2.7
Quality2.7
Difficulty41%
Would Retake87
Reviews41%
Would Retake
87
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
13
4
16
3
16
2
16
1
26
What Students Say
“Nice lady, but horribly disorganized”
BIO100 - 3.0 rating“This course was very poor”
BIO182 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
68%
Textbook Required
14%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.47 avg changeRatings by Course
BIO201
3.3
(3)BIO181
2.8
(13)BIO100
2.8
(63)BIO182
2.0
(3)BIO112
1.8
(5)Difficulty by Course
BIO182
3.7
BIO112
3.2
BIO181
2.7
BIO201
2.7
BIO100
2.6
Reviews (87)
Lab TA. Goes by Alex. Columbian with a heavy accent (does speak English, but there is that barrier). Weekly quizzes and worksheets. Moves very fast and is confusing. Got help from the ATAs which were much easier to work with. Strongly recommend a different TA for Anatomy.
She is very good teacher and she cares about her students. Although it is foreign, she speaks English very well.
Good Teacher
Nice lady, but horribly disorganized. Reads straight from powerpoints during lecture, which is pointless because she gives you all of the slides online. You literally only have to come to get clicker points. Very unprepared and announced the first exam barely a week before the exam day. Really? :
Very Good Teacher
She reads directly from the slides that she gives you. So I didn't really learn anything from her. I learn and understand most material from going to SI sessions. Tests are all multiple choice and mostly conceptual. The Class is 50mins long, but feels like 2 hrs. Nice lady, just not a fan of her teaching method.
She's nice but she is a terrible professor. Her lectures are so unbelievably long. She posts her powerpoints online, which are very unorganized and hard to understand. The only reason I go to class is for the clicker questions. I would never take her class again.
She reads from the powerpoint every single class. Attendance is mandatory. Her grading system is pretty easy but expect to teach yourself everything.
Very good teacher. Unfortunately, students who do not work and do not study, speak negatively of their teachers without any control. Most of his students, we have a great concept.
His teachings are very clear and precise. Excellent teacher and really helps students to understand and clarify concepts.
A great teacher and person.
Professor Ledesma is a great person that will give you help when you ask, but is not the best professor. Only reads from PowerPoint each lecture, attendance is MANDATORY. Prepare to teach yourself everything from the textbook. I'm a nonmajor with an interest in bio so it was doable. Avoid if you don't have prior high school level biology knowledge.
Teacher is disorganized, most lab papers have downloadable PDF instructions that are not up to date or accurate. Links didn't work on a weekly basis. Professor is un-connected to the class itself, posting 'fixes' to issues her TA's fixed days ago. Honestly it depends on her personal life if she responds timely. Not a hard class just a pain to deal
This class was ridiculous for a lower level. Yes, the labs were included in the class, but they were so tedious, that they should've been a class of their own. Way too many videos would've been nice to have a video to study from. I couldn't use a calculator during the final which completely screwed me. Professor was hardly present in the class.
originally signed up for the class w/ a different prof, got her instead. all the lectures are of the other prof and she's absent the whole time. days late responding to things. labs were tedious and useless. i skipped two of them because of how much work was involved for a 100 level class. still got an A but hated the whole thing.
The class was pretty. There were lots of lecture videos and virtual labs. The professor laid all of the material out for you which was helpful for taking exams. I would take her class again.
Uses Cogbooks to do all the teaching for her. Might as well be getting a degree from Khan Academy, because you'll need this to actually learn anything relevant in this class. This is the first class I've ever taken that I have absolutely no idea what grade I'll get on an exam when I hit the submit button.
This is the second class I've taken from this specific professor and I enjoyed it. The use of CogBooks is lowkey annoying but it's grade is based on completion rather then correct answers. If you want to do well on the Exams then I would actually try in CogBooks. There are some excel assignments that can be fairly easy. I would take another class.
