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Explains subjects in very basic manner and is very humorous about it all.

Man! After 1 year of Michelle Wall, you could hear the echos of the U1 collective... "Sparrr-ling... Sparr-linng... Sparr-linng"

Fantastic prof. Knows how to explain the big picture. You'll all realize how good he was in Bio in your third year, after you encounter numerous terrible profs. P.S. don't pan Ms. Wall here - she was really good teacher, although that ppt didn't work

Not so clear on the notes, but a good prof. Be prepared to answer questions on the exams that are a bit of out of the box thinking

Lecture videos suck but is very helpful in person and cahllenges you...and i love the Gaston shirts and great jokes. Two thumbs way up!!

A good teacher but, CRAZY!! The puffy shirts & mullets are just the begining!

Sparling is GREAT! Took him for Bio B and didn't mind him then. Now i'm taking him for Microbial Phys and he is hilarious. There are lots of stupid first years bashing him cuz they didn't study enough, and he actually makes you think on exams instead of merely memorizing useless "crud".

Umm...questions are so weird. Know your stuff or you will be screwed. Style of questions are purely to weed out students. Not that hard if you pay attention to detail.

He's interesting, and pretty funny. Since Bio B is spilt up with the 3 profs, and he is the first to teach - he seems more helpful when you go see him when it isn't his turn teaching. One problem is that he kind of overexplains, and it can get rather confusing.

Hes a great guy, very approable like a mad scientist. He's notes are hard, but he did say " don't follow MY notes ". I didn't get that also. But yeah just don't follow his notes and use the textbook instead ( Bones to meat notetaking). Just use ur notes and textbook together and use the sample questions in the biol 1020 site he sometimes recycle.

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Funny guy, he is really nice always welcomes you to come ask him questions, his notes suck, and all his exam questions are trick questiosn but he is really helpful, alot more helpful than grahm

He has a lot of character, is friendly, and makes the course interesting. His exam questions are quite challenging. Is easy to approach .....unlike the OTHER professor for the second half of BIOL 1020.

lol, i know, freaking arrow box arrow. He makes this course so hard, u read so hard and you think you've got it then in the exam he rear ends you. sadly not much choice coz i think you HAVE to take him

This course is hard not in content but in terms of the amount you are required to know (each lecture is videotaped so that there is no stopping him from zipping through everything). My advice: Take the notes he gives you and go through the relevant details IN THE TEXTBOOK. He gives textbook references on the biology website.

He's a really nice guy, but his exam questions are hard.

Really good prof. Read the text with the notes and you'll do fine on his exam questions. Far better than Graham.

I don't know why people are being so mean about Dr. Sparling's teaching methods. I thought his section of the course was interesting and engaging. If you're a good student with an interest in the subject matter, you'll really enjoy this prof. He does an excellent job teaching difficult material.

I think he is funny, or at least tries to be and it is a nice change

try to follow his speech instead of copying down what he writes on the paper. To those who have pronounced him a "bad professor" is probably because lots of students will do poorly in this class because it is designed to weed students out. The material is very simple if you can make connections and understand the concepts.

Dr. Sparling is an amazing professor. Although his lecture notes are sometimes all over the place, he still clearly teaches all the material. I'd give him a 10 out of 10!

Good Prof. Have to definately pay attention in his class because there is a lot of material to cover. Some written notes hard to understand, but following his verbal explanation should be fine. Failure in the class is an inability to memorize the material, not because of the prof's explanations. Makes class interesting as well.

If you follow the lecture notes you will be fine, most of his exam material is from the lectures. Once you get past some of his odd behaviors not too bad of a prof.

Definitely a difficult class, and though his notes can be hard to follow at times (though they were far better than many other profs I've had), he explains as he writes which helps with the learning in class. Don't bother reading the textbook but DEFINITELY BUY THE OLD EXAMS FROM THE BOOKSTORE!!!

Best prof. ever, new one SUCKS!

awesome prof, tests are fair, classes are fun. Do not be intimidated by all the first year bio students giving bad reviews, he is much better in 3rd and 4th year courses.

Sparling is by far the best professor at the university. He's passionate about micro, extremely intelligent and will explain anything you are unclear of. Upset with a mark? Talk to him, he'll help you do better. Lectures are exciting, he's all over the place but that's just his personality.

