2.3
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“Very confusing, first midterm nothing to do with the material”
BIO102 - 2.0 rating“Just do not take his class”
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Dr.Persell gives good lectures, and writes good exam questions. However, his personality is quite repulsive.
SNOB in many ways. be careful if you take the honors section. you can get an A and only come out with a lot of obscure knowledge on a very few specific topics. never ends the class on time. fair grading.
totally unclear and obscure. exams have no relevance to lectures which seem to be at his whim. very cocky. you may never get graded exams back.
No organization, Exams have little revalance to lecture.
Everything he teaches in lecture is not on the exam. Questions are difficult. Very unclear on what he wants from students, when giving assignment doesnt elaborate or specify. Confusing and makes others more confused. Doesn;t give a lot of credit on quizes. Tricky and makes u order the book from B&N.
He defines the word unclear! His lectures are disorganized and sometimes I think he doesn't even know the material he is teaching well. Exams are vague. I had him for Bio 102 and it was the same trend. Avoid him if you can. He'd do better teaching word roots or metabolic pathways
i do not understand why people are making fuss about the way he teaches; he is a generous grader, and his test is based all on notes. If you know his notes as dr.brazil's note you would have gotten the same grade,if not any higher grade. Plus he gives more detailed explanantion than dr. brazil.
He takes forever to grade your exams! You end up with 2 weeks left in the semester when u get back your 1st exam. Dry sense of humor and very ambiguous. I fell sorry for him because he obviously choose the wrong profession.
he is the one of the worst teacher in the world...u will feel lucky if you dont see him again.
He tries so hard to come off as an intellect...he would be a good SAT verbal instructor. He doesn't give any guidance when it comes time for the exam. Just know the material. I still ended up getting an A-, but it want's easy.
One of the worst professors I've ever had. His lectures were disorganized, and he didn't quite seem to know what he should teach. Avoid if possible.
He drove half the students crazy. There were 50 students in his class, but less than half of them attend class b/c we don't know WTH he is teaching. His quizzes and tests are hard. He has a problem articulating in lecture. In addition, he keeps drawing and drawing. This isn't an art class you know!
he is horrible need to teach art instead!!!!
well...even you study everything, attending every lecture, study like hell, but finally you may end up A- unless you have same brain stem cells as he does:(
This professor is very unorganized. His lectures are all messed up and overlapping each other, so it is very hard to study using his notes.Every exam (we had altogether 4 lecture exams)contained several mistakes, typos, and/or two right answers instead of one. Class average is very low.
Smart Professor But Bad Teacher
I am doing well in class but because he posts lecture notes written by the previous proffesor. Lecture style is extremely unorganized. Last exam he had at least 10% of the questions with the wrong answers provided - we had to challenge them to get our points. Avoid if possible.
I actually enjoyed biology before this absent-minded professor took over. Unfair tests, pompous attitude and more arrogance than needed. Plus is not willing to change office hours or answer email. Avoid and beware!!!!!!
he is a very unorganized teacher. all he does in lecture is drawing. He makes mistakes on every exam and he takes forever to grade exams and everything is done by machine. lazy guy.
Really knows what he is talking about. The only thing is that you must find out what it is he wants, if you give him that then it is smooth sailing. Tests are wierd but he scores very fairly.
He's not a good teacher. He may be intelligent but he cannot teach. Does not take input from students. took forever to grade exams. if you have a choice, don't take him. he will make you hate bio. My advice to anyone has to take a class with him: read the book, study lecture notes, skip class =A.
You want to understand his lecture? Bring a camera and record everything. In fact, I don't think you will understand his drawings and hand writting even if you record it and view it ten times.
good for pre-meds. Exams are like MCATs.
You should not take this class if hes still teaching it, he sucks, there are always mistakes on the exams and at times more than one right answer, hes horrible.RUN AWAY AS FAST AS U CAN!!!!!!!!!!
I will never take him again!!!!!!!
He's possibly the worst possible professor still teaching. EXTREMELY unconcerned about his students' success.
