Professor Pires is a professor that truly does seem to care about her students but sometimes, I felt like that it did more harm than good for us.

What I believe she did was that she took her LS1 style of teaching and applied it to LS2. LS2 contains a lot of material that is important for future courses and although I feel like she tried to make the entire class actually understand the material, I believe we all mostly ended up being overwhelmed by the workload and the pace of the course, especially since we were all pressured by the fact that the course was graded on a straight-scale.

She structured the course as so:

Discussion: 90 points
Reading Quizzes: 90 points
Participation: 90 points
Launchpad: 90 points
Midterm: 150 points
Final: 250 points
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Total points = 760

Launchpad came with the textbook and it mostly consisted of weekly reading quizzes and learning curves, in addition to animations. The textbook was horrid. I personally favor Campbell, but apparently she has something against it.

We were to read two chapter every weekend and take a reading quiz on those two chapter by Monday. You would think that the discussion section for that week would review these two chapter but, no.... the discussion section reviewed the previous two weeks. I hated this factor the most.

We were mostly required to go to discussion to take another quiz on the previous two chapter we had read.

Thus, by the beginning of the week, we had enough knowledge of the material to take a reading quiz on it. Throughout the week, Pires went over the new chapters while we had a discussion section tailored for the previous two chapters. Furthermore, we HAD to go to lecture because you HAD to answer at least 75% of the questions (easy points, really) using a clicker for participation points. (you get 2 free days)

Thus, we were completing 4 chapters a week... which I thought was a bit much for LS2 since it requires a thorough understanding of minute details.

The Midterm and Final (cumulative) consisted of a majority T/F types of questions. The questions were somewhat vague and you could argue for your answer.

Overall, I would say the course structure wasn't completely bad. In fact, I would say, with more time, she may be able to adapt it to the course quite well, but for now... it was too quick.

End grade: A (ethos)

I took ls1 with deb..and am now waiting for my ls2 grade with her. The thing is, she's a nice lady to talk to after class and just have a friendly chat with, but her tests, they are just way too hard when you are taking like 3 other classes. As everyone has already mentioned, her means hover around the low 60's, high 50's. I am sorry but this is just unacceptable for a class of very hard working students. The one kid who scored the 80 and 90 on the midterms...the only one who scored in that range rewrites the book. This is not normal. You should not have to rewrite the entire book to do well in a class. And still, even HE is not scoring 100. I studied very hard for the final and still did bad, the participation points she assigned are about 70 less than the max. How can you do well in a class when even showing up at 8am lectures and doing clicker questions doesn't give you 100% in participation? Final grades are not posted yet, but i am very scared i may be getting a C :(. Deb is a very nice person, however, if you want a reasonable shot at an A or even B+ avoid her.

I feel so bad having to say this, but I think you guys need to hear it. This class was probably the hardest class I've taken in my 2 years of being at UCLA. I know that it isn't only because LS2 is a hard class itself...I think Deb had a huge role to play as well. I understand that LS2 is a class that requires you to retain an incredible amount of information in ten short weeks, but Deb definitely didn't try to make this any easier for us. Her test were way too tough. Not a single person scored above an 80 something percent on either of the midterms. Her tests have multiple choice and free response. Both sections are insane! I have absolutely no idea where she comes up with these intense questions.
Just to make something clear, I am definitely not a slacker, and I did not slack off in this class. I studied for WEEKS and still failed. I took the first midterm after studying just a few days and failed. I figured ok, it's just the first midterm and now I know how she tests, and maybe I should've studied a little more. So for the second midterm, I studied like CRAZY. From the day after I got the first midterm back to the day of the second midterm, I studied my butt off. I did everything possible and made sure there was nothing more left to study. I also got really sick because of all the studying but I thought it would be worth it. So I got my results back and I got exactly the same score as the first midterm. I was so discouraged. I would've probably done better if I just guessed everything and didn't study at all. I seriously have no advice to give to anyone because apparently studying your butt off and actually understanding and not just memorizing is not enough. Her final was about 50 times as hard as the midterms. I haven't gotten my grade but I just want to pass. I don't even care about the grade anymore.
So if you can avoid this class with this professor AT ALL just do it. I feel like I got out of this class was stress, discourage, and rethinking med school :(

