Hated it lol. You basically can't come in with any prior knowledge of Biology. There were a lot of things that we had to learn only to pass the test because its basically backwards. she really doesn't answer questions. You really only went to class for attendance and the $100 dollar online textbook was where you actually learned.

Definitely do not procrastinate on studying/actually learning the material. Go to class, TA CLC office hours, and study clicker questions/the worksheets. Just going to the lectures sometimes wasn't enough. The midterms/finals were hard because you not only had to have a thorough knowledge of all the material, but also know how to apply them. Also, imo, launchpad wasn't too helpful because often times it was just an info overload. A lot of the material on launchpad was not on the midterms/finals so it's easy to study the wrong things

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!

I don't really understand why Deb only has a 3.6 overall rating on LS7A - she is an amazing lecturer, super friendly and willing to help, and extremely good at explaining concepts to her students. The materials were pretty easy for me, but maybe because I've taken AP Biology in high school and most of the concepts in this class were covered then. The exams were all multiple choice and pretty straight-forward, as long as you listen in the lecture and understand all the clicker questions then you should be fine. Deb doesn't grade on a curve, so you'll get what you deserve at the end of the class.

One thing that is super helpful if you find that you're not so good with biology: go. to. her. office. hours!!! I went a couple of times last quarter but there were maximum 7-8 students the entire 2 hours despite the 300-students lectures. Again she's really good at explaining the concepts to her students, so it's really helpful to ask her questions!

Overall this was a really good class and a good professor, and I definitely would take her again for any future classes. The only reason I didn't get an A is because I sort of slacked off before the final because I got really good grades on both midterms (so now you know what not to do lol).

The only thing that I had to complain about (not this class) but the LS7 series is that you HAVE to get launchpad - it was really pricey and I already had a copy of the textbook, but since you have to do practice problems and activities every week, launchpad is absolutely mandatory.

Other than that this was a really good class!

This class is a flipped classroom so you have to teach the material yourself and then come to class and answer clicker questions. You have a lot of resources available to practice and learn the material, it just takes a LOT of time and effort. I did not mind Pires as an instructor because I thought she explained the answers to the clicker questions clearly. However, a lot of my friends and people I talked to did not like her very much.

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!

The LS 7 series is a flipped classroom which means that you basically learn all the material on your own with the homework readings assigned and the purpose of lectures is just to reinforce important concepts. That being said, if you don't do Launchpad at all, you're screwed. Deb was really cool early on but after the first midterm she picked up her lecture pace and did not explain a lot of clicker questions well enough. She also sometimes comes off as condescending and mean if you ask her questions directly. In the end, it really doesn't matter what professor you have because you end up teaching yourself everything. Just make sure to understand all the Launchpad practice exam questions, clickers, and half sheets they give in lecture. Launchpad is also free points because everything's on quizlet just look it up.

Overall, this class wasn't too bad. As long as you keep up with class readings and launchpad activities, you should be okay! Deb was a decent lecturer.

LS7A is a fun class, that I enjoyed a lot. Deb is very friendly and takes time to interact with her students, it does not feel like there are 300 other people in the room. I would recommend Deb to everyone; she is a kind spirit
All in all the material covered is rather easy. Since you are not expected to know anything by heart, all you have to do is understand the material. This made LS7A an easy class to take during my first quarter at UCLA.

Deb is overall a great lecturer who seems to be eager in setting up a great learning environment but I did see her make some people feel dumb for asking certain questions and she tends to move on pretty quickly when it comes to clicker question explanations which is something very important since the midterms and finals consist of clicker questions but at a much trickier wording. Overall I don't really think it matters which professor you have since the test and material are all universal for this series so I guess take Deb if you don't want a professor who completely disregards clicker question explanation altogether. It also seemed as if those who enjoyed the material did a lot better than those who did not. Overall 7/10