BIO 181 was very enjoyable! All the lectures are recorded by Dr. Capco. Professor Barrera does not get involved with the class unless we have any questions. I definitely recommend BIO 181 if you want to get an easy A. Just do the self check questions and you will get a good grade.
This course was very poor. She doesn't give extra credit and doesn't drop your lowest grade on anything. The exams are mostly T/F, which is frustrating when the exams are worded to trick you. You literally have a 50/50 chance of getting it right even with studying. I was able to pass with an A, but that was with a lot of hard work. 2 out of 10.
While this prof was nice when I emailed her, she was mostly absent in the class. The TAs handled everything. Discussions are on Piazza and are ungraded which is nice. The whole class is on BioBeyond, so there is little to no interaction with anyone else. So, it felt like she wasnt a teacher in this class at all.
Absent from start to finish. Lectures aren't her own (they're David Capco's), there was zero interaction between her and the students, and there was only one good TA that seemed to care about the class (Tracy Davis). Honestly, might as well learn on Khan Academy and find a way to test out if possible (CLEP/DSST). The only redeeming quality: easy A.
So this class uses biobeyond which is programmed poorly. The TAs usually all questions they can and are usually there working on things. She just posts announcements on canvas and thats it so her job perhaps is super easy for this class.
The prof was not really here since its all on biobeyond which is self graded. The software is really bad as its full of bugs and issues. Teacher doesnt really care about student problems. luckily quizlet made biobeyond much easier as it has all the answers. Just follow that and youll pass the course with this careless teacher.
I took BIO112 with her during the Summer 21 semester. While it wasn't the worst class I've taken, the amount of work for a 8 week, 100-level class was ridiculous. Every week we had a short quiz and a lab report. The quizzes were easy since everything was online but the lab reports were tedious to write. If you do the work, you'll easily pass.
All the material is from other profs, or random articles/videos. The lectures arent bad, but the reading is tedious. For the summer session there was a lab, quiz, and yellowdig due every five days. Labs are easy but time consuming and end up being much longer than the 300-600 word suggestion. PLAN AHEAD and youll be fine, the material is easy.
Tests are lockdown browser!!!!!! You have a lot of busy work and the tests are hard in my opinion. She combines all the tests scores at the end of the semester, so you don't really know your real grade until she puts to tests in. She doesn't teacher AT ALL, just reads off slides. Goodluck.
Worst Professor ever.
Literally does not teach at all. I've learned from the TA's more than her teaching. She just reads off the slides and if someone has a question she either turns to the TA's or says "I'll answer that in the next lecture" and she never does lol. Assignments are so random and have nothing to do with what we are supposed to be learning at all.
It's a lot work but it's not hard. For the exams you only need to watch the exam review and go over the cogbooks quizzes, a lot of them are copy paste.
Worst Professor ever. You dont learn anything in the class. Only reads off the slides. She goes through slides so quickly, like 5-10 seconds per slide. You barely learn anything or you can't even take notes. On top of all of these, you don't even know what your grade is still one week before the semester is over. Which sucks. Slow grader.
Teacher isnt really involved but that didnt really matter. As long as you study the practice quizzes you should get an A. Tests are a mixture of T/F, multiple choice and written questions, its also on a lockdown browser ( no cheating :/) No extra credit is available and few assignments besides discussions and lab.
In my opinion, this class has a pretty wide variety of in-depth material considering it is a 100 level class. You learn a lot, but the work load (Cog Books) is pretty tedious. Lucky, this class has a lot of TA's so they can help students out almost at any time. Exams are all multiple choice. I recommend taking it for a science credit.
If you get an 89, expect to receive a B because she has no mercy on any circumstance in your life and there is no B+ or minus in this class.
Terrible class with a boring professor, would not recommend especially if you want to find something interesting to learn about.
Did not help me at all even though I reached out to her multiple times. Lectures are boring and I would not advise taking her class.
