her question are like she thinks(outside the box). She is helpful though, she is always willing to help. She moves very fast and her writing is hard to understand. If you tried hard you can earn a easy C. Don't skip at all and attend all studying sessions.
Whoever said she does not give extra credit should not be taken seriously because that individual never attended lecture. She gives random extra oppurtunities in the form of a quiz of her version of BINGO. The tests are very tough, but she will help you in any way possible. The SI sessions with J-mac REALLY helped out!
Exams are very hard; but she curves. goes fast and has bad handwriting.
Why these people are being nice beats me. This teacher is nice, but she is ridiculous. her scribbles on the overhead don't make sense once you step out of the room. this is bio 105, not bio 100000, someone should inform her. she makes this class much harder then it should be and gives out ridiculous exams.
Margaret is the world individual I have ever come across! She makes absolutely NO sense, but thinks she's a genius. She scribbles on an overhead with her unreadable handwriting & forgets things quite frequently & therefore attempts to squeeze things into random places. Her exams are ridiculous.. AVOID HER.! She'll make your life miserable.
read, the book, use the CD, go to the tutor, use your friends, use anything and everything to learn anything and everything, she and the book says,get to know her that helps
(for bio112 not bio105)She is a HORRIBLE teacher! She makes you feel dumb when you speak, she thinks only her answers are write, and loves giving out stupid random busy homework like looking up stupid words in the dictionary! AVOID HER!!!
all you have to do is read and study your text book. don't even go to the lectures- it's pretty useless. all you'll do is take notes for an hour on stuff you can learn straight out of the book. i did this and got an A on all the exams
Super hard professor who contradicts herself and goes in circles. Nice person but terrible professor. Exams are super hard and u have no idea what might be on it. DNT TAKE IT!!!
Good luck on the exams. You will want to cry when you are done!
Study the textbook often, go to SI's, take notes on the chapter she is covering before the lecture so you have an idea of what she's talking about. Don't completely ignore her notes but I study more from the book and I have an A. Put a little effort into it, this is college not some joke. This is making your future, don't blow it!
Was a 3.9 gpa student but had to drop the class. Very difficult and if you want a good grade you have to put extreme effort into the course. Topics are interesting, but would not recommend this course for anyone who hasn't had previous biology class, which was my biggest problem. Material skips around so you HAVE to read the text book!
Can not follow her
Grade is dependant upon class participation but she will NOT call on me. She has unreal expectations (expects the students to give presentations on the chapter to the rest of the class with out reading from their notes but only gives each group 20 minutes to prepare). She is not a good teacher (very unorganized) and should be avoided.
I quite honestly have no issue with this teacher. She has an extreme tendency to use shorthand for complex topics so keep a definition key for what her symbols mean. I didn't even buy the textbook, often read a book in class and have studied for a test once for about an hour and am getting a B... but use your own skills as the determining factor.
A terrible professor, a marvelous person. Do not take the class, and if you do, don't bother going to class. Read...and memorize the book.
If you want to enjoy your free time while still learning interesting things about biology, take a different class. You're in the wrong place.
She is very difficult to understand and it is almost useless to go to class or read the book because the exams are IMPOSSIBLE. Regardless of how hard you work do not get too sure of yourself because you can go to the exam thinking you know everything on the topic and she will ask the most difficult questions ever. But she is a nice person.
This is the hardest class i have ever had in my life. You go to class and stare at a braless women in her mid 60's rant about 2 different chapters in random order in one class period. Studying for these exams are impossible bc we 1. can't read what she is writing on the overhead and 2. no matter how hard you study questions blow your mind
Makes the class harder than it should be for an entry level class. Speeds through lectures while writing unreadable notes on overhead sheets, then expects you to know everything by heart for the exams. Reading the text is essential for this class.
had her first semester and was beyond HORRIBLE! I'd study for 30 hours a week for her exams and still not even come close to passing. She is very messy at writing notes down and it is all very confusing. She is a very good lab prof though and is very laid back with grading and deadlines.
beard is plain unforgiveable her notes are incomprehensible same goes for her class. More than likely will fail her course. you have to have a masters in biology to get a A in her class and to understand the material. went to class everyday and took notes. just useless to me. read the book thought i had done decent on my exams, but gave false hope
I really liked her as a teacher, make sure you get to know her outside of class.. it helps. read the book and STUDY. she goes give extra credit and she does curve. It's an extremely hard class but it's college. Get a tutor and go to the SI sessions.. it really helps. Just try and hard and you should do fine.
