Lively, bright, and entertaining. Take any class he teaches!

Parker is the man. He's one of the smartest, eccentric, organized, and animated teachers here. His classes are great.

very good prefessor. gives good notes and is very interactive. However, his problem is that his exams are way too difficult for us.

Great teacher to take, especially for lab courses

What a cute little man!! I would have done better had I worked harder but the class itself was good. Made it as interesting as he could.

The only Bio class I looked foward to going to my freshmen year. That's saying a lot cause I hardly went to class my freshmen year.

Great teacher. One of the few at this school who seem like they are here for teaching and not just research. Seems to love teaching, which makes the class really interesting. Tests are pretty hard though, but if you learn his notes you should be fine.

One of the best teachers i have ever had. very clear.

His lectures are both thorough AND very interesting! He shows very helpful film about examples in understanding the biological concepts. He is one of my favorite professors =)

He is really a great lecturer, but his tests are rediculously hard. You need to read the textbook.

kind of boring, but not as bad as clark or stein. shows videos often so you have time to relax. test was hard, but it was the firstone of the semester. just read the textbook thoroughly

I have taken MANY science courses and I think he is one of the best. He is SO clear about what he says and he is funny! I am so glad that I had him as one of my professors for biology. His exams are not hard if you read the textbook and study the notes!

Best prof of all the 117 team. His lectures are somewhat more interesting than the others, and his notes are good also. He can teach. The "Stuttering Scientist" is very helpful, too.

This guy deserves extra honors for making a class like bio fun and interesting.

If it weren't for this man I would have failed biology. Great sense of humor, interesting lectures, very hard tests but not impossible. Great lecturer.

His lectures were very easy to follow and the material seemed clear. Unfortunately his tests are hard so know your stuff!

Excellent professor, excellent course. Not too difficult. Required a bit of studying to do well on the exams, but not extensive amounts.

Excellent Class! Even thought I'm not a bio major, I enjoyed the material and lectures. Parker antics are the main reason. Test are hard, but doable. Do well on lab and study notes and text.

Tests are ridiculously hard!! DO NOT take this class

good professor. his lecutures are very clear and i love his video clips. exams are very hard. you must study to pass them. i don't recommend this class for those who are not good with memorization or if you are just plain lazy.

His lectures were fun but exams were exteremely hard. Other 2 teachers of this course are even monotonous and purely bad. That makes test a big struggle.

Best lecturer of the three. He speaks fast but it is easy to understand him. He gives wonderful lectures and explains everything in detail. Tests are very hard and you have to study ALOT! Always makes sure everyone understands topics before continuing.

good teacher. he has nice notes and make things easier to understand. Reading the book before lecture helps alot too.

Lectures are interesting if your pre-med major. Notes in class help alot. Teachers crack not so funny jokes, that makes then funny. Tests are extremely hard if you don't know what you are doing. If you read the book and notes 3 times andunderstand everything, youll get a B or higher on the tests.

This class is incredibly hard. The professors are amazing, especially within their designated areas, but the material is just difficult and hard to learn. Do not take this course for the lab, I repeat: DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE FOR THE LAB.

What is up with this man? He's got a peculiar accent and sounds like everything is obvious. The material's not difficult but he teaches it like it is. I didn't like how he wouldn't shift his recent notes up on the elmo, instead he just took them off so you couldn't copy them. It was ez i gotan a

He's a very nice professor. he explains things well, but make sure u read the book cuz most of the things on the exams come from the reading assignments.

great proffesor i'm taking another class with him next semester.

Energetic man, good lectures. Tests are difficult.

Very good lecturer and a funny guy. He made the material interesting. The test were ridiculously hard though. Last class exam average was a 59.

he was the best of the three lecturers and his notes were very clear and organized. although he seemed very anxious and jumpy, he seemed to enjoy teaching the material. his questions on the test were the most straightforward out of the three professors.

personally, i thought the information was interesting, although the lectures can put you to sleep. if you pay attention in class, it's not hard to pass the exams. the TA is really no help though, he doesn't know anything about the material.

very nice guy, good teacher, makes lecture interesting, tests are hard but do-able

For an intro course, his lectures were very interesting. He's always enthusiastic about the material, and knows what he's talking about. His tests can be pretty specific though, especially regarding specific information, so make sure you learn the specific examples from the reading in addition to the general concepts.

