[BIOL 0310]
Microbiology

Rate This Class

Professor: Spatafora

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (11.8%
Average (17.6%)
Valuable (70.6%)

Material

Friendly (5.9%)
Average (17.6%)
Competitive (76.5%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (35.3%)
Average (47.1%)
Fascinating (17.6%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (5.9%)
3-5hr (0%)
6-8hr (11.8%)
9-11hr (29.4%)
12+ hr (52.9%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (58.8%)
Average (5.9%)
Easier (35.3%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (82.4%)
No (17.6%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (41.2%)
No (58.8%)

Evaluation Comments for Spatafora

  1. Only take this course if you genuinely enjoy learning about biology. The course is designed to introduce, in depth, the peculiar mechanisms that microbes use to thrive in diverse conditions. You'll go through microbial anatomy and motion, sporulation, metabolism, and briefly genetics. The lab portion is intense but adds essential context to the lecture material. Bottom line is that you'll legitimately know general microbiology after taking this course with Dr. S. She has high standards, but if you meet them you will be rewarded beyond most other classes that you take here.
  2. No Comment
  3. As everyone else has said, this is an absolutely amazing class, but it does consume your soul. It's hard to remember time from last semester that I was not in the micro lab, so be prepared to put in a ton of extra time. That being said, I have never learned as much as I did in this class. Dr. S is an incredible professor. She is incredibly intelligent and extremely passionate about helping her students. It feels like she puts as much effort into the class as she expects from her students. Looking back on the class now, it is easy to suggest it to fellow students. Definitely try to take it with an otherwise light courseload.
  4. spatafora writes the hardest tests i've ever taken.
  5. This is by far the most challenging course you wil encounter as an MBBC major. Dr.S is a great scientist and a very good teacher. Her exams are extremely dificult and her expectation are very very high. She seems to forget that microbiology is not the only course youre taking. Having said that, the amount of things I learnt about bacteria in this course is enormous and you will only appreciate this course the moment you hand in your final exam. The lab will take over your life so don't take this course with other demanding courses. Although I felt the lab was too much I did enjoy being there. By the end of the course you will feel like a real scientist and be a real microbiologist. Take this course at your own risk :)
  6. This is a fascinating topic that she manages to completely ruin. lecture is disorganized and often inaccurate. Lab will eat your soul
  7. I want to clarify a few points based on the previous reviews: 1) Dr. S is a pretty terrible lecturer - the material is generally pretty disorganized and she often struggles to explain complicated concepts. 2) Her expectations are never very clear and the exams are difficult and poorly worded WITH those two points in mind, if you are genuinely interested in the material and put in some effort you CAN get a good grade in this class and learn a TON about the subject. WAY TOO MANY of the kids who take this class are pre-med kids who simply think it will look good on their transcript and just want to get a good grade while putting in a minimal level of effort. They rarely care enough to really understand that concepts and instead try to rote memorize all of the material, which makes the course 10X harder (just as many of them found out in Orgo). If there is a primary reason not to take this class, it's because of the whiney pre-med kids. Dr. S is far from being the best lecturer in the department but the material is really interesting and she genuinely cares about the course.
  8. I am also a pre-med student and I thought this course was much work with to much of a focus on general microbiology rather than just medical microbiology. I know its an intro course but when r these profs going to realize that 99.9999999% of the science students at Middlebury r pre-med an couldn't care less about the non-clinical material. I don't understand why this class covered any material beyond the microbio on the MCAT, or why it even has a lab component - its not like im gonna be platting bacteria from my patients when im a doctor, that stuff gets sent to the lab lackeys!!
  9. As a pre-med student and dedicated member of the pre-med society, I have to completely disagree with the above comment. It is pretty much understood, amoung faculty and students, that the MBB major is primarily meant to prepare students for medical school. They just don't call it the "pre-medical" major because that would be too "un-liberal-arts-y" for the old school pissants that run this place. Consequently, it's perfectly reasonable to expect that a course like Microbiology will offer a cursory overview of the microbiology that is needed for Medical School without placing undue stress on the already-overworked pre-med students. Let's be honest, no one who takes this course is seriously considering a career in microbiology, so why make the content so difficult and comprehensive? This school is really throwing the pre-med students to the dogs by giving us lots of work and bad grades in courses like Dr. Spatafora's Microbiology class.
  10. This course is extremely difficult and time consuming. You will spend every minute trying desperately to keep up, but it is impossible. Lab takes up another class' worth of time. The course is interesting, and the material is great but you will not do well.
  11. Grace Spatafora's a hilarious person and an enthusiastic professor...she's made me love microbiology. This course was incredibly time-consuming and I felt like it ate up my SOUL during the semester, but I learned so, so much and looking back it was a great experience. I wouldn't recommend taking it with other intensive science courses, though. It helps to have taken orgo.
  12. be prepared to spend MUCH more than the scheduled lab time specifies
  13. I have mixed feelings about this course. I learned SO MUCH during the semester, but at the expense of my sanity. Dr. S used to teach at the graduate level and I don't think she dumbed-down the course curriculum very much. The independent project and labs take up a LOT of time but are really fun if you can relax and enjoy them! This course made me want to be a microbiologist--but not until it was over and I could sit back and appreciate how much I learned...the process was painful.
  14. Very very hard class. Learned a TON about microbes, but it almost cost me my sanity. The lesson plan is super ambitious and almost all the assignments are crammed in the last month of the class.
  15. As the other posters have said, this is an very time intensive course. The lab will take at least ten hours a week of work. Dr. S. is very knowledgeable and you do learn an incredible amount over the course of the semester. As long as you know what you are getting into you'll be fine.
  16. This class made me into a much better scientist, but cost me much of my sanity during the semester. The entire class worked incredibly hard, yet, as a friend in the class said "we never worked so hard for so bad of grades". She does curve the final grades slightly, but that is to ensure that everyone PASSES the course. While she is a fabulous person and really knows about her subject, she often confuses the class and lectures on states details incorrectly, something that is hard even when you understand the material perfectly (which you wont) and it creates a HUGE amount of needless anxiety. She tests on both big concepts and small details, but is forgets to explain the big concepts and explains the small details wrong. This class did make me a better scientist, but there would have been other ways to accomplish the same thing without as much pain.
  17. Through taking this course, I learned an incredible amount bacteria and how to manipulate them. The independent projects greatly increased my ability to plan, perform, and communicate research. This course was invaluable in my studies at Middlebury and has guided me toward a future profession as a Microbiologist. If you are serious about science, Dr. S is one of the best teachers you can have. This person also suggested: Its a lot of work, but you get out what you put in.

INSTRUCTIONS : Click class or professor names to see scores, Click to submit your own review.

All classes taught by Spatafora :

All professors who teach this class:

Evaluate this course

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

My Evaluation of Microbiology by Spatafora

1 Value of course and concepts to overall education:
2 Did you find the material presented ...
3 Overall class atmosphere:
4 Hours per week spent preparing for class:
5 Were your grades deserving of your efforts?
6 Professor or assistants were available to help, if needed:
7 Would you take another class with this professor?
8Would you recommend this class to a friend: