Professor
Kirsten Turlo
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - This class was very enlightening for me, it covered issues of inequities in STEM and the basics of research. The class itself was pretty dense workload-wise. There was a quiz every lecture, but the professor said she might change it to once a week in the future, and there were assignments called problem sets. In terms of quizzes, they are multiple choice and sometimes are worded pretty vaguely and it can be difficult to know what Dr. Turlo is asking, but for the questions that affect the majority of the class, she usually takes them off/gives everyone the points for it. In terms of the problem sets, they are written assignments. Depending on the TA, the problem sets may be graded very rigorously. The problem sets themselves took the place of midterms and the Final was pretty similarly structured to those problem sets. I would recommend taking advantage of the office hours, Dr. Turlo and the TAs will clarify what they are looking for in the problem sets if you ask. I would also recommend having a basic understanding of biology, as learning key biological concepts all at once can be a bit jarring, but the TAs try to fill the students in on the bio context during discussion. I would not consider this class to be an easy A, but if you're interested in the topics I would highly recommend, this class was very enlightening regarding research and diversity in STEM.
Fall 2021 - This class was very enlightening for me, it covered issues of inequities in STEM and the basics of research. The class itself was pretty dense workload-wise. There was a quiz every lecture, but the professor said she might change it to once a week in the future, and there were assignments called problem sets. In terms of quizzes, they are multiple choice and sometimes are worded pretty vaguely and it can be difficult to know what Dr. Turlo is asking, but for the questions that affect the majority of the class, she usually takes them off/gives everyone the points for it. In terms of the problem sets, they are written assignments. Depending on the TA, the problem sets may be graded very rigorously. The problem sets themselves took the place of midterms and the Final was pretty similarly structured to those problem sets. I would recommend taking advantage of the office hours, Dr. Turlo and the TAs will clarify what they are looking for in the problem sets if you ask. I would also recommend having a basic understanding of biology, as learning key biological concepts all at once can be a bit jarring, but the TAs try to fill the students in on the bio context during discussion. I would not consider this class to be an easy A, but if you're interested in the topics I would highly recommend, this class was very enlightening regarding research and diversity in STEM.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Dr. Turlo grew on me so much midway through the quarter. At first, it was hard to reconcile how she's a stickler for certain things (which she herself admits), such as attendance and formatting on assignments. But this does come from her wanting us to be able to gain the most out of the class - and the formatting comes from how it needs to be precise when you write grants, so she's just modeling that experience. So, I think she's a little bit hard to relate to at first, but truly, she's just a woman who loves science and she is incredibly willing to help and give encouragement. Office hours are very helpful in doing well in the class. Also, just know that Dr. Turlo is far more accommodating than you might expect based off first impression - she was willing to work with me individually to help me succeed when I was going through some mental health challenges and extreme burnout. Be aware that she grades harshly on the first assignment (out of 5 points, with a lot of people getting 2's), as a motivator for the rest of the course. But in the end she's not trying to hurt anyone and gives opportunities to make up points and to grow from the experience. She will probably say herself later on in the quarter that after the first assignment, most people get 100% (or near 100%) on the other assignments. With the proposal in the latter half of the course, it's time-consuming, but I appreciated that she let us branch out from the seminar talk into areas that were more interesting to us. Honestly, this was the experience I was waiting for after 5HA. To write a proposal, because this assignment totally kicked my ass but suddenly within a week, I'd been forced to learn how to truly read scientific literature in large volumes like never before. It was a truly helpful experience and I gained so much from it. It's also very nice of Dr. Turlo to let us submit the final multiple times until we get full credit. I only submitted once, but I still did well because of how much time I had spent with her in office hours/appointments to get on the right track. Discussions were less helpful and I unfortunately got a group that just was not very engaged/talkative. Like, no shade against any individuals since I had no issue with anyone in the class, but the discussion project we had was mainly a waste of time and the group work for that was so frustrating. Symposium was more fun albeit stressful near the end of the quarter and also gave us an opportunity to practice oral presentation skills. Just try your best and it will be entirely fine :).
Winter 2019 - Dr. Turlo grew on me so much midway through the quarter. At first, it was hard to reconcile how she's a stickler for certain things (which she herself admits), such as attendance and formatting on assignments. But this does come from her wanting us to be able to gain the most out of the class - and the formatting comes from how it needs to be precise when you write grants, so she's just modeling that experience. So, I think she's a little bit hard to relate to at first, but truly, she's just a woman who loves science and she is incredibly willing to help and give encouragement. Office hours are very helpful in doing well in the class. Also, just know that Dr. Turlo is far more accommodating than you might expect based off first impression - she was willing to work with me individually to help me succeed when I was going through some mental health challenges and extreme burnout. Be aware that she grades harshly on the first assignment (out of 5 points, with a lot of people getting 2's), as a motivator for the rest of the course. But in the end she's not trying to hurt anyone and gives opportunities to make up points and to grow from the experience. She will probably say herself later on in the quarter that after the first assignment, most people get 100% (or near 100%) on the other assignments. With the proposal in the latter half of the course, it's time-consuming, but I appreciated that she let us branch out from the seminar talk into areas that were more interesting to us. Honestly, this was the experience I was waiting for after 5HA. To write a proposal, because this assignment totally kicked my ass but suddenly within a week, I'd been forced to learn how to truly read scientific literature in large volumes like never before. It was a truly helpful experience and I gained so much from it. It's also very nice of Dr. Turlo to let us submit the final multiple times until we get full credit. I only submitted once, but I still did well because of how much time I had spent with her in office hours/appointments to get on the right track. Discussions were less helpful and I unfortunately got a group that just was not very engaged/talkative. Like, no shade against any individuals since I had no issue with anyone in the class, but the discussion project we had was mainly a waste of time and the group work for that was so frustrating. Symposium was more fun albeit stressful near the end of the quarter and also gave us an opportunity to practice oral presentation skills. Just try your best and it will be entirely fine :).
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - Grading: Figure Analyses (2) 10 Speaker Worksheet 5 Laboratory Safety Cert 5 Laboratories of interest 5 Post-Panel/Speaker Reflection (7): 35 Pre-Conversation questions (7): 14 Attendance/Participation (12): 36 Total 110 This class is really just to understand what research is, how to do it, etc. Professor Turlo does a great job explaining concepts and is very engaging. You get to speak with lots of different researchers at UCLA. I was able to get multiple research position offers from this class. The class was super easy to pass-- not even a concern.
Summer 2021 - Grading: Figure Analyses (2) 10 Speaker Worksheet 5 Laboratory Safety Cert 5 Laboratories of interest 5 Post-Panel/Speaker Reflection (7): 35 Pre-Conversation questions (7): 14 Attendance/Participation (12): 36 Total 110 This class is really just to understand what research is, how to do it, etc. Professor Turlo does a great job explaining concepts and is very engaging. You get to speak with lots of different researchers at UCLA. I was able to get multiple research position offers from this class. The class was super easy to pass-- not even a concern.
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