The only prof. I will never forget or forgive.
although his exam is not very hard, but the way he teach....o my god...u better not take his class, although he is not very good, you still have chance to get A in this class if u study hard since 40 people got A out of 300 students =(
He cannot teach, does not care about his students and even worse does not hide it, takes forever to grade the exams, makes mistakes in them and talk all the time during the tests, and once he grades the tests there are always mistakes in the answer key, if you are stuck with him don't go to lectures, waste of time but study like crazy on your own
I don't think he is a bad teacher overall, but one big problem is that his exam answer has mistakes everytime, but he is willing to correct them. If u focus on the lecture notes and plus the text book i think u will do fine.
I suggest that everyone takes A&P I and II in a different school. It is just too troublesome with Persell. I personally think he is an as%H(&&. There were alot in the class that got good grades but that is probably because they have no social life.
I don't think he is hard, but you really need to devote time to your study. You can get A in this class, but it is not an easy A
horrible teacher all he do is draw, dont really know how to teach, make exams, or grade them. his class was hard but in a way i did learn alot from struggling it made me learn the material more. it was a very very diffucult A-
The tests are not that hard. just need to read the notes and papers over and over again.he is not clear and doesnt look like he likes teaching or his students for that matter. one question that will torment you: "Will i ever get my test back?"
He is a good professor. If you ask him for help, he will give it to you. His tests are hard, but he gives you very clear notes, if you study those notes, the tests are very very easy. He gets almost everything from those notes, so study them and learn them and you will have no trouble, just study those notes!
will help if you ask.
When half of his class fails the first exam, well I'm afraid that says a lot about his teaching! Doesn't even curve.
What the hell is this guy talking about? He drones on and on about irrelevant material and takes up the classes time by drawing unintelligible pictures for half of the class. He didnt even give us teacher evaluation forms!!! This guy is a joke!
He teaches as if he's still preparing for his lecture; he will say as he's flipping through slides, "Well, that's not important." He seems to jump around in topics, which can be confusing. His drawings are not usually helpful. His tests are rather difficult.
Would be better if he gave more tests with increasing difficulty over semester; not many chances to show improvement. If you read book ahead of class he will make sense. Not going to spoon feed it to you like Alaie. Less work than Alaie if you don't want it (tests are not on book material though there are quizzes) but plenty to do if you do (lot
He is not a good professor at all. His pictures are not helpful and his exams are difficult although they do come straight from the notes he post on blackboard. It's all about concepts and not much about facts.He also talks while you are taking your exams, which is quite distracting.
Save yourself some anguish and take A&P at another school.Lec exams are TRICKY. You do learn alot because you have to work HARD. For lec study the notes and have a gen'l undestanding of mat..Study Lec notes for Lab exam to. Questions on Lab exam come from Lec notes to. Don't give up after the 1st/2 exam. There is a learning curve.You'll get it it.
Draws a great deal so the visual is there but the pictures are not on the exam (co-taught with Alaie). He also throws around huge words in a lecture hall with 500 students.."uh what was that and how do you spell it?" Very difficult course.
This was such a bad experiance. When you study, you dont even know where to begin because there is so much. He gives lecture notes which have errors on it and half isnt on the exam. Either is the text book. In class he rushed through everything extremely fast. Whoever said he grades on a curve is a retard. Save yourself trouble and take it @ bmcc
He is hard, but if u study hard u will be able to get A, comparing to nursing, he is much easy, believe me
He is a good teacher who knows his subject well. Interestingly, those who take biology because they like it and want to know it - like Persell. And those who hate biology and take it because it's required to get to nursing school, think he is a bad teacher. Interesting correlation...
horrible, horrible bad teacher. Hunter should make him mandatory attend Dr. Brazill's lectures to learn how to teach! mumbling and throwing big , sometimes irrelevant and unimportant phrases- that's Persell.
Dr. Persell taught this class along Dr. Brazill. Persell shud definately learn from Brazill on how to teach. He is all over the place during the lecture, gives and never explains 10 page papers from Nature, does not gives back exams until the date to withdraw from the course has passed and you can figure out the rest. Only good thing, maybe only fo
One of the worst PROFESSOR. When he came to replace DR. Alaie I realized that he doesnt know how to give notes, but instead is proud of the fact that he can draw. Unlike DR. Alaie he doesnt know the material by heart and loves to add extra material that is not on the exam. He is an ideal professor from the 50s who thinks it is better to draw then use a 20th century projector. ( someone needs to update him )
This guy is a knup (reverse this word). He draws arrows all over the diagrams, all he does is draw, gives no notes, is mad boring, jumps over the pages back and forth, is monotonous, old, and is a rekcus (reverse this word). His exams are only memorization of text and mad tough...gotta memorize the steps and compounds. Do not take him if u want A.
