3.0
Quality3.7
Difficulty55%
Would Retake92
Reviews55%
Would Retake
92
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
17
4
22
3
20
2
20
1
13
What Students Say
“Nice human, terrible lecturer”
BIO306 - 1.0 rating“No review material, nothing to focus your studying on”
BIO432 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
HON295
5.0
(1)306
4.0
(1)BIO306LAB
3.3
(3)BIO306
3.2
(67)BIO432
3.1
(8)Difficulty by Course
BIO432
4.6
BIO
4.0
BIO305
4.0
BIO360
4.0
BIO400
4.0
Reviews (92)
Seems quite arrogant and not always approachable.
No Comments
No Comments
Very easy to talk to. Pretty nice guy overall.
No Comments
He has daily office hours and is extreemly willing to help
Maybe if he would actually teach and stop reading off of the powerpoint he would be good!
Notes confusing, nice guy, likes what he does.
One of the worst teacher that I have ever had. Very arrogant, horrible at explaning things, limited office hours,when you do go he is not helpful & seems very irritated that you are bothering him. Lecture notes,confusing and not helpful.DO NOT TAKE HIM!!
hes kind of a dick
Sometimes vague, but overall very good.
Took time to get to know me as a person, very helpful in explaining things! Would take him again in a minute!
Awesome teacher. Very helpful and get to know you!
unfriendly, hard exams...
I think he's a better professor if you're female, more willing to help.
He gives the worst lectures ever. He teaches the material by putting figures from the book onto powerpoint. He talks fast and doesn't repeat anything. He is very confusing. The material isn't hard but you have to learn it on your own. Do not take him, please believe me, don't take him!
Dr. Abler is extremely helpful and friendly. His tests are taken right out of the lecture notes- no need to ever read the book. Awesome guy in general too!
Absolutely horrible! He seems like he hates his job and takes it out on his students. Don't expect help outside of scheduled class time, he gets irritated that you are wasting his time. I don't think that I've ever met a professor with a worse attitude towards their profession! Avoid if possible.
Like him as a person, but clarity of lectures is terrible. Teaches from the figures out of the book and it ends up being hard to follow him. If you want to put a lot of time out of class learning everything then take him.
He lectures at a fairly fast pase, which makes him very hard to follow at times. He was just helpful enough to get by. It seems as if he is at the university to do research rather than teach. I would not recommend him, and would certainly not take another one of his courses.
I overall didn't mind this lab at all but the way he explains things can be tricky but I found I really had to listen and then I got it alright. Nice guy!
Really nice guy...tries his best even though he has trouble getting some of his points across. If this was my only class I would probably be doing fine, buuuuut it's not, so instead I am doing so-so. Knew my name after the second day of lab!
Doesn't explain things clearly at all. Spends lots of time going over basic concepts people should have learned in prerequisite courses and no time on the new stuff that will be on the test... hard to approach, hard grader (and arbitrary one too!) Don't take him- take Galbraith and you might end up enjoying genetics.
Oh come on guys, he's not bad. Its GENETICS, of course it's not going to be easy... go ask him questions in person if you don't understand something in lecture and the class will be an easy A...take him for lab too, gets to know you as a person and not just a number like other profs
not very clear about explainations in lecture but really good one on one
Abler is a very personable professor. I really gets to know his students and does everything he can to make sure you get the grade you want. Very willing to help with anything.
Great guy. Personable and helpful. I had Galbraith for lecture and she was great too. He knows his stuff and gets to know his students too. Take him for lab for sure!
Abler goes over the basics in class, but makes you responsible for every liitle detail on tests. Test are mainly all from the book. Each test also has work problems to sort out as well. I wouldn't recommend this guy unless absolutely no other choice. He takes an interesting subject and makes it not so...
Abler is a very friendly professor, he seems like a nice guy, but he is a terrible teacher. He gives very brief amounts of information in lecture and expects very very detailed inofrmation on exams. This class is generally tough, and he seems to make it much more confusing than it has to be.
Although he tries to be very helpful, he is not the greatest teacher. His tests are hard and his lectures are boring, but he is a nice guy, although a bit odd and difficult to converse with. I would not recommend taking a course with him unless you have no other choice.
don't take him unless you really have to. his tests are really hard and lectures REALLy boring. he can be funny and very helpful, but also very anal about details.
