[BIOL 0145]
Cell Biology and Genetics

Rate This Class

Professor: Spatafora G

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (0%
Average (28.6%)
Valuable (71.4%)

Material

Friendly (0%)
Average (42.9%)
Competitive (57.1%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (42.9%)
Average (14.3%)
Fascinating (42.9%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (0%)
3-5hr (57.1%)
6-8hr (28.6%)
9-11hr (14.3%)
12+ hr (0%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (42.9%)
Average (0%)
Easier (57.1%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (100%)
No (0%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (57.1%)
No (42.9%)

Evaluation Comments for Spatafora G

  1. This class was really intense in a good way. Spatafora is a great teacher and she's really into what she does which makes lecture very interesting. The textbook was not helpful; she basically teaches from a different one so if you really care about the class ask her about that one and order it as well. If you are going to take this class I would strongly advise taking notes on your computer, consider taking them directly on the powerpoints she puts on middfiles, and write down everything she says. You will study a lot for this class and still find her tests really hard but the class is worth it. If all you care about is your grade then consider taking it with an easier professor.
  2. The average on the first exam was a 67. when i asked Dr. Spatafora if she was going to make the 2nd exam any easier, she said no, and was confused as to why she would do that. the average was a 69 on this one. Instead of actually teaching and walking as through these complex processes, she relied on convoluted and unhelpful powerpoints (which often confused her) to teach her material. With a background in microbiology, she loved teaching us about obscure proteins, and their prokaryotic relevance, which of course we were expected to know. After most lectures, we left class confused, and had to learn the material on our own. She told us she wasn't going to test us on concepts, but rather on specifics from her slides, so as a result, students became solely focused on learning these obscurities, effectively 'loosing the forest for the trees', as the saying goes. Everyone was so stressed and concerned with this little details, that in the end, we really didn't learn anything. Take Cell bio with someone else, if you can. This was a waste of a semester.
  3. Professor Spatafora clearly knows what she's talking about, and also did a good job of explaining complicated concepts. Of which there were many. This class covers a huge amount of material. Tests (two midterms and a final) were extremely difficult, but graded on a curve (median becomes a B-) which helped. Not much work except for studying for the tests. I found the material really interesting, and Professor Spatafora was an enthusiastic and engaging lecturer who held us to a very high standard while still trying to be fair.
  4. This class is definitely challenging with the tests in particular being very hard and somewhat difficult to study for but Spatafora is always there to help and she is very friendly. Because this class is so huge I would highly recommend meeting with her one on one to receive help and go over concepts. Also, FYI, Spatafora is very slow to read and respond to emails so please keep this in mind.
  5. Spatafora is great, she has so much enthusiasm for the subject. Her tests deal more with application than memorizing concepts. The material is understandable if you've been exposed to it before. Avoid Backus as your lab professor, she will melt your grade - lab just sucks in general. But there are lots of help sessions, etc. for extra help which is nice.
  6. This is a HARD class. Spatafora isn't the greatest professor, but she's definitely helpful. Lectures can be boring, especially if you don't do the reading ahead of time. She uses a lot of terminology, so if you don't know all of the terms, you are likely to get lost. Once you're lost, you might as well give up for the rest of the class period! But unfortunately, this is a required course for pre-med and some sci majors, so what can you do?
  7. I think that Spatafora generally teaches higher level classes like Microbiology, and this certainly influenced how she taught Cell Bio. Topics in lecture were quite interesting, but lectures often started late and lacked overall coherence despite fancy PowerPoints. My advice is to read the textbook, download her PowerPoints and review them, and go to her office hours if you don't understand what is going on in lecture. I made the mistake of not going to get questions answered. Exams were tough, and tested both application of concepts to novel situations and nit-picky details (like specific names of enzymes or exact descriptions of every part of a cell signaling process.).

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