Turlo is an amazing professor. She's incredibly supportive and encouraging for people to participate and express their thoughts and views. She does call people out by name to answer questions, but you get used to it. Overall, this class is great if you want to think more critically about research literature. The midterm/final is writing a research proposal, and Turlo does a great job of guiding you through it. Highly recommend!

Dr. Turlo is super nice, and she provides a lot of assistance with the assignments if you ask her beforehand. She is also a huge nerd and loves what she teaches. The class itself is also really fun because you get to cover a particular subject in great depth. It forces you to read through lots of scientific literature in great depth. None of my previous classes required that from me, so I'm happy to have had the chance to develop that skill. Since the class is small, I also recommend getting to know a couple of your peers. Friendship is magic.

Dr. Turlo grew on me so much midway through the quarter.

At first, it was hard to reconcile how she's a stickler for certain things (which she herself admits), such as attendance and formatting on assignments. But this does come from her wanting us to be able to gain the most out of the class - and the formatting comes from how it needs to be precise when you write grants, so she's just modeling that experience. So, I think she's a little bit hard to relate to at first, but truly, she's just a woman who loves science and she is incredibly willing to help and give encouragement. Office hours are very helpful in doing well in the class. Also, just know that Dr. Turlo is far more accommodating than you might expect based off first impression - she was willing to work with me individually to help me succeed when I was going through some mental health challenges and extreme burnout.

Be aware that she grades harshly on the first assignment (out of 5 points, with a lot of people getting 2's), as a motivator for the rest of the course. But in the end she's not trying to hurt anyone and gives opportunities to make up points and to grow from the experience. She will probably say herself later on in the quarter that after the first assignment, most people get 100% (or near 100%) on the other assignments.

With the proposal in the latter half of the course, it's time-consuming, but I appreciated that she let us branch out from the seminar talk into areas that were more interesting to us. Honestly, this was the experience I was waiting for after 5HA. To write a proposal, because this assignment totally kicked my ass but suddenly within a week, I'd been forced to learn how to truly read scientific literature in large volumes like never before. It was a truly helpful experience and I gained so much from it.

It's also very nice of Dr. Turlo to let us submit the final multiple times until we get full credit. I only submitted once, but I still did well because of how much time I had spent with her in office hours/appointments to get on the right track.

Discussions were less helpful and I unfortunately got a group that just was not very engaged/talkative. Like, no shade against any individuals since I had no issue with anyone in the class, but the discussion project we had was mainly a waste of time and the group work for that was so frustrating.

Symposium was more fun albeit stressful near the end of the quarter and also gave us an opportunity to practice oral presentation skills. Just try your best and it will be entirely fine :).

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!

Profesor Turlo is awesome and probably one of the best professors I’ve had at UCLA. She’s really invested in her students’ success and will definitely help you with whatever you need in the class (including answering emails at 4am lol). The class itself is super interesting and really allows you to go in depth to a specific field of research, and for me it even inspired me to pursue the field of research I’m in now. The main project in the class is a research grant proposal and allows for a lot of creative freedom. Overall, it’s a great class, and I would definitely recommend Turlo as a professor.

Dr. Turlo is amazing! She's so nice and very helpful. You can tell she genuinely cares about her students overall and any class with her is great

Dr. Turlo is the sweetest lady ever and you will definitely do well if you put in the effort. She is absolutely passionate about research and making sure you understand the material. However, her lectures are a bit disorganized and if you don't have any kind of research background, a lot of what is said will pass straight through your ears. If you are bold enough, ask questions during lecture because that will probably facilitate your understanding (I say probably because I never did). For me, I learned more from talking to peers and doing my own reading and analysis than trying to soak in what was said. If you are confused at all, I highly highly recommend going to her office hours. This is especially critical when you do your midterm proposal and group symposium project. Work on your assignments and go to her office hours EARLY to get her feedback on your ideas! With that, good luck.