2.5
Quality3.4
Difficulty32%
Would Retake219
Reviews32%
Would Retake
219
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
30
4
31
3
46
2
32
1
80
What Students Say
“I loved my LI, but this class killed any love for lab I had before”
BIO206L - 1.0 rating“My least favorite class at UT by FAR”
BIO206L - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
96%
Textbook Required
8%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.38 avg changeRatings by Course
BIO311D
3.0
(4)BIO311
3.0
(1)BIO204L
3.0
(6)BIO311C
2.7
(12)BIO206L
2.5
(196)Difficulty by Course
BIO311C
4.0
BIO206L
3.4
BIO311
3.0
BIO311D
2.8
BIO204L
2.7
Reviews (219)
she's unorganized. we're always behind. her test questions are awfully worded. i think she's a nice person, but her teaching methods aren't up to par. biology is not a tough subject, but she does not do a good job of presenting the info. it's not a bad class, but it's not that great either -_-
she's a very nice lady, very soft spoken. At times she does not know how to explain something so she will ask you to look it up either online or in the book. Her tests come mostly from her powerpoints online. The course is not easy, but if you study hard, you can pass.
I thought Dr. Maas was awesome! She was really nice and every time before exams she would go over the important things to study which made it a lot easier to make a good grade on the test. The multiple choice on the tests require students to really understand the material, because a lot of the questions are HARD.
Lectures are a joke. "Ask your partner" is her catchphrase b/c she is too lazy to teach material herself- even her pp's are the product of others. Study from pp's or modules for exams, but frankly you are screwed b/c of her awful wording. Short answers are primarily graded on the inclusion of specific words, not understanding of concepts. Bad prof
Horrible teacher. DO NOT TAKE HER!! Her lectures are a joke. She goes through power points that do not help with her tests, you ask her questions and her main response is I'm not sure, I'll have to look it up. She teaches by asking the class questions, yet doesn't repeat the answers once they are said so you can actually know what is being said.
Great teacher! But you have to go to office hours to do well. UT has a course transformation project with BIO 311C, few liked it. Tests are extremely difficult, but if you copy her notes verbatim (I'd recommend bringing a computer to copy notes faster) you should at least make a B. Most that got an A were gifted or literally spent weekends studyin
Dr. Maas is a nice lady but she should not be a professor. Her lectures are all off random power points. She tries to keep the class interesting with "case studies" but they are usually not helpful and she makes you "do them with the people around you". Unless you memorize the textbook you will probably end up with a C or B.
This professor is wonderful. All you need to do is pay attention during class, take good notes and you will be able to pass her class. The tests are questions drawn from lectures and they are never impossible. Her lectures are simple and straight to the point and she will make sure she takes her time until everyone understands the material.
Very mediocre. Claims she doesn't use the textbook but she definitely tests out of it. Lectures are very simple, tests are more difficult. Not the worst or best teacher
She talks like a mommy. Class is pretty easy, but she gives frequent quizzes to try to control your life and force you not to procrastinate on the material. Frequently writes incoherent quiz/test/homework questions. Fairly easy course though, and she's nice enough.
Dr. Maas is flat out incompetent. The class isn't hard, she is just not a good professor and is not very knowledgeable. The exams are poorly worded and oddly specific every once in a while, but the main complaint is her inability to teach. Probably the worst professor I've had at UT in terms of being knowledgeable and organized.
Pretty easy to get a B, nearly impossible to get an A. Homework quizzes are hard and dock you a lot of point for anything wrong. Tests are super specific and hard to get an A on.
Nice lady, but you're most likely not going to get an A in this class, but you can pull a B. Homework quizzes are HARD and a nice chunk of your grade. Tests are meh, averages fall in the high 70's. To succeed, you HAVE to read the textbook (I use Campbell, 9th), even though she insists you don't. Attendance is counted through clickers.
this class is awful and Dr. Maas doesn't know what she's doing. People can study all night and still bomb tests cause they're so badly worded. Stay away if you can.
Just... don't. Seriously. If there's any other option, go with them instead.
There are two tests which go over the labs which you have completed. Definitely fair questions that test your understanding of the labs. She treats the students as though they know nothing about biology during her lectures which can be a good thing sometimes and a bad thing at other times.
Dr. Maas is a wonderful lady, and she says that she will never put something on the test that she can't do herself, so don't expect a lot of difficult math. There are lots of sources available for help. The real kicker is the TA you get, and you have no way of knowing who you will have.
horrible lectures
Terrible test questions, heavy homework load; avoid this teacher if able.
This course was definitely restructured to be more realistic for first-time lab-ers. Not a bad class at all now. Only 2 exams so study. Majority of grade is lecture pointspre-lab MCQ hwlab analyses due every week and the practical which is totally dependent on how well u paid attention thruout the classin open-lab the week before. Mainly effort.
Worst class I ever taken in my life. Does not respond to emails. Tests questions could literally be one sentence off a 60-70 slide PPT. Grades are depended basically upon on your TALI. Two 35 Multiple Choice Tests, rest is Pre-Lab, Lab Analysis, iClicker questions each week, and one lab report that was literally 15+ pages for me. Take at own risk.
A large percentage of your grade is at the discretion of your TA, which isn't always great. Labs aren't very clear, but they're not hard either. Doable class as long as you study and go to lecture.
I've done research for three years, aced every biology class I've taken here, and sincerely love science and biology. Despite all of that this class seriously made me consider dropping my BIO major, picking up BCH instead. Boring, tedious, and none of the material is even close to real science. Essentially a high school class.
She is one of those professors that thinks her class is the most important thing in the world. Talks horribly about Chem lab and the professors that teach it. Her lectures are pointless and you are forced to go- she could easily make them online lectures but for some reason she doesn't. Your lab experience is completely dependent on your TA.
This class is not as bad as everyone makes it seem. Just study and always understand what's going on in lab/lecture and you'll be fine.
Not as bad as I thought, however the course has organizational issues and artificial difficulty. On the week of exam 1, there's lab that has hardest part of 206L, causing one to fall behind. On top of that, many of the questions on the exams are specific memorization questions which makes the exams trickier than it has to be. Be on your guard.
Marty is a sweetheart! She's always available and gives interesting lectures. Your grade does depend heavily on your TA. Her exams are completely fair though. She gives obvious hints for her "tricky" questions- pay attention to the lecture.
Dr. Maas was great. BioLab was my favorite lab and you honestly should get an A if you have a decent TA. Dr. Maas was funny, interested in what she was teaching, and worked to see students succeed. She knows what's up though, so don't expect to cheat off course hero etc
Lectures are useful but not necessary. Your grade depends on two tests and lab reports, which is not bad but needs effort. Okay, but not the best. Average professor.