Abs Rocks! His Lectures are so-so, but I'm genetically challenged so it's probably just me. He's a great lab prof and he genuinely tries to make sure you learn the material well. He had a self-improvement quiz for crying out loud!!! If that's not the sign of a teacher who cares, I don't know what is.
Abler is one of the best teachers on Campus. Honestly, if you are even semi-interested in Genetics you will like this class. The labs are really fun and he plays music before lecture and during lab! He's a good guy and understanding if you go in and talk to him! :)
Abler was a good teacher, he really cared about whether you learned the material, very helpful. The only thing I didn't like was the way he graded the "fly papers", too harsh! But overall it wasn't that bad of a class if you studied and rewrote your notes over, I barely read the book and I still did really well on the tests.
Not super clear with lectures, tests are pretty hard. His final was not general like he said it would be...he is also not the greatest at posting scores in a timely manner, or when he says he will. I think he cares about his students learning but won't help much unless you go to him, which i tried and he kinda blew me off. maybe it was just me!
Not gonna lie, this class is a challenge. I put a considerable amount of effort into classwork and studying and managed to pull a B. Make sure you print out his lecture notes, it provides a great outline to study to. Missing lectures is the number one easiest way to do bad in the class. GO TO EVERY LECTURE!!! He fits a LOT of info into each session
Dr. Abler is an amazing professor. He gets a bad reputation, but it is not deserved. His test are tough yet fair. He is interesting, aproachable, friendly, and incredibly knowledgable in his field. I only put forth moderate effort in the class and received an A.
Hard class with a lot ofnew words and info to learn. Most people had a good chance to get a good grade though. he is a nice guy and a fair grader.
He's pretty good at explaining stuff but he's also intimidating and an arrogant jerk...kinda funny at times. Probably not the worst but not the best.
He is very difficult to understand in class. Reading the book is almost essential because explanations in class were so vague. Exams were pretty easy as long as you went through review material. He is a very forgiving professor. Just keep plugging away at the material and you'll be fine.
I really like Dr. Abler. His lectures are a little hard to follow sometimes but he makes them interesting and fun. I'm easily getting an A. Just do all the assignments and STUDY for his tests and you will be just fine.
Dr. Abler is great. He seems arrogant, but he is not. His tests are challenging, but it is not difficult to do well. You will learn a lot in his genetics class, and you will have fun too.
Bio of Cancer is a very interesting and fun class! Just be warned though, if you are looking to take an easy two credit class I wouldn't take this one... Dr. Abler is right in saying it's the hardest two credit class on campus!
only reads the slides be ready to teach yourself
Abler is all right. During the class it is easy to tell where his interest lies. He seems to speak over my head a lot and unfortunately will not post notes prior to lecture "in order to make you a better note taker." not the greatest, but not the worst.
He's a cool teacher. Most days he had music playing before lecture started and he has a good sense of humor. I don't think he was the most helpful professor however. He rarely responded to any emails and was hard to get a hold of. Lectures were interesting and fun to go to though.
Not the most friendly guy but it's a fair class. Tons of points so your whole grade isn't dependent on exams.
Biology of Cancer is an amazingly fun class. Very interesting stuff. He does a great job teaching it but his tests are somewhat stupid. I never felt so much like a prof. is trying to trick me. His multiple choice... redic. Be straight forward and see what we have learned, don't make us decipher your questions.
Biology of cancer was very interesting. He does try to rush through a lot of complicated material in a short amount of time and the tests are tricky. His powerpoints are only figures from the text, but overall it was ok, I learned a lot.
Rather than positive reinforcement, he seems to favor pointing every place you go wrong. He's also pretentious and that makes it hard to relate to him. Though lectures are clear, it's hard to pick out what he wants for the exam. It's possible to do well in the class, but he doesn't offer much support.
He did not provide power point slides. His notes are one word long and it was hard to follow through his fast talking pace while keeping up with taking notes since what he provides is just the title. Every time I went to his office hours he seemed to be grumpy for some reason. Really hard to get conciseness from him. Try someone else.
He tries to make up for the fact that he's a terrible lecturer with extra credit quizzes and easy assignments. Expect to teach yourself everything else.
His power points are figures from the textbook and he'll write one sentence notes on the board sometimes. Little intimidating...Be prepared to do a lot of learning on your own. One piece of advice: go to the tutors! They are definitely helpful in helping you figure out problems.
His lectures are absolutely useless. You will have to learn on your own and from the book. I would avoid him...