She is actually one of the worst lecturers I've ever had at UCLA. She went way too fast when she explained everything, especially for an 8 oclock class when everyone was still half-asleep. Her midterms were COMPLETELY unfair, the short answers were hard to read and decipher and she refuses to answer questions during testing. The last 3 lectures of class, she went over a chapter (50-60 pages) EACH LECTURE. Meaning she crammed in 3 chapters in week 10 just to be able to test us on them for the final. She is also awful in office hours and tells you to go back in the book and look for the answer instead of answering the question you have. Do NOT take her if you don't have to. Her class is awful

(NOTE: There are subtleties to my comments below - I do not endorse the randomized reading of interspersed words and sentences. I do not wish that they be interpreted in a way that I do not intend them to be interpreted.)
At this moment, my mind is occupied by how horrible Dr. Pires' philosophy is. Bear with me, this might be long, but useful:

LS2 looks quite unappealing unless you're really interested in biology. Knowing that you have to take this unappealing subject with a professor with bad reviews is displeasing enough. But anyway, I had no options and had to take this class in Spring 2016. Let me start by saying this: after this course, I started liking biology. Dr. Pires' (and Dr. Pfluegl's) explication of concepts involved in this class was fascinatingly insightful. I had an advanced Biology course in high school, in which (more or less), I had already learned all the material taught in this class. Taking this class, however, changed my fundamental understanding of biology. I had thought of biology to be a subject that requires 'only memorization' - something to be taken for a brief period in your life, and then rightfully , to be erased from your memory. However, this class made me realize that Biology is much more than memorization. It is about application of the humanest of abilities - rationality. Dr. Pires requires you to do a small amount of memorization for this class - (I do not claim that there is no memorization - mind you). Further, Dr. Pries is quite good as a lecturer. She explains concepts quite well.
Now now... before hitting that enroll button, you might also want to know:
- Dr. Pires comes across a person who is totally full of herself
- She behaves in a manner that makes her appear to be very helpful, but I doubt she really takes any actual effort to address students concerns.
- As I said at the beginning, her teaching philosophy is horrible. She dictates each and every thing about how to study for this class. She has points for regular attendance of discussion sections, lectures (through Clicker questions) , quizzes administered during discussion sections, completion of online assignments (which are a lot sometimes), reading quizzes and finally, end-of-week quizzes. And you have to do all of these -- they form a substantial portion of your grade.

I usually do quite well in classes that I take (A's in 90% classes). One thing I value the most about college education is that I have the option to study something if I feel that the lecturer doesn't explain it well enough or that I simply will learn better if I study on my own. I very much attribute my good grades and thorough understanding of concepts to this option that allows me to study on my own. (Shouldn't a university entrust a student with enough responsibility so as to allow him to take the option of not attending lectures if he feels that he can do better by not attending lectures?) This option was taken away from me. In this capital of cultural freedom in the so-called 'Land of the Free', such a constraint on the freedom to study as I please was simply suffocating. In every lecture, I looked at Deb and wondered 'She was probably the kid in college who had a very methodical way of studying because of which she did well in classes. She therefore thought that if everybody studies this way, everybody 'shall do as well as I do'. Unfortunately, Deb needs a little nudge back into the more realistic scheme of things - everyone is not the same. Therefore, dear Dr. Pires, if this message gets to you: why don't you try offering more freedom to your students as to how they'd like to study? (Stop telling me that I need to have a study-buddy, for one. I consider myself able to make informed decisions about whom to include in my social circle)
The discussion sections were absolutely useless too. I developed a superiority complex over my TA -- I can swear over my degree that my understanding of concepts (and rationale, in general) was better than that of the TA.

The midterm (only 1) wasn't as bad as it has been made to sound in the preceding comments. The concepts discussed in quizzes and clicker questions were mainly tested. (There was a similarity in types of question patterns in clicker questions and exams). The final was a little bit harder (or maybe I hadn't studied enough).

In any case, if you are a the 'ideal' student, who attends every lecture and discussion (and further is motivated enough to do so), will perhaps be only somewhat irritated by the workload of the class. Or if you are a student who is not good at biology and are further confident that that cannot ever be changed, then this class isn't one to enroll in if you want a convenient A. Finally, for those of you who do well by studying on their own, you will be in the exact position as I am.

To summarize my experience of being in this class, it was like forcefully sending a free-speech activist to North Korea. Just like that free-speech activist, in this class, I was: a) forced to do something in a way I do not like and b) had no option but to do it -- I, as a result found the experience suffocating.

Thanks for reading.