I was not a fan of bio lab. Of 12 lab reports, my lowest grade was an 85, but I found the 3 exams to be more of a challenge. I found lecture unhelpful, but had a great TA who always explained things in much more detail than Maas did in lecture. So like any lab, your grade is predisposed by whichever TA you end up with.
An absolutely amazing prof! She cares about her students deeply. Her lectures are VERY clear and engaging. Her exams are fair, no tricks. Lab reports are time-consuming but they are not difficult. Grades for lab reports highly depend on your TA, so that is out of your hand. The most difficult part was the lab practical which was extremely hard! :(
This class can be super stressful. There is 2 exams and a practical. No final! Also, there is lab prep hw, lab analysis, lecture questions, and peer review for every lab (12). Some labs are boring such as the plant one. Cool labs were the chick embryo and the crayfish one. Exams are hard because each exam are over 6 labs. But they're fair!
Tests were straight forward. Your lab analysis grades depend on your TA. You NEED the course pack for class and tests. Participation matters greatly, you need to be there at the beginning of each class. There is a lot of work, and it's crammed especially during the summer, but it's manageable. She is very interested in Bio so it's not boring.
Since it's a lab, your experience is highly dependent on the TA. Nonetheless, I did not enjoy the professor. Her lectures are random and boring. You don't really know what to expect for the tests and some of the questions are ridiculously specific. This class was unnecessarily difficult considering how the concepts covered were not advanced.
Biology lab is the most useless class you could take. Dr. Maas uses this class in a way to make herself feel more important than she is. The material you are supposed to learn is very simple and is already learned in class, and Maas makes the tests and analyses very convoluted. I loved my LI, but this class killed any love for lab I had before.
Like most intro labs, a lot of wasting time writing lab reports that only slightly effect your grade. Very strict on her policies, so make sure you follow all the rules. Go to lecture, lecture attendance is basically weighted as heavy as an exam. If you get a good LI and group of students in your class, the lab session can be fun.
My least favorite class at UT by FAR. I found organic chemistry easier than this class because she was so unclear on what we needed to know for exams. Rather than covering larger important concepts, we needed to know the length of a nematode and specific crayfish parts. She seems to really enjoy power and exercising it over students.
She's a pretty fun lecturer, the biggest issue is that the class covers such a wide scope of biology in such a short amount of time. There's no clear transition in curriculum between labs, so this class felt like a hodgepodge of too many fields of biology. Lab reports were monotonous, but grading overall in the course is relatively lenient.
Not as bad as I expected. Lab reports were annoying. Most labs took up the full 4 hours. Exams were actually pretty easy- all MC and straightforward. The practical exam was an awful experience, this needs to be changed. Some labs are interesting, most are just meh. Overall an okay class, just the practical exam ruined it for me.
I found this to be easier than chem lab. During lecture she explained what would happen during lab and then you would just go and do it on your lab day. At the end, your grade will either be extremely boosted or drop a ton based on your attendance, if you remembered to score your lab partners, and performance. The tests were like 60% difficulty.
With the class revamp you now have weekly quizzes you can use your notebook on. Being said, there is now only one final exam that is cumulative. Data reports are manageable as long as you have a good TA. The weekly lecture has clicker questions for credit - go because it does make up a chunk of your grade. Grading is reasonable and outlined clearly
She has changed the class: 5 data reports, weekly lab quizzes, and one final exam. Data reports are easy and guidelines are clear. Lab quizzes can be specific so take detailed notes while doing experiments. Final exam and lab practical can be stressful: MOVE FAST on practical as time flies. Overall, she is picky about grading but class is alright.
Dr. Maas is an okay lecturer, but your experience in the class is really dependent on the TA you receive. Your grade in the class is dependent on lab reports, weekly quizzes, the final exam, and a lab practical. Study hard for the weekly quizzes, and when the final comes you will already know everything there is to know.
ONLY A 20 POINT MARGIN TO MAKE AN A IN THIS CLASS. 20 points, the whole semester. If you miss one question on every weekly quiz (5 questions, 2 points per question, 10 quizzes) there goes your A. Be prepared for them, know all info from lab manual, lab lectures, and ethical readings. 2 exams, 3 lab reports, 3 ethics reports. This lab sucks.
Dr. Maas's lab is pretty easy, just be sure to attend every lab. Missing two brings down the maximum grade you can get down to an 80. Any more than that and you fail. She's pretty heavy on ethics, including ethics reports, which are pretty easy. Lab reports are pretty short too.
This lab wasn't horrible - I didn't find myself devoting a ton of time to it. The labs are fairly easy, but can be long and boring. Dr. Maas seems like a nice, reasonable lady, but the grading does make it very hard to get an A. The course did have an ethics flag, and at times, it felt like we were juggling a lot of unrelated assignments.
Martha was fine. She doesn't really teach well nor does she grade a majority of the work. I would really suggest checking out if your TA is good. Mine straight up told me she had to grade harder because she was giving out too many As. I tried emailing Martha, and she was zero help. They definitely don't care about their students.
I came into Dr. Maas's class with good reviews. She's passionate about her field in biology and is not bad to listen to in lecture. However, I couldn't help but feel like she didn't encourage her students to really get into biology. I felt like the whole class was her telling us "just do this" and not a lo of actual learning went on.
Maas is the most condescending full of it professor I have ever had to deal with. One of my lab mates emailed her asking about grades and her response was what I believe to be as just false. Absolutely ridiculous that this stupid intro class is so hard to get an A in. Absolute waste of time and effort, sucks that its required for all sciences.
This class was much easier than chem lab, but so much harder to make an A in. The quizzes are often on unimportant details of the lab, so take thorough notes.
Maas is terrible. Thats it. Its a shame that every science major has to deal with her. She doesnt care about students and wants to see you unhappy.
The syllabus had different due dates for lab reports which were not posted in canvas. I followed those due dates but they were an hour different than what she wanted (not posted on canvas) so I got a zero for my lab report which brought me to a B in the class. Very condescending when I asked for sympathy. Other students had similar experiences.
Prof is very dull, won't bump even if you're 1/250 points away from the next letter grade. Grading can be ambiguous, especially with the group ethics presentation. I'd say that your grade can be very dependent on your TA, and don't be fooled by the people who say this is an "easy A," because they most likely got lucky with their TA.
One Lab Practical and one final exam make up your whole grade. At the end of the semester, you really don't know where your grade will fall at all. Everyone is right, your grades do depend fully on your Lab Instructor. Labs were long and I had done of all of them in AP Bio. Overall not a fun class but doable.
If you get Ryan as your TA, rip. He doesn't let you leave early AT ALL. Everyone could be done but you'll still sit there until 12:30 waiting for a b s o l u t e l y n o t h i n g. Martha is fine, lectures are boring, she says she's all about ethics and then ends up killing like 10,000 crickets each semester. Quizzes can be hard, take good notes
She is very clear on everything you need to do and know for class. Although it is mostly the TA/LA I interacted with, Dr. Maas was quick to answer emails and very helpful at all times.