If you like going to lectures where you spend 90% of the time ticked off because you have no idea/can't follow what the professor is talking about, then Dr. Abler is for you! Expect to do all of your learning from the text.
Abler is awful. He's arrogant and doesn't know how to teach. If you ask him a question he'll make you feel worthless. If you don't want to learn entirely from the book, don't take him. If you want to learn entirely from the book, still don't take him..
I was really worried about taking Abler for genetics, as all the reviews are terrible. If you take the time to not only go to lectures, but follow along with the review guide, read the book and take notes, you will have no problem doing well in this class. It's science, its not easy and its not supposed to be!
Hands down, one of the worst professors I've had so far at UWL. He doesn't lecture on the important concepts that he expects you to master for the exam. His lectures consisted of images from the book, that's it. If you enjoy learning everything on your own, you'll be fine. I would avoid him at all costs.
I was soo excited to take genetics, but was soo disappointed after taking Abler. He teaches to you like you already have a full understanding of the material. You have to read and understand the text in order to follow what he says. Not a bad guy though, just not very good at teaching.
Dr. Abler has by far been the best teacher I have had at UWL. Very approachable to talk to in office hours, great notes to follow along with in class, and clear cut information for the exams. It's an upper level bio course so it will always require extra time, but i would highly recommend him!
Genetics actually interested me before I took this class. Abler made everything so confusing and expects students to study for at least 3 hours a night to understand the material. The tests are impossible and lectures are pointless. The only way to pass is to read the book and pay attention in lab.
Most arrogant person I have ever met! Not very efficient in his teaching. He lectures as if his students were his fellow genetics nerd colleagues and does not realize students take the class be use they are not experts yet! Very arrogant and makes you feel like the dumbest of all creatures if you ask a question and doesn't give a useful answer.
He is a very intelligent professor, he's hard but if you put the work in like you're supposed to in college and you will be fine. I got an AB, and I worked hard for it. It's not meant to be easy and it's a lot of outside learning. I wouldn't mind taking him again. He was very approachable outside of class as well.
As a senior (biology major) Dr. Abler was sub par. He shows little enthusiasm for the subject, and mainly lectures from text book figures. He's just not good. It's not too difficult to get a good grade, but If you want to go to class and actually learn something, take a different professor. Majority of learning comes from reading book.
very good instructor. exams can be a little tough but if you do his study guide and practice problems you'll be fine. loved this class and look forward to taking a class with him again!!
Dr. Abler is great! One of my favorite teachers at UWL. A lot of people have written not the greatest reviews but I disagree with them. This is a challenging course but I learned so much and had fun doing it. He is super approachable and really wants you to learn. He teaches not just from PowerPoints but more like a story. I would 100% recommend.
I was scared to take Abler's class after reading the reviews, but he was one of my favorite profs. Power points are only figures and tables from the book, so note taking is a must. I suggest doing his study guides and suggested problems to do well!
I really disliked this subject in general. It's hard to take notes b/c you basically have to copy don't everything he says since there are no words on the slides just figures. He grades homework really hard taking off a lot of points for simple mistakes. You need to read the chapters to complete understand the material that he goes through quickly
Tests are really challenging. You will do most of the learning on your own from the book because it is hard to follow what he is talking about.
Good professor for a tough class. He makes you work for it, and the tests sometimes include obscure points (so study hard and pay attention) but he's very clear in lecture.
He's not very merciful when it comes to grades, but he is still a good professor. Make sure to take good notes and pay attention to how the questions are worded in the tests and exams. Sometimes I'd misread them and I'd get the whole thing wrong. Overall I'd say the class was fairly reasonable. It was a tough subject.
Terribly unspecific. Lectures are just slides with no words and tons of extra material, so it's hard to know what he wants you to know, and he won't tell if you ask. No review material, nothing to focus your studying on. The only way to get a good grade in the class is to read the book cover to cover, which goes into way more detail than we need
This class is designed to weed you out. Be prepared to not finish exams in the allotted 55 minutes. Professor is very intelligent, but that does not make him a good teacher. If you ever wondered what a tenured proffessor acts like then the stereotype is fulfilled in this class. Please avoid , I wish someone would have given me this advice.
Nice human, terrible lecturer. I would be more interested in watching a banana rot than sit through another lecture.
Professor Abler is very knowledgable, however, he very much expects his students to learn a lot of material in a very short amount of time. His tests are tough, and the content is harder. Reading the book and working through the study guides helps. He is accessible outside of class, and is a generally nice individual. Read outside of class!
