Clarissa Parker

Professor Parker’s Psychological Statistics course was one of the most well-taught and organized classes I’ve taken. She explained challenging material clearly and always made sure we truly understood the concepts before moving on. Statistics can be intimidating, but her teaching style made it approachable and even enjoyable. What stood out most was how many practice problems and problem sets she provided throughout the semester—each carefully designed to reinforce what we learned in lecture. These assignments were incredibly helpful in preparing for the exams, which reflected the material she emphasized in class. Parker was also patient and encouraging, always taking time to answer questions and explain tricky concepts in multiple ways until everyone understood. She built a supportive environment where students felt comfortable asking for help, and she genuinely wanted everyone to succeed. Her lectures were clear, organized, and focused, and she tied each statistical method back to real psychological research examples, which made the material feel relevant and engaging.

Professor Parker’s Psychological Statistics course was one of the most well-taught and organized classes I’ve taken. She explained challenging material clearly and always made sure we truly understood the concepts before moving on. Statistics can be intimidating, but her teaching style made it approachable and even enjoyable. What st …Read more

Professor Parker is super clear and kind. I appreciated her organization and how she provided us with handouts of the lectures. The exams were a little tough but do-able. There is one group presentation.

This is a rather challenging but rewarding neuroscience course. It’s structured around textbook pre-readings, scientific articles, and occasional supplemental materials, in addition to the neuro anatomy coloring book as homework. Lectures move quickly but are well-organized; Parker prints her lecture slides with space for notes, which some students like. The neuroanatomy coloring book was surprisingly helpful for memorizing structures. Exams are genuinely difficult (a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and longer written questions), and the final in particular was long and demanding... expect to study consistently. I definitely depended on flashcards for this class much more than in other courses, and I remember these decks being really thick. That said, the course really does solidify your understanding of brain systems and behavior. I left feeling like I’d actually retained the material instead of just cramming for tests. Compared to other neuroscience classes, this one leans more traditional in format, but it fits the subject well. (I had Prof. Cave for NSCI 251 and his teaching style and exams feel much more open ended; I understood the bigger picture of concepts in his class but felt like I was lacking a good understanding of finer details.) I probably spent 4–6 hours a week outside this class on readings, labs, and flashcards. The mouse behavioral labs are really cool, and it's great to have an introduction to mouse handling and animal modeling in a course. In addition, the human brain lab is so neat---it's so crazy to walk into your class and do a lab with real human brains---and so is the sheep brain dissection lab. If you like structured learning and don’t mind putting in the work, this class will leave you with a strong foundation in behavioral neuroscience, and I think Parker's teaching is a really effective style for the content in the course.

This is a rather challenging but rewarding neuroscience course. It’s structured around textbook pre-readings, scientific articles, and occasional supplemental materials, in addition to the neuro anatomy coloring book as homework. Lectures move quickly but are well-organized; Parker prints her lecture slides with space for notes, whic …Read more