(-the Revyu-er)

Professor Pires is not that bad! In fact, her slides are pretty clear and she explains everything in great details in class. The clicker questions are not easy and sometimes tricky. Make sure you review the clicker questions before the exam. The textbook is mandatory and every week you're asked to finish the reading quiz online before class. Do exactly what she asks you to do and everything would be okay. The most important thing for you to get a high score in this course is to go to every lecture, understand the mechanisms and ask any question you have. The course is basic and no need to be scared of. Good luck guys!

How do I say this in a few words. Dr. Pires is one of the best LS professors on campus. She is passionate about education, and cares about everybody understanding the information. The information she presents is conceptual, which is great if you hate memorization (thats me!!!). She is approachable, friendly, and always willing to help. I never thought I would leave LS 1 happy and excited about the information, but she managed to make every piece of the class exciting. I have a new love and appreciation for animals, insects, worms, and biology in general. Who would have thought that a simple thing such as a hox gene was responsible for all the biodiversity. I also learned we are not so different from something as simple as an earth worm, or a parasitic leech. I could honestly go on a rant all day with all the cool stuff I learned in this class, but for your sake I'll cut it short.

To succeed in the class:
-It is imperative that you do all the reading. The book helps clarify and reinforce many confusing topics. The book is great for a biology textbook and has lots of wonderful practice exercises to help you master concepts along the way.

-Her online quizzes are your wake up call. Look at what you don't know on those quizzes and ask her for help. Ask why it is not the best choice, and figure out where your logic was flawed.

-Labs "Demos": If you have a good TA, they will connect every lesson you learn in class with a lab. You get to look at and touch some animals and plants. You will learn some fundamental statistics that teach you how to analyze numbers in science. You will also become very finely tuned in reading graphs.

-The tests are all multiple choice. I am a north campus guy, and we are seldom inflicted with multiple choice tests. I wish she could do more writing based exams, but oh well... Work on your multiple choice exam skills and think long and hard before you pick anything. The exams are laid
out conceptually which is cool. You wont run into silly questions like "complete the phylogeny for kingdom x..." or "___ was the geological time period for responsible for the first plant life." The questions on the exam test you knowledge on big concepts and ask you to apply them to specific situations. Master the big picture, and you should pass all her exams.

Ilove Deb Pires!

Her tests are tricky but fair. In order to do well, you just need to review all the material in depth. Don't worry about material from the textbook for the exams. You'll only be asked about book material for those quizzes. In order to beast the exams, just focus on the lecture slides.

In order to get a solid A you should
-Makes sure to get 100 on all the online quizzes
-go to office hours! She's super helpful
-Do all the practice tests she gives you and ask around for the correct answer
-Study! In detail from lecture slides.

TAKE DEB for LS3!!!!!!
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I should have listened to the reviews on here because she is the worst professor I have ever had here at ucla.

Granted, you get easy points from doing homework and online quizzes, but her tests are completely unfair. She doesn't take anything from the book, and the online quizzes don't help much at all. She expects way too much out of you and teaches the class like it's a med school class. I took her for LS2 last winter, and I'm still pissed about how bad she was.

If you think this is kinda stupid and you like the challenge. Or if you like ALL true and false test questions, then this is the class for you because this class was certainly not for me. I ended with an A- but that was because of all the extra points and studying my ass off. Avoid if you can.

The curriculum is taught in a flipped structure, which means you are expected to self-teach yourself the material before lecture (same for Roth-Johnson). During lecture, Deb briefly reviews the materials, but focuses mainly on clicker questions to reinforce the topics taught. The clicker questions count towards in-class participation and attendance.

The required materials are an iClicker (doesn't matter which model), and access to Biology: How Life Works on LaunchPad. This is ~$95 for 24 months access (I think 7B and 7C uses the same text). This is the online textbook to learn the materials and answer homework questions/practice quizzes/tests. Homework load isn't bad if you don't procrastinate.

Extra credit is earned by completing the Pre-Class Worksheet before each lecture and submit it online to CCLE. This helped a lot, considering it was worth an extra 10 pts each week.

Discussion is mandatory and the worksheets and activities completed during section counts toward overall grades.

There are two midterms and one final. The questions are mostly all True/False questions, which makes it very tricky. Make sure you not only understand the concepts, but make connections to other topics and know how to apply it. Pure memorization does not help a lot during the tests, since almost all of the questions are applications.

Deb is an extremely nice professor who is there to help her students during lecture and office hours. If you put in effort in pre-class assignments, this class should be easy!