He is disorganized, you will be lost, speaks in a slow monotonous voice,gives interesting facts on biology though, but those won't help clear up the disorganized notes.Must read the textbook to do well, now gives multiple choice exams since he took forever grading fill in exams in the past.Has trouble wording out concepts,confuses.
Persell is horrible..Although I did well on his exam, you have to spend lots of time figuring out what you wrote in your notes. I regret not recording his lectures, it would have been much easier. Just look forward to Brazill, he is great like Dr. Alaie (a bit tougher on exams than her though).
Dr. Persell definitely does a lot of drawing, true. However, I found the material interesting and I enjoyed his lectures. His test questions are quite tough and require a lot of critical thinking, but overall I think he is a good teacher.
Persell is horrible. His exam questions are easy compared to Alaie/Brazill but his teaching is just the opposite. I guess you have to like his style to like him..most people don't..
Darwin class was horrible. Persell's a genius when it comes to biology but a novice at romanticism. Two in-class essays, two take-home essays, and final paper. I told myself to hand in ten pages of crap that kind of makes sense and got an A, so others might survive his class too.
horrible, disorganized, says exams based on his notes then gives questions based on the book, confusing, omits a lot of material, such a negative change after having wonderful prof. Pereira. read textbook to do well!
I agree with all the aweful things everyone has said. He is disorganized, his notes have absolutely NOTHING to do with the textbook. Just dont take A&P 2 at Hunter, save yourself. There are 522 people in the class, only one person got a perfect score on the first exam. And only 24 people got over a 90, and he thinks thats a good thing.
I loved this professor, Okay so what if he draws a lot, for me he made topics much easier and muchhh realistic. He seems like a cool guys, and he knows his stuff. I liked him better than Dr. allai, his exams are straight forward and easy.
great professor. loves the topic and conveys the knowledge in a fun and exciting manner.
Here is one advice for you guys.I got around 65 on his first 2exams and still couldn't figure out how come I study,but everything is useless.Then,I started to study Martini'book(7th ed.);great book(clear explanations on how it works).You'll get your A if you start sturying that book right from the beginning.Good luck with your A!You'll recall me.
A&P is a hard class and taking this prof makes it even harder. if u want to do good in the class, read both lecture notes and textbook. lab is easier though, which is 50% of the grade. attendance is not required. good luck to all the students who will be taking his class.
Sure the class is hard but he's pretty clear & his exams are predictable. Concentrate on the text & lecture notes & go to lecture.
hard, boring
RUN........................DO NOT TAKE BIO AT ALL AT HUNTER DO AN EPERMIT IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR GPA UP RUN.....................................
He's awful in a large lecture (very bad drawings!), but in a smaller class he's not half bad. He makes the subject matter interesting. Assigns little work aside from reading (a LOT of that)... make sure you do it, and understand it! He's a very nice grader, by the way.
His honors classes are very worthwhile - unlike the Bio classes, he is able to be more himself.
disorganized sometimes. But it is ur job to read the book b4 class.I think he is a good Bio teach-er(in terms of making you know the subject)Plz don't say his drawing is terrible.think of the pts that he is trying to make by the drawing. The concepts from the drawing ll be asked in exam. read the bks and notes carefully esp. on wt he has mentioned
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OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1ST DAY with this man & i'm goin krzy!! he's disorganized, confusing as hell, goes bk & forth w/ his notes, draws wayyy 2 much & talks abt God knows wut, very hard to understand. i had him alongside dr. alaie for bio 100 2 & OMG no1 went to class while he was there & his exam was sooo hard...HORRIBLE HORRIBLE DA WORST PROF AT HUNTE
I figured that since this is the only prof. available for this class at Hunter, they would at least pick a good one. He is terrible: mumbles a lot, deviates from the topic at hand, goes really slowly and second-guesses himself, boring... and I could go on and on. Prof. Figuereido from BIO 120 is a much, much better instructor. I recommend ePermit.
