I hate this man. He is a horrible teacher and a very harsh grader.

Horrible class, do not take if you do not have too. Professor talks very fast and will not look up for questions often. He must of thought we were graduate students. Worst class I have ever taken

Only take this class if you are a masochist. 10,000 slides per lecture, moves way too fast, exams are next to impossible, asks about 10,000 minute molecules that all sound the same but differ in name by like a letter or number... Avoid this class if not required!

I enrolled in this class along w/BISC 302 and 306, and was going to choose 2 to take this semester. All Biology Professors are hard, however Mahaffy and Stephens seemed nicer, and more lenient than Sikes. Also, Sikes had powerpoints which were absolutely useless and went extremely fast. It's a good thing I dropped this course immediately!

Hate this guy. But, if you know all of the lecture slides in the most disgusting detail you can semi do well-pass. I even got a tutor and I will most likely still get a C+

Difficult class to begin with but Prof. Sikes makes it more difficult than it should be. He rushes through lectures and is still very behind in the material. If there is another prof teaching the course, take it with them instead!

Im sorry if you're stuck taking him. worst teacher I've ever had.

This class was already difficult to begin with, but Sikes made it much more difficult. Studied for hours and the average on tests was still in the 60s. Lectures are long and boring and I stopped going after a while because I learned better when I taught myself the material. Do not recommend this class

Sikes was a very rude man. He would get angry at us when no one knew the answer to his questions; he even made a girl cry. His lectures didn't match up with the textbook and his exams were much harder than the material covered in lecture and in the book. Exam averages were in the 60s. Thank god for the lab, otherwise I would have done very poorly.

super hard class. lectures are long and boring, slides are posted online, & online homeworks/quizzes are given often on connect w/ no notification. his tests are all applying the information you "learn" and averages are in the 60s, so memorizing the material isn't nearly enough. just save yourself & avoid this class.

Sikes is a really nice guy but he is an awful professor. He goes to in depth for a beginner class and most of the things he teaches will not help you on the exam. He tries to help but he's not good at it.

In this semester long course, I completed four group presentations, a separate group project, and two written exams. At the end of the semester, I only had a grade for one assignment, and didn't receive my final grade until a week after the semester grade due date. He literally does not teach--the students do through their presentations. Just no.

This is the absolute worst class and I've never had a worse professor. I am telling you right now do NOT take this class under any circumstances. Exam averages in the 40s/50s no matter how much you study. Lecture doesn't help at all so all you can do is read the textbook. Take with literally any other professor and avoid this man at ALL COSTS!!!!!

His lectures are confusing because he goes off on tangents and makes simple concepts seem hard to understand. It is better to just teach yourself. You don't really need to go to class, it might just confuse you more.

Material itself is straightforward but lectures are too in-depth which just confuses everyone. I rarely go to class anymore. Homework and smartbook assignments are not hard but can be time confusing. He doesn't seem to really care about anyones concerns either so don't even bother reaching out. Exams are difficult even if you feel very prepared.

Material itself isn't that difficult, but his lectures are no help. Goes off on tangents about random things and goes too in depth into material. Can be rude in responses to emails and questions. Make sure you constantly check for homework and assignments every day, he won't tell you when he posts them or when they are due.

By far the worst professor I've ever had. Showed up late to his own class and wouldn't let students in if they joined even 1 minute after he arrived. His lectures weren't helpful and honestly made concepts more confusing. Tests will always be very difficult no matter how much you study. He had zero respect for his students. DO NOT TAKE

Professor Sikes was incredibly hard. He had powerpoints but when people asked questions he was rude about it. He never helped anyone when they needed it. He makes the exams hard for no reason. They are all application questions. He is a horrible professor. Labs however were so easy and had online simulations, which were super easy!

Sikes was one of the most uncaring professors I've ever had. I took AP Bio in high school, and never got a test grade above 80. His test are confusing and don't reflect the lectures, and he was rude and unprofessional when people reached out to him.

Lectures are all over the place and not mandatory. Just reads through the slides and post them on canvas. Get easily mad at students and does not help the students at all.

truly believe that he is very smart and seems like an expert in his own field but is horrible when it comes to students, wasn't helpful what so ever to attend class, the lectures were always confusing and the exams were hard, your better off just teaching yourself. Good luck!

