She is a TA right now but will start lectures. Very very smart and very helpful. Best TA i have ever had and one of the best teachers. Dr. Sarah Ball is one of the best bio staff members OSU has right now. And she is just down right hot!

Great teacher! Takes advantage of different technology including clickers, helpful videos, and more. Explains things thoroughly and at a good pace.

Dr. Ball is a very nice teacher, and answers all your questions immediately. She reads off the slides and explains them a little. She does not give a study guide for tests, but some of her questions come from the post-lecture quizzes, clicker questions, and questions at the end of every chapter in the book. And her hair is awesome and perfect!

Literally one of the greatest profs EVER! I love biology and I enjoyed the content which is key to taking her class cause its not an easy A. But she is very personable and happy to help. I was placed in a special lab where she "TA"ed the lab and I got to know her very well - which is great for a 600-people class. TAKE THIS CLASS!

Dr. Ball's exams are very difficult, but as a teacher she is excellent. She makes coming to class fun and worthwhile, but READ THE TEXTBOOK. My first exam I failed and when I read the book my second exam score went up significantly. Take the Sea Lab opportunity if offered because Dr. Ball teaches it and it replaces regular lab and she is amazing!

Dr. Ball is my favorite professor that I have had so far. Her exams seem pretty difficult but you can do well if you study. She gives you all of the information you need in class, her notes are super detailed. I did not have to look at the book once, I simply read over my notes and got A's and B's on the midterms. Very good at explaining things.

Dr. Ball is great! If you pay attention in class and READ your book, you will do fine. I got A's on her exams, even though they are tricky. You just have to READ the question and STUDY from the book and her notes. Don't let other peoples comments scare you. Put in the work and you'll succeed.:)

Her lectures are interesting, and she takes subjects at the beginning of the semester people are curious about, and starts each day of with a random topic before diving in. Like a brain warm up. She also teaches Sea Lab, and seems to want to help her students, always helps with a smile. Tests are hard to ace. I assume not impossible if you study.

Dr. Ball is a wonderful professor! If you stay up to date with the lecture material (aka read the book before every lecture) then you will do great!

Dr. Ball's lecture notes are very detailed with most of the information on carmen with an exception of some key words being blanked out, making attendance fairly mandatory. Fill in the blanks instead of taking notes solely by hand. Her exams are hard, but her questions are from a bank that you can find after googling a few of her quiz questions.

She is very helpful and friendly.

She is a great professor. Very patient, even if the class itself is very tedious. I think she tries her best to help her students and seems to always keep a very good demeanor. The class it self, the phage lab part 2, that was agonizing at first, but got easier over time.

Lectures were very good and really helped clarify concepts. Her lecture slides were very detailed and easy to follow. She could be a hard professor, but she is very helpful.

Dr. Ball was very passionate about what she was teaching. There were many assignments for this class, and the lab was the SEAPHAGES lab, which required a giant paper and focus on one topic the entire semester. The quizzes and tests were difficult. I spent most of lab not knowing what was going on, but still ended up with an A-

Her tests have a lot of tough questions so it's important to really know the material. You need to read the book. There's clicker questions and group work during lectures to encourage attendance. Other than that, she is very organized and explains the material well. The lab is confusing at first, but after a while it feels like easy points.

Biology is a hard subject but Dr Ball presents the material in a way that makes it incredibly easy to understand. If you pay attention in lecture and also STUDY (like I said biology is hard) you will have no problem with this class. She put powerpoint of her lectures online and her lectures are very organized. Highly recommend.

She's very clear and provides detailed lectures that you must fill in blanks. She also uses clickers. Most quiz and exam questions can be found in book and online. Very smart and tries to keep lectures interesting. Highly recommend

Sarah Ball was a great professor. Her lectures were clear and she gave out PowerPoints with blanks in them to fill in as she covered the material in class. She gave out plenty of practice questions, which came from a test bank for the textbook. If possible, get the test bank as a study tool because it really helps. Would definitely recommend.

She was just really interesting and her expectations were clear cut

Really knows her stuff, and is a good teacher. Her lectures were interesting, but long and took the entire time. Tests were tough, but the test questions are all online on flashcards. If you studied those and the lecture slides the class is very manageable.

Dr. Ball is extremely helpful if you ask for help. Some students may think she's unapproachable, but she is very specific and helpful if you come to office hours with questions. Very concise in her explanations; she really knows the ins and outs of the information presented in lecture and is always willing to answer questions. Great overall.

Dr. Ball was a great professor. She was very insightful with her lectures and very detailed oriented. She does go off of the book. Be prepared to look at it to study. Also use the website EasyNotecards. They have test questions related to the book chapters. Overall, she does a nice job. The SEAPHAGES lab wasnt great but it was somewhat interesting.