Overall I felt that the class was okay, nothing too hard but still got to work for it. The only problem I experienced was going to take the concept exam and starting 10 minutes late and then them running out of scantrons. The part that was even more upsetting was that the test had to be turned in at the 50 min. mark when we really only had 40 min
UHHHHHH the concept exam is absolute bs. The practical is very stupid. The grading in the class is too non-forgiving - it is all based on your exam and practical which I do not believe is a fair evaluation of how one does in the lab. Ethics is so stupid too - her exam was an unfair evaluation of what we learned in lab this semester.
I didn't really interact much with Maas but when I did she was very nice & understanding. I had Ryan as a TA and all I have to say is if you get him, switch immediately. He gives the hardest quizzes (confirmed by Maas) and won't let you leave lab early. Overall, if you put in the time and participate you'll do fine on the exam and practical
I liked bio lab WAY more than chem lab. The lab instructors were a lot more chill and in my opinion, these labs are a lot more interesting. However, more than half of your grade is dependent on how well you do on the lab practical and concept exam. The concept exam was unnecessarily hard and brought me down from an A to a B+ at the very end.
The switch to online due to coronavirus has us doing weekly worksheets instead of having to take the concept exam and the lab practical. Overall, it has made this class WAYY more time consuming and boring. If you get Sarah M. drop and find another TA because she grades way harder than she needs to.
Honestly people need to chill on Dr. Maas. She's the best and just super nice and cool, but you won't really be with her very much; it all depends on your Lab Instructor. I got super lucky with mine (I would tell you her name but she's leaving) so honestly take all of these reviews with a grain of salt. The lab is interesting and fun!
Pay attention in labs and definitely go over lab notes and procedures. Her lectures are mainly an overview of the topics of each week and just ask questions so she can explain everything. She's chill, and the labs are time consuming and make sure you follow every procedure in the lab manual. Ask questions during lab time, so your LI can help.
Most of the class is graded by the TA other than the final test. Lab assignments are not as tedious as CH204 but I thought CH204 was more fun to go to. Most of the time, labs take up the whole time so don't expect to get out early all the time. As long as you take good notes, you will do fine in the lab quizzes.
She is a solid professor who is clearly explains all the necessary material to the students prior to labs. Your grade in this class, however, is determined primarily by your Lab Instructor (LI), so you're in for a very bad experience if you get a bad LI. The cool labs in this class will not only help you learn bio content but also lab techniques.
Dr. Maas is nice and understanding, but your grade depends on the LIs you get, and most of them are horrible. If you have Ryan or Sarah, RUN AWAY!
Lectures are useless, she doesn't go over anything that will help you with lab or assignments. She also took 2 weeks to respond to my email asking why I got points off an assignment and gave no more than 5-word answers that didn't answer anything. My LI Krishna and UGLA were great, but I'd give Maas a 0 if I could.
LI Sawyer was great, easy to talk to, and reasonable. However, they decided to switch around LI's when grading assignments at some points during the semester and Ryan graded one of my assignments and took off points for random things that weren't required in the rubric. Lowest grade I got the whole semester. Switch sections if you get him as a LI.
She is lovely. LIs are good but are NOT consistent graders & don't show you how to properly do things considering its an intro course. You have to figure it out on your own a lot even when you attend TA office hours for help. Her lectures are average but don't help much with the weekly quizzes. I used bio textbook a lot. Extra credit helped
I'm sorry, I know you have to take this class. She forces you to buy her expensive book and her quizzes are the worst. You need to stay on top of the work and make sure you make smart friends. The TAs are cool but I could never get over how much she makes you pay for just her class. Good luck.
Let me tell you about my terrible experience. I think having covid would've been more pleasant than this class. You miss one weekly lab review question quiz or do badly? You get a zero with no makeups or drops. Her questions are so ambiguous and convoluted that the entire class argued against it but naw Dr. Maas will crushed all 300 of us.
Dr. Maas is a sweet person, but her lectures don't help at all for her lab quizzes. She loves using "mark all the right answer" type of questions, and besides the questions being vague, a lot of the answers (especially for determining ethical/scientific issues the papers we have to read talk about) are subjective and never clear.
I don't know why her reviews are so bad. I found her to be funny and engaging. She also takes student feedback very seriously and makes changes accordingly (like getting rid of the "select the correct answers" questions on the concept exam!). Beware of harsh TAs-- they grade the home activities which are a good chunk of your grade.
I can't believe THIS is the class that ruined my 4.0 streak. Absolutely hated it, the margin of error is SO SMALL and the TA graded my assignments SO harshly :)))
This class is at best "doable," but could be better executed after going online. The online simulations were not great and not worth paying almost $100 for -- when someone else in your group would share screens. Quizzes are TOO vague, and not a big fan. No drops, lectures are not helpful for quizzes, and everyone is a tough grader.
I don't know why people are saying Professor Maas is nice. She's not. Really, she's quite awful and rude. The TAs are tough but nice. The reason this class is horrible is that Maas does not care. I scored in the 99th percentile of the MCAT, and I've taken dozens of "killer" classes. This class is a joke, and Maas takes herself too seriously.
would give her a 0 if i could. Doesn't care about her students and didn't accommodate for the issues that came with online classes
I had to take this class online, which is not an ideal option for a lab class. That being said, the weekly lectures are super broad compared to the lab quizzes due every week. The UGLAs grade very toughly and there are no drops with anything whatsoever. Not an accomodating professor and does not care about student feedback. Avoid if you can!
I never hated a class more, for a lab class its too hard, the UGLA grade hard and there isn't enough leniency or accommodation for the lab being online. I have never gotten anything below an A-, including this semester EXCEPT this class. The lab is super broad and you dont learn as much BUT the LRQ is specific and over stuff we didnt learn in lab.
hated this class with my whole heart, never had UGLAs grade so hard, never seen a teacher not accommodate students for class being online (this is a lab course). if you have to take this class your going to have to study and annoy the TA so you can actually get information you need on the LRQ because you don' learn anything from the lab.
Dr. Maas was actually very accommodating considering the circumstances and kept us well-informed. The workload wasnt too bad as some labs are tedious, but some UGLAs do grade the case studies harshly. Overall, interesting virtual labs, lectures and case studies! Study the PowerPoints before LRQs!
The LRQs are really confusing. Your LI graded the LRQs and home activities and an UGLA graded the ethics case studies. The UGLAs were lenient graders but my LI was a really tough grader and would take off points for not doing something that wasn't even required for the assignment. Not an easy A, but doable even without the 10 extra credit points.