WHy do Hunter keep having this mediocre professor in its roster? I didnt have a problem with Dr.Alaie's lectures. But when Persell's time came half of the auditorium stopped showing up to class. Hes boring, unclear and thinks this is an Art & Drawing Class..Its BIOLOGY man!!
He almost killed biology for me. As much as I love Alaie, I must disagree with her when she calls him "brilliant." HE CANNOT TEACH CELLULAR RESPIRATION FOR HIS LIFE! I was appalled by his incompetence. He treated Photosynthesis as if it was an afterthought. Disgraceful. Half the class stopped showing up; indicative of his incompetency, much?
He knows his stuff but isn't the best at conveying his knowledge to students. He doesn't explain difficult ideas very well and his notes are not very organized. However, he is very helpful if you go to his office hrs and his exam questions are much easier than Dr. Alie's. You have to read the book before class and try to stick with him.
he is so good in failing his students! u wana F take him! abt 20% of his THICK notes are on the exams. the book, i dunno... EPERMIT is a MUST! n lastly, he is just another typical hunter professor!!! u know wut i mean.
it all depends on the class and the size of the class. he is phenomenal in small, lecture classes, like biol 160 and biol 322. however, in lecture halls, he sucks. his exams are easy compared to alaie and brazill. as an adviser, he does what he can. he is the adviser for thousands of students, but once he tends to you, he does an excellent job.
don't take this prof. !!
I've only had persell as a professor for parts of the semesters when he taught Evolution in Bio102 and if Dr Alaie really believes that he knows his stuff, I wouldnt want a professor who has avg knowledge. His notes are random words from what he says but his exam questions are similar to ch. review questions.
basically for this class try your best to read the book.. if not than try to understand his notes inside out instead of simply memorizing he likes to ask questions which require you to be able to think and connect ideas i never really attended his lectures which are useless and still managed to do well on my own. an A is possible- study on ur own
If you want to be deprived of an education, take Persell for A & P II. He is the antithesis of Dr. Periera--disorganized, rambling, and completely apathetic. His exams do not correspond to his notes (there are rumors they aren't even his). Literally half of our class failed the exam portion. The average grade for an exam was a low D.
He is not that bad. He gave extra credts on each exams. If you prepare his lecture before, you definetly can get something from him. Moreover, some of the questions on the exams are very easy. Before taking his class, I read the comments about him in this website. Quite scary. After taking his class, I think his class is not that hard!
Very poor lecturer- disinterested, disorganized, and arrogant. Probably the worst lecture class I've ever taken. The lab was even worse.
I found Prof. Persell to be amusing and thorough during lecture. You definitely have to study very hard for his exams because his questions test your understanding of the material. Therefore, you cannot just memorize information. He gives extra credit. He also tests on what he focuses most on in lecture...so go to class!!
This class was very hard, you study and still fail the exam (class average exam D), there was extra credit but the exam was tough. Persell is a nice guy he did make jokes during lecture and he draws alto to let you understand the material. Thats only for the lecture. The lab was hard too. There was a lot of info to be known in about 3 weeks
got an A and barely went to class,I just read his notes over and over, the tb takes too long and has 2 many details so i left it alone until he talked about something specific from the tb in his notes. he gave a lot of extra credit n it shot me from the 80's into the 90's so this class is very do able, and lab was a lot easier than last term
worst professor ever
You will want to shoot yourself after taking this class. He needs to be removed from bio department. But he sure knows a lot of stuff though.
will do well if you enjoy the subject, I'm getting and A, the material is not that hard compared to real science major courses, teach yourself the material and get a good grade in lab, the extra credits help make up for the bad grades in lecture tests, his teaching stinks, stop complaining, RN school is tougher
awful! AWFUL! im disgusted really. doesnt care, goes too fast, 200 level class should try to be organized but isnt, and give back your exams after you graduate! do yourself a favor and wait for Brazil who at least gives you back exams, cares and curves VERY generously in the very end!
I don't understand why Hunter cannot afford themselves to get good quality teachers that know how to teach. His lectures hardly covers anything from his exams. The Labs are pretty good, but u have to study daily. Persell throws in extra cred., so getting a good grade is possible, but I wouldn't waste your time with this imbecile.
Brilliant teacher - one of the best at Hunter. He makes you work hard to learn difficult material - but in the end you come out well prepared for a career in a medical field.
