Y'all need to chill on Deb.

I came in this class expecting the absolute worst on her because everyone I knew had terrible things. And in all honesty, this class turned out to be better than everything that I have heard on her. In addition, I asked a lot of my classmates in the discussion about what they thought of her and they were all positive too and not even one person I talked to had harsh, negative things to say.

Most people who have taken LS 7B have most likely taken 7A so the format is the same.
The course is graded based on two midterms (120 points each), Launchpad activities (150 points total), Clickers (75 points w/ 3 free clicker days), Lab Section (150 points), and an easy survey that the LS core makes you complete (10 points) including, and the Final (200 points).

Because the LS series has a flipped classroom style of learning, students do most of their learning on Launchpad anyway, therefore, I personally do not think who you have as a professor matters. Therefore, I believe how well you do in these classes depends on how well you can self-study on your own. The professor does not matter too much but I still think Deb was still good to have as a teacher.

Deb just goes through clickers (like the rest of the 7B professors) and explains them and while some clickers were confusing, she did a good job explaining them. Not only that, she always had a smile on her face and she remembered a lot of students who came to lecture. She would always stop to make conversation and try to talk to a lot of people about their lives. Not too many know this, but sometimes when students asked questions in class and she would ask them to say the question out loud for the rest of the class to hear, she would personally go back and apologize to that student and say that they had a good question and it was a good learning opportunity for everyone. I used to email Deb sometimes for random questions and she emailed almost immediately or in less than 24 hours. Knowing how busy she is and how many emails she gets from all the courses she teaches, it's nice to know that you are not completely insignificant.

She gave opportunities for extra credit too. There were multiple surveys given out by the LS core throughout the quarter and they at most took me 3-4 min to complete and each survey was an extra 2 points. So you had an opportunity to earn 8 extra credit points (4 surveys).

I am writing this review because I in no way deserved an A in this course. I did mediocre on my midterms and not too well on my final. However, when I looked at my final grade, I saw that I received an A. When I punched in the numbers for my grade it turned out even with doing all the extra credit, I would not have made it but Deb decided to curve everyone up a bit and that is how I received an A instead of an A-. Guys, taking Deb will not screw you. I thought she was great and I believe people should take a chance.

Anyone who claims this class is impossible or that the test questions are unfair is not studying correctly i assure you. I attended literally not even a third of the lectures this entire quarter (gave my clicker to my friend for the rest) and did all the launchpad quizzes by using quizlet. I didn't do a single launchpad reading. All I did was watch the bruincasted lectures at 2x speed and write notes down onto the lecture notes and clicker questions. I studied for both midterms no more than 2 days in advance (meaning I began even looking at the material at all) and I got a 98 and a 97. Yes the tests are difficult, but I promise you if you quite literally just take notes from the lectures and just read the slides/clicker questions you'll sail by without a problem.

7B is not a walk in the park. Unlike 7A, the exams are in person and only 20 questions, making the stakes much harder. However, content is much easier than 7A. After taking Deb for 7A I chose to take her for 7B and have never regretted a decision more. She is condescending, unhelpful, and makes exam questions so confusing that it does not even really test knowledge of the concept. However, there is still enough easy points and extra credit to succeed in the class.

I wasn't that excited about taking LS 7B with Deb due to the reviews, but she is a lot better than the reviews give her credit for. She's very nice and explains concepts well enough, and I felt comfortable asking her questions if I ever needed to. I thought that the concepts were easier to understand than in LS 7A, and the workload was less since the reading guides were optional. She uses iClicker to check knowledge and shows why the incorrect answers are incorrect. I didn't have to do that much studying outside of class besides the practice problems to do well on the exams. She's a very friendly person and I'm happy that I took LS 7B with her.

Deb does not deserve all the hate she gets!! I can't lie I was pretty intimidated by the low rating on Bruinwalk but she is super sweet and her lectures are clear and organized. She's also very supportive and brings a good energy to the class. The workload is very manageable and the tests are pretty fair for the most part (there are usually a couple vague questions) and definitely much easier than 7A. I highly recommend attending the problem solving sessions because the TAs and LAs there are extremely helpful in clarifying any confusion you have on certain topics that you may feel too intimidated to ask about during lecture. Also, the worksheets provided are often more helpful than the labs in terms of practicing what types of questions will be on the Midterms and Final. Overall, I really enjoyed this course and would recommend to anyone questioning whether or not they should take 7B with Deb.

