The best aspect of this course was reinforcing general biochemistry concepts, while becoming familiar with lab equipment and basic lab techniques. Most students also found the TA’s extremely wel -informed and helpful, especially for understanding lab procedures. The worst aspects were that the workload was way too heavy for a two credit course and grades were heavily based on the practical. Students found that many labs experiments involved an unproductive period of waiting for results which were required to continue. Students also suggested that weekly quizzes be restructured to provide more benefit than burden. Prospective students should be prepared for weekly lab reports and quizzes.

Students praised this course for exposing them to a laboratory environment and that the course was “good at teaching you the basic biochemistry techniques but [was] not overly complicated.” However, many students found the course’s grading system to be unfair as lab work and other assignments represented only a small portion of their grade compared to a final practical exam. Suggestions for improvement included a desire that other assignments have increased weight in determining students’ final grades. Prospective students should know that the course is chal enging and competitive, so students needed to be ready to take on denser material.

Students praised this course for giving them hands-on experience doing biochemistry. Students also liked that the labs lined up with other biochemistry classwork they were doing. Perceived issues with the course primarily focused on the laboratory experiments, with many students finding that they took far too long to finish. Others disliked the course’s frequent quizzes. Suggestions for improvement primarily centered on a request for the course to be reorganized so that lab assignments took less time. Prospective students should know that this course was a significant time commitment and that exams required a significant amount of study and memorization.