Andrew Swafford

This is a hard course, or at least it was for me. The textbook isn't necessarily mandatory to read, but it was very important to me. Without it, I probably wouldn't have understood half the material. Professor Swafford is incredibly understanding and wants to help you succeed. The oral exam was nice because you could tell he wanted you to get the right answer and would try to nudge you in the right direction.

This is a hard course, or at least it was for me. The textbook isn't necessarily mandatory to read, but it was very important to me. Without it, I probably wouldn't have understood half the material. Professor Swafford is incredibly understanding and wants to help you succeed. The oral exam was nice because you could tell he wanted y …Read more

I took Mol Gen with Prof Swafford and really enjoyed it. He runs his lab much differently than others where you are largely responsible for finding and writing protocols. This can be challenging, but is very helpful in understanding how a lab works. The lectures are split between fast-paced material and lab preparation. He does oral exams where you make a presentation and he asks you questions. While stressful at first, they ultimately provide you with great opportunities to show your learning. Overall an amazing course.

I took Mol Gen with Prof Swafford and really enjoyed it. He runs his lab much differently than others where you are largely responsible for finding and writing protocols. This can be challenging, but is very helpful in understanding how a lab works. The lectures are split between fast-paced material and lab preparation. He does oral …Read more

It's hard to teach an intro level bio like this class where everyone has different backgrounds. Having not taken AP bio, I struggled. That being said the book was super helpful for filling in the gaps because swafford's lectures often were very tangential and niche which was interesting but confusing. One oral midterm which was chill and a paper final which I'm beginning to think he didn't read but whatever. I loved the lab for this course, I definitely learned the most there. I sort of wish Swafford had more serious exams because at a certain point there are things to memorize which we never got around to being tested on in any capacity. VERY homework heavy. It felt like busy work, with problem sets, read and reflects, "group" work (it was always homework), explorations, repeating exams (this would all be in one week, in addition to readings).

It's hard to teach an intro level bio like this class where everyone has different backgrounds. Having not taken AP bio, I struggled. That being said the book was super helpful for filling in the gaps because swafford's lectures often were very tangential and niche which was interesting but confusing. One oral midterm which was chill …Read more