Andrew Swafford

This course is pretty different from typical biology courses here. The lab is a major component of the course and extremely valuable for learning various techniques that are commonly used in the research lab. It is difficult at first as he throws you into the deep end designing your own protocols, but you get the hang of it very quickly. All assignments can be revised for full credit, which relieves a lot of stress. Only issue is that the professor does not have the most organized syllabus and often springs up assignments pretty late, which can pile up during midterms or finals. Overall, the class is particularly valuable because of the hands-on experience in lab.

This course is pretty different from typical biology courses here. The lab is a major component of the course and extremely valuable for learning various techniques that are commonly used in the research lab. It is difficult at first as he throws you into the deep end designing your own protocols, but you get the hang of it very quic …Read more

This course was a great introduction to cell biology and genetics, and was a lot of review if you have taken AP bio. I enjoyed the way Professor Swafford added bonus material into the lectures just because he found it interesting, but was also clear with what we would be tested on.

This course is very lab heavy and requires the use of SnapGene software which can be quite confusing to navigate. The week is split between lecture, lab prep, and lab, with journal club discussions added in the second half of the semester. Extensions on homework are often granted which is helpful. There are oral exams based on your lab work so make sure you understand what you are doing in lab. The course is not very structured so you need to come in with a lot of enthusiasm and self motivation to do well.

This course is very lab heavy and requires the use of SnapGene software which can be quite confusing to navigate. The week is split between lecture, lab prep, and lab, with journal club discussions added in the second half of the semester. Extensions on homework are often granted which is helpful. There are oral exams based on your l …Read more