It's a tough lab, but I hear it's easier online than it was in-person so I recommend taking it online if you can. The lab questions were hard, mostly bc there were lots of multiple-answer questions which Canvas grades weirdly. You might get a TA that's a harsh grader which sucks. EC for doing the instapolls during class whether it's right or wrong!
The LRQs were extremely difficult and we weren't even able to see what we got wrong on them. They said the LRQs were hard because we didn't have lab reports, but, honestly, I would prefer lab reports over those. The lectures were also extremely unhelpful since they were often just treated like office hours. I didn't learn anything in this class.
It's like she WANTS you to fail. We never got any of our weekly quizzes back, so we never got to study what we got wrong or point out mistakes on the quiz (there are MANY). The final exam is ridiculous. Most people didn't finish. She doesn't teach at all but the weekly quizzes are insanely tricky. Also Jacob the LI is so rude and condescending.
Labs were pretty simple but we had 3 Home Activity labs which were really tedious, but thankfully that was made up for by the assignments being graded more or less easy. If you've done well in any biology class and can understand ethics then you shouldn't worry about your grade.
Maas refuses to accommodate students online, has vague grading criteria that is extremely nitpicky, and her lectures don't even apply to the too-specific questions on LRQs. Much harder than this class needs to beshe takes herself WAY too seriously. If you don't have to take this classdon't do it!
This Professor acts like they do no care about students. Plus makes TAs do all of the grading where grades are unfair and often wrong. She is the worst about responding to emails, one time she shared her screen and have over 1000 emails unread. Oh and she changed a huge lab 3 days before it was due. Not Cool.
I hate this class with a passion. The lab questions got exponentially more difficult with select all of the correct answers out of a list of 8-10 choices. You also have to write paragraphs on ethical issues weekly. On top of that, she assigns two ethical studies and two home activities. The workload for this class is unreasonable.
Dr. Maas refuses to release old questions for study, doesn't let us go back to check our answers on tests, and is quite possibly the most nitpicky professor I have ever had. Her lectures do not prepare you at all for any of the quizzes/exams. If you have an option between Dr. Maas and literally anyone else, don't take her.
people are making Dr. Maas seem like she is he worst teacher ever which isn't true. yeah, lab quizzes are kind of ridiculous, but that's when emailing your TA comes in handy (I'm serious they answer any question you ask them). Communicating with the TA is what made me get through this class and also going through Dr. Maas's lecture slides.
The concept exam was something DIFFERENNTTT. It was so hard so good luck with that. This class is much harder than it needs to be tbh.
Professor Maas herself, is very caring. There were multiple times when she would extend deadlines which helped a lot. HOWEVER, the TA's grading LRQ's were HARSH. The concept exam was EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. If you dedicate a lot of time, you can still get an A. I just don't think a intro course should be this hard.
After that concept exam, I think I might drop from an A to B+ Bc that was D.I.F.F.I.C.U.L.T. Youre very crunched on time for the concept exam that consisted of matching. Also 4 hour class that could end at 10 pm most of the time which was so unnecessary. They tend to drag the class by talking abt things or wanting everybody to finish together
I swear she told us that the concept exam is going to be easy. IT IS NOT. IT WAS SO DIFFICULT AND I CAN'T EVEN COMPLETE IT ON TIME. I think I might drop from an A- to a B- or even C. The amount of work in this class is a lot and very unreasonable. The second home activity took forever for me to complete. The LRQ questions are also very very hard.
you can't avoid this class but if you can, run for your life. worst class i have ever taken. everything is graded by the TAs, they grade ridiculously hard and take off points for every small thing (you don't even know what you get wrong), spent way too much time in this class for only 2 hours of credit, concept exam was insanely hard for no reason.
Hardest intro class to exist. It depends on your TA so good luck, because they grade everything HARD. Concept exam was so difficult, she was lying when she said it was easy. Never had a class that cares about ethics and participation as much as she does, TAs will take off points if you don't participate ENOUGH in discussion (which is ridiculous)
Don't panic, the reviews look bad but you can power through this class. If you get Sawyer (LI) and Dahnie (UGLA) they are really cool. Lectures don't help much bc the info was too general compared to the LRQs. Make sure to triple-check your work and participate in the discussions. The concept exam wasn't bad but keep an eye on the clock. Good luck.
Professor Maas is extremely friendly, BUT I don't think her assessments are an accurate representation of what you learn, considering she teaches the absolute bare minimum (even less than a high school class). It depends on whether you get a good LI or UGLA because they're hard graders. I don't think the class is fair, to be completely honest.
Easy intro course. Class online was insanely easy. Mass is whatever the TA and Li do all the work. Take this class for an easy A. The bad reviews are just from salty people that did not show up to class and want to complain.
Grade depends on your LI (I recommend Ryan - he taught Tuesday morning this year). Asking questions if you dont understand something will save your grade. Do well on the case studies and home activities because theyre worth a big portion of your grade. Concept exam should be easy if you have a rudimentary understanding of bio.
Biggest complaint I have against the class is that they never release your LRQ answers after you submit them. They take a million years to grade off of some arbitrary rubric and then you receive useless feedback that says "2. -0.6" that provides no insight into what you did wrong. Also sat in breakout rooms doing nothing for 30 min. multiple times
People are giving her a hard time here, but tbh her class was pretty okay. You will lose a few points here and there on LRQS. Good thing is the Ethics and Home Activities are graded p chill, so do your very best on that. Don't miss any extra credit. The final concept exam was very doable if you went through all the lecture notes before the test
Dr. Maas is a great professor and choice. Took her during Summer 2021. LRQ's each week, the TAs offer great help (Sawyer is amazing!). UGLA give feedback, especially when you email questions. Labs once a week, no lab quizzes. Concept exam at the end was very straightforward from labs. Highly recommend!
Absolutely horrible. This is an INTRO lab - I should not be having to spend 6 hours a week on this class. I did NOT sign up for a course on ethics - I signed up for a biology lab. This INTRO lab takes more time than upper-division courses. Useless memorization and super picky grading even when students answer the questions to satisfaction.
Does not give a rubric for LRQs so you always lose points. 5 hours of lecture/lab per week for only 2 hours of credit. Warmup quizzes are random and sporadic in what they ask. Spend more time on ethics than actually learning biology or lab techniques. UT should really find someone better to teach this intro lab. Many complaints from peers too.
This class is awful and a sad excuse for a bio lab. LRQs are graded extremely randomly and the lab instructor takes of 10 points from lab write ups for every little thing they can (keep in mind the stuff they take off for is never mentioned in the instructions and questions). The lab takes all 4 hours everytime. Terrible professor and terrible LIs
AWFUL. Worst class ever. Your grade is based on these stupid LRQs that they are SO picky about. They have NO rubric so your grade is absolute BS. RUN FROM THIS CLASS. DO NOT TAKE IT. The lab practical was hard, the class runs for 4 hours and is not worth it for TWO credits... Take FRI. Trust me. This class is HORRIBLE.