Dr. Ball was very good at teaching. She took things at a nice pace and assigned work relevant to the tests. Reading the book is essential to getting a good grade. She uses clickers for class, so skipping class can loose you points.

Not too hard

Pretty good prof. Decent slides really just not a hard class if you pay attention to lectures and learn whats presented. hot.

Dr. Ball was a good professor, but the lecture itself didn't allow for much interaction with her (there were 600+ students). She puts guided notes on Carmen before lectures, and her exams are based solely on lectures. Honestly, the textbook isn't needed if you go to class.

Ball's tests were the easiest things in existence. Make sure you read the book though because she isn't the best at explaining things. All her questions come from an online test bank too. For sure one of the easiest biology professors.

Must come in with an understanding of biology. I came in struggling because I haven't had bio in four years. Reading the book and going through lecture notes is key.

She knows a lot about the subject, for sure. The lab is the worst part- seaphages- and where most the grades for the class come from- prelabs, quizzes, papers. Exams are more application-based than normal classes and will take the full time. Extra credit chances given. Attendance taken through top hat every class.

Her tests were a little difficult (you have to really understand the material in order to do well), but not impossible. Just make sure you read the corresponding textbook sections BEFORE lecture- it's the only way you'll be able to understand the material. Tophat questions each day counted for attendance.

Unless you're already a whiz in biology, you'll want to read the book and review your lecture notes. She was a great teacher, and you'll see repeated questions from the Study Area on MasteringBio on exams. She definitely makes her half of the semester doable and fair, but Dr. Weinstein might make you rethink who you want to take for Bio.

Amazing Professor. Speaks clearly and teaches effectively in lecture. Exams are nothing tricky.

Dr. Ball was a very good professor. Explained everything in class very clearly, and all assignments supplemented the class very well. Exams and homework were very fair. She kept the material very interesting.

I really liked Dr. Ball, she was funny and friendly and made class interesting. She uses TopHat for attendance and it's graded on participation, not correctness, so go to class! Wasn't a huge fan of the types of questions that make up her test, but that's a personal thing. Good choice of professor.

Dr. Ball was a pretty good teacher overall. Tests were not too bad as long as you had a really good grasp on all the material. Most test questions were application ?'s. You'll definitely need to read the book!!! Also, google Easy Notecards, click on Campbell Biology and do the notecards for the chapters covered on the test(s)- they help so so much

Dr. Ball is a decent professor. Her exams are slightly difficult but other than that she is very cool. Would recommend

Don't take the sea-phages lab. You can do her top hat questions outside class if you skip. You have to buy the book for the homework code, but I never actually read her books. Her tests are off her fill in the blank class notes. Tests aren't worth much because she has so many assignments. Overall good experience

Dr. Ball was a pretty good professor. Her lectures could be long and boring at times but she tries to spice it up with in-class activities and TopHat. The homework and exams were pretty easy so long as you read the textbook and pay attention in lecture. Do not take the SEA-Phages lab!

Ball was definitely a great professor, but just a forewarning the subject matter and the lecturing can be very dry if you take the long tuesday/thursday class. Her lectures are definitely the most useful thing to understand basic biology, but it is necessary to do work outside of class. Her exams were difficult, but study top hat and mastering.

Definitely not one of my favorite classes because the lectures were not stimulating and the material was explained at its most difficult level. She is seriously intelligent, but does not always explain the information well or in more than one way. Your TA will be your best pal in this class. Make friends and study with them.

I think professor Ball made the lectures as interesting as possible. Her voice was not boring or dry, and she explained concepts with fun facts thrown in there. she made her tests very relevant to lecture material. My advice: do not ever skip reading the textbook. I don't know how you would pass the class without it.

pop quizzes top hat. Fill in the blank slides. Lectures are honestly helpful so highly suggest going to class and paying attention or a lot of studying by yourself later

Dr. Ball is passionate about biology. Overall she does a good job teaching the material, however there were some topics that she could have made easier to understand. It's important to study your notes well for the tests. Midterms are fairly difficult but manageable if you study well. Attend lecture and lab; top hat and lab should boost the grade.

Dr. Ball cares a lot about what she teaches and is always there to help. The real thing that will decide your grade is who you get as a lab TA. Some are really cool and helpful while others take off points for no reason and refuse to help you out. The tests are difficult but fair. Just stay on top of things and you will have no issue passing

Dr. Ball is a very, very genuine professor, and one of the best at OSU Main. She always begins her class answering questions that students may have about almost anything -- doesn't have to be bio related. She is also a very helpful person, taking her time to answer your question and making you understand the concepts behind them. Take her class!!

