Andrew Swafford

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

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.