Sikes is one of the worst professors I've had this semester. Very rude and doesn't care about helping his students succeed. He doesn't like to clarify what's on exams. The only way I got a B+ was from teaching myself through videos outside of class and reading the textbook. Don't bother to pay attention to lectures cause he rambles.

Quite literally one of the worst professors I've ever had, was extremely complicated with his assignments, which took forever. Made students feel stupid if they asked questions. Never specified what was on exams.

Sikes is an incredibly arrogant professor. He is not easy to approach, and he often talks down to his students who ask for clarifications about classwork and scheduling of assignments. He randomly assigns very long homework assignments each week, which count for very little of your grade. All around would not recommend this class or professor.

god robert sucks. he barely gives enough time for long hw assignments and the lectures are terrible. believe me, your grade will be higher if you skip class. he is rude to students, especially when they ask questions. avoid sikes at all costs

I would not recommend Robert to anyone. Not willing to answer questions and rude when emailed. Tests are hard for no reason and the material is very in-depth for being an introductory science course for non-majors. 3+ hours of homework most weeks and doesn't help your grade at all. Tests are worth 60% of your grade. Do not take if you don't need to

During lectures, he goes off on many tangents. He speaks down to students who asks questions about the material. Trying to navigate what lectures pertain to which chapters on the online textbook is almost impossible. There are few assignments, ultimately leaving exams as the major grade. McGraw Hill offers "recharge" assignments that help for exams

He does not respond fast to emails and he goes on long tangents during lecture but still manages to go too fast through slides. Exams decide your grade but he still gives hw that takes 3 hours to complete. I do not recommend this professor!!

class is beyond test-heavy. offers no resources and is unclear about what is on exams. Exams are beyond difficult, and lectures often don't relate to what he's testing. Pushes his political views. Reached out to him for help, took days for him to respond, and the response did not answer any questions. lectures are pointless and don't help. 0/100000

tests are is difficult, barely anyone ever does well, solely relying on the lab to bump up my grade; lectures arent even worth attending

Literally the worst professor you could ever have.

Simply not a nice person, extremely demeaning when questions asked -no straight answers. Does not stick to the syllabus whatsoever and is unclear about what will be on exams. hw is worth practically nothing, get 100% on it and your grade still wont change. Post and unlock hw at weird times ex 5:53 pm... Lecture not related to exam at all.

Very frequently Prof. Sikes would talk over our heads and expect us to know a higher level than what he was teaching. He provided very little study materials, causing most of my class to do poorly on exams. He was very condescending, frequently made questionable comments, and did not follow Covid protocols at all.

I would not take Prof Sikes again. His lectures do not contain the content on exams (which make up 60% of your grade). There was no study material provided for exams. He's pretty rude and makes controversial comments a lot. He's not easy to approach and asking questions can be difficult. However, the final was non-cumulative which was nice. Avoid!!

Terrible professor. Lectures had nothing to do exam content. The only reason i ended with a B is because of the lab grade that was incorporated and taught by a different professor. He can be rude and condescending. Do not take if it isnt mandatory!

This class was one of the worst I've taken. The exams were extremely difficult and the homeworks were time consuming. Sikes favored his in person students over his online students and was very rude. His lectures were so hard to sit through. I would avoid this professor if possible, he caused me a lot of stress.

Exams are weighted heavy and are absolutely difficult to pass. Lecture consists of him going on tangents completely unrelated to the material you are to learn. Homework assignments take hours long. Good luck.

Try to avoid this professor if you can. Not helpful at all, rude and lectures do not prepare you for exams. His canvas page is so unorganized so its hard to stay on track. also hes a huge republican and will disrespect you if you do not agree with him

He assumes the info & exams are easy-exams are HARD (wouldnt give practice). If you didnt take an AP science in hs the class will be more difficult as a freshman. I barely listened to lectures bc they didnt help me so I read every detail of the book, did my own notes (never looked at his), made my own quizlets, & that made me do really well.

an awful awful professor. Teaches at snail's pace and if you don't cover all the material in lecture, he expects you to just read the textbook because he'll cover material that you don't even talk about during lecture. uses unnecessary scientific jargon (maybe to prove that hes smart or something?)