Dr. Ball is fantastic! She is great at breaking down difficult concepts, is willing to answer questions, and provides lots of opportunities to earn points outside of (her very fair, if you study) exams. She is very kind, and extremely passionate about Biology, which makes her already interesting lectures even better. Take Bio with her if you can!

It is very obvious that Dr. Ball knows a lot about biology. She has very good notes, however they are not very detailed. She gives some opportunities for extra credit and the labs are fairly easy. Be sure to attend class because she relies heavily on TopHat questions.

Sarah Ball explained concepts well, however, she did not go into much detail. Her exams were much harder than any practice problems given or homework assignments. Would recommend reading the book. Lectures were interesting content wise if you enjoy biology. Lots of tophat questions for participation points, so definitely go to lecture.

Dr. Ball is a great professor! Her exams are kind of difficult, however. I thought I understood the content to my best ability, but her questions are highly conceptual. I think it just really depends on your lab section.

Sarah Ball was not that bad in my opinion. I actually thought her teaching style was okay, however, I would zone out. But, this did not hurt my grade as she posts both her notes and lectures online. BUT, my BIGGEST recommendation is to READ THE TEXTBOOK, yes it is dry but it prepares you so well for the exam and is the only reason I got an A.

Dr. Ball's notes were thorough and her exams were very straightforward. As long as you study and actually do the homework instead of looking up the answers, you will be prepared for the exams. In lecture, she moves at a slow pace which was frustrating because it is a lot easier to get distracted.

Ball is a good professor. Her class is structured very clearly, and if you do the practice problems, the exams are not too difficult. For my lab section, we had a virus group project that accounted for a fair bit of the lab grade. I enjoyed the questions she answered at the beginning of class, although her lectures can get dry at times.

Overall professor Ball does a good job of lecturing and explaining material, but she gives way too many lab assignments and grades them very harshly. The mastering will really boost your grade so make sure to do that and the exams aren't bad if you understand the lectures. A lot of the exam. questions are straight off of mastering.

An amazing lecturer who was very clear in what you needed to know. Tests are multiple choice but at the application level so some can be tricky. I felt like questions were always valued and she's a very approachable teacher. Highly recommend for biology 1113.

Professor Ball cares about her students and wants everyone to get a good grade. She responds quickly to emails and is flexible with office hours to help her students. Tests are not too difficult as long as you pay attention during lecture and not many assignments outside of class besides lab assignments. Definteily recommend!!

Good professor, attendance is not mandatory but topHat questions in class are a part of your grade. Tests are pretty easy, lab requires a semester long group project but it id pretty easy and doesn't require much work. She posts lectures after class but no live zoom sessions.

Not as bad as people make it seem. Many people don't know how to study for her class but the best way I've found is to WATCH her lecture videos (Put it in 1.6x speed cuz she talks slowly) and take notes on all she says. I never used the book, it was time waster and made things confusing but it could be helpful to some. Lab was a headache though.

Dr. Ball always had clear and concise slides and I rewatched her lecture videos at a fast speed to study for tests. I never used the textbook and the class overall was not bad, definitely recommend her.

I enjoyed her lectures, for success in this class do the Pearson Concept Check questions because they appear on the exams always! Lab is sometimes a pain, but overall not bad would take again.

She lectures very well and is engaging with the audience, but her exams are over the smallest things she mentions so you need to pay attention. Not as bad as other bio profs, but lab is kinda stressful.

Dr. Ball's lectures were really interesting, and often tied in real life illnesses/events which helped me a lot. Her slides were also very useful and clearly outlined what she wanted us to know. However, the exams were very detailed oriented so make sure to study the slides well. She was also really helpful during office hours with any questions.

Overall, Dr. Ball was a good teacher. Her lectures could be a bit boring, but it seemed she did care about the subject/her students. The exams weren't hard, just super content heavy. However, the SEA-PHAGES lab was so much unnecessary work. Discovering new phages was kinda cool, but the workload outside of class was a lot.

Dr. Ball is unique in how she comes across as a genuinely kind and caring person who would rather teach to see the success of her students rather than boost her resume. Despite the content of the class being somewhat boring to me, Dr. Ball was able to use her good personality to engage students throughout her time teaching.

We only had her for half the semester. She was engaging and answered random curiosity questions at the beginning of each lecture. But it was definitely a class where you have to teach yourself a lot of the material on your own. Tophat questions during class.

This class is almost 100% participation based. There is only 1 midterm and it is online and open note (and very easy). Dr. Ball explained how to use the DNA master application for the lab well, and made it very easy to succeed in the class. This class also includes a poster presentation at a real event, meaning it can be put on your resume.