Even though I got an A I hated every minute of this class and the professor. Maybe she'll quit so someone who actually doesn't just read off slides will lecture.
Terrible class, definitely take it with another professor if you must. The recitations are a waste of time as well so you might as well skip
Terrible communication between professor and student, wish someone else would teach this course.
She can be difficult to understand and isn't the best at explaining material. The grading system has no - or +, you end up with either an A, B, C, etc. Do the small extra credit opportunities, because your grade might look different at the end of the semester. I had an A all semester until the very last minute when she changed the test weight.
Was not very good with communication. The tests were not very hard if you review the study guide. TONS on online homework, it isn't difficult but it is hard to stay on top of it all.
The class is taught with text heavy slides, so lectures can be hard to pay attention to. The labs were the most entertaining/memorable classes. There was some disconnect between her and the TAs at times. WAY TOO MUCH homework for a 100 lvl class. Didn't know what my grade was until the very end. She offers TONS of extra credit so it made up for it
There are 5 exams total, which is so so many. Tons of homework too, but as long as you start early enough its super easy. Gives loads of extra credit and participation points, makes it easy to get an A. She's a sweet lady, but sort of dull class. Lab classes are fun sometimes, mostly because you make some friends. Generally alright class.
This class was run-of-the-mill: readings & lectures followed by a test at the end of each module. The textbook is not traditional, but is online & interactive, which was nice. The online labs are easy & can be fun, plus you can redo them as many times as needed before the due date! Make sure to participate in discussions & it's an easy A.
Awfully dull, and requires constant affirmative attention. She would explain a subject or ask a question, and ask multiple times if we are present/paying attention. Half the time it appeared she didn't know her notes, notably when there is click-to-show text, the mouse bugs, gets stuck and can't finish a concept. Or she was saying the wrong answers
This is only a difficult class because of the volume and density of material. You can struggle and still get a good grade. The trick is that you have to do all of the work. Online BIO100 does not have much contact with the professor. Work was open from the start and it was just a matter of working through the to-do list.
The lectures & information provided in this course was was excellent. Although the subject is difficult, the exams & homework is directly related to what they discuss in class. If you can pass the self checks, you will get an A in the course! I would 100% recommend taking this course!
BIO100 is completely done on an interactive software. You learn a lot, but you also do a lot of work. I would not necessarily say the teacher contributes to the class, aside from answering any questions or helping students with technical difficulties. However, this class was a very easy A. Make sure to stay ahead to complete all of the work!
If you're not a fan of online lectures, this class isn't for you. I felt like I had a hard time learning in this class. Used capco's video lectures. If you memorize the study guides, you'll pass the exams.
This was by far the worstttt professor I have ever taken at a university!!! she is here clearly for the paycheck only. She doesn't interact hardly ever with the class unless she sends out announcements to the class, or you email her. I emailed her and her vibe was completely off! you can honestly tell whether you didn't pass or not. DO NOT TAKE HER
RUN FOR THE HILLS! she absolutely didn't care one whether you passed or not. The lady didn't' even care to associate herself with you unless you contacted her, or she sent out announcements. I would have had an A in the course, but I am tired of her having to constantly go back over assignments when the TA's for the class mess up. Take someone else
This course was not too bad. Although Professor Barrera is great about providing the class with announcements and updates, she is not very involved in the class. All of the lectures are with a different Professor (Dave Capco) who I found to be really entertaining and easy to understand. DO THE SELF CHECKS because the questions are in the exams.
I took this class for credit, and it was not helpful in the slightest. She would say that Yellowdig assignments had a minimum number of points to receive an A, but she would expect you to max out every week to maintain your grade. Dreamscape learn constantly was down and didn't work and was super childish to use. Overall, not a good time.
Although Professor Barrera was non-existent and had very few interactions with her students, she did a very good job in sending weekly general posts. I had emailed her about the situation I had in work that might have affected me taking my exams and she was very understanding.