This class is not that bad or useless like all those mean comments on here. very organized, fair grading system. Lecture is not helpful, that is true. But you can study at home with posted notes and textbook. Professor. Persell, he is a definitely very smart guy and willing to help students understand hard stuff better.
You don't really need to go to bio lecture to do well in the class. Porf's lecture is not that helpful but he gives a lot x-tra credit work that will help u in your grade. the class is very organized with lecture notes and emails to remind u abt due dates for xtra credit work. the material is hard, lot to memorize, but work hard, u will do better.
READ THE CHAPTERS IN AND OUT! answer review questions and make sure you know all his notes! BASICALLY KNOW EVERYTHIN in order to pass...
Here is the truth. You actually have to read & study! Pick up the book, read and memorize. That's it! No excuses! If you are doing this for Nursing, then you should know the material well because it'll be on the NLN & NCLEX. Don't go to another school and get an easy A. What's the point? This is your career. Also, do the x-credit he assigns.
Dr. Persell is a very nice man and very easy to talk to during his office hours. I don't think that he does well at teaching in such a big class as bio 200 b/c he tends to jump all over the place. If he's teaching a small class take him otherwise avoid.
First exam was easy and based on the book. Second exam was difficult and based on his slides (WHICH HE DOES NOT POST ONLINE) so bring a camera. Final exam was horrible. He grabs q's from random places in the book and expects you to know trivial stuff. Extra credit questions were hard too. Lab is a breeze and if your not lazy you will get full credi
he shouldn't be teaching. he not good at it at all!. unfair grader.
I don't know the point why he doesn't post his lecture note? It's just weird. He kept saying that it's prep for graduate school and better learning. But, hello? Even in medical&dental school do post their lecture note and even record their lectures.
Really incompetent teacher. Can take students who arrived with genuine interest in the subject and make them never want anything to do with the subject again. His arrogance comes across as a flimsy defense against well-founded insecurity. Publication record is a joke, so no way he's got the "great researcher who just isn't good at teaching" excuse.
His exams are straightforward (SLIDES AND TEXT). If you attend the lectures and read the text to get a gist of what he is saying, you won´t need a camera for his slides.
If you want to pass this class with good grades, you will have to read the text and teach yourself. don't expect him to tell you what to focus. you will need to know EVERYTHING. i am not complaining bc i did poorly in his class. in fact, i did well, but it was in no way due to him. dont see the point in having a professor if that is the case.
Prof Persell, is one of the best profs Ive ever had, be prepared to work and learn. He will not spoon feed. Do not be distracted by his casual manner- the content is complex and voluminous I like his classes, they are interesting and educational.
Dreadful. His lectures are completly useless and his exams are horrible. I, along with friends, found ourselves spending all our free time studying for exams only to get B's. If you can, take somewhere else just because he took all the excitement out of studying anataomy!
HE IS HORRIBLEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!THE WORST PROFESSOR IVE EVER HAD! DO NOT TAKE HIM AT ALL!
If you think you can get above a B- in this class by just memorizing everything Persell says and then just spewing it out onto the test, you're sorely mistaken. You MUST understand the concepts, thoroughly. He tests your critical thinking and your ability to think laterally. Incidentally, this is what's expected of you in nursing/medical school!
Knows his stuff, but not a great teacher. Often times his arrogance is so blinding, it's uncomfortable to be around him at all. His lectures are interesting for about twenty minutes, but then you just want to curl up and die.
This is a horrible professor. You will never be able to understand him and he switches slides quickly, distracts you with the stupid laser pointer and never posts his slides and barely any material comes from the texts....so how were we supposed to learn. He always teaches this section be prepared to fail cuz hunter science dept is a terrible mess!
Alright: A&P is hard. It's a class that requires a lot of work and initiative. Don't be mad at the Prof if you don't get it. His lectures are informative and pretty straight-forward, even though he mumbles sometimes. The tests are HARD, but that's ok. Use the lectures as outlines and study the book A LOT. It's possible to get a decent grade.
I got a 40 on my MCAT and am now at a prestigious New York medical school largely due to Dr. Persell. He is excellent. He teaches at the conceptual level, is engaging, and makes everything make sense so you don't have to do so much memorization. This is what good teaching looks like. Enjoy it while you have the opportunity!
