Enjoyed this class a lot. Lannan is an amazing lecturer--he's very engaging and his slides are super clear, so you can always review them later alongside the recorded lectures. The grading structure gives you room to make up for lower grades if you didn't do as well in one particular category, which was helpful. We had short in-class quizzes every two weeks or so which were easy points as long as you memorized the content sheet (lowest score dropped). There were also weekly homework sets, but if you worked on it throughout the week, went to OH, or asked questions/reviewed responses on Campuswire you were fine. Campuswire was super helpful to have in this course as you could earn extra credit through it but also ask questions any time and expect someone to respond with an hour or so (including LAs and the professor). Lannan also used a chat room on Campuswire for quick annoucements (and to send photos of his cat LOL) which also helped because I don't always receive Canvas notifications immediately.

As for his exams (two midterms and a final), I though they were very fair. There were no trick questions, and the teaching team offered a lot of partial credit which was nice. My tip would be to make a study guide or flashcard deck based on the learning objectives. Make sure you set aside time leading up to an exam to draw diagrams and mechanisms as those should be easy points on exams if you have them memorized.

Overall, I would definitely recommend him to anyone interested in 153A or needs to take the class. I wouldn't take 153A again because of the content LOL, but I would love to class with Lannan again. Like I said before, he's a very engaging lecturer who knows how to help students stay on top of material effectively so they are prepared for the exams.

best professor ever. everything in this class makes perfect sense, he dumbs it down for you and elaborates extremely eloquently. anyone who says hes bad prof is either salty because they got a bad grade or his teaching style didnt resonate with them. so its important to find the right study method for you to get a good grade in this class. i remember being flustered the first 3 weeks , then everything made perfect sense once he started teaching about enzymes in week 4/5 and his teaching style/exam style became extremely comprehensible/transparent to me. In order to ace the course, watch the lecture and study the material the day of or after lecture is taught. the best form of studying for this class would be to write notes down during the lecture, take a moment to make sure you have everything understood, then memorize that material super well. when test day is approaching, go through ur notes make sure you have everything memorized, and also align your knowledge with the study guide. he does in fact ask stuff from the study guide and everything from the study guide is from the lecture essentially. Fair warning there are a few concepts in the study guide that you think he wouldnt ask, thats exactly what he will ask so learn it. his explanations were so articulate, im so thankful to have taken the class with him i learned so much. and i would do it again! his exams are legit carbon copy of his lectures, THERE ARE NO APPLICATION BASED PROBLEMS, its so freaking easy. people usually get marked down points bc they didnt elaborate or state their answer with the wording he prefers. this is biochem, its a shit of material, a lot of memorization, so logically you have to really go off on all the questions on the exams. even if you dont think hes asking you to elaborate that much, he is. a lot of the students i know that recieved a poor grade in the class did not provide a sufficient answer on the exam then proceeded to blame him. memorize and then write so much on the exam that youve run out of space and/or your hand starts to cramp. that is the key to this class. his exams are not difficult, in fact they are easy if you are willing to put in the work for this course the right way. he gives a shit ton of extra credit including the final project and random fun questions on the exam. if i can do this course all over again, i would without hesitation, enjoyed the material and his teaching style so much!

Prof Lannan has been my favorite chemistry professor so far. His lectures are very clear, he answers questions patiently, he posts learning objectives which are genuinely helpful to study for the exams, and he gives practice exams that are very similar to the real exams. Professor Lannan's exams are tough, but very fair. He doesn't use trick questions to try and mess with you. Many of the questions on his exams are almost identical to the practice exams. He posts learning objectives for every week of class, which point to the exact things he wants you to learn from that week. He writes the exact concepts he wants you to be able to explain, the things he wants you to calculate, and etc. If you take notes based on these for every week, his exams are completely doable. Take notes on the learning objectives, do the practice exams, and you should ace his exams. He's often funny in lecture and gives extra credit opportunities.

I am 100% taking one of Lannan's classes if the opportunity arises again. It's clear that Lannan has greatly improved since he started teaching at UCLA and I could see him being one of the top professors in the chem/biochem department. Don't listen to the older reviews!

Please take the class with him, not only is he extremely knowledgeable and smart but he is also easy on on the eyes. On top of that he is really good at teaching and people only have praises to say about him. Don’t get me wrong, this class is one of the hardest classes at ucla regardless of who you take it with just because biochem is a hard subject. In order to do well, you would need to be willing to put a lot of effort into this class. Make sure you are taking this class with 2 other easy classes. Also this class is 4/5 days of week so make sure you do whatever you have to in order to not fall behind!!! Exams are fair as long as YOU are putting in the work and actually tying on the homework/practice exams.

I had fears going into this class because of the reviews and the course material itself, but I was pleasantly surprised by the end of the quarter how doable this class is. Lectures were recorded, but participation was graded using iClickers. You were allowed to skip a certain number of lectures and discussions sections, and you also had the opportunity to make up participation so I'd say this system was overall fair. Lannan isn't the best at managing his time during lectures, and for having such short lectures, there was a lot of material to go over. Having recorded lectures was essential to my grade and I rewatched every lecture as part of my studying. There were also quizzes, which mostly involved memorization, and for this quarter the lowest quiz was dropped. Exams were fair, and the professor was very willing to hear everyone out if any of the questions felt unfair or ambiguous. Discussion worksheets were graded mostly on completion, with a few being graded for accuracy. There was also an extra credit group project that I found very fun and 100% worth doing. Nonetheless, this class was difficult. If you want to do well, you have to put in the work. Like a crazy amount.