I was excited for this course going into it, but looking back at the semester it was pretty disappointing. I felt that I was learning less about biology lab experiments and more about the small grading details on the assignments and quizzes in this class. Even if you understand the material and put in effort you can perform badly.
Made an account just to describe the clownery. The most ludicrous grading I've ever encountered. She will take points off for not including things that were never asked for, and I've been told multiple times that I didn't include something when I clearly did. Not many points total so each one counts. CH204L and FRI are way more reasonable.
Worst class ever. Had to complete quizzes that focused on the smallest details of the exercise, and LRQs were a pain to complete without any clear directions of what the TA wanted to see. TAs were super hard graders and nitpicky. Ridiculous final lab practical. Ridiculous class
Ridiculous quizzes and LRQs with the most freestyle grading I've EVER seen. The quizzes are literally so random, they'll have you studying for 2+ hrs to make sure you've written everything down. I've even heard one of the other TA take off points because a student finished lab early. God FORBID students are efficient in time management.
Took the class and did well. Initially I was about to drop the class because I was nervous about the grading and quizzes. However I managed to assuage those fears really quickly after trying super hard for the first two LRQs. I did spend 4-6 hours outside of class to do do each LRQ and take notes for quizzes. A lot of work for a 2 hour class though
Everything in this lab depends on your TA and how they grade. Assignment wise, there are no lab reports, just a few LRQs due every week. The labs themselves are very doable with detailed instructions. We had to pay $70 for the lab manual, which is pretty steep. The lab practical exam was horrible and hard though.
This class isn't as bad as some people say. I've taken other lab courses and this one was so much easier. The labs are long and annoying but everything is straight forward. The quizzes can be a tricky but I still managed an A after bombing a few of them. Final is hit or miss. Overall- as long as you get a decent TA- it isn't that bad.
Everything concerning your grade is determined by the TA which sucks but there are opportunities to challenge grades, if you feel mistreated in anyway make use of them. Some of the TAs can be very nitpicky so pay attention to all the details. Lab practical was very stressful but they were relatively generous when grading it.
This class really depends on your LI, and unless you attend the optional lectures you won't even see the prof. A lot of reading and note taking is required before each class. I felt like I learned a lot with this class, but it definitely requires a lot of work if you don't want to fall behind.
Depends on LI. No grading criteria. Some LI only take off whole points while others take 0.25. Very easy class don't need much brain, a lot of stupid work.
Dr. Maas class is taught by the TAs. My TA, Ryan, was a very good choice. He was very knowledgeable, caring, and accessible outside of class. However, the class itself was time-consuming, lots of HW, and the grading was a bit harsh (for all the lab sections Ive heard). If you work hard and study a lot for the practical, you will likely do well.
Your grade in the class itself is heavily going to depend on which LI you have. Experiments are boring and the quizzes are meant to bring your grade down. You almost never see the actual professor and to make it worse, she loves to try to gaslight individuals.
Pretty straight forward class, that being said though a lot of assignments are unnecessary in their own way. Ethics heavy, although some topics are interesting it's essentially just busy work to pile onto students and can take away from important lab info. TA's grade unnecessarily harsh and demand perfection... very nit picky.
Dr. Maas herself wasn't involved in much of the course at all. The LI's are the ones instructing as well as grading, so who you end up with is pretty much how your semester will go. There's an unnecessary amount of time needed for taking notes and the labs are largely busy work. The ethics half is interesting, but not needed.
I didn't attend first 2 labs, or many of the in-person lectures. Even still, I found myself liking the class. She's a nice person, not a lot of contact with her though, most contact is with LI. LI matters lots, recommend getting a good rapport with them. (won't change grades but will make labs easier) LRQs suck but good notes can go far in labs.
Maas was great as a Lab professor. Her lectures aren't mandatory but I found that they helped a lot. Your grade really depends on your LI, so its really up to chance unfortunately.
Although your experience in this class is mostly determined by your LI, Dr. Maas still does a great job organizing the class. If you put in the time to take notes for quizzes, put effort into the LRQs, and attend office hours for help, it's a guaranteed A. She has super cool labs and ethics topics- you will learn a lot!
The quizzes and LRQs are made to make you lose points since the questions are focused on minor details of the lab or things that were not taught. It's not worth it to spend hours on homework and lab prep to get bad grades on everything. Before our final, 30% of our class had an A or A- and class average was an 85. Grades are on a point based system
For being a 2 hour class, this was A LOT of work. LRQs are worded ambiguously sometimes and warmup quizzes cover very obscure content from the ethics readings or the lecture and lab manual. However, as long as you are dedicated, can follow lab procedures, and know what you're doing an A is not hard to get.
Grade is LRQs. LRQ MC questions are very semantic, and the FRQs are vague. Even if you have a "good" TA, and conceptually understand everything, and go to office hours to clear up some confusions, you will struggle to make more than an 85 on these LRQs. Your grade in this class does not depend on your understanding, but these terribly created LRQs.
The LRQs are structured to be confusing and tricky to understand. She seems more focused on making you memorize tiny details than actually learn about biology or ethics.
This is an EXTREMELY difficult class if you have Ryan as your TA. I went to every office hour and went to every class, and it was still so difficult. The ethics exam was so hard, and we have never had to deal with those types of questions before. Dr. Maas focused on insignificant details on the ethics exam rather than the holistic concepts.
Professor Maas was, at least for me, very unorganized? I'm unsure if this is the right word, so for clarification: nothing expected of me is clear. I never knew what to study to prepare for labs/quizzes, and the lab review questions were to test my understanding after a lab, but no feedback was given nor was I corrected.
Dr. Maas is nice but the class is overall bad. So much work when you're only quizzed on super specific and random details. Spent hours and hours on this class and never knew how to properly prepare. Feedback was not useful/not provided. Content shouldn't have been difficult but structure of class made things way harder than it needed to be.
She is simply the head of the class, it all depends on your LI. I had a great one, but she wasn't the one making the rules, Maas was. Focused more on ethics than actual lab which was very weird and doesn't really care about the students. Also, for a 2 hr credit, this class requires at least about 8 hrs in total so 0/10 would never recommend!
Do FRI or wait until 226L. Dr. Maas is nice, but you're going to have to ask for help for every single assignment in order to get the grade you want. The ethics exam dropped my grade so much bc of actual server issues and nothing was done. My LI was very kind and helped me through a lot. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't bother taking this class.
Dr. Maas isn't too bad, but do not take the LRQs lightly. Email your LI about every graph, because they want to help you and you won't be given clear grading criteria. I got mostly Cs on my LRQs and I regret not asking for feedback. Overall, the lab is interesting and fun but be sure to communicate with your LI as often as possible.
