I loved this class. This semester Dr.Maloy taught this class with Dr.Chen and the two were a power pair. Super engaging, the lectures consisted of slides and clicker questions. Dr.Maloy does have a "reversed classroom" setup where you read the textbook and complete a worksheet before each class. Honestly it is ABSOLUTELY useless and a waste of time so do it quickly and get it over with. Do not waste your time studying on Launchpad. Also the writing in the textbook is wordy and full of useless fluff. The iClicker subscription is definitely expensive. I suggest you buy it through Macmillan because it is the cheapest and the textbook comes with an iClicker subscription.

I really appreciate how the class is graded by how well you do and completion of the assignments. If the class average is below 75% they will bump up your grades a little but they will never curve your grade down. The lowest grades of each type of graded assignment is dropped which is really nice.

The tests are definitely in the more difficult side, you have to know the basics and apply them to more complex situations. The most useful studying tools are the LA workshops, practice exam questions, Lab worksheets, and iClicker questions. There is a lot of group work, we have a set group of 3-4 people you will work with the entire quarter. I was lucky enough to be set with an amazing group but group participation is necessary.

Overall, I loved this class. Other than the textbook , I think this class is really well structured and taught. Professor Maloy is the nicest person and he chooses an amazing group of TAs and LAs that are very helpful whenever you need. Utilize them! It is very easy to get in touch with any of the faculty. Hope this helps.

Professor Maloy is one of the most genuine and understanding professors out there, he always makes himself available in any way possible for students to reach out to for help, he always tries to provide as many resources as possible in order to aid your studies. He also breaks complex things down so that it is easier to comprehend and remember. I absolutely loved taking his class for the LS7 series and definitely recommend it! The LS7 series are known for having trickier exams and I can confirm that, but as long as you study all the materials he provides and listen to what he says in class and work hard, you can achieve your target grade. What I found tough was keeping up with all the textbook homeworks as they are so dense and long and assigned in bulk amounts 2x a week (so just a heads up!). I personally found them very helpful, but I know other people just did not do it and could still keep up with the class and ace the exams so it all depends on you.

Even though this wasn't the most interesting class (it is a biology intro class anyways), Dr. Maloy was able to keep us engaged through the numerous clicker questions spread throughout the 1-hr lecture, which I really appreciated. He also explained all the clicker question answers extremely thoroughly. As for midterms and finals, all the LS 7A professors come together to create recorded review sessions. Although I didn't watch them, I appreciated their effort in doing so. I also found that going to Problem Solving Sessions really helped a lot, so I emphasize that you go to them!

As for Launchpad, it is definitely way too dense and has a bunch of unnecessary details, so don't waste your time reading it word-for-word. There are practice exam questions and review questions that you have to do on there twice a week, and they are graded on accuracy. Tbh though, a lot of them (or should I say all of them) are on Quizlet which can save you a lot of time and headache.

I think that this class is a good class to take if you already have some bio knowledge. It is a part of a larger series that is required for a lot of majors, so most people in the class have already taken things like AP or IB bio and I think that having that previous knowledge REALLY helps with understanding the material. Due to the reverse classroom sometimes it will feel like the lecture isnt helpful, which is kind of annoying considering the clicker questions are for attendance. But I dont think the class is terrible, and esp for Maloy I think hes a great prof who wants his students to succeed (there are so many extra credit opportunities).

DR. MALOY IS THE BEST!! IF YOU CAN TAKE LS7A WITH HIM DO IT!! He is SUPER engaging and his office hours are the best!! You can tell he's truly enthusiastic and passionate about teaching biology and helping his students. He really wants everyone to succeed and was very accommodating when I came to my CAE accommodations and extenuating circumstances.
For the class, I overall found LS7A very easy. I received As on both the midterms and a big chunk of the grade in the class is through the self-teaching module called launchpad. YOU NEED TO DO YOUR LAUNCHPAD. Attendance to lectures is mandatory through clicker questions. Time-consuming class but overall not very difficult (especially if you have a background in AP BIO).

EXAMS WERE SO HARD. Went in every test feeling fully confident and always got tripped up by tiny details. Loved the clicker questions and launch pad though so helpful. …

Maloy has been a fantastic professor, especially for my transition into UCLA. He is very friendly and willing to point anyone to the right direction. He also hosted non-content office hours weekly, which was a great experience. It feels as though he cares a lot for his students. While the workload can feel like a lot at sometimes, I feel like the work done in class adequately prepared me for any tests.

Professor Maloy is extremely nice and helpful. He provides so many resources that it can seem a lot but when it comes down to reviewing the material for studying you can utilize your Launchpad notes, Lecture Notes, Clicker questions, Lecture slides, Campuswire, office hours, TA office hours, Discussion and Launchpad worksheets. Maloy wants you to succeed in his class. He cares about his students and when you communicate with him and the TAs about personal issues going on, they are very accommodating. I recommend this class to anyone. Just take good notes, review those notes, and ask questions if they come up.

I learned a lot in this class for an intro bio class. I am a bus econ major but was considering going pre-med so I decided to take LS 7a. The class overall was really interesting, but bio personally isn't for me. It takes a fair amount of work but nothing crazy at all (I hadn't taken biology since freshman year of high school for reference). Malloy was a really great teacher and kept class interesting. If you need to take LS 7A I would definitely recommend Malloy.

this was my first college class and dr. maloy has made it an incredible experience! coming in, i was a bit behind as i had neither taken ap bio like pretty much everyone else, nor was i a science major. but this didn't really matter because the class was taught from the basics of the basics and i quickly caught up with everyone else.

the material itself isn't very difficult in my opinion, but it is very content heavy, especially in the launchpad assignments. dr. maloy's lectures are very engaging and you get participation points for answering questions every lecture, which ends up being a lot of free points, since it's not based on accuracy. as for studying for the tests, i suggest ditching the heavy launchpad textbooks completely and just go over the slides he posts, the ta and la worksheets, and also, i cannot stress this enough, go to office hours.