He is a very good professor I would recommend taking his class. The topics are very interesting and he is extremely knowledgeable. Read the text and you'll do fine on the tests.

He gives interesting lectures, especially on evolution since that is his specialty. His tests are pretty straightforward, though he can ask questions about details learned in labs. Just read each reading twice and go over notes before class and you'll do well

Matty Parker is the most adorable little man ever! His tests are pretty specific so you definitely need to read the text book and study a lot but he is passionate about what he teaches and makes lectures interesting.

Learned a lot of interesting things from his class, and enjoyed discussions. But he's totally unapproachable during office hours -as one user stated earlier- and you feel rushed. Definitely a family man, so it's hard to get in touch w/him outside of class anyway for help or clarification. Insanely hard tests, but doable if you think.

He's really a great teacher, no questions asked. however, his tests are SO specific thats its sometimes impossible to get over a 85, even if you read the textbook completely or take really good notes. i guess you could say 85% is biology subject material while the other 15% is just plain test taking abilities.

Dr. Parker is one of the best professors at this university. Although his tests can be pretty specific, you just have to learn how to study for them, and you'll be fine. Plus, he always ends up curving, so it's okay. He's so passionate about the subjects he teaches that it's interesting to just go to class and watch him. And the class is great. =)

Parker does a great job at taking a very complicated topic and breaking it down into manageable parts. The material is very challenging but if you go to class and do the readings it’s not impossible. His lectures are frenetic but he presents the material in a lucid manner.

Dr. Parker is great. He talks in lecture like he's trying to prove a point, not just trying to bore his students. He breaks down the concepts into understandable terms, and supplies sufficient example problems. If you read the book and keep up with the weekly homework problem, you should be fine. The final repleaces your lowest grade, but was hard.

really awesome professor. you can tell that he is extremely passionate about his work. lectures are extremely interesting. but the tests are hard as hell

People warned me about taking his class. And now that it's over, I'm not really sure why. If you go to lecture and do the assignments, you'll be fine. If you want an A, you have to read everything. The tests are tough, but Parker's funny, easy to understand, and passionate. And yea, the class was curved.

Parker is the REAL deal, he lives this material, anyone who says this class is unfair is a clown, read textbook and notes, he is very helpful if you attend office hours and actually WANT to learn

Lecture is very detailed and everything and anything he says could be on the exam. Test questions are so detailed and pull information right from the textbook, so reading is important too. Take good notes, study more than you think, and go to everything (including lab) and a good grade is possible

He put the questions so detailed like very detailed from every corner of the notes to every words he said in the lecture can be on the test. If u dun read the test book, u are 100% doomed, but abt 60% of the test questions can be common sense, so after all with a huge curve A is managable

Great Professor. He shows videos, making the already boring subject more interesting. Study hard for the exam, there is a lot of memorization.

Dr. Parker is funny,helpful entertaining and organized professor who makes me declare my major to Biology(i m sophomore).His tests are challenging which makes Biology a subject to worth studying for.I learned alot from him.AFTER ALL, HE IS THE MAN!!

Dr. Parker is very enthusiastic, fun, and easy to approach. You can always e-mail and he responds promptly. The exam questions are specific and most of them come from the textbook. They are fair, however, and he gives such a huge curve. I studied about 6 hours for each exam and got an A easily with a RETARDED TA (His name is Burzin Chavda. AVOID!)

Parker really knows his stuff - he does make an effort to make lectures interesting. His tests are extremely hard, but with the lab grade, quiz grades, the fact that he'll drop the lowest grade if you take the final, and a curve, you can do well in the class.