Dr. Sikes obviously knows what he is talking about when it comes to biology, but he was not a good teacher. He assumed the whole class had prior knowledge on a wide variety of topics that we did not. Exams had a lot of questions about random tangents he went off about in class. I really would not recommend.

He dropped an exam after we had taken it and got rid of quizzes completely - meaning basically our whole grade is based on 3 exams that were not representative of what he discussed in class. we are weeks behind where we should be based on the syllabus

Do not ever take a class with Sikes. He teaches as if everyone is majoring in Biology so it all sounds like gibberish, and makes everything so complex it's impossible to understand. He decided in the middle of the semester to make exams weighted, so everyone's grade dropped by like 10%. Also, every exam, people would struggle and he said "oh well".

Does not seem to care about his students and assumes we are all biology majors. We are not. This class is for NON-BIO MAJORS. He does not seem to understand that. Also the homework takes forever and is like 5% of your grade so it makes you not want to do it. Would not recommend this prof.

As an education major this class was brutal. I'm sure when you actually know what he's talking about the class can be great, but he doesn't know how to teach to non-bio majors. If you can get another prof I'd recommend them no matter what.

Would rather slam my head in a car door for an hour and 15 minutes then sit in this mans lecture

He will change the way he grades and will not let you know.

Hated this guy. He is the most arrogant professor I ever had. Knows he's smart and talks above everybody by using scientific jargon. Gives a ton of homework before the exams. His tests are impossible and are weighted heavily. You will pass by using the textbook and looking over homework assignments. Do not take if you need to take a science class.

He continuously hit on all the girls in class. When I was a freshman, he sat next to me mid-lecture, put his hand on my knee, and was like "Do you understand the material?" Sir. Get your hands off of me. I never went to another class after that. He also singled out the only woman of color in our class several times.

Has literally no technology knowledge. Responds to no messages and makes me highly uncomfortable in class by walking extremely close and making awkward eye contact. He does know what he is talking about but he talks to us like we know what he is talking about. He speeds through lectures and uses language that I don't understand. I don't recommend.

Tests were different than the homework. Tests are worth 60% of grade, no curve, despite the average being a D+/C-. Getting an A average on the Smartbooks, homework, and in the lab are STILL not enough to pull a good grade w/o perfect test taking. Also terrible with tech, which caused a lot of stress around deadlines bc the assignments don't work.

do not take bisc with him. he inserts his religion into lecture and straight up admitted he won't teach certain topics because he is a christian. he gets side tracked from the actual lecture and talks like we already are experts in bio. i didn't learn anything from lecture, had to learn everything from the textbook.

Really hard lots of reading and homework plus reading chapters take 3 hours. Grading on homework graded incorrectly

Just hoping back on here to tell people to stay away from sikes, bro was an awful teacher. steer clear.

Sikes is the worst professor i have every had. Practically his entire class is graded on 4 exams. His lectures are horrible, and the exams are all application based which he has never taught us.

This professor was terrible. He would not answer emails. Attendance was not mandatory for this class, when I went to class there would be fewer than 10 students there. He didn't teach and just skipped around in the slides. It was very difficult to keep up with what he was teaching.

This Professor is absolutely awful. Avoid this man at all costs. He wants us to do poorly and enjoys when we struggle. He is a bad professor and bad person.

This professor is literally the worst person to ever be hired at this school. Please do yourself a favor and avoid this man at all costs. I have never heard one good thing about him. He will tell you last minute that you have a test and he seriously has no clue what he is talking about and wants his students to fail.

If you have to take this class like I did, be prepared to put in the effort, read the syllabus, and teach yourself everything outside of class. It is possible to succeed if you are willing to read the textbook, do the homework, and stay on top of things yourself. Sikes is not a good teacher, but its possible to good in the class without him.

Worst professor. Try to avoid taking any of his classes. The exams are weighted very heavily. His lectures is insanely boring and I, personally, learned nothing from them. He goes on tangents and expects his students to have prior knowledge of what he is teaching. I honestly learned everything from the textbook and not his lectures.

Worst professor. Doesn't reply to emails, confusing lectures, didn't take attendance for my class but he does now, exams are proctored and many questions aren't covered in class, homework assignments take FOREVER and he isn't lenient if you're late/need extension. Once I had to email his supervisor because he refused to open an exam for my class.