She is on probation for a reason, her class is difficult, SI did not help at all, her tests are all about real life and do not pertain to material taught you have to think above and beyond avoid with all possibilities, because of her, i switched majors.
Horribly unorganized...Very difficult to follow her notes and you pretty much have to teach yourself because she isn't very helpful at all. Stear clear of having her for 105 if at all possible..it would be worth it to wait a semester for another professor.
I had Dr.Beard for Bio 105 last semester. It was really hard--actually the hardest professor I've had here so far...The notes are really confusing and the tests are practically impossible! She's a nice person and is helpful, but just really confusing. I've heard that she's better for upper level classes though.
So it isnt impossible to pass this class you just have to go to every class, read the book three or four times, and GO TO SI. The only reason i passed with a B plus is because we had an amazing SI teacher. If you can avoid this class but if not be prepared to work because it is not a cake walk, you can get a good grade, if you dont have a life&stud
I went back to college after a number of years off and I had no idea what I was getting into with her. I never went to class and did my own reading and notes outside of class. She said you needed to go to SI to do well. I couldnt go due to having a class at the same time slot. She is VERY smart and expects everyone to be just as smart as she is.
for Healthcare orientation, she was just the worst ever. the class is boring as hell, the exams are random and she didn't even have a completed syllabus at the beginning of the year. this class is required for bio majors i believe, take someone else. this class is a true drag.
Haha my comments were deleted however like i said go to class, dont be lazy, study, read once in awhile, go to si, she curves about 10-15 percent so dont be stuck down by the lazy people, i earned a 108% in the class, its college do work and study. This isnt high school. She cares about her students and will answer questions you have.
She's not as bad as most people think. I struggled in the class until I started working hard. Go to class, read the book, take notes on EVERYTHING and go to the SI if you can. If you can't, go to office hours. She loves teaching and does want people to learn. She will explain anything. You're not going to get an easy A, it's college get used to it.
Definitely a tough class. You can't just read you have to make the connections and really understand the concepts. Her lectures and SI can help do this. Once you get the hang of it its not too bad. Not an impossible course just show up, do the work, and make an effort to understand not just assume its above your head. Good luck!
A really Hard Teacher. She teaches one thing go to next one and then comes back to the one before. Notes are messed up so be ADVISED to be a really good note taker. Definitely not a Professor when your a freshman. You should take a different professor if you're a freshmen, and try to adapt to College. Really not a Professor for Freshmen.
Same person as before. didn't know what was wrong with the rate thing but yea she's both good and bad quality. Her labs are good though. Lecture is the only problems. Get use to college before taking her or you'll end up like me procrastinating. I barely go to her class now. but i still read the book and go to lab. BAD yea i guesss. But LECTURE Suk
She has very difficult exams, but they are passable. Attendance is a must to do well in the class!!! She's a very nice lady, but her teaching in lecture pretty much sucks!
She is definitely not the easiest person to understand. Her notes are difficult to read sometimes and never easy to understand. However you can pass this class you just have to READ THE BOOK. and attend SI sessions if possible. Ask her for help too, she is actually really nice. Good luck!
She is a great Teacher!! She is always willing to help anyone. She give hard Exams, but her lectures are based off the text, but she gives a little more than the book as well!! Lecture is Important..Great teacher..Very Nice Lady
she may not be the easiest teacher,but of you study,you'll do good..i mean i got a solid A in her class,so i can't complain
She was really hard, but does care about students. Study hard and go to SI if you can. I knew the book inside and out and reviewed my exams with her after I took them.Whicd did help in later classes.I would not recommend taking if you are going to have more than 12cr or full time job. Because you do need to know everything. Exams are multi choice.
She is a very hard teacher. But if you go to class and read the book it will make it easier. Very hard class as well
She's a great prof, IF YOU JUST DO THE READING. Kinda cute, too.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.66 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOLOGY105
5.0
(1)BIO105LAB
5.0
(1)BIO110
4.0
(1)323
3.0
(1)BIOLO105
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
BIOLOGY105
5.0
BIOLO101
5.0
PHYS212
5.0
BIO003C
5.0
BIOLO105
5.0