took this class when both maloy and braybrook were teaching. it was an easy quarter because they changed the grading system for just this class this one time, where it would serve as P/NP but with the letter grades so A/F. you would just have to receive a total of at least 900 out of 1300 available points to receive an A. it took the stress off of scoring really well on exams (still mandatory to take and pass), and emphasized self-learning as there were questions and reading guides to turn in for points.
this class was hard to remain engaged in over zoom so the switch to in-person for lectures and discussion sections was so much more worth it.
professors cared so much about student learning, held office hours about 4x a week and also brought in 2 grad students for "student support times" as well as offered LA Problem Solving Sessions for extra practice on the material.

this was my first college class and dr. maloy has made it an incredible experience! coming in, i was a bit behind as i had neither taken ap bio like pretty much everyone else, nor was i a science major. but this didn't really matter because the class was taught from the basics of the basics and i quickly caught up with everyone else.

the material itself isn't very difficult in my opinion, but it is very content heavy, especially in the launchpad assignments. dr. maloy's lectures are very engaging and you get participation points for answering questions every lecture, which ends up being a lot of free points, since it's not based on accuracy. as for studying for the tests, i suggest ditching the heavy launchpad textbooks completely and just go over the slides he posts, the ta and la worksheets, and also, i cannot stress this enough, go to office hours.

Lifesci 7A is probably one of the easiest classes out there, but it is also a very annoying class in nature. The flipped classroom approach is not very helpful because the lectures are often not that useful. Just know your stuff from the slides, and you will be fine. The part that pissed everyone off was how you MUST sit with your pod mates during lectures, and it is excruciatingly painful to sit in the corner in the middle of nowhere.

Also another painful thing about the class is that they don't give out practice tests at all. Please please go to the SAC and print out past exams because that's what is going to benefit you the most in the long term.

if anyone is taking this class as a GE, take Maloy. his class is really easy as long as you do the expected reading + preclass assignments for the class. 7a is standardized so professors don't really matter, but maloy is often funny and very inclusive.

Maloy is a great professor. He really cares about his students and making his lecture a welcoming environment. He is responsive to direct messages and so are his TAs, he runs a tight ship. Lectures are standard, the iClicker questions are helpful for preparing for the AOLs (basically the midterms.) Group AOL is free points, individual AOL is same questions but reworded. Overall an easy A if you keep up with the class all quarter and don't procrastinate on the weekly readings. I wish he taught 7B, I would definitely take another lecture with him!

One thing I have to say to anyone taking this class is to take it with Dr. Maloy. His lectures are incredibly engaging, he's very clear, and you can tell he really cares about his students and their understanding of the topics. Overall, the course is graded out of 717 total points and not weighted percentages, so it's easy to get an A or an A- if you're smart about it. There are point caps for certain parts of the course, like iClicker questions and discussion sections, so you can miss a few classes without losing points. One thing I will suggest is to do all of the 'easy' assignments and maximize the points you get, because the midterms and final are definitely tough, but not impossible. Rely on your pod group, check your group AoLs thoroughly, review the slides and iClicker questions, and don't skip lectures.

Everything covered in this course is a repeat of AP Biology, so if you took that in high school and remember the content it’s a breeze. However, it can be pretty challenging for those who didn’t. It is also somewhat dependent on your pod group (which exists for the entire 7 series), because the group test counted for 100% of your test grade. That being said, Dr. Maloy is a good lecturer and his style of teaching was conductive to actually understanding material. The classroom is flipped such that students learn from the textbook and then review the content and practice questions in lecture. Spending a good amount of time outside of class taking detailed notes is what will set you up for success.

Dr. Maloy is a very engaging professor which can really makes a class that much better. That being said, this class is super standardized--so many people take it--so all of my friends with other professors were doing the exact same assignments and activities. Dr. Maloy is great for an engaging lecture, but don't fret if you get someone else.
The speed at which we had to learn new content was a little overwhelming at first, but it was one of my first classes here, so that was just before I had adjusted to the quarter system. If you've taken AP Bio, I've heard its a little easier, but I had not and I was completely fine. Honestly, if you just go to the problem solving sessions every week (you can go almost every day and just study if you really wanted to) its a GREAT way to do practice problems, ask questions, and connect with other students. Office hours were also helpful, and if you put in the work, the midterms and final can turn out to be very doable-- even easy.

This class felt very much like a high school class, where there is a lot of groupwork and collaboration involved. The midterms are group exams and are online.

I thought the final was difficult but since there are a lot of other things in the gradebook (like section participation, homework, extra credit) it isn't hard to get a good grade in the class.

I thought Dr. Maloy did a great job teaching. He goes at a good speed and explains concepts clearly, and also uses fun + easy to learn analogies to help us.

The class goes a bit fast though, so for those who didn't take AP bio/other biology classes in the past this class might be hard.

Points for Fall 2024:
Pre-class reading guides - 68
Pre-class review questions (PCRQs) - 48
Clicker questions - 64
Learning pod assignments - 30
Discussion section assignments - 72
Practice Assessments of Learning (PALs) - 45
Assessment of Learning 1 - 90
Assessment of Learning 2 - 120
Assessment of Learning 3 - 200
Reflection assignments - 10
Total Points 747

Note that the entire LS7 series is standardized, so all students taking LS7 will have the same assignments and AOLs (basically midterms/finals) even with different lecturers. LS7A is also structured in a reverse-classroom format, so you're to do preclass reading guides around the textbook before lecture where it will be more so iClicker questions. While it may help prepare you for the material, I found that the lectures may go into topics other than what the preclass reading guides ask of, and sometimes for Maloy/Braybrook lectures fall a little behind and have to be made up next class lecture.

The AOLs are also known for being very tricky, not because of the content involved, but because of the wording of the questions. You first do an individual phase on Canvas, but you can then change your answers with reasoning provided during the group phase anytime during the allocated days the test is open. Even with the ability to change answers and work with your group, the wording of questions caused a lot of debates and discussions between groupmates and beyond.

Stirring away from the general class, however, Dr. Maloy is an extremely knowledgeable and approachable instructor. I really appreciate how clear he is during lecture, and he'll give very concise answers for questions while also having us think about it considerably. I highly recommend going to office hours to clarify any tricky topics/practice with him, and problem-solving sessions held by TAs and LAs to get more practice questions in. Overall, while content may be similar to AP Biology (and having that experience will definitely help), you'll still learn to think critically about the subject and see even more applications for molecular biology.