Go to one of his lectures BEFORE you register his class. He made me HATE Biology. HATE his lectures, HATE the textbook he uses, HATE the course structure. More than anything, he JUST doesn't care. FYI, ave. exam score was 59/100, essay score was 32/100. And NO Curve! If it doesn't make you concerned how he teaches, go ahead. Have fun in his class.
the worst teacher ever. made me hate biology. he teaches an intro class like in a graduate school. exams are ridiculously hard. please, save yourself time, energy and money, and never take him as your professor. the average score on first exam was 59 (out of 125). so many people will withraw!
I wish there are negative points to rate him. I have 4.0 GPA in my 3rd year in college, completed much higher level science classes successfully. And I failed miserably on the first exam. Not because I didn't study, but because lack of teaching/guidance he provides. He calls us "not smart people" (his words). How appropriate is that?
His lectures are not helpful at all. Asking the TAs are much more helpful. His tests are straightforward but tricky
He is unfair at every level. I scream again: HE IS UNFAIR at every level. He threw away one exam score because he didn't know how to grade them properly. Not a joke. Exams include something he refused to discuss and materials that are not from the textbook or lectures. He wants you to fail. Run away from his class as fast as you can.
His lectures are completely useless, he goes off tangent and just makes you want to doze off. He hrows out exams just to make his life easier and he will send you emails with tons of mistakes that his assistant has to fix. He is incompetent
His lectures are useless. His exams have little to do with his lectures. You're better off burying yourself in the textbook. Half of the multiple choice are minuscule details. He changed his grading system a couple of times and decided to void the first exam essays because he didn't know how to grade them. The average was 39/100 for those essays.
Without discouraging anyone, he emails the class about how half of the class historically gets a grade of A, B or C and the other half have averages lower than that. The amount of people who have dropped this course proves how poorly he teaches.
Honestly, he is not at all hard. With so many opportunities to earn points, no one should be getting below a B in this class. Class averages are misstated, a big chunk of the class didn't do the multiple choice in order to focus on the essays. MC is easy if you read the textbook. Essays from the 2nd exam were easy too. 10% of the class got 95+.
Going to lecture is a waste of time. Find a good TA, attend his or her recitation, attend group reviews and free tutorial sessions and be able to study on your own and teach yourself. BUY THE STUDY GUIDE!!! (it has reviews for each chapter and questions with thorough explanations)
Dr. Persell lectures assuming you have already read the textbook and basically understand it, which is completely reasonable. The material is not hard, but it is vast and deep, and his passion and knowledge make the material even more interesting (especially once you get to evolution). I have found him helpful and interesting one on one as well.
If you want to learn biology, stay away from his class! He doesn?t know how to teach, he doesn?t know how to grade an exam, he doesn?t know how to manage a class, he doesn?t know how to communicate. Very frustrating and disappointing.
Says you don't need the power points presented in class, in reality he is just too lazy to do it. His tests is made up of half dumb easy questions and half difficult trick questions, nothing in between. Taking biology 2 in another college. Turned my favorite and best subject of all time, biology into my worst.
Dr. Persell is a good professor, but you have to do the work. Read the text BEFORE lectures. His lectures are about analysis, not memorization of the basics (you do that yourself). Biggest negative is that test questions are either stupidly easy or very difficult. Overall, he's good, but he won't spoon feed you. YOU have to study and read the book!
The professor is an example of why tenure never works. There is no incentive on improving teaching techniques. The professor can do whatever he/she wants to the class, and can still keep their jobs. This is the reason why so many students have no interest in going to classes like this ever again.
one of the worst professors at Hunter College. cannot teach at all, makes the tests too hard and the lectures are useless and a waste of time. STAY AWAY, take biology at another college
Let's put it this way: I was one of 14 people (out of a total class of 440) to get an A in the class. It was done through a complete lack of social life and unrelenting study.
Skip class and read the book. 2 questions on the exam that will be from his lectures are not worth being tortured for 3 hours a week. Go to Armin / Regina's recitations. They helped a lot. Went to class 4 times total, 1 time for lecture and 3 times for the exams. Got an A+.
General Biology isn't suppose to be so hard and in depth. His tests focuses on some of his lectures but you don't technically have to go because you can just go to your TA and ask them questions because they have a copy of the lectures. He can't teach at all and almost 1/3 of the class don't attend his lectures anyways.