Very easy course, as you are mainly graded by the amount of work you do. There is a big load of weekly tasks between the textbook and the virtual lab, but as long as you do it, you will be fine. The main thing is to do well on your end of module tests, but overall an easy course to snag an A.
Her BIO100 class was 50/50. Her TAs do nothing just sit down and look like they are taking this class too. She let her TAs teach the class last 3 weeks of the semester. Her lab and lecture class her problem is she talks fast nobody understands what she was saying the iClicker is the attendance points. Quizzes, exams and the final are very hard.
I personally did not have any issues with the professor. I will say, she really didn't interact with the students much, but I really did enjoy doing the Labs and the Yellowdig forums. It is homework heavy, but as long as you get your stuff done on time, the class is a breeze.
Dr. Ledesma Barrera was incredibly difficult to work with, and she did not care about the success rate of her students.
This woman don't know how to use technology at all. She's don't know how to help her students after class and complaining that we as students don't communicate with her beginning of the semester and she forgets to update her attendance and her TAs most of the time says "talk to her, we can't do anything talk to her". DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS AT ALL!!!
I don't know why this class has so many bad ratings. This was the most straightforward class I've ever taken. The classwork is very forgiving. For example, you can take tests multiple times up until the due date. Classwork is also very fun, you do an interactive dreamscape. I never once felt overwhelmed during this class, very manageable.
I don't know why this professor is catching a lot of negative ratings, this class is so easy. It is done autonomously and all you have to worry about is a weekly quiz and a few virtual labs. It's so easy there isn't even a final. Don't know where the hate is coming from.
Professor Maria knows what she's talking about, the problem is she doesn't teach. Her TAs completely teach recitations, and some of her lectures. It's hard to focus because of the size of the class, but it isn't TOO difficult. Not extremely interesting, and the tests are somewhat difficult.
I don't know why Professor Ledesma has such negative reviews. She was amazing and helped students as long as they reached out to her! Yes, her TA's taught most of the lectures, but even the TA's were amazing. Tests were easy as long as you studied the book questions, and test reviews, the homework was lengthy but easy points for completion.
She teaches mostly of her lectures and recitations but 2 or 3 weeks before semester ends the TAs teach and the TAs don't know how to teach like they are influencers and she uses iClickers for attendance and teach almost 300 students half of them don't go to her lecture or recitation class at all. Exams are difficult which some are cover or not.
Easy A class, cares about her students
Honestly pretty easy coursework, but it can be a lot. Make sure you go to recitations and lectures because she counts those points for participation on iclicker. She gives bonus points towards the end of the semester. Exams are pretty easy, and she has a cumulative final thats optional.
Would absolutely take this class again. AI textbook that asks you questions and gives activities, VR lab. No tests, only quizzes that are easy if you read the material. Chapter quizzes are closed book, but the lab quizzes you can take as many times as you want. An A+ was easy to get with participation.
Easy class. Review the material, complete lab assignments (retake them as much as needed), take quizzes, and weekly yellowdig discussions. All graded and all easy. The lowest two labs are dropped at the end of class. I got an A and would take it again.
Not a good class, poorly instructed, professor is disrespectful to students. Don't recommend.
Somehow, I missed this class during my freshman year so here I am taking it as a sophomore. I never put in full effort and still got an A+, there's tons of extra credit and while there is some busy work, there were no projects (only exams and things like that). Lectures were definitely not intriguing, but honestly it's just high school BIO again.
Was a difficult class for me but others, who were more knowledgable about biology/science in general, seemed to excel. Its definitely lecture heavy and I personally just don't learn like that. Tests questions often didn't even relate to the lectures, to the point where I stopped listening. Get ready to dedicate 5+ days a week to this class.
This was a tough class to enjoy. There was a lot of reading which would have been fine but the reading was the exact same as the mandatory lectures. The lectures had a lot of tech problems which made it hard to hear and less engaging and a lot of them were given by TAs that didn't seem enthusiastic at all.