The majority of the class got an A I think looking at the # of students that took the final. Parker is the best!

definitely need to read the textbook inside out, very detailed questions. Parker loves to teach and you can see that when he is lecturing. It's a tough class only because of the exams, 60% of the material is common sense...The beginning of the course isn't too bad, but the material becomes very dense later on. One thing about 117 I HATE THE LABS!!

read the textbook!! very nice guy

Mechanisms of Evolution: Dr. Parker breaks down complex ideas into steps that are easy to follow. Just be sure to read your notes after every class and read the assigned material. He's also very approachable and will be more than happy to clarify certain concepts.

This guy is so funny and ridiculous. But at the same time, he's brilliant, and provides convincing arguments for the subject. He also discusses really interesting ideas and makes it relateable.

excellent professor. explained concepts VERY clearly and knows his stuff well. energetic professor.

Independent Study: Worked 10-5 in his lab for 9 weeks over the summer studying the evolution of symbiosis between legumes and root nodule bacteria. I learned a ton; techniques will be very useful in grad school. Can be difficult to communicate with at times- speaks softly, but he is brilliant and very passionate about his legumes. Very friendly.

Had Parker for 117 and now for 351. He is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, but the class is so incredibly boring, its hard to pay attention. He also likes to test on random details, which is annoying if you didn't know that before the first exam.

Interesting man with interesting questions. I didn't expect much from this class, but in the end I feel that I am more confident in my presentation skills and that the topic on origins of life is quite interesting. He can be a bit snarky at times, especially when students ask dumb questions, but talking to him one-on-one reveals his better sides.

Lectures are very clear and interesting. But his tests are brutal (difficult and very detailed). The class average has been around 60 for each exam. But you get an awesome feeling when you do well, because you worked for it. Go to lecture! Often you can get points just for being there. Only take this prof. if you're prepared to put in some effort.

Difficult professor but very interesting. Make sure you go to all classes and discussions and read all assigned textbook sections. This class can be very interesting and helpful if you pay attention and do the work. My favorite professor so far.

Super interesting course. I kept up with the work and found his comments on homework useful. While the homework isn't always easy to understand I found approaching him, classmates, or the TA very helpful. The class is fair and the final is optional

Dr. Parker is very enthusiastic about the subject, and this class is very interesting. It is, however, a demanding class. There are time-consuming assignments and difficult exams. Overall, he is a fair grader. My advice: go to every class, take good notes, and be prepared to work hard!

He engages you to think about evolution in an analytical manner. He explains the concepts very well. The exams are hard. They will test how well you can comprehend complex multiple choice questions so Read each question CAREFULLY. Each exam has about 4 or 5 mult choice question directly from book. Part 2 of exam is more mathematic based.

Parker is a great professor and really has a passion for what he teaches. Some of the stuff is really interesting, but you have to read the textbook to do well.

This class was interesting, but the way he presented the material really made enjoying the subject a lot harder. It is a tough class that you must work a whole lot for to expect a good grade. Discussion are hilariously useless and there are several homework assignments.

Probably one of my favorite professors and courses. The course is very problem based. He explains how to do the problems very well in class. If you follow along you should understand how to do them. Make sure you keep up with the homework and quizzes. There is only ever 1 at a time and they homework and quizzes are very helpful and not very hard.

The class is hard. The online quizzes are very easy; you can find the answers online if you don't have time to read that day. Test are similar to the practice homework posted online. In some test you will do very well on the MC and bad on the math or bad on the MC, but well on the math. I felt like the class got curved down at the end.

Prof. Parker is a fantastic lecturer and clearly puts a great deal of effort into his courses. Attending lectures is mandatory as it is the only way to get the notes and there are one question attendance quizzes almost every day. His exams are tricky but doable and the HW points act as a grade buffer. I would take a class with him again.

The class is super interesting and Dr. Parker is a great lecturer. People seem to find the tests difficult. He expects you to really understand the material, but he offers bonuses questions based on readings so there is room to make up for questions. It is not an unfair class whatsoever and he is always available to help students.