The class was really difficult. He would give the study guides about 3 days before the exams and he graded them so harshly that you have to have specific words in your answers to get the points. This class would be good if your taking it by itself since it’s a lot of work. Homework and quizzes were pretty manageable and he does offer 2% extra credit. But I would not take this class again since his lecture slides does have a lot of mistakes on them and the exams were graded wrongly.

Ok there are a lot of contentious reviews for Lannan but this is my personal take. Lannan was very disorganized throughout the quarter. I would think that someone with a Ph.D in biochemistry would know a little bit more about the topic without having to second guess himself, but maybe this comes with time and experience. It was a little frustrating how he'd pretty much start a lot of lectures going over what he got wrong the last time. He didn't really know how to answer some questions that tried to reach beyond the scope of the class, and often said he'd need to look things up to confirm. However, this could also be because he got the class thrown onto him and had barely any time to prepare. I understand that he had a lot of lecture slides to create. His teaching I think got better as the quarter went on, and he's pretty young so he's probably still not confident in his abilities. Everyone has to start somewhere. That being said, it doesn't excuse the fact that we pay around 30k (more if out of state) a year for quality education, so this got frustrating over time, but I do think that with enough practice he'll be a good teacher.

His exams, in my opinion, were fair, but the way that they were graded was not. The TAs would often mark you down points even if you wrote the right answer, and it seems that they would often look for buzz words rather than actually reading your answer. A lot of us got marked off for not writing VERY specific words and phrases, so honestly memorize as much as you can off his slides. The actual content on the exams however was pretty fair and nothing was out of the ordinary. The final was a bit harder, but it was also cumulative and so 10 weeks of biochem memorization was pretty difficult. Ryan himself is pretty nice, and I've heard he teaches better in OH but I've never gone myself to verify if that statement is correct. He definitely does care about his students and wants us to understand biochem, and he is clearly pretty passionate about the topic itself.

The other stuff in the class like the quizzes and HW were pretty easy and manageable, and shouldn't take that long to do or study for. There was also some extra credit offered! Biggest piece of advice is using the campuswire, because there was a lot of helpful info on there. Also, exams were VERY similar to HW questions.

One other negative thing about Ryan tho that I really wish he'd improve is his flexibility and accommodations. If someone got COVID, he'd pretty much make you handle it on your own without helping.

Other than that, you certainly learn a lot in this class and it goes by fast. Don't fall behind and stay on top of things! Good luck!

Loved this class, hated the premeds. As a chem major, I was dreading this class because I hate biology, but Lannnan made it incredibly enjoyable because he is a great lecturer, and the class was pretty easy. The averages are super high (153a normal averages used to be 50s and 60s) AND he gives a ton of extra credit. Highly recommend this class for 153a, won't get a better experience.

I really enjoyed taking this class with Dr. Lannan and I would recommend him to anyone who wants to 153A. It was his first quarter teaching the class and he got assigned very last minute, so he did not have time to prepare slides, tests and everything like that.

Here is the breakdown of points:
Midterm 1: 20%
Midterm 2: 20%
Quizzes: 10%
Homework: 15%
Final Exam: 35%
Extra credit: 2% (campuswire =0.5%, evals = 0.25%, ec project = 1.25%)

He gave around 3% of extra credit problems on tests and these were all just free points. He ended up curving the final 6%. His tests are very fair and reflect the hw problems and are all pulled from the topics on the study guide. This class does have a lot of memorization, but that is the nature of 153A. If you stay on top of it and review his slides, you will do well in the course.

I thought Dr. Lannan was a great lecturer who was truly fair. He is clearly very knowledgable on the topic and I thought he did a fantastic job and I think he will only get better over time. Dr. Lannan is fairly understanding and communicates well.

Also - he offers this online textbook with practice problems called Achieve. I did not purchase it and I was completely fine. He never references the textbook and gives sufficient practice problems with the homework. If you like extra help, it may be for you, but I wouldn't purchase it until after week 1 when you know how the class works a little better.

Overall would take again and I highly recommend Lannan!