Deb is honestly a wonderful person and is extremely nice and welcoming to all students. She was very kind to all students throughout the quarter and did her part in giving lectures and explaining clicker questions well. Given that 90% of effort into the LS 7 series is independent, I would guess that most of these negative reviews are coming from complaints about the series rather than Deb specifically. Don't be afraid to take this class because of the reviews. The LS 7 series is so standardized and the role of professors is so small that it won't matter who you pick to take the class with as long as you make the effort individually.

All this being said, the course works very similarly to LS 7A and I assume this is standard for 7C as well. Pre class readings + questions, non-mandatory pre class reading guides, weekly review questions, learning pods, clicker questions in class, the works. However, I personally felt this class was much more difficult than 7A. Firstly, midterms had significantly less questions (32 compared to 64ish) meaning you could miss a lot less questions than previously. Secondly, wording was ridiculously difficult on exams, and I struggled to decipher between options or even understand what the question was asking. I got Bs on both midterms and the finals and barely managed to scrape the A.

To succeed in this class, your own effort takes the priority. Do the readings and understand everything completely before class to make sure you don't fall behind. Do the pre class reading guides even though they're not mandatory. Go to the CLC sessions, I only started attending week 8 and they made the world of a difference in my level of understanding. I would prioritize even attending CLC sessions over lecture.

Overall, I've got no complaints about Deb, in fact I quite liked her, and as such my review stands for the entire LS 7 Series. Your effort is paramount, and take advantage of all the resources provided in order to succeed.

I'll split this review into two parts: the class and the professor.

The class: The content of this class is not bad. The first midterm is not that difficult; it's just genetics, so practice different types of problems. The content is a bit conceptual, so attend the CLC sessions for application practice. However, the second midterm had super easy content, but the AOL (Assessment of Learning) was very hard. The wording of the exam was super tricky, focusing on topics like evolution, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, etc. The answer choices had very few distinctions and the wording was all very similar. The final was a mix of the two, with weirdly worded questions like the second midterm and genetics questions like the first midterm. I got a B on every midterm and final and ended with an A, so don't stress out too much if you are worried about your grade, I promise you its not worth it to worry about it. The workload is not bad; the reading guides are optional, and there are these useless questions after each reading. The labs are helpful for the class; my TA and LA (shoutout to Andrea and Mona) were very good and really helped me understand the content better during the labs. Overall, the class is not too bad.

The professor: I think these reviews are a bit too harsh. She is a pretty decent lecturer and a very nice person. I don't understand why she has such terrible reviews. A 3.4 rating is pretty low, but if you see this number, don't let it push you away from taking 7b with her. She's a decent professor.

I would say just like all other seven series exams, it doesn't matter too much which professor you get and the wording is pretty bad on 7B tests and that's not something you can really change. Review the clickers, PEQs, and practice they give you (not sure if this is done all quarters), and make your own questions from these by modifying the existing questions (because the same type of questions (just diff specifics) show up on the same exams, so you want to make sure you can answer it in any possible context). The genetics stuff can be a little tricky at first but practice makes perfect. Other than that, this class isn't as hard as 7A (IMO, especially since you now have exposure to these classes and the second 2/3rds of this class is pretty easy content (make sure you understand how to apply it and read all the graphs though! people start slacking off and struggle on the second midterm and final). Don't go into this class expecting to put less work in because it's considered the easiest in the 7 series, make sure you are still on top of it! The CLC sessions are also great and I have found going to office hours before the midterms and final (to directly ask the professor/TA questions and understand concepts) to be really helpful for this class. Every point counts in these classes so make sure to get all the really easy points (assignments and EC) so you have more leeway on the exams. Good luck!

First, I don't know why she is rated so low but anyways I loved 7B, this class was significantly easier than 7a and was so much more interesting when compared to the material. The genetics portion was the "hardest" for most but I mostly thought it was easy and got an A on the midterm. Again, the midterm and finals are confusing and worded badly however they are way more reasonable when compared to 7A. I highly recommend taking this course, likewise, Professor Pires was amazing super energetic, and loved to teach us. She was the best professor I've had and would gladly take her again if given the chance, I'll always remember being her study buddy! Loved her and this course!

Debra Pires is an amazing professor and person! She truly cares about all of her students and expresses this any chance she gets. From her lectures you can tell she is passionate about ecology and conservation. There are iClicker questions, 75% of questions each class must be answered in order to receive credit, this counts towards your grade but only 72/782 points towards the total grade. The exams cover relatively easy information, but questions are often phrased in confusing ways. It is important to become familiar with the questions she will ask, this can be done by reviewing PEQs, practice midterms/finals, and problem-solving session questions.
Overall, I loved this course! Even though I got a B (my study habits are really bad) most people got A's. I will forever think highly of Dr. Pires!