The only redeeming factor about this class is the lenient grading scale but I don't believe that it's worth the lack of organization, communication, and clarity. There are peer review assignments that many students do poorly on because of their peers grading unnecessarily harshly, the professor does not answer emails or other messages (in fact, she will literally leave you on read), there are group hw assignments that are due after the final exam, and the expectations and grading are constantly changing. Avoid taking this class with this professor if you can.

Before extra credit:
-First midterm: 15.5/30
-second midterm: 17/30
-final: 24/40
End grade: A-
I don't feel like I actually learned very much. The expectations for assignments were pretty vague. Everybody constantly said "use the discussion worksheets to study for the exam" but the exams were all 10x harder and more detail-oriented than the worksheets. Only saving grace is the low weight of the exams and the generous grading scale.

The content of the class should generally not be hard especially for chemistry-related majors as much of the concepts are detailed versions of high-school concepts that these majors are already familiar with. The only problem with this class is the tests and the way the questions are written in any assignment which are the most ambiguous I have ever seen. You may know the subject very well and even be able to explain any concept in depth correctly but because the questions in the tests are so misleading, you may still get a low grade on your exams. The grading is quite tough on the exams because often they are looking for a specific rubric item that is not clear in the question and without alluding to that even if you did everything correctly and even if your answer is a hundred percent correct given the question, you may still manage to get a low grade. I would much prefer to take this class with a different professor where I will be given the opportunity to actually reflect my understanding in the tests. You are often required to mention specific concepts in specific ways or even refer to relatively unrelated concepts in your answers, but you only learn that you need to after you receive your exam grade.

Honestly, take this class with any other professor. My grade ended up okay due to the sole grace of additional assignments; I did terrible on most of the exams compared to my past STEM classes.

I feel like the class content overall isn't that bad, and while the rubrics are frustrating, the worst part was probably Professor Tseng's structure and attitude...

For reference, the first five weeks of our class had discussions and LA workshops where the TAs/LAs WERE LITERALLY NOT ALLOWED TO HELP US. We were pushed into breakout rooms and sat there for at least 30 minutes until LAs came in. Apparently this was part of the professor's structure to encourage collaboration, but none of us knew anything at all. We expressed these concerns repeatedly to the professor early on, but nothing was done until some of the LAs advocated for us after the first midterm.

Homeworks are worth like 30% of your grade. There's one individual assignment (completion based) and three group homeworks based on your discussion breakout rooms. Be prepared for literally everything to be pushed back: we ended up having our final homework due AFTER the final because the professor uploaded them so late. Two of the group homeworks are Pymol based, so be sure to go to office hours for help to work them out if you're not familiar with it after discussion.

For peer review, GO TO TA OFFICE HOURS. They're not allowed to look over your answers, but you can talk about general theory and reasoning behind some of the questions, which helps a lot given NONE of the rubrics are given out.

For discussion worksheets, be warned that they're not actually completion. She expects accuracy to a certain extent. For example, if a graph asks for three labels and you put two, you'll lose points even though you filled the entire worksheet out.

Kudu is pretty bad too: stay on top of how many points you have and I'd also take screenshots of the finished assignments and save them somewhere if you need proof of completion. It glitches a lot and assignments are uploaded irregularly, so make sure to check the night before class just in case.

Finally, the rubrics for both the peer review and the exams is a little indescribable...it really is as bad as everyone says. You'll have a question that asks something very directly, but even if you have the right answer, you could end up getting none of the points if you didn't say something really specific that often is outside of the scope of the question. It's really weird how you can literally write an exam correctly, and still completely fail it. The two midterms have exam wrappers worth three points, which is really nice.

If you end up getting around 100% on every other portion (peer review, Kudu completion, discussion worksheets), you can average around 50% on the exams and get an A- using the grading scheme. There is an additional 3% extra credit added, so it's entirely possible to get an A using this distribution. For extra credit itself, it's a little strange because it's maxed out at 3%, so you almost want less extra credit opportunities since the totality, regardless of how many assignments, is 3%.

Would not recommend at all, if possible please take this class with another professor.

** For Awad only***
I took this class with Awad and it went great! I worked really hard for 10 weeks and bruin casted every day. First exam, I got a 67% but second exam I got a 92%. I don't know what I got on the final, but it was very doable! There is so much information in this class and doing past exams, all the study questions, and going to OH is the best way to get an A.

I legit thought it was over when I got a 67% on the first midterm... she's a wonderful professor. She talks fast, but that's why you should bruincast after and pause to really understand what is going on. That being said, extra credit helps, clear professor, and a good course. It's not as hard as everyone makes it seem... You are just on a time crunch! Yay for Awad!

As others have pointed out, this class requires you to memorize everything you can imagine and more. If you struggle with endless memorization like I do, then avoid this class at all costs. You will be in for a lot of pain, like I was. If you are good with loads of memorization then you should be just fine. Others have called her cruel, but I disagree, this class for some, like me, is impossible.

Tienson is one of those professors who tell you what they want on exams. If you can memorize the answer keys to her weekly study guides word for word and transcribe them onto paper, you are set! Since she is new as a lecturer, she really tries her best to maximize what her students can get (generous grading curves, recycled test questions, Bruincast). Do what you need to do and you are good. Focus on her slides and mostly her study questions. Draw out the whole metabolic pathway using colored pens! iClickers are required for points! The class curves were relatively high, so it'll probably be only a matter of time before she changes up the structure of her course, which she's retained for the 5+ quarters she's taught at UCLA.

She was an amazing professor. Her lectures are very structured. Do the study question and start doing them right away because they are a lot. They resemble the questions in the exam.

Another user posted that she doesn't reply to email. She tells you at the beginning of class that she won't reply via email to content questions, but will instead have you post your question on the online discussion forum and will answer it there. That way, everyone has access to the information. She's excellent at replying on the forum, especially to questions about the study questions.