MCD BIO 165A
Biology of Cells
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: Chemistry 14D or 30B, Life Sciences 3, or 7A, 7B, and 7C. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 100. Molecular basis of cellular structure and function, with focus on each individual cellular organelle, as well as interaction of cells with extracellular environment and with other cells. Material presented in context of experimental questions and answers to incorporate concept of scientific method and recent advances in cell biology research. Exposure in discussions to recent scientific articles that directly relate to information examined in lectures. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
These previous evaluations of Dr. Arispe are accurate. Basically, she's absolutely wonderful, very approachable, and very very academically challenging. Keep on top of the work from the beginnning, read the book, and go to office hours if you need help. The course reader was more confusing than helpful for me. I found that towards the end of the quarter, the new material was easier to learn but everything is cumulative so I had more to remember. I think I've learned more from this class than at any other so far at UCLA.
These previous evaluations of Dr. Arispe are accurate. Basically, she's absolutely wonderful, very approachable, and very very academically challenging. Keep on top of the work from the beginnning, read the book, and go to office hours if you need help. The course reader was more confusing than helpful for me. I found that towards the end of the quarter, the new material was easier to learn but everything is cumulative so I had more to remember. I think I've learned more from this class than at any other so far at UCLA.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - This is the best course that I took! His lectures were clear and interesting and he makes difficult and complex materials very easy and understandable. He also makes lectures interactive asking a lot of questions to keep your attention during the long class. He genuinely cares about students and was always there to help me. He knows the material front and back and does an incredible job of teaching it. Seriously, turned a boring class in to something really interesting.
Fall 2019 - This is the best course that I took! His lectures were clear and interesting and he makes difficult and complex materials very easy and understandable. He also makes lectures interactive asking a lot of questions to keep your attention during the long class. He genuinely cares about students and was always there to help me. He knows the material front and back and does an incredible job of teaching it. Seriously, turned a boring class in to something really interesting.
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Fall 2020 - Overall: Would never take another class with him again and would advise others to do the same. Easiness: Hardest class I have taken at UCLA. I constantly had to study for this class and barely pulled off an A-. Workload: Groups are randomly assigned and you have to work with them on all quizzes and half the midterm. It’s obvious that everyone burns out towards the end of class, so it’s common that only one group member works on the work at the end. Clarity: The worst part about this class. Slide shows are all over the place. The professor’s accent is very thick (he is French) and lectures need to be rewatched very slowly to write everything down. Questions on tests are often unclear and the grading rubric expects things that were not even asked of. Oh yeah, tests are entirely free response. Helpfulness: I went to office hours several times. He answered my questions sometimes, but other times it felt like he expected me to already know it. How am I supposed to know the experimental method for every figure in the research papers we have to read? That’s why I’m asking you!
Fall 2020 - Overall: Would never take another class with him again and would advise others to do the same. Easiness: Hardest class I have taken at UCLA. I constantly had to study for this class and barely pulled off an A-. Workload: Groups are randomly assigned and you have to work with them on all quizzes and half the midterm. It’s obvious that everyone burns out towards the end of class, so it’s common that only one group member works on the work at the end. Clarity: The worst part about this class. Slide shows are all over the place. The professor’s accent is very thick (he is French) and lectures need to be rewatched very slowly to write everything down. Questions on tests are often unclear and the grading rubric expects things that were not even asked of. Oh yeah, tests are entirely free response. Helpfulness: I went to office hours several times. He answered my questions sometimes, but other times it felt like he expected me to already know it. How am I supposed to know the experimental method for every figure in the research papers we have to read? That’s why I’m asking you!
Most Helpful Review
This was the first quarter that Sagasti taught 165A, so our class in a sense was experimental in that he had to get an idea of how much material he has time to cover and how difficult the exams have to be. Quite honestly, I thought Sagasti did a really good job teaching this class. You can really tell that he's passionate about cell biology, and I think that's a very important aspect of making a class enjoyable. He also loves cracking jokes in class so that definitely makes lectures more entertaining too. I think his lectures were very straightforward and easy to understand, and he's very nice, patient, and helpful while explaining things during office hours. The exams were also not too bad either--the averages were around mid-70s--and Sagasti said he's really happy with those averages because he wants everyone to do well in his class. The only complaint I really had about this class were the papers that we had to read during discussion--some of the papers covered very boring topics, but that's more of a personal preference than a flaw of the class. We had to read about one paper a week, and after we discuss them during discussion, we have a quiz assignment where we just answer the questions asked about the paper, and we just turn in the assignment in discussion next week. Overall, this class was not too difficult and did not require too much work as well--as long as you read the papers (a lot of the exams were about the experiments done in the papers) and pay attention in lecture, you'll be fine.
This was the first quarter that Sagasti taught 165A, so our class in a sense was experimental in that he had to get an idea of how much material he has time to cover and how difficult the exams have to be. Quite honestly, I thought Sagasti did a really good job teaching this class. You can really tell that he's passionate about cell biology, and I think that's a very important aspect of making a class enjoyable. He also loves cracking jokes in class so that definitely makes lectures more entertaining too. I think his lectures were very straightforward and easy to understand, and he's very nice, patient, and helpful while explaining things during office hours. The exams were also not too bad either--the averages were around mid-70s--and Sagasti said he's really happy with those averages because he wants everyone to do well in his class. The only complaint I really had about this class were the papers that we had to read during discussion--some of the papers covered very boring topics, but that's more of a personal preference than a flaw of the class. We had to read about one paper a week, and after we discuss them during discussion, we have a quiz assignment where we just answer the questions asked about the paper, and we just turn in the assignment in discussion next week. Overall, this class was not too difficult and did not require too much work as well--as long as you read the papers (a lot of the exams were about the experiments done in the papers) and pay attention in lecture, you'll be fine.
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