I took this class because I thought it'd be interesting, and it was. BUT. It was, by far, the most difficult class I've EVER taken. I'm a senior, and I would not recommend this class to anyone, let alone this teacher. He was somewhat kind, but extremely intimidating and talked really fast. Tests were very difficult. This class takes a LOT of work.
Dr. Abler is kind and caring, but his lectures are tough. You will learn a lot of material in a short amount of time, so it is important to go to as many lectures as you can. His Powerpoints are mostly figures, so you have to listen for important points and write them down because what is provided on D2L is not sufficient for studying on your own.
I loved Abler, this was a tough class. However, he did a great job at trying to explain the material clearly and really tried to help the students as much as possible. So far one of my favorite professors at UWL.
Doesn't use powerpoint with words, only pictures/figures. You wont survive this class without heavily reading the textbooks and doing the problem sets that aren't even assigned. He is available and very helpful outside of class so with office hours and reading textbook should be fine. Only thing graded is typically exams, never homework due.
Abler is a great professor who seems intimidating at first but he actually really cares for his students. Lecture style is a little hard to get used to at first because there arent any words on his slides.
Going into my senior year and have to say that Dr. Abler was one of the poorest lecturers I've had at UW-L. He puts very little effort into preparing for and organizing his lectures. He doesn't even make powerpoints that summarize the information (no words/bulletpoints), instead he just has pictures from the textbook that he rambles over. Dont take
This man just does not know how to teach. Which is surprising considering his number of years at UWL. He does not seem to care about student success, perhaps because he is a tenured professor who's career does not depend on whether his students think he's good at his job. He rambles over loads of material and does not indicate what is important.
I have taken two courses taught by Abler over my college career (BIO 306 and BIO 432). They were definitely hard courses. Abler is a great lecturer but sometimes goes too much into detail. You learn a lot from him. Tests are usually difficult so you have to study a ton for them.
The material in Genetics is not that much harder than any other class, but Dr. Abler did a poor job presenting the information. It was never clear during lecture what we would be tested on and what he decided to rant about that day. The study guides given never really had much to do with the test. Definitely take someone else for genetics!
In lecture he does go into more detail than he expects you to know for exams, but he provides guides that tell you exactly what you should know, and he'll say "you don't need to memorize all this, just know X, Y and Z." He gives very little homework so exams are super important but he writes them fairly. If you put in the work you'll do just fine.
He is the professor that high school teachers warn you about. The only information you get is from the textbook. If you do not read the book, you won't pass. Lectures are pretty vague and leave out a lot of useful information.
Dr. Abler will go out of his way to meet up with you outside his office hours. He cares about his students and is passionate about his field of study. His exams are difficult, but he gives you study guides and practice problems to help you study! Make sure you show up to class because lectures are not recorded.
Dr. Abler will be difficult if you cannot dedicate a lot of time outside class to reading and practicing problems in the textbook. He does tend to talk softly, so you will need to participate in class/take a LOT of notes in order to stay awake and attentive. Make sure you understand how to do his homework. They will be the short answers on the exam
I loved Professor Abler. Glad I took him for genetics. He is a personable down to earth professor. He was very helpful and provided many review sessions for the class before exams and the final outside of class time. Make sure you listen very closely to what he is saying because there aren't many words on his slides but I learned easily from him.
Nice guy and knows his stuff, but awful professor. His slideshows have no words and only contain figures, gives little to no homework so exams are main grade, doesn't give exams back, and knows his class is incredibly hard but does nothing to make it easier. If anything, he's the reason it's so hard
Professor Abler is the head of his department and has been working in the field of Genetics for many years. He knows his subject very well, but can be a bit of a frustrating lecturer. He moves fast and it is difficult to get a question in. His tests are very difficult and weighted heavily. He included a lecture on Eugenics, which I appreciated.
As a senior finishing my last semester, I can say this was the hardest class I've ever taken. Dr Abler knows his stuff but had the worse lectures ever. Absolutely no information on any slides, just figures and rambling. There's very little in the grade book besides exams so if you do poorly on one, it's almost impossible to turn your grade around.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
HON295
5.0
(1)306
4.0
(1)BIO306LAB
3.3
(3)BIO306
3.2
(67)BIO432
3.1
(8)Difficulty by Course
BIO432
4.6
BIO
4.0
BIO305
4.0
BIO360
4.0
BIO400
4.0