Great professor who is caring and understanding of her students. really enjoyed this class and she made it very engaging. if you complete the chapter assignments and test review questions thoughtfully, you will do great on exams (they are honestly not too difficult even with minimal studying). would 100% take again!!
Maria was one of the absolute WORST professors I have ever had at ASU. Tons of technical issues, TA's taught half the classes, TONS of reading from a required online textbook (that costs $100) due every week, and heavy use of iClicker, that's for points, NOT participation, so it's pretty much like a pop quiz that you can't study for EVERY class.
Had an A 3 days before grades finalized. Suddenly, my reading was incomplete, bringing me to a C-. Emailed her right away; she said I was an irresponsible student. She threatened it was too late, so I involuntarily sent her videos of my notes proving I read lol. I had all work based on the reading graded highly. Make it make sense?! Don't take her!
Class frequently led by TAs who don't know how to teach and frequently got lost/confused during. Lots of technical issues during lecture. Recitation held no merit unless you don't do the work and you need it explained to you like you're 10. Textbook cost $100 and you have to do the quizzes to earn credit for reading. Uses VR labs.
90% of the grade is participation. You basically have to scan thru the online 'textbook' for completion, and unless you're majoring in bio, only then there is A LOT to learn. Otherwise, just take all tests/labs for 100% participation points. Only thing that actually grades your knowledge are the module exit quizzes. Super easy A
The way this class was weighted was very out of line. Expect to use iClicker in every class and to spend hours on the Cogbook hw. The only thing easy about this class were the VR labs which gave me a headache. The TAs are by far more understanding and personable than the professor. As someone who HAD to take this class,I disliked this class a lot.
The teachers both Maria Ledesma and Emma Kitchen in Bio 100 are great. Tho that being said it is very important to stay on top of it and schedule that dreamlands before the week starts since the spots do fill up and what are dream land well its a VR session lab you will do.
Did not enjoy when she held our lectures, information is presented in an unorganized manner & goes way too fast. It is incredibly frustrating to take tests where it is obvious the writer of the questions is trying to mess you up- I lost more points based on subjective wording than I did on my actual understanding of the material.
Not bad at all if you enjoy biology. A good portion of the grade is participation based so completing module activities in time & paying attention to the material will set you up well. Graded labs & exams are based on course material so no curveballs. Exams are a decent portion of the grade. Prof is as involved as you can be with an online course.
Very strict about late work. The tests are easy enough if you do the online modules and study, and she gives you test reviews beforehand, which is nice. It's an okay class as long as you do the work.
This course was two and a half months long. I had a horrible time, the point of me doing online classes was because it's flexible and that the work was manageable, not saying that online classes should be the easiest classes to take. But this class had me hustling. So much homework due EVERY WEEK. FOUR EXAMS worth 200 EACH.
Lectures she just goes over all the notes that you have to read through. recitation is bouncing off of the vr labs that you have to take. pretty simple class. just show up to recitation and go to all the labs and do bare minimum notes and you'll get an easy A
I overall enjoyed this class! Most lectures were online and not taught by the professor, so you didn't really get to know her, but office hours were very helpful.
Easy but boring class. You'll pretty much never interact with the professor, only the TA's. Lots of busy work and Iclickers for attendance. Lectures are super boring just go for the Iclicker points. Tests are not that hard if you can remember anything from BIO in high school.
She was not great. Very rude when it came to her making mistakes when she was grading and it got called out. Wouldn't take again.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
68%
Textbook Required
14%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.47 avg changeRatings by Course
BIO201
3.3
(3)BIO181
2.8
(13)BIO100
2.8
(63)BIO182
2.0
(3)BIO112
1.8
(5)Difficulty by Course
BIO182
3.7
BIO112
3.2
BIO181
2.7
BIO201
2.7
BIO100
2.6