[BIOL 0145]
Cell Biology and Genetics

Rate This Class

Professor: Backus V

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (13.3%
Average (53.3%)
Valuable (33.3%)

Material

Friendly (6.7%)
Average (46.7%)
Competitive (46.7%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (33.3%)
Average (60%)
Fascinating (6.7%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (6.7%)
3-5hr (13.3%)
6-8hr (33.3%)
9-11hr (40%)
12+ hr (6.7%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (80%)
Average (0%)
Easier (20%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (80%)
No (20%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (20%)
No (80%)

Evaluation Comments for Backus V

  1. One word: run.
  2. No Comment
  3. No Comment
  4. No Comment
  5. Coming into this course, I was very scared of having Professor Backus for lab, having heard many horror stories. I was quite surprised to find that she was actually extremely nice, helpful, and fair. I would recommend that anyone taking this lab take it with Professor Backus. She is a picky grader, but so is everyone in the bio department. THat being said, if you read the directions carefully and either go to the TA help sessions or her office hours to have questions answered, it is not hard to get a good grade in lab. Professor Backus was always available to read over my rough drafts and discuss data interpretations with me, which was super helpful. TAs were also very helpful, encouraging, and sweet, as always. The lab section was certainly a lot of work, but they got rid of pre-labs for this semester, which I've heard were killer. The labs we did were really cool, too, including looking at our own blood and ability to taste. Only two full lab reports all semester. Professor Backus could be a little strict and snappy, but she was also very enthusiastic about the material and really wanted us to have a good experience. She also brought in chocolate ad snacks for us several times, just for fun. Really a very sweet lady.
  6. Double edged sword here. Lab is brutal. Grading is also brutal, but prof. Backus is really helpful. If you go to her office hours with a draft, she will essentially proofread it for you. So even though you get NO feedback (which sucks, you write all 3 formal labs without having gotten any of them back) you can use her office hours to strategize as much as possible. Go to TA hours and help sessions when given -- because of the fact that directions ARE NOT EVER CLEAR, sometimes they'll drop extra hints of what they want/expect from you in those, which could save your grade. A horrible structural method, but if you have this class, try to learn to play the game.
  7. Labs are killer. They are easily an extra 8 hours a week ontop of a demanding course already, and the lab professors from this course grade obscenely difficulty. Lab is a must, and you learn important things in the lab that will be useful later on, but the level of difficulty for a 100 level class is insane. Be prepared to spend four hours on a group pre-lab for a 6 out of 10. Old chapel should take more note of this class and work to change its standards. It is well organized but grading is insane.
  8. Dr. Backus is one of the nicest people you will meet at Middlebury, but she is a tough grader. Lab is what brings down most people's grades in Cell Bio, so make sure you place a lot of emphasis on it in your studies. The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do to succeed in lab (which is 40% of your grade!) is create drafts of lab reports prior to the due date and have Dr. Backus go over it with you at her office hours. She will give valuable critiques as she is the one doing the grading! My biggest mistake was not doing this from day one and it cost me half a letter grade when I received my final grade.
  9. THIS IS AN EVALUATION OF THE LAB SECTION: Good material that adequately supplemented Ward's lecture section. Backus is helpful and very nice in lab, but is absolutely vicious when she grades your lab reports. Her comments are rather blunt, and scores below 50% are common. The lab practical final exam was pretty easy to compensate, but most of the semester was frustrating because it wasn't clear what she was looking for.
  10. Try to get someone else for BIOL 0145 lab professor. Backus is the only professor that I've ever known where you could probably get a negative score if you got everything wrong (in other words, there are more mistakes possible than points).
  11. Vickie gets a lot of bashing for being a really tough grader, and, yeah, she's not going to be easy on you, but if you put in the work you'll be just fine. Keep in mind that she is a science professor and she thinks really methodically and doesn't care too much about the aesthetics of your writing. Instead of spending hours trying to present the lab report material in a form that is pleasant to read, just spit out exactly what she wants in the most concise manner possible. She hands out the grading rubric that she uses for pretty much everything--USE IT!! Adding something extra in won't get you extra points, but missing something that is on the rubric will get a bunch deducted. Also, formatting is VERY important, so pay attention to her guidelines.
  12. Bio145 lab is very relaxed during lab...everything is explained in a step-by-step manner and very easy. Lab reports, however, are extremely difficult. They take FOREVER and even though you think everything is perfect, you get your grade back, and realize that it was far from it. Backus is a very nice women and very helpful when attending office hours (make sure you use these!), so it is frustrating to see everything fall apart when assignments are returned. Expect to work a lot for the lab section (I probably spent more time on lab than I did on 145-lecture).
  13. I would advise anyone considering taking a class with Vicki Backus to reconsider. She is an extremely unfair grader, taking off an excessive amount of points on labs for silly mistakes, like forgetting to cite or forgetting your partner's name. She gave us no direction whatsoever for the lab reports and only told us how she wanted us to redo them after most of the class received failing grades. Although the material was a good supplement to the lecture portion of the class, she was unavailable for any help whatsoever. The amount of work was unreasonable for a lab section and Prof Backus was not only unhelpful, but unfair.
  14. Tough lab. Lots of work. Watch out for the infinite quizzes. Prof Backus is a nice person, especially in lab when she gets a thousand questions thrown at her. She never got snippy or angry once. I think she did her best to teach the material. However, the class assignments, especially the lab reports take FOR EVER to do. The worst part about it is that even though the lab reports were due in October, they weren't handed back until December! There was no way to correct mistakes made in the first one. The in-lab notes won't be handed back until next semester. That, along with the amount of the work, is my main sticking point for the class.
  15. Of the lab section: Backus is nice but a really unfair and tough grader. Also, lab with her requires a huge amount of time. She gives you very little guidance with assignments so you are forced to go to lots of TA session's for help- I think I learned more from the TA's than from her.

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