Prepare for intense reading as well as help from tutors or online! I did not anticipate Bio 100 to be that difficult. His exams are concept-related and memorization is a must except that barely any questions ask for definition. It's basically just a requirement. To take his class, make sure you understand the concept! It is a hard class!!
Don't go to lecture, read the textbook. Memorize. Oh, and make sure you go to recitation for essay review. Do all of the above, guaranteed an A.
Just don't go to lectures and study from the textbook. He doesn't teach anything. He is unfair to grade exams.
He isn't great. Tests are confusing and do not accurately reflect topics stressed in lecture.
Worst professor ever; you can dedicate your life to this class and you still won't get the grade you deserve. Avoid him at any cost.
Not the best professor to have for bio 100 if you're trying to attain a decent grade. Exams are mostly multiple choice with an essay component. His lectures are to detailed on specific topics that do not show up on exams and he keeps going off into tangents. Avoid his lectures and live only by the book if you expect a decent grade.
the worst professor ever.
He's a really good Professor. He explains the material really well. Those, who failed the class or did poorly, simply didn't study. If you want to be a bio major, then study hard. His tests are fair and cover what he explained during lectures. READ READ READ! and you'll get an A
Everyone is complaining but he's a great professor. If you attend every lecture, read the book sometimes and study a couple hours week, you'll do good. His lectures give away test answers. Got an A- because I didn't attend one of the lectures.
Wow I did all the work by myself. Attending lectures are useless if you dont read ahead of time. Seriously study yourself & do extra credit
He's better suited to be a seminar professor than an into-bio one. Most of his lectures are applications of the reading, but 95% of it will not appear on exams. Go to lecture if you want to be "enlightened" or are going to Med school. Otherwise--MEMORIZE the book.
Persell is too smart for the classes he teaches, and he is not shy about it. Try to avoid going to his lectures, except the first one, and the three exams. His tests are fair but extremely difficult. Most material comes straight from the textbook but memorizing most of it is necessary. The BIology dept. really needs better Professors and TAs,
MUST read textbook. Some exam questions come straight from lecture, so watch out for those. He's a funny and attractive man, but his class is hard if you don't read the book. Highly recommended for those who are truly interested in biology.
Dr. Persell is a great biologist, he really knows his stuff and conveys it in a manner that people who are genuinely interested will be interested. the problem I have with the man is that he is not fit to teach a 100 level course. His style is for 200+/300+ courses. Also he does NOT post slides for some reason, which is what his exams are based on.
He made me rethink my major(biology) :/
very easy class just read the text book over at least 3 times to get an A.
THH Class Anatomy & Art, really, truly, great discussion. He's very knowledgeable, SUPER egotistical, not modest at all, loved interpretive things, very iffy with any religion-y talk, but pretty cool. And good. And from what I've heard about his bio class - easy (easier than Elai, so calm down peeps)
Dr. Persell is very knowledgeable, but he is not fit to teach a 100 level bio course. His lectures remain very superficial compared to the specifity of the exam questions. It's like he's in his own world. However, you can get a good grade if you read the textbook over and over, do the extra credit and go to recitation.
Don't waste your time at his lectures as he certainly doesn't want to be teaching this 100 level course. This man made my entire semester miserable. This should-be easy class takes up an unimaginable amount of time and effort. He skips important concepts for an intro class and his tests are ridiculous. The worst professor I have ever had
Worst Bio proff ever. His exams are soo difficult. Dont waste your time going to lecture. Memorize the textbook. Sometimes his unfair and puts q's on the exam that werent even on the book or even in lecture. He makes the class way harder than it should be for an intro class.
Please don't listen to things like "don't go to lecture, memorize the book." That's not what learning is about. Persell is one of the few professors with enough guts to challenge his students. He teaches you how to think, not what to think. He isn't going to spoon-feed you anything, but neither will anyone else later in your lives. Wake up guys!
Go to lecture and listen to the last commenet.
A lot of people here are saying that he is very disorganized. Not true. Despite his casual manner, his lectures are highly structured. But it's up to YOU to see how everything is linked together. This, btw, is a great study technique, helped me a lot.
Hard had to work my ass off, and he put me to sleep in every lecture I attended. Tests are hard so need to study a lot have to know the material inside and out.
