3.0
Quality3.3
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake84
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
84
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
14
3
19
2
13
1
16
What Students Say
“Great Prof, Gives Lecture notes &completed lect notes online,tests easy,humerous”
BIOSC0150 - 5.0 rating“Puts completed notes online, but tests difficult”
BIOSC150 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.89 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOSC1870
5.0
(1)BIOSC0110
5.0
(1)BIOSC150
4.3
(8)BIO1
4.1
(10)BIO101
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
BIOLOGY
5.0
BIOLOGY1
5.0
0350
5.0
BIO101
5.0
BIO
4.4
Reviews (84)
Great Prof, Gives Lecture notes &completed lect notes online,tests easy,humerous
Puts completed notes online, but tests difficult.
does not teach, if you don't know it before you have the class you will fail the class
No Comments
No Comments
Good prof, quite humorous, exams not hard if you read the book
Does not teach at all. All he does is read off of powerpoint and falling asleep in class to those is inevitable
AWFUL AWFUL MAN
He is the awesomest teacher ever. He is super cool and a great lecturererer. His tests are easy if you do the work. he is a really great guy
Seems like a nice guy but that doesn't change that the class sucks. Gives tons of notes but tests annoyingly only cover very few concepts, usually the harder concepts. Plus he adds nonsensical questions that you only know if you went to class.
ridiculously hard test. what else is there to say? monotone voice. lame jokes. uncomfortable lecture chairs. just print the notes offline. and then show up to recitation or he'll screw u over on the test.
Good professor. Tests are extremely easy if you put some work into the class. Recitations are fun. He is willing to get to know you on a personal level if you let him.
Its not his fault that the class is boring as sin, and it sucks that he makes you go to recitation. BUT this is college not kindergarten. Get over it. He's easy to get in touch with, and willing to help you out. Take his class. Its easy.
first exams were hard but got easier, i liked him a lot!!one of the best professors ive had
Good sense of humor, and is very helpful. Tests have some application questions that can be pretty difficult, but altogether, it was a pretty easy class.
No Comments
worst class ever! tests are impossible!
Great professor! If you plan on taking animal physiology I strongly recommend him. He is very nice, helpful, and FAIR at grading and testing. Lectures are excellent!
Horrible!
good teacher
Dr. Sherwin is a good teacher and he tries (bless him) to make a really boring subject at least mildly interesting. And his tests are specific, but not too bad. I would recommend him for Bio 1.
Very fair professor, teaches the material rather than just simply reading the notes, very good at responding to questions and emails, tests are not too difficult if you learn the material. Overall good professor.
No Comments
dr. sherwin is the best professor you could take for bio 1 at pitt. his tests are hard, but that's what you get taking a college-level biology course. it's going to be hard no matter what-so it helps to have a good teacher like dr. sherwin.
dr. sherwin is good at teaching. he likes biology lots. go steelers!
Dr. Sherwin is very available as a professor for help outside class. His tests are hard but so are all college tests. Definately the best professor for Bio 150.
Well, personally he is as good as it could get. Like said, tests are really hard(i thought), but again, so is bio in general. His final was sooo easy though! I would certaintly recommend him. Is enthusiastic about a subject that can lean toward the dry side(even if interested)
He's horrible. He didn't know what he was doing in lab. Experiments would go wrong, and he would get mad at us though it wasn't our fault. He graded our lab reports unfairly and he's just an all around jerk.
I had him in the fall semester, and stopped going to class at the beginning of October. I still got A's on every test. All you have to do is print out the complete notes and read them and the book the night before the test. EASY!
he is a good teacher, better then many that teach at Pitt
hard to talk to, tends to talk down to you
though he wasn't my favorite teacher, he is by far the easiest of the bio 1 profs so any one with an interest in getting the best grade should take him. i did much better on the tests when i looked at tests that other bio classes had already taken and saw the exact same questions. final was a cinch
Had him my first semester at college. Only went until after the first test before withdrawling. Didn't seem to want to help me understand better or get a tutor at all and lectures were boring as could be, but he seemed like a nice guy, just hard to talk to. Take Newman instead.