Every LRQ counts, and your grade sadly depends on whichever LI you get. Dr. Maas's lectures prepare you for the lab but barely cover ethics which doesn't help you on the awful ethics exam at the end of the semester. The labs are fun, but the preparation and homework take up too much time for a 2 credit hour class.
Depending on your LI is how your grade is determined as they all grade differently. On top of this, you can only go to your LI's office hours with that being once/wk. How things are graded can also be unforgiving as everything is make or break, especially the LRQs. One thing I learned though is you can receive answers from the LIs for the LRQS.
Dr. Maas is very passionate and knowledgeable about the field, but the course difficulty is skewed because of the grading system. The labs are actually fun, but make sure you understand the lab materials thoroughly. Also, be friends with your LI, it will only help you. Do what she expects you to do, and you will get what you want.
Maas by herself isn't terrible, except that she extorts her students. She writes a lab manual that barely changes each year, and makes every student purchase it, so she can profit. The worst part? Ryan the TA. He grades so harshly, takes off random points, and is overall a degrading and righteous person. This class is the worst I've ever taken.
This is my last semester at UT and this class was the most tedious and hardest graded. The lab reports need more detailed instructions.
The labs themselves aren't difficult, it's the LRQs that will really bring down your grade. The LIs and Professor Maas grade assignments very harshly, with little to no instructions for each LRQ. Poorly taught class.
- Purposely does not share information regarding quizzes, or tests - Lectures are very evidently more focused on passing time - Some "Learning Instructors" forces students to stay for 4 hours during labs even if you are done - Forces students to buy her own book for $80 which we NEVER really use - Reads of lecture slides, and can't answer questions
The labs itself are okay, but for the most part, you WILL stay the full 4 hrs. Maas and TAs grade off an arbitrary rubric as there's none given, and very little instructions are provided. BEFRIEND YOUR TA, and go to their OH if you want to do good on the LRQs. Use an old manual and save money, the instructions aren't changed. She j wants money.
This was the most confusing class I have taken at UT. Instructions are unclear, there's not enough information to do well, and your TA makes or breaks your grade. You will likely spend the entire 4 hours in lab and it'll feel like busy work. The lectures are not that helpful but are required. Overall the course could be taught a lot better
Dr. Maas is very nice but there is a lot of busy work in this class. You are required to write a summary of all labs and read ethics articles for discussions during lab. The LRQs have true/false sections with topics we never talked about in class. Concept exam is mostly ethics based. We should have had more lab time to prep for the lab practical.
My TA was awesome for this class so for that reason I didn't think the lab was too bad; however, Dr. Maas designs the labs to take the full time so if you have a 6-10 pm lab expect to be there until 9:30. The concept exam was pretty difficult and the LRQs had a ton of vague select all that apply questions not to mention the $80 lab manual...
very difficult class. lab reports are exceedingly vague yet harshly graded. lots of "select all that apply" questions with at least a dozen extremely specific answer choices. concept exam has a lot of questions over arbitrary facts that were never emphasized. dr. maas just makes the intro bio lab course much more difficult than it should be.
The lab is fun, that is the only good thing about this class. Other than that this class is simply a waste of time with none of the stuff that I will remember in my college career.
Labs are all annoying but this one wasn't hard to do good in. Sometimes I would skip lecture and just do the instapoll questions on my own when it was time for them. Some of the lab report questions were hard (like the select all ones) but if you ask your TA they'll probably point you in the right direction and most are answered in the lab manual.
Basically entirely TA based. If you get a good one then you have a good shot of getting a good grade in the class. Mine was amazing. Maas structures the class in an annoying way with participation instapolls and select all that apply LRQs. Concept exam was a bit random. Honestly do FRI or ARI if you can but if not then buckle up.
She makes lab much more difficult than it has to be. If you want to succeed, go to your TA's office hours every week because the assignments are graded harshly.
Attendance is mandatory since she has Instapoll. The concept exam is straightforward if you pay attention to the material she gives each week. The practical was a lot for the short amount of time she gives but the TA is really kind about grading and works with you if you participate in labs. The ethics paper took the most time so start early.
lab report grades based on tas. maas makes you buy brand new $80 lab manual/each sem so you cant buy used for cheaper. grading criteria unclear, no type of rubric provided yet expected to follow a specific template that we are never given. lectures were mandatory (instapolls) and unhelpful. i never referred back to her lectures slides for any info
This course was not that bad. I generally enjoyed the labs and the LRQs were not as time consuming for me as chem lab. It can be easy to lose points, especially the "select all that apply" questions, but you can refer to the lab manual/lecture slides for most of it. The lab practical is not bad either if you participate in lab & attend the mock.
I truly did enjoy my time doing the labs and learning the biological aspects behind them. What killed me were the very picky quizzes+unprepared and undetailed lab report expectations. TAs were amazing however everything ran outside of the lab itself and was pretty subpar. If you miss one ethics assignment, your grade is down a letter. Be prepared.
Good teacher. Has one lecture a week to go over the lab and all the information you will need for it. There are two quizzes over the lab itself so make sure to take detailed lab notes. The TA sets the tone for the lab itself, but all lab activities are the same.
If she actually cared about our success she would make the class easier to do well in/curve like other professors. Not worth all the time and effort at all.
Worst + hardest class Ive taken at uni!!!
Overall, had a decent time in this class. Her lectures were fine if kinda oddly mixed with ethical concepts. Learned a lot of basic lab skills I found interesting, hopefully, ones I can use in future classes/jobs. My group personally had a good TA, but that is a very deciding factor in your grade for better or worse. Go for the class if you can.
I showed up to all the lectures and classes but I found the class really hard. You may find yourself struggling if you're like me with no previous lab experience. The structure was horrible which is probably why it's being changed to be more free lab. Kuang Hu (TA) is rude and does not care about your learning. He should not be a TA. Awful.
Her lectures weren't really helpful in my opinion, but she gives Instapoll questions at the end for credit so I suggest going. The quizzes were graded harshly with no clear rubric and they make up a huge chunk of your grade. There is also a lab practical on which you aren't given much information on. The class should not have been this difficult.
Maas is obsessed with academic integrity, and she will accuse you of cheating if she gets the chance. She is unapproachable and will not communicate with you. The best way to do well in this lab is to go to TA's office hours. Hope you get a good TA or this lab's going to be torture
The bio lab curriculum is new this semester so do not read into reviews for past semesters. Really interesting, no lectures, research over bacteria found in soil you collect with your group, several cool assays, final poster project that you do with your lab group over bacteria, learn many basic lab skills, ethics assignments sprinkled in.