This class is hard. That is undeniable. However, I would say he has made a lot of improvement since the course he taught last winter. Though the exams are difficult, there are no curveballs thrown when it comes to questions; all of the information is on the slides or was mentioned during lecture. If there is something that the students felt was unfair, then he takes that into consideration when grading. This is a class that you have to be 100% all in for because it is a lot of information (4 lectures a week). That being said, he helps out a LOT wherever he can. He offered a ton of extra office hours and had a lot of leniency during the TA strike. He offers a good amount of extra credit as well. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone will get an A. The effort you put in will show in the end.

As a person overall, he is amazing. You can tell he is someone who cares about the students and cares about getting people the best grades possible. My schedule this quarter was rough and it was also my first one since I am a transfer so I didn't have a lot to look forward to. If I am being honest, the only thing I looked forward to was this class. It was the only class where I didn't have a grudge against my professor and where I actually liked the material being taught. I nearly wanted to change my major but I realized that the only reason I would consider biochemistry is if he taught the other courses. He is super relatable as a person and quickly became one of my favorite professors. Definitely take him.

I would not take this class with him again

On the Thursday of week 10, he not only did not post the final study guide, but also sent out the last homework at about 9:00 pm. Why?
Remember to write exactly the same words from his slides and homework answers, otherwise you will not get the point in the midterms and the final.
He said it was his first time teaching this course, so it took him lots of hours to gather the information and made the slides, so his lectures are a little bit disorganized. Guess what, it is also my first time taking this class, and that was definitely not a good experience to me.
Also, tons of homework. The first several homework were like 9-page short, no, long answer, questions. He would ask you to draw the whole mechanism of RNase and chymotrypsin. Very good! Moreover, he is like "You don't have to remember everything in the mechanism, but if we give you one step, you should be able to predict the next step." How is that not memorizing all the mechanisms?

我上这节课的唯一原因是一开始153A是一开始study list上显示这节课是Deborah Jarrett教 我听说她教的不错，所以选了这个课 谁知道真正开学之前换成了Ryan Lannan

事儿很多 不会选他的别的课了

Professor Lannan is a really good, engaging lecturer who is super familiar with the course content (I think a lot of the bad reviews are from when he just started teaching and was a little more disorganized, but now he really knows his stuff). Even if I fell asleep during a lecture, the recordings and slides themselves would always be very clear. His quizzes are memorization-based so using Anki/quizlet flashcards was the easiest way to study for them, and I think all of the exams were very fair (he covered all the content in his slides or during lecture). He also gives extra credit on the tests (I think like 3 points on each midterm and 6 points for the final?) -- overall, I enjoyed this class and I think the main tough part is just the sheer amount of material that you have to know or memorize by the end. The learning objectives help a lot with managing the information though! Also, attendance is tracked using clickers but ****they are not location-based****.

Honestly, the people roasting professor lannan are just upset about their grade. This man is incredibly accommodating, like I have shown him mistakes and made criticisms and he LISTENS and truly makes changes. He is a super nice guy who was just put into a tough position this quarter.

He knows how to teach biochemistry, like this class honestly had very interesting material that was easy to understand once he broke it down. Yes you need to study for exams, but if you do that you will get a good grade.

The TAs of the class were the main problem tbh they did not know how to grade, but if you brought it to Lannan's attention he fixed it almost immediately.

it is week 6 and i decided to drop this class. This is by far the worst class i ever took at UCLA, Lannan is the worst professor. poor lecturer, disrespectful, and very hard grader. he does not know how to teach and himself doesn't know the contents well as his slides are full of mistakes. the tests has nothing to do with what he teaches in class, extremely hard and very long. the homework are also hard and were harshly graded, he even deduct points for students who didn't assign pages to the grade scope. PLEASE LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR DON'T TAKE HIS CLASS

Ryan Lannan is the worst professor I have ever taken at UCLA. It seems like he doesn't care of students and comes across as dismissive. I wish he was a lot more like Anish Nag. I was really looking forward to this class but now I dread it.