No Comments
DICK'S THE MAN!! Honestly, you WANT him for Bio 1! His lectures are a little boring but he cracks an occasional good joke. Tests are fairly hard, but it's worth it! He is very knowledgable and will help you if you need it. He's a true meathead though, downs protein shakes to begin the class!!
He started off easy and I thought I understood how his tests and class worked but than he changed his teaching style. He added things to the test that we did not cover in class when he said in the begining of the semester that we'd only be tested on the things covered in class.
No Comments
No need to go to class...his notes are online
Not a bad teacher...you can argue your grade with him-he's pretty fair. All the notes are online, so u dont really have to go to class, but go the day before an exam-he usually asks test questions
conviently puts lecture notes online to print. although the first exam may be easy, don't be surprised if your grade starts to slip. changes teaching styles at times and speeds through information. lecture can get boring and sherwin isn't the best biology professor, but your best bet for bio 1.
Biology is challenging in and of itself, but Dr. Sherwin definitely knows his stuff. He is pretty straight forward about what you need to know for the tests with his notes but I think you really need to read the book to do well. I would definitely take Dr. Sherwin again!
No Comments
Tests were tricky
Tricky Dicky lives up to his name on the tests, theyre very difficult, no matter how much you study. Average on the final was a 67. He flies through material and recitaions are worthless.
No Comments
He didn't follow the book and tests were very hard. He also was very unapproachable.
DON'T believe the hype, he is not the greatest gift to the bio department
His tests were not at all representative of the homework,book, or lectures. He rarely explained concepts well and only had office hours once a week. Don't ever take his class in the summer.
Sherwin is absoutely one of the worst professors I have ever had in my entire life. His presentations in genetics were unclear and BORING. He always changed his presentations like an hour before he presented, so we never dowloaded the right notes. He NEVER finishes his presentations. You may think I'm bitter, but I got an A+, and I loathe him.
did not care at all, the class was terrible and i never went. not too hard, but just a terrible prof.
No Comments
boring!
Absolutely impossible to understand. says tests are from notes but mysteriously are from captions in book. doesn't offer any help or question answering. impossible to communicate with. the worst professor at pitt by far. avoid this man like your life depends on it.
I dont know what these other people are talking about. He's a decent teacher. When you study for tests all you have to do is study the notes he gives and not from any footnotes. He does try to be funny but other than that he really isn't bad at all.
His bio 1 class isn't that bad at all.The people who complain expect their grade just to be handed to them with no work or effort.Yes,the tests are difficult. Yes, you have to study. Still, by far the best bio 1 prof. Tests usually include one or two questions from the recitations so they aren't as mandatory as some claim.Study the notes + get an A
Sherwin is a horrible teacher, his notes are poorly organized and unclear, he complicates things more than they need to be. he talks a lot but never says anything relevent. He honestly doesn't know his own lectures, he just reads them to you. Horrible at answering questions, says things like "probably, i guess, sure, why not". NOT SMART.
No Comments
Not bad Avoids the book, hardly used. Notes are more deterimental, write them in class. It seems that he doesn't know his own slides and spends more time modding them alot of days then teaching, or reading them. Overlly commanding presence when answering questions in office hours and seems to make you fell like and idiot, not bad but not Bledsoe
He is the best bio 1 professor by far. He keeps test all based on notes. Mini-videos in class are helpful. I have seen tests from the other 2 teachers and in the end, you will be glad you had him.
great prof overall. i suck at bio so coming out of this class with a C was amazing. best bio prof overall and willing to help any one out
The class is easy if you put the work into it. I hardly ever went to class and went to 2 recitations the entire semester and still got a B. Study the notes, and look up the stuff that you don't understand in the book. Take advantage of practice exams. Just about all the questions on the final were from either previous exams or practice exams.
No Comments
Very boring. Tries to be funny. Voice is VERY MONOTONIC meaning, you'll fall asleep. His tests don't exactly match his lecture or his notes, so you'll come across questions on the test you've never even came across before, unless you've read the book, and actually REMEMVER EVERYTHING you've read.. BUT of the other bIo profs, he's the easier one
Seems to be the easiest of the dept, but that's not saying much. He likes to mumble so make sure you get a seat in the front. Also, he likes to randomly test you on stuff you've never heard of and laugh that you didn't get it right because it was so obvious. His forte? LOVES to phrase questions in the most construed way, making exams crazy hard.