New curriculum compared to previous semesters you research antibiotic production in soil samples with your group Super fun and easy Nothing is graded harshly at all, there's just prelabs which barely take any time, weekly reports that's just a summary of what you did in lab and peer reviews End of semester you present group's online poster free 100
low-maintenance class. one prelab/week online, two labs in-person. the new curriculum is interesting! we did antibiotic research based on soil samples, which is really relevant right now. we submitted research updates/photos once/week and some ethics assignments which sucked a little. end of semester final is a poster presenting our research.
its a lab so mainly TA interaction; revamping the curriculum was truly the right choice. such a manageable and interesting lab, the final grade is a poster presentation on your semester research. shout out to allyson, best LI ever ever and if you get a good lab group this will be such a vibe. assignments are super manageable, completion grades.
I took BIO 206L after they switched the curriculum and it was an easy, interesting, fun lab. One weekly online prelab, lab photo submission, and some ethics assignment due at the end of the week. If you can get a good LI, this lab is genuinely so much fun and not a stressor at all. I highly recommend Sawyer Stubbs, she was awesome!!
You really never see Dr. Maas, it's all about your LI and TA. The grade is based on a weekly prelab, lab notebook photos, progress report, weekly ethics assignments, and the final poster. They all seemed like completions grades, so just show up and you'll get an A. Super fun class and way more interesting than a typical intro-lab course.
Lab was really fun but you don't ever see Dr Maas. It's all about who your LI is (shoutout Ryan you were great). Low-stress class with little work each week and no lab report. Your lab group will make or break the class for you since you have to work with them every day and do the project with them. Dr Maas sent an excessive amount of emails lol
The class was structured horrendously. Who makes students spend hours on pre-lab material in order to be prepared for insanely detailed pre-lab quizzes? The labs themselves were more or less fine, but then the post-lab quizzes were again another issue. Terribly written and designed to fail students, even if they do understand the actual material.
The restructured lab is engaging, with weekly tests contributing to a bigger end goal. Pre-lab assignments and reports are short (totaling two hours of work max per week). Perusall ethics discussions, though somewhat tedious, are informative and not difficult. Labs, scheduled for two hours, typically finish in one. Overall, it's a fun, easy class!
The new lab structure was fun and engaging. Requires weekly pre labs, and post lab assignments but they were never too demanding. Email notifications were frequent though, but helpful I guess if you can't stay on top of your work. Final poster at the end with lab mates, so it also depends on your TA and people you work with. Overall fun!
This class is a giant waste of time and is not organized as an intro course should be. You must pay for access to course materials on top of tuition, and the pre-labs are worthless piles of garbage. She also floods your email with spam and the grading criteria is terrible. Designed to waste your time and frustrate you.
The new curriculum has made this class so much more bearable. You never really interact with Dr. Maas, so everything is really TA dependent. That being said, there is not a lot of work per week, but definitely not a class you can ignore. If your TA is chill, you will pretty much always leave lab 30-45 minutes early.
This class was great, and I think the recent curriculum update made the class more fun and engaging! I never had to worry about this class, as the work most weeks consisted of a prelab over the weekend (1-2 hrs), Perusall assignment, and lab report (1 hr). I saw Dr. Maas periodically, but mostly engaged with my LI and TA. Highly recommend!!!
You'll most likely never see the professor but so it depends on TA for your lab. Fun lab experience but the one thing is pre-lab takes forever to do and there is a final exam which is pre-lab questions. Overall a great intro bio lab.
I LOVED THIS LAB!!!!! I was so lucky and had an amazing group. The lab itself is fun and you get to do a lot of hands on stuff with the end goal of making a poster. My group ended up getting full points of the poster and it was so rewarding. loveddddd this lab! loved my TA and LA!!!
only met her once! sweet lady but not involved in the class. you are with your RA's the whole time for the lab. super easy and group project was easy. loved making friends with my lab mates. weekly ethics post, prelab, and lab reflections (took a lot of time to complete) final exam is a big % of your grade but it is all pre lab questions so easy:)
The curriculum was restructured, so only looked at reviews 2023 and beyond. There was a pre lab every week which was the only thing I would complain about bc sometimes they were a little time consuming. Overall though, great lab experience. I learned a lot and had fun. Just study ALL the prelab questions for final (they'll release answers at end)
The lab is engaging, with weekly prelab and reports that are quick to complete. Rarely see the professor, but the TAs make the experience fun. Loved using unstuck ai and ChatGPT for study prep - really helpful!
The professor was rarely available, but the TAs, especially mine, made labs engaging. Weekly reports, photos, and Pursuall assignments kept the workload steady and manageable. Quizzes were challenging, yet manageable with Quizlet prep. Overall it's easy to recieve and A in this class if you just do the work.
I thought the Perusall component was not useless. Harshness of attendance especially with someone with accommodations, was not accommodating at all... Dr. Maas never responds to her emails and even after asking my TA to reach out to her multiple times she did not respond to me. My TA was lovely. Dr. Maas was not involved at all. Entirely TA led.
Not involved at all. Does not respond to her emails but emails you a TON. Does not care about her students if anything happens to them. Her attendance and deadlines are very harsh and if you email her even if something horrible happened to you she does not respond and you have a 0 for the assignment. TA's can't change your grades either ugh.
Horrible TA and she doesn't care. She'll send a bunch of messages/announcements but won't respond to emails.
the professor has 0 to do with the class it's all TA led, allyson was the best TA ever !! however i heard having a bad TA can completely mess up your experience. the class was graded basically as participation and if you show up and do everything you will get a good grade, she sends a ton of emails so it's impossible to miss deadlines
The professor is not involved at all, and the course is run by the TA. If you get a bad TA, it can be difficult to do good in the course. As long as you stay on top of the extensive workload, and learn the grading style of your TA you should get an A.
The professor is not even the one teaching the class. It is the lead TAs. Your grade is pretty much based on who your lead TA is. Mine was awful but my friend had a wonderful TA. You also take three quizzes but she makes you study like 100 questions and only 5-7 questions will be asked. Reports were graded harshly from my lead TA as well.
This class is HEAVILY dependent on your TA. I was lucky to have a great TA (thanks Avery!) that really wanted students to do well. The TAs decide the quiz questions, grade the lab reports, basically run the lab. Remember to do pre-labs and perusalls. Dr. Maas wants EVERYONE to participate the final group project which sucks when your group slacks
This professor is, without a doubt, the worst I have ever encountered. I have always loved biology, yet she single-handedly made me despise it. She is an absolutely atrocious educator—she explains nothing, offloads all responsibilities onto her TAs (who, frankly, do her entire job for her), and is completely unapproachable.
She exudes bitterness, as if she regrets every decision that led her here, and she seems intent on dragging everyone else down with her. UT students deserve far better than this miserable excuse for a professor. She should be fired immediately.
Pre-labs, weekly lab reports, biweekly lab photos assignment, weekly Perusall assignment, Group Research Project, Research presentations, Lab Practical, AND a Final Exam...for an intro bio lab course. The course is not hard and the labs are pretty fun, but all this for 2 credit hours is inconceivable.
