lolll I have a lot of thoughts. At the beginning of the quarter, I was struggling. Dr. Turlo teaches in a way that captures as much of the nuances in research as possible. She is very rabbit hole prone, and I love it. However, it is challenging when you feel responsible for ALL the information being taught. Usually as students, we are given information presented in a linear fashion, but this class was all over the place. I hated it at first, though I have really grown to appreciate the realness of it--it truly gives you a taste of what research is about.
The learning curve for this course was huge. My quarter, the topic in the reconstructions + the seminar presentation were related to the heart, which is adjacent to Dr. Turlo's field. It was such a privilege witnessing her passion. However, it made the imposter syndrome so much more real. At the beginning, everything would just fly past my head. I felt stupid and incapable because certain things just didn't make sense. I was so incredibly overwhelmed to the point where I even cried during an office hour. But, as the quarter went on, things fell into place, and Dr. Turlo's teaching style really does grow on you. I poured my all into the midterm and got 100% on it, and am genuinely proud of the science that I proposed and how much I have grown throughout the quarter.
Dr. Turlo is truly one of the sweetest and most supportive professors. She seems intimidating at first, and I was scared to get to know her, but as I went to more office hours and was able to hear her story of why she was in research + other things, I became more comfortable engaging and giving my 100% to the class. My passion for science grew significantly in this course, though it was much more challenging than I expected. I also really appreciate the sense of family this course created. Free snacks, lego snacks, play doh activities, pizza party peer review days... I love how serious, yet unserious this class can be!

Dr. Turlo is clearly passionate about this course, and is a compassionate and kind person. I learned something new everyday, and I learned useful skills on analyzing research and learning to interpret things myself. I liked how we learned about relevant things, like COVID-19, vaccines, and the media surrounding it. It was also helpful to hear from guest speakers about their experiences in the field of biomedical research. Lectures on the grant and publishing process helped me solidify that I don't want to be a biomedical researcher, but I still benefited from taking this course.
I LOVED that Dr. Turlo made lecture so accessible, having recordings, live zoom lectures, and live in person lectures. This was a pretty easy GE, I only got a B+ because I turned in my last problem set late and I don't think my TA graded it lol but if you turn in your assignments in on time you'll be fine.

Oh my did I love taking this class, and I think it's very helpful for those who are thinking about a Ph.D or other research related degrees.

In short, the class delves into what it is being a researcher and the logistics of research. It talks about the money, the methods, how to write a proposal, how to read a paper, and dips a little into the politics behind research. The class is structured into 2 halves, with the first half discussing diversity in research and alcohol and the second half discussing about vaccine research.

Grading was very light, and it shows that Dr. Turlo heavily values your participation in class. Most of the grade came from participating in lecture by filling out a paper worksheet based on the content Dr. Turlo covered in-class and attending discussion, so bring a pen/pencil. There are also 2 papers assigned in the class, but they're both designed to be very brief and concise -- it was more of a struggle attempting to shorten the paper compared to actually lengthening it. Discussion was kind of lacking compared to lecture however, and I found it boring to attend discussion other than for peer reviews for the papers. There are also some problem sets that need to be completed for homework, but they're really not too hard to complete.

Dr. Turlo's lectures are one of the few lectures I was actually excited to go to. She's very engaging and loves to entertain questions, and it is very clear she is very enthusiastic about teaching the class. Even though lectures are technically mandatory, it's not that big of a deal considering how much effort Dr. Turlo puts into ensuring that you learn. Furthermore, the class size is relatively small, so it is a lot easier to speak up and ask questions. At one point, Dr. Turlo brought in a professor colleague to discuss what it is like being a professor and the many challenges research brings. You may need to put your phone away for this class, as Dr. Turlo doesn't particularly like it when you are doomscrolling or texting during her lectures.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class and would heavily recommend taking it if you are interested in learning about research as a life scientist.

I only signed up for this class because most of the other GEs were full, but it did end up being interesting. I learned how to read and understand a research paper which was a very useful skill as a life science major. However, I don't think many people outside of the sciences would find this class particularly interesting or maybe even struggle a bit since some background in biology is needed and it definitely could seem a little overwhelming.
However, if you are interested in the biomedical research minor or learning about life science research in general, I think this class is a great low-stress way to gauge your interest. Dr. Turlo is very passionate about talking about research and you can learn a lot about research from her. Additionally, taking this class prior to taking LS23L (I think its LS7L now though) really gave me a leg up on writing the practice research papers since that was a skill that I honed in this class. Finally, If you are interested in the biomedical research minor, I would really recommend taking this class prior to 5HA (which I am taking now) since it really gave me a strong foundation in understanding research methodology.