Neuroscience

Amanda Crocker is an incredibly smart and qualified professor. However, she is not good at explaining concepts at a beginner level during class lectures. 251 was also a flipped classroom, so we had to come into class prepared and knowing the material (ie. terms, concepts, etc.). Every Friday, we would have quizzes to test our understanding of the material which were 10 questions. Crocker was very flexible with when and where you took the quizzes. Although she would leave time at the end of class on Fridays, if you communicated with her you could take them at a different time on Friday in a separate location or take the quiz on Monday if you did not feel prepared. She did not have formal, sit down exams. Instead, we were given 3 complex questions that we had to answer and explain in video format. Overall, the amount of work required for this class was overwhelming, and I would not take it again.

Amanda Crocker is an incredibly smart and qualified professor. However, she is not good at explaining concepts at a beginner level during class lectures. 251 was also a flipped classroom, so we had to come into class prepared and knowing the material (ie. terms, concepts, etc.). Every Friday, we would have quizzes to test our underst …Read more

I had a great experience with Collaer and thought she was a great lecturer- I found the lectures to be engaging and she was always happy to answer questions. You definitely have to be paying attention the whole class because there is a lot of material to cover. The lectures were the most helpful part in learning the material, but the textbook readings are a good supplement (but super dense). I thought the exams were the most difficult part of the class and definitely more time studying for them than for other classes I have taken. There is also a big research essay due at the end of the course. The material itself was super interesting to me, so overall I had a great experience.

I had a great experience with Collaer and thought she was a great lecturer- I found the lectures to be engaging and she was always happy to answer questions. You definitely have to be paying attention the whole class because there is a lot of material to cover. The lectures were the most helpful part in learning the material, but the …Read more

The content for this class is a lot and very fast-paced, so it is easy to get lost, but the professor has an effective and fair teaching style where we efficiently discuss all content during class. Tests are fair and reflective of the lectures, but the tests are overly long and can take up to four hours (or more). The first week is the worse because Zhai piles on four assignments to be due within two days. I would have enjoyed the content a lot more if the professor wasn't so difficult to talk to and work with. He has pretty poor social skills which make it hard to communicate with him, especially when trying to discuss out-of-class topics and struggles. Not very understanding of personal matters and tends to just give students a hard time if he desires to. It was nearly impossible to communicate with Zhai without feeling belittled. Also, as a personal experience, I constantly felt that Zhai had a personal issue with me from how he would speak to me individually and also would take away excessive petty points from my exams, As they say, some teachers make or break classes, and unfortunately, Zhai breaks this class. I recommend taking this class with another professor if possible.

The content for this class is a lot and very fast-paced, so it is easy to get lost, but the professor has an effective and fair teaching style where we efficiently discuss all content during class. Tests are fair and reflective of the lectures, but the tests are overly long and can take up to four hours (or more). The first week is t …Read more