If you can take this lab online. ITS SUCH A GAMBLE. my TA was awful, he never believed on giving 100s for ANY assignment - was incredibly picky on assignments, while other TAs graded much easier. We never left lab early even when it was just looking at posters - many other labs left within 30 mins at times. You either get lucky or you dont.
Only saw Dr. Maas a few times but she seems sweet and is great with communicating through Canvas messages. The difficulty of this course is dependent upon your TAs (shoutout to Sawyer and Chandan for being awesome!!) and if you happen to get a good group, but it is a very fun and interesting lab!
"Pre-labs, weekly lab reports, biweekly lab photos assignment, weekly Perusall assignment, Group Research Project, Research presentations, Lab Practical, AND a Final Exam" retweet. Dr Maas is always nice, but if your TA sucks.. RIP you (and my 4.0)
Dr. Maas is really nice, but your experience is based on your TAs. Im not the smartest cookie, and this was the easiest class I have ever taken. Even if your TA grades harsh, Lab reports are like 8 two-sentence questions...it's not that deep lol. People just complain, take the class and you'll do great. I spent MAYBE 2 hrs a week on it outside lab.
This class is an insane amount of work for a 2 hour credit. The weekly lab reports are NOT helpful and neither are the ethics discussions. Your experience depends on your TA, but be prepared to put in time outside of class. Dr. Maas herself is extremely unhelpful and not approachable. I'd recommend taking another upper division bio lab if you can.
I love bio but this lab is disorganized, inconsistent, and frustrating. Grading criteria is nitpicky, yet there is practically no communication about what is expected. So, you end up constantly trying to guess what she wants. I also felt like the emphasis on ethics was an irritating waste of time. (Not what I paid for in a lab course, UT!)
I felt that I did more work for this class than a 2 hour lab should be. It was often frustrating when points would get taken off of assignments for no good reason other than just not wanting to give out 100s.
Although I had a fantastic TA, the course structure is not good. It made me realize I never want to go into a lab ever again, as I would dread bio lab every week. The assignments are easy but lengthy (when you add up the time spent for only 2 credit hours) + a pointless final. Def not the end of the world if you have to take this though
Didn't see the professor once, depends on who you get for a TA, semester long group project so also pray for good teammates. Not too much work and you never do busy work in lab, always actually doing something.
Heavily, heavily dependent on your TA. Unfortunately, you can't know if you have a good or bad TA until you're a few weeks into the semester, past the drop deadline. We had limited interaction with Dr. Maas (which is just a reflection of how the course is set up... she can't teach ~700 students at once). She was caring when I went to her OH.
Worst class I've had at UT. Lots of pointless work and so many messages on canvas. For a 2 hr credit intro lab the busy work is crazy
You need to attend every lab and if you miss one there is no makeup available. If you miss more than one then it starts impacting your grade heavily. She also has a lot of policies that seem unreasonable such as only having up to 24 hours to discuss an assignment grade even if it's a mistake on her part.
I spent more time on this class than on Ochem. Way too much work for a lab and extremely strict. If a question asks your age you better explain the day you were born, why you were born, where, when, go ahead and include why your parents met too. I lost so so many points for not including random things that weren't even asked for. Never left on time
There is soooooo much busy work for this 2 hour INTRO lab. I spend more time on this class than I do for genetics and ochem. That is not ok. She also will blow up your canvas email for so many unnecessary reasons. Way way way too much work for this kind of class.
Rubrics do not reward understanding of material but rather how closely your short answer response mirrors hers. Her answers are not even especially good. Far below standard for UT.
Relatively easy lab, 1 low stakes pre-lab quiz before class, lab photos and report due at the end of each week, 2 tests (one mid semester and one at the end), and a lab poster summarizing work throughout the semester. Dr. Maas was very kind and helpful. My TA Marco was very genuine and helpful, but I know some TAs were more difficult than others.
Maas will make you hate bio lab. Tests are ridiculous unless you've been studying pre labs word for word, hours of busy work, and small amounts of points taken off for like every assignment that add up quickly and will drop your grade. TA was okay and my group was chill, but for an INTRO lab course this is ridiculous and a terrible experience.
Way too much busy work! The exams were also terrible. Why are there two exams, a poster, and a lab practical? Mass was incompetent in preparing us for the exams, and the questions were open-ended and subjective, which the TAs are required to grade. However, I will not tolerate Marco slander; he was the saving grace TA of this horrible class.
I actually really liked this class. The pre-labs are pretty long, especially the quizzes. But if you actually read them, you'll do well in this class. The exams are more about understanding the material, there is no need to memorize the quizzes. Just be prepared for a good amount of work for a 2-hour credit class.
The class itself was not hard, but it was because marco was a great TA and helped us improve a lot! Some TAs make it very hard tho, but the class also lowk has a lot of busy work
I will not tolerate Marco slander!! He is fantastic and very knowledgeable. I found this lab very enjoyable overall; we always had interesting work, and the semester project was engaging. The midterm and final/midterm were a bit ridiculous in terms of their content and specificity. Aside from that, it is very achievable to earn a high grade.
You will only see Dr. Maas twice, the class is ran by TAs. I got Ally, who was simply the best. Your experience in the semester will be decided by your lab group. The content itself (the Tiny Earth Project) is actually really interesting, but it is quite a bit of work for a lab. Expect to spend an hour or two outside of class every week.
Maas doesn't do anything except write the tests (which are random and do not prioritize what you learn in the class). Maegan was my TA and she was great but Maas' friend and was so unprofessional but nice. Most chill class ever but does not live up to UT standards. So much busy work in class but easy and chill overall.
exams were graded harshly and some of those questions are super specific, a lot of prelabs and research reports that are graded harshly and only have 1 drop, doing tooooo much for a lab course
The research project was so interesting, but the workload was unnecessary and unreasonable. Pre-labs are long and exhausting and weekly reflections are graded arbitrarily. The final poster project also depends highly on your groupmates. On the bright side, an A is achievable if you keep up with the work.
The overall course is easy, just too much work for 2 credit hours. The prelabs are really long. The tests and the lab practical are pretty easy except for the last test which was unreasonably difficult considering the rest of the course, but it was given an ungodly curve so it worked out in the end. Just hope for a good TA, aka Kate.
Lots of busy work (at least 40Q prelabs and post lab writeup every week).
Honestly, you will hardly ever see Dr. Maas unless you go to her office hours- this class is 100% TA dependent. I lucked out and got the best TA (shout out Sawyer), but I had friends who did not get as lucky. The grading rubric is clear and you can extra credit, but you can only miss 10 points the whole semester to get an A. Fun class though!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
96%
Textbook Required
8%
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BIO311D
3.0
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3.0
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2.7
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