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!

Professor Pires is an awesome professor. She has a very maternal essence, as she often reminds us how proud she is of us, provides lovely words of encouragement, and boosts our confidence as students. She is kind-hearted, open-minded, funny, and engaging. Professor Pires truly cares about her students. She is wonderful. She is epic. She is mom.

Launchpad is the most annoying and boring thing ever. You use it for all the LS7 series, it's awful-- for that part, good luck. You can get by most of the time if you just read the highlighted/bold terms, but if it doesn't make sense then def read the chapter.

PS: I'm selling all of my notes (from both the readings and the lectures) for $15, as well as supplementary practice worksheets, so hmu on ********** if you are interested!

The class wasn't too much to handle but the exams were. Easy points when it comes to weekly quizzes, labs, and clicker questions but the exams will be difficult. Make sure to review clicker questions and attend review sessions if you want to succeed.

I had a late enrollment appointment and ended up going with Pires because her lectures was one of the last to still be open. I was a little nervous seeing the reviews on here, but after taking the class I don't understand the bad reviews. My class was online, and it ran very smoothly. She is an engaging lecturer and explained the clicker questions well. I liked that she would go over why the incorrect answers were wrong for each clicker, and this was really helpful for preparing for exams. She is good at explaining the concepts during lecture (so you can understand even if you didn't read the launchpad) and would draw diagrams to help visualize. Pires is accommodating and a really genuine person.

Always had a crab or spider video for us while we entered, lol. Clickers necessary. Tests were hard (as usual). Really sweet lady. Pretended to be our "study buddy" to help us work through examples. Would occasionally get frustrated with students but it's because they would ask something that was just explained. She really tried her best to be patient though, you could tell, I honestly don't blame her cuz I would feel the same. That's probably why you see some negative reviews about her being rude but honestly it's like 3% as extreme as they make it out to be.

Pires is a super nice lady -- really seems to enjoy the subject and truly tried to help us out and be as accommodating as possible during the pandemic, but my god, is this class boring. Maybe it's just me, but I switched my major from regular bio to MIMG so that I wouldn't have to take any more ecology and evolution after this class. I'm sure you all know about Launchpad and how tedious and overwhelming it is (USE QUIZLET), but the one part that really frustrated me about Launchpad this quarter was that there was an entire week of ridiculously long readings about different species and classes of species that didn't show up on any sort of quiz or test. I spent hours on these readings and ended up with probably over ten pages of notes just for it to be completely useless. Really frustrating.