I recommend watching Lectures back again and take notes on the tiny things. those are what the exams mostly are about. Exams are VERY hard. Lecture is not mandatory, but top hat questions are used as participation points and only given in lecture. 20 points are dropped. She gives some extra credit, but don't rely on that. She's nice and passionate.

Love this lady. Super passionate about what she teaches you can tell she thinks its the coolest thing in the world. Exams not too hard like people say. If you know the information, you can easily apply it. you just have to put time into knowing the information.

Take the bio with Dr. Ball if you can! She's very nice and take the phage lab if you can the trad lab is boring and lots of busy work. I had lots of fun taking phage lab with her the workload is okay plus the TA were very accessible outside of class. She also does extra credit!!

I loved Dr. Ball's class! Her lectures connect real-world applications to the material. Starts each day with a curiosity question and uses mini breaks to help us digest the content. Tests are tough, but with consistent study and office hours, you'll succeed. The lab, focused on phage therapy, builds valuable research skills. Highly recommend!

A difficult course, but I feel that Dr. Ball does a good job at making lectures interesting and explains things well. I would try to avoid the SEA PHAGES lab if you do not want to be doing a lot of time-consuming things for lab, but the skills learned in this are beneficial. Ex) My friend had Dr. Ball and no SEA lab and had way less work.

A lot of people say this professor is bad I would have to disagree. Exams can be tricky but if you go to lecture, study, and really put in the effort you'll do well. I honestly found the lab to be harder than the actual lecture for this class.

Like most, I struggled with her exams. I did everything she recommended and averaged terribly on them! I would avoid this course if you had the SEA Phages lab. It absolutely had nothing to do with lectures and the TA grading was harsh but Sarah Ball is very nice and passionate. I just wish with the work I put in there was something to show for it.

Dr. Ball is very passionate about what she teaches and is obviously very knowledgable in the subject area. She places a special emphasis on asking analytical and application-based questions on the exams. Use the Mastering hw and the TopHat questions to review; these are often reflective of actual exam questions and prepare you to score well.

Exams aren't going to be simple multiple choice/memorization - neither are most college STEM classes. Use Mastering as a main study tool - she pulls some questions word for word from them on exam. Put the work in as you would for a college class and you'll be good. SEA PHAGE lab is tough but just stay on top of it and ask for help if you need it.

Lecture pros/cons -straight forward -easy to understand : -very dense -speaks very slow (ended up watching lectures 2x speed) -tophat attendance Exams are probably more difficult than other bio professors but despite what everyone says, they are not impossible to study for.Guarantee most complaints are from first year students w/ HS study habits

If you took AP Bio in high school you will be more than fine with Ball. My lab really screwed me over. DO NOT TAKE SEA PHAGES LAB. It isn't necessarily hard but it is EXTREMELY TIME CONSUMING OUTSIDE OF CLASS. The real class itself was very straight forward and fine though. I started studying the day before every midterm and did fine.

She is a great professor. Had her for BIO1113 and if you attend lectures and do the Mastering, there is no reason you shouldn't do well in the class because a lot of concepts and questions come directly from those on exams. She is very receptive to feedback and very good lecturer. Her exams are only "hard" because they are very application based.

Dr. Ball is a good professor. She really knows what she is talking about. She explains topics clearly, manages her time well. However, she can make you feel a bit dumb when asking questions. The three exams are a bit difficult so you really have to know the topics. Lab final is cumulative, but lecture final is not.

Honestly a very good professor with clear expectations of students. Lots of assignments but exams make up a vast majority of the grade but she provides lots of study resources. If you've taken any Biology class in high school, the material is practically identical just with higher expectations and more application based exams.

SEA Phage lab is hard but very doable. Dr. Ball gives many resources to study and even adds a 10% curve to every exam! I was scared for the class but if you study and make time to learn the material you will be fine. Use the study guide, LEARN THE MASTERING AND TOP HAT (Many questions are copied on the test!!), and keep practicing to do well!

I was nervous about taking this course because of the bad reviews on Dr.Ball but she was perfectly fine. Her lectures just cover the basics and you will need to thoroughly know the material to do well but she gives so many study opportunities and she is always welcoming in her student hours. SEAPHAGES lab is not bad either if you have a good TA.

-TopHat: in class questions graded for participation, not correctness. Essentially attendance points. She drops a bunch of them off at the end. -Usually weekly quizzes that you get two attempts at -SEA-Phages lab is fun but challenging at times. -Exams are difficult but if you study and apply yourself, you should be fine. -Plenty extra credit