Fair overall. Most of the questions on the exams came from the notes, no need to read the book unless you don't understand something. I recommend studying practice tests and old exams because he reuses the some of the same questions.
No Comments
Lectures are pretty boring, but tests are the easiest you'll see for any Bio 1 professor. Definitely study practice tests and old exams. Study the midterms for the final!!
Very fair, gives very general notes in his lecture, but his tests are directly from his general stuff, only read the book if you need it, very nice, and easy to understand, I highly recommend him, I used to be terrible in bio, but i understand it with him, just study his notes or the book, eitherway you will do fine
No Comments
Dr. Sherwin is an awesome professor. Like any other class, you are required to study and memorize the material. If you put in the work, you'll do just fine. If you need help, he's there for office hours mon-fri. I would recommend him. He's easier than the other bio teachers. Warning:Likes to teach 2 days b4 the test and put it on the test.
Dr. Sherwin's great. A little boring at times, but will crack a good joke here and there. The class isn't a cake walk, but if you put in the effort, you'll be fine. Drops the lowest test score but will lower everyone's final grades if the final class average is greater than 75. Said he's never had to do that though. Take him for bio I if you can!
4 midterms, 1 final, most are hard. pretty helpful professor, but will lower your grade if class average is above a 75%. thats pretty ridiculious. I put in alot of effort and managed only a B+. jokes are pretty bad but makes an occasional funny. dont get too excited over the first easy test because the rest are pretty tricky.
Sherwin is a good professor. He is available for student assitance everyday. If you attend class, he will even hint to questions that will appear on exams and the finals. As long as you keep up with the material, an A or B is obtainable.
Sherwin is a good professor. He is available for student assitance everyday. If you attend class, he will even hint to questions that will appear on exams and the finals. As long as you keep up with the material, an A or B is obtainable.
he was a pretty good prof. bio is in general a hard class but you should be able to manage at least a B if you try hard enough. Probably the best out of all of the departments professors.
Good prof, if you go to class and pay attention. Puts notes up online, but practically useless unless you actually attend the classes to fill in additional notes. VERY difficult to work with if you have specific issues during the course.
Definately take this professor if you can. He is very reasonable, fair, and willing to help. Lectures were interesting and concepts were explained very well in the notes. If you take notes and really study the notes, you will do fine in this class. Tests were very reflective of material covered in notes. He also provided additional help online.
Difficult. Dr. Sherwin often contradicts the text book.
pretty helpful, clear and nice, but pretty hard. don't get too excited over the 1st test. they will get harder and he lowers everyone's grades if the class average is above a 70% to make it 70%! How ridiculious is that? This probably slide me down from an a- to a b+. Unless you know the book word for word, you wont get an A.
Sherwin's class was difficult, but I got a HUGE understanding of biology and actually started to like it by the end. There are 4 exams and you can drop 1 which is nice. The final was all questions from the other 3 exams. His lecture notes can be scattered and he talks fast so print his lectures off the internet and keep up with reading in the book.
The worst professor I've ever had at Pitt. Notes do not make sense and no matter how hard you study your notes, they are no help when you go to take the tests. I am usually a good student and I work hard, this class was impossible for me. It didn't matter how hard I worked, I still could never do better than a B. Extremely frustrating. Avoid!!
Test questions are vague, notes are confusing and contradict the book, and if he doesn't know the answer to a question, he makes one up. Use the book if you want to learn anything but pretend he's right if you want an A.
Not only does he contradict the book we're forced to buy he doesnt use it. He assigns all of our hwk to that book but uses a different book all together, and its impossible to get your hand on that book b/c there is only 1 on reserve.
Genetics seems to be a hard course,I took him over the summer expecting the class to be a lot easier, but it wasnt. He is very vague ( so believe all the comments). The final exam was the worst by far, everything on it was completely vague. If you happen to take him, read the book and go to the his office hours. It's the only way you will do well.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.89 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOSC1870
5.0
(1)BIOSC0110
5.0
(1)BIOSC150
4.3
(8)BIO1
4.1
(10)BIO101
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
BIOLOGY
5.0
BIOLOGY1
5.0
0350
5.0
BIO101
5.0
BIO
4.4