Will run after you if you sign in for attendance and leave. He reads off of the slides he posts so class is very boring. He randomly calls on people too.

Professor Sikes is one of the worst professors I have ever had. I am in BISC104 and I thought this class would be somewhat easy, but I was wrong. He assigns a lot of homework and smart book assignments, he has online proctored exams on days that you dont have his class, and he calls on people randomly. He doesnt t know how to teach to non bio major

Professor Sikes is very creepy and directly talks at one student and one day sat down next to me in the middle of a lecture and kept touching my arm telling me I was right after he randomly asked me a questions. He makes everyone uncomfortable. Even if he did not make me uncomfortable he taught me absolutely nothing. An overall terrible professor

I took his class last semester (spring 2022) and it was miserable. His exams are worth too much of the overall grade and his lectures did not help. His exams were timed and proctored, and although I had plenty of time to take the exam, I passed maybe 1 out of 4 exams. Be prepared to struggle in his class if you absolutely have to take it.

homework assignments took 3+ hours to complete which didn't count for much of your grade at all. Tests were impossible. Im usually a pretty academically honest student but by test #3 I was cheating as hard as I possible could. Without it I probably would have failed. Do you what you gotta do to pass. Also the professor doesn't help at all

You can tell Sikes is very educated and knows what he's talking about, but can't teach other people, especially students that are taking an intro course. This class was my worst nightmare, and I dreaded coming to every. single. lecture. Be ready to spend hours doing McGraw Hill's, only to learn nothing that will prepare you for the tests. Good luck

low level of arrangement in the course, Science is about development and efficiency but his understanding of science is "liberal art and memorizati

A good professor is about to make complicated things simple, a bad professor is about to make easy things difficult. You learn most if the class is well arranged, logical, well explained while it contain complicated knowledge. You learn least if the professor make this a liberal art class, read lots of useless things and remember them.

Dr. Sikes is a horrible professor. I learned the exact same things in high school biology (and excelled in that class), but here, he manages to make the simplest aspects of biology complicated for absolutely no reason. Lectures are useless, he speaks fast, and he rambles a lot. Exams are super difficult and take up 60% of your grade.

This class is just a class that with or without a professor don't much difference. If you want to save some money, you could just read the book by yourself and try to understand something in it by checking them on the internet. He doesn't summarize and explain the key concept for you, but make simple things become more complicated.

Absolutely do everything you can to avoid this professor, his grading system is horrible, 60% of your grade relies on four exams and the assignments are only worth 5%, his lectures make no sense, and the homework takes hours. I was in a bio207 course which I regret not taking because it was easier. Don't take his course.

BEWARE OF THE EXAMS! Even if you do well in lab/read the materials, I swear the exams are designed to make you fail. The average was always in the 60s, and then he would have the attitude of "I guess they're just stupid" when we all fail rather than constructively fixing his course. Also, he just goes on tangents in class- for no reason

I saw a question ask "Did this professor use textbooks?", I think's it's not very appropriate to ask this, instead, should ask "Did textbooks use this professor?", the answer is "no, this textbook didn't use a professor", this professor just try to let you read the whole book and assume you can understand it.

please, for the love of god, do not take this man. his homework is weighted lightly, his exams are super heavy and he only weighted our grades halfway through the year, causing a mass scramble. please, find another lab to take instead.

This was the hardest intro class I've ever taken. I took this as a non-major breadth requirement for my lab and it was incredibly hard. The tests were super difficult and the homework weighed practically nothing. Save yourself and take another lab.

awful. very long hw assignments that take hours to barley help ur grade.he teaches like u already know bio so its more of a review.boring classes.hard tests. worst class I have taken.everyone I talked to had a bad experience in this class and didnt do well on tests. he is very smart and knows everything about bio but is awful at teaching it.

This Professor made me didn't apply graduate school on time, because I am not sure I will fail his class and graduate next year, although finally I pass the class but before it I afraid I can't pass and need to study another year so I waited so many time and those graduate school didn't response quick enough. This professor really made it too hard.

He is a very smart professor and is nice, but for an introduction it was extremely difficult. This was definitely one of the hardest classes I have taken would not recommend.