I really had the most stressful semester of my life. You are all on your own with Dr. Persell. He never cares about his students, he is never helpful as an instructor. All he does is gives good lectures , but doesn't realize that his lectures are clear for a student who has a background of 300 level courses not someone who is at 100 or 102.
a teacher/professor is supposed to teach you the material to come during test. in this case, he would teach us nothing of what was to come on the test and expect us to know absolutely everything. way too much material for an intro course.
I wouldn't say he is a bad instructor by any means, but his tests are iffy (not as in they are hard conceptually, but as in the materials that were taken from his lectures). The final was not that bad but you still need to know a whole load of too many materials for an intro class. Focus on the topics he emphasized during the lecturers.
Very confusing, first midterm nothing to do with the material. Do not take, your better off taking this class somewhere where your gonna get a chance to learn.. the lab sections and instructors are the only good thing, but the part lecture is not good
Once he said in class he has been called hard grader but never a unfair grader.He was unfair indirectly. There were some smart student who did pretty well in his first two hardest exams (Final was easier) but could not get grade they deserved. He should make sure everybody gets same difficulty level Lab Exams.
Persell makes Biology 100 and 102 unreasonably difficult. His lecture slides, which are disorganized and verbose, do not go online. His exams follow the textbook, though he often includes minute details from the book or from lecture slides. But he is nonetheless and outstanding lecturer - recommended for those who are genuinely pre-med students.
Good for pre med students. First test was way too hard but the next two were easier. Need to go to lecture and memorize the textbook. Study the materials he emphasizes in class.
Everyone says he's a bad professor, he's not. He teaches a hard subject and pushes his students. If you attend lecture, recitation, and lab, and study from the slides and book, you can do very well with him. Just pay attention to the things he mentions that are not on the slides!
"And so it goes..." people who genuinely like biology (or chemistry) will find this class interesting/stimulating. For those of you who don't like either subject, the class will be a rough ride.
A "big picture" professor. Literally.
Do yourself a favor. Just do not take his class. The most unfair professor I've ever seen.
A great professor who wants you to learn not for just passing tests and getting an A but for life. He inspires curiosity and is a fair grader.
A phenomenal professor. His love for the subject is contagious.
Dr. Persell is by far an amazing person who is extremely knowledgeable about Biology. Yes, this class is extremely difficult, however, it is by no means impossible to get a very good grade. His class prepares you very well for the MCAT, and if you could ace his tests as did I, the Biology based Questions on the MCAT are a joke to you. Good Luck!
Understandably, he can be difficult to follow during lecture and therefore demands an audience who can handle a fast-paced environment in lecture. The tests however are more than fair and can easily be aced if your reading is solid. DONT SKIP class. Even if you're lost in lecture, you can at least infer what he likes to focus on for exams!
I prefer his teaching style, all his MC test questions are based on the the content in the textbook. if he wasn't retiring i would have signed up for his other classes.
Awful awful course. Unfocused and nonsensical. They say they are more rigorous than the AP Bio but the test format is the same and they focus on random topics. First month and a half was immunology (generally not a Gen Bio subject, thats what the immunology course is for). Test did not reflect lecture or textbook material. Time for a change Hunter!
Teacher is useless, exam is based on the textbook, senseless to attend the class. Alaie is dope, she is hard, but great professor. Persell is straight up garbage as a Prof. People do it and regret it later, dont be one of those. If you have to pull it off because of time contraints, its doable; otherwise take someone who will teach you the subject.
I took Dr. Persells seminar Sexual Selection this past fall semester, and it was such an impactful experience. Weekly seminars included student-led classes, with Persell guiding the conversation, along with being assigned at least 2 papers a week pertinent to sexual selection and quizzes based on that weeks readings. Dr. Persell is a gem.
Dr. Persell is an amazing Prof. I took him for Microbiome this semester and his discussions were always interesting. He wants his students to gain as much knowledge as they can and become good at reading scientific papers. I used to find reading scientific papers difficult/boring until I took this seminar. Very interesting discussions!!
Microbiome Gut Brain Axis was a rather chill seminar. We discussed 2 articles/papers per week and were assigned pair presentations based on papers he selected for us. He scrapped weekly quizzes, thankfully. He corrected students when they misspoke; that got old fast. He allowed collaboration on exams that we had 15 hours to submit. Engaging course.
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