Great professor. Genuinely cares about his students. He is definitely all over the place but if you take the time to ask for help and clarification, you will succeed. Very interesting lecture style which helped me improve my note-taking skills by miles. One of my favourite professors at the U of M!

Dr. Sparling has a very interesting lecture style. He acted out a lot of things in strange ways, but because of that they stuck in my head and I did well. His exams are pretty tough with tricky wording. He posts his notes which are pretty thorough and helpful. He's super friendly in person and willing to help with any questions. A great prof!

Dr. Sparling has an interesting lecture style. He often acted things out which was amusing at the time, but actually helped me to remember those concepts really well. His exams are pretty tough with very tricky wording. He posts his notes online which are quite thorough and helpful. You will need to study hard, but he's a great prof!

The exam was just awful. It was tricky, and had questions derived from theories not necessarily covered in class, as opposed to the midterm which was a piece of cake. I didn't think the exam was fair. Know everything. Make sure that you are an active listener in class. Other than that, he's a nice guy. Reponds to emails promptly and is helpful.

I don't understand why Sparling has such a low rating. He was one of my favorite first year profs, very dynamic, and this course was THE EASIEST A+ I ever got. I heard the material is not as hard as previous years now. Just study his notes, don't need textbook at all.

Easy class, clear explanations

Amazing prof! Makes every lecture interesting, cracks jokes, and his exams are fair- straight out of the notes! Loved this class and Dr. Sparling!

Dr. Sparling's explanation were clear enough and he is willing to help through emails or during office hours when you need help. The exams are based on lecture notes and they are fair. No need for textbook (I rarely used it). However, the lab was challenging. Study hard to get good marks!

Dr. Sparling is an amazing prof and you can tell he really loves his job. He tries to make his lectures as interesting as possible. He is incredibly accessible and replies to emails very fast. This guy is just great all around.

Great prof. Answers all his email

Dr. Sparling is a fantastic prof. You can tell he loves teaching, you will never have a dull class. Good at answering questions and giving meaningful answers during the lectures so don't be afraid to raise your hand.

Absolutely Fantastic, amazing teaching style. Lecture notes were provided and were very good. he was very enthusiastic about teaching this course, as this was his first time. exams were clear, no trick questions just wanted to test your knowledge. highly recommended, would love to have him again.

Dr. Sparling is an absolute gem, both as a professor, but also as a human being. I don't know why the other ratings are so harsh, he is a good man, explains concepts well, and cares about his students. I would take him again as a professor in a heartbeat.

Dr. Sparling is one of the best profs I've ever had :)

Sparling is an amazing professor! He expands on the material in detail and always encourages the class to think deeper about the material and to find the connections between the concepts. He has tough exams, but I learned a lot from this course and quite enjoyed the material. Also, all the info you need is in the lectures, no textbook required.

Sparling is a gem. Great email responses, really wants you to succeed. Very understanding of conflicts. Really passionate about the course material. Beware of the course material though, the first half is a little dry but the second half definitely picks up (reminiscent of biochem, but you can handle it!). Tests online were short on time.

Handled Microbiology 3 well. The material itself was boring but that wasn't Sparling's fault, it's more so the course itself.

Dr. Sparling is a good professor. Very caring and understanding, wants you to do well. He sometimes goes off on tangents during lectures or starts "talking" to the bacteria, I found it entertaining in otherwise boring lecture material. Tests aren't "hard" but definitely test your understanding, not memorization so make sure you keep ontop of stuff!

Dr. Sparling is very kind, he seems to really want to see his students succeed. He gives in depth answers to emails and never makes his students feel dumb for asking questions. I did feel that his lecture slides were extremely hard to follow along with, and while lecturing, he often jumped from topic to topic. However, exams were fair.

Dr. Sparling is an amazing professor. He uses humour to keep students engaged throughout the lecture. The course starts off very easy but picks up substantially halfway through. As long as you study the more difficult content sufficiently, the exam is fairly average difficulty.

Sparling is the goat. he is very kind, knowledgeable, caring, and passionate about what he teaches. he inspires people to apply their knowledge, and not just memorize. the bad reviews are honestly people who havent broken out of that mold

Professor Sparling is passionate about the material and makes the lectures engaging. The tests are challenging but fair - just make sure to use Unstuck AI and stay on top of the content.

which I understood. I think he is hilarious. He is so kind, caring and makes lectures interesting even if the material isn't. First portion is the hardest and it gets easier and very interesting. We didn't even have to do calculations just know what the equation variables mean.