Worst type of professor with a school of high bill. This professor just telling you to read the book and on the exam told you everything is on the book. Why we even need a professor in this way?

I would never take this class again. He does not care about his students and he is not helpful. The exams are hard and he does not provide a study guide. If you get a low score on one exam, good luck getting that grade back up. He is also not understanding about anything.

Do not recommend taking this course with this professor. Personality-wise, he seems nice, but he teaches the subject like you already know what's going on and it is incredibly boring. There are typically multiple homework assignments per week through the textbook website, but your grade is very dependent on how well you do on the exams.

not a great teacher

The worst professor i have ever had at this school. not understanding at all, does not want to approve disability accommodations, verbally degrades and embarrasses students in front of the class, makes sexist and sexually charged remarks to students both in and out of class, told me to drop the class when i "asked too many questions".

Literally the worst. Please avoid this professor

Avoid this class at all costs. Lectures are extremely boring and he expects students in an intro course to understand extremely complex biology concepts. He speaks at the course like we are supposed to know stuff even though he fails to teach it, and has said that his class just has more value than others which is completely untrue. DO NOT TAKE!

The lab portion of this class is very easy, but he isn't the one who teaches it, a TA does. There are 3 exams and each one is cumulative so if you don't understand what's happening by the first one, it's going to be really hard to catch up. I did the readings, got 100% on the homeworks, took lecture notes, and still failed his exams.

Try to get a different professor if you can. I would never take any course with Robert Sikes again.

Just to warn you, never take this professor's class. It will ruin you GPA, and he doesn't really teach you, he just tell you to read book remember everything and answer specific questions in exam. The question is no one will remember these if they don't do lab about these every years, this class is wasting time.

a joke of a professor, give you 3 exams the whole course. will just take of points with no explanation other than "see key" then never posts the exam key go to him for help he says have to schedule meeting, schedule meting doesn't show up. PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF AND NEVER TAKE ONE OF HIS COURSES, doesn't care for students.

Worst professor UD has ever seen. If you want a good GPA don't take this class. I have never met someone so unprofessional. Lectures about absolute nonsense. Three cumulative exams he never mentions to the class (look on the syllabus). If you fail one exam good luck getting your grade back up. Insane amounts of homework and all info is fair game.

He is a nice person and is very knowledgable on what he teaches. But lectures are very unhelpful and boring. The book is the main way to understand the material, but do note his homework and smartbooks take forever to complete. I am not sure how the other bio professors are, but honestly for the sake of your grade avoid this one.

Lectures the entire time, and his lectures aren't even helpful, I learned everything myself from the textbook - which clearly wasn't working for me

wouldn't take again. was very complicated for what i thought would be basic bio

Awful and is awful

Rude and Creepy. Does NOT respect accomodations and once told me they were a "waste of his time". Took attendance. I was sick for one lecture and emailed him asking what his policy is on excused absences. He told me to "drug up and come to class" (I had Pneumonia). The year I took him he had an SA allegation going around.

Sikes is a nice person, but not a great teacher. I was expecting this class to be easier and instead I studied hard and still failed some of his exams. His lectures are long, non-mandatory, and barley gets you to understand the concept. If you want to learn biology this isn't the class to take. 4 exams, on your computer, and no final.

Boring lectures, difficult homework, and a ton of assignments. Goes off-topic in lectures and rambles as well, making them even more challenging to learn from. However, the lab is generally very easy, you just have to show up and read the instructions clearly. His tests also can be easily studied for. I know it is very hard, but would avoid if can

The first thing I noticed about his teaching style is just how awful it is. The homework each week takes anywhere from two to five hours, which has added so much to my weekly workload. On top of all this, he has SA allegations floating around; there have been a lot of whispers about shady things happening at office hours.

The rumors are in fact true, Professor Sikes is a bad professor. Known for cold calling and ranting during lectures. This class is assignment/exam heavy. Bad with emails and when I went to office hours he somehow managed to make the content more confusing, so bravo! Exams were annoying because he included the most random questions. Brace yourself.

Worst prof I've had. Rude and goes on rants about random stuff that isn't relevant. Exams are very difficult, this class was way harder than it needed to be. Lab was easy though.