After reading all the Bruinwalk reviews, I was quite dreading this class. Either Pires has gotten significantly better or y'all are just really bitter. Yes Launchpad/ clickers/ mandatory discussions/useless labs make the class annoying but Pires herself as an instructor is not even close to awful. She showed us entertaining videos, put a lot of cat pictures in her slides, and made jokes that were actually funny sometimes.
I did not have to work very hard for an A, all the points from participation/attendance really help your grade if you just do them and bear through discussion/"lab". The tests can be confusing in typical LS style but I barely studied (talking like 3 or 4 hours total over the entire quarter, mostly on the final) and did really well on them, biology is my best science but if its not yours then pay attention and actually study. Lots of people complain about how difficult the class is because they skip through Launchpad and talk during lecture.
The class is not as bad as people say... more tedious than anything else and Pires is a decent instructor.

Deb is the best professor I've had at UCLA. She is always helpful and she really is committed to her students' success. Would definitely want to take another ls7 class with her!

Honestly I don't know why the helpfulness of Professor Pires is just 3.4 - she is definitely a professor you will want to have for LS7A or just any LS class. She honestly explains the concepts really really well, but if you have trouble with understand some of the concepts, GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS! Honestly I think I went to her OH every week, and it's almost impossible to not understand a concept after she's thoroughly explained it. She is also a really nice person, and you can tell she honestly wants to help you understand the concepts. I would absolutely recommend taking her!

Tl;dr
Lecturer: Taking 7A with Prof Pires was frustrating, confusing, and unrewarding. Speaks too quickly and doesn't bother to explain, repeat or put emphasis or anything. Always sounded tired or treated us condescendingly.
Course: Steer clear if you don’t need to take 7A. DO NOT TAKE THIS AS A GE. There are pervasive flaws with the LS 7 series format. Prof Pires, the creator of the LS 7 series, seems to be convinced that her methodology is revolutionary and incontestably superior.
Extremely disappointed with this course and the LS core. No transparency at all. They just made dealing with the Coronavirus situation more stressful and disorienting.

Grading
- LaunchPad readings 45 pts
- LaunchPad questions 45 pts
- LaunchPad practice exam questions 45 pts
- Reflection assignments (short surveys on study methods through CCLE) 10 pts
- Clicker Questions 68 pts
- Discussion section worksheets 72 pts
- Midterm 1 90 pts
- Midterm 2 120 pts
- Final 200 pts
- Extra credit 5 pts (composed by different surveys, evals, etc.)
Total 695 points
Curved up if average < 75% (rarely curved)

The lecturer: Prof Pires
- Her manner of speech when giving lectures is constantly very nonchalant, unenthusiastic, and disconnected. This meant that I never knew what was important to write down and what wasn't. She also doesn't repeat anything or properly explain diagrams, just drops info and moves on.
- If you miss something she said, you have to wait until lecture's uploaded to BruinCast to catch up AND can't follow anything she says for the next few slides.
- Both Prof Pires and Prof Pyle (who co-taught this course) have unreasonable expectations in terms of recalling all of that day's LaunchPad* material on the spot. In class, they will drop a term and say "Remember X from LaunchPad? Yeah, so..." and continue without caring to recap or explain.
- Both Prof Pires and Prof Pyle also dumb down their explanations for Clicker questions. This meant that I could get the idea of the explanation but was not given the proper way to write it down or explain it in a scientifically accurate way.
*LaunchPad = online platform that hybridizes an ebook with quizzes. You need it for points (a PDF of the book will not cut it).

ON THE CORONAVIRUS SITUATION: Prof Pires was irresponsible and not at all transparent of the situation. She spent six days "figuring out solutions" without updating students, only to not change anything other than make it online. Anxiety ran free those six days, coming from someone rarely anxious at all. Furthermore, Prof Pires and the LS core only made the final optional after much pressure from the students and a letter from the Academic Senate addressed to faculty in general.
And whereas other lecturers for 7A (e.g. Prof Lazzazera) allowed getting the highest grade of three options as a final exam score (taking the final and using the final exam's score OR midterm average OR prorating) -- a recommendation to faculty also outlined by the Academic Senate -- , Prof Pires did not stick to the standardization of the LS 7 series and determined that the final exam's score would be determined either by taking the final OR the better of midterm average or prorating. Prof Pires seems to only follow the series's patterns when it suits her.

During the class she would mess on up on her clickers and confuse people anymore. When people asked questions she wouldn't really answer them or like explain the process which made her seem even worse. Honestly, because the series is so standardized it doesn't matter what professor you have, but if you have the option of someone else might as well go with someone else.

LOVED the content, did not like the professor. Make sure to do all the launchpad assignments since they make up a significant portion of your grade, and participate for clicker questions. Tests were multiple choice only, 50 questions and 2 freebies on each. The final was online and I chose to skip it.

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!

The most boring professor I have encountered at UCLA. Avoid this professor at all costs. She assumes that you know everything because Launchpad should have covered it, but she is just awful at lectures. If you can avoid this professor do so. She does not offer past exams for students to review she does not look like the type of person that you would ask a question to. She got mad at people that didn't do her little arts and crafts project and took away credit from people that didn't do it, YOU THINK PRINTING IS FREE IN COLLEGE DEBRA? The nerve of having to come to this class only because you know I might give her a chance. She had bad reviews, but hey don't judge a book by its cover I said. BOY, I WAS WRONG.

I honestly enjoyed having Deb as a professor more than I thought I would after initially reading some of these reviews. This quarter was unique because it was online, but Deb (along with Pham) was very accommodating and nice to her students. Both would hold extra office hours to make up for the suboptimal online learning environment, which I think was quite nice of them.
In terms of work/exams, LS 7B can definitely be a bit dry if evolution and ecology are not your thing. I definitely struggled more in 7B than in 7A, and thought the midterms for this class were hard. Midterm 1 was a time crunch and Midterm 2 had a lot of ambiguous questions that required some lucky guessing. Overall though, this class is pretty standard so it shouldn't matter much who your professor is.

Granted this was online Zoom quarter of spring 2020, and all students were given full 200 points on the final. Deb Pires is a very good teacher. She really tries to make sure each student learns and understand the material and will go out of her way to help you with any questions. She definitely listens to her students concerns and is very supportive overall. Although the tests were difficult, LS7B is not that difficult if you study the material well enough. Her lectures are clear and interesting. Very passionate and nice lady highly recommend taking this class with Deb.

I took LS 7B in Spring 2020, where Dr. Pires taught with Dr. Pham, so a lot of the policies were adjusted due to current events. Dr. Pires was one of the most understanding professors. If you had any issues she would try and correct or help you to the best of her abilities.
This class consists of two midterms and a final. The midterms tested on information from the textbook and class so pay attention in lecture. Dr. Pires and Pham made the final optional but I'm sure the format is similar to other LS finals.
Overall, an easy course if you put in the effort to learn the information.