If you see a review saying that you have to stay in and not party in order to get an A in this class, don't take it too seriously. I went out to parties the weekend before both midterms and got an A on both midterms (very slay moment). Lannan is super sweet and funny in the socially awkward, nerdy type of way and he's an awesome professor. There's extra credit from Campuswire, an end of the quarter project, and feedback surveys from him. The best thing to use for studying for exams is the review exams that he posts.

I read previous reviews before taking this class with Lannan and it deterred me from enrolling in the class. However, I switched into his class during week 2 and it was one of the smartest decisions I have made. The breakdown of the class was 70% of your grade was exams (20% per midterm with 2 midterms and a 30% final) the other 30% was comprised of participation via clickers and discussion attendance (8%) as well as homework (12%) which is partially graded for correctness and quizzes which are brute memorization (10%)

Professor Lannan is a very good lecturer, and is very clear with what he wants you to understand. He will literally say "I am going to test you on this either on the midterm or the final" or he will say "This is important information I want you to know". He also provides you with learning objectives which in my opinion were very comprehensive study guides. He is very passionate about his teaching and really wants students to understand class material. A lot of people complained about the grading of his exams because he was looking for pretty specific answers. However, every biochem class is a buzzword class, and there are certain words that you have to know. He was a little bit more relaxed this quarter as far as buzzwords go, but specific answers were still required. All of the "buzzwords" that you are required to know are given on his slides or he says them in class. All fo the details you are required to know are given on the slides and detailed in the learning objectives. If you are someone who takes hand written notes on paper I recommend you print the slides out. He does read from the slides a lot but he also adds extra information that you will need to know. His practice exams are exactly like the exam he will give you as far as question structure, so you will know what to expect when taking the exam. There is a lot of content in this class. The first midterm does not cover as much as the 2nd midterm or the final, but it is still a lot of information. I would recommend having a study group that goes over the learning objectives and fill them out thoroughly. The class is very detailed and he tests on details, so I would also recommend studying at least a week in advance. The textbook is useless do not waste your money. He will tell you everything that you are required to know.

Lastly, professor Lannan is very understanding and willing to help if you just ask. He opened up extra office hours due to the TA strike, and attended review sessions to make up for the TA's absences. He is also very willing to answer questions after class.

Overall he is one of the better stem professors I have had. This class is not easy, but it is manageable and receiving an A is doable if you are willing to put in the effort.

This review will get as accurate as possible so ignore the others:
First off, Professor Lannan's material is understandable if you truly study the content. I found myself watching his lectures at home 2-3 times until I understood them. To get the A you want, there is no going out to a party, you have to stay in your room and put in the hours as I did. Study everything he goes over, study the slides, study the practice midterms he gives, study the LA-given study guides AND USE CAMPUSWIRE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS BY ASKING QUESTION LEFT AND RIGHT. People will answer you in minutes during the day trust me. This helped me a lot because when I was stuck on something, all I did was ask campus wire and people helped in minutes. Next, he will give a lot of extra credit but don't rely on it for your grade. The final is cumulative but our class got lucky by becoming a no-harm final, but do not rely on that bc it was under a certain circumstance that we got that luxury. Join Zoom office hours, and if you cant, rewatch the zoom recordings. Go to office hours and do the most to understand all the class concepts. He is very nit-picky on exams and will mark down points left and right so write down everything about the question it asks for and don't leave out a word bc that could make or break half a point. Bc of my unhealthy study times, I did great in the class but this is college, you have one shot in these 4 years to create a strong backbone of your college career so study as u should and do not go out if your friends beg you to come out with them. This is a class that you will get an A in if you truly put in the work, not just few hours of study a day, your life is chem 153A if you take it with Lannan. But overall, he is approachable, just lags on emails. Although this was a long review and sounded harsh, if you know yourself and your study habits, decide if you should take this class.
HW, Participation, and Discussions were 30% together
Midterms together were 40%
Final was 30%

I loved having professor Lannan so much. I was so terrified of CHEM 153A and I was reluctant on which professor to take. However, I really scored with Lannan. I loved his lectures (sometimes he scrambles around) and the way he explains things and dumbs it down makes sense. He cares so much about his students. I specifically remember him saying "I am here to be an instructor and I am not so focused on research right now, rather I want to teach you guys biochemistry". And this stuck with me throughout the quarter. His class was like a huge breath of fresh air in the chemistry department. He is a legend. Please take him.
I scored almost a perfect score on the first midterm and a low A on the second. I didn't rewatch lectures, rather I just copied down the most important things from each slide and made detailed notes on the practice midterms and homework. WATCH AK LECTURES. Especially for hemoglobin / myoglobin stuff. This is what got me such a good score on the first midterm. AK Lectures is also good for the ETC at the end of the quarter. Do not waste a bunch of time studying for the quizzes as they are all just memorization. Homeworks felt sometimes a little rushed as there was content on them that we were learning the day that it was due, but he ended up extending the due dates for most of the homework and grading on completion.
Overall, Lannan is holding the #1 position for me as the best professor at UCLA, and coming from the chemistry department that is shocking. I loved having him. He is charismatic and when he wears his Patagonia fleece you just know you're going to have a good day. If you are reading this Lannan, thank you for an amazing quarter, you are loved here at UCLA and plz don't go anywhere.

Lannan is actually a god. This is a tough class with a lot of content (4 lectures a week [BRUINCASTED] is a lot) but Lannan makes it very manageable. He is super nice and very approachable. He has many office hours and he uses Campuswire so you can get questions answered on there as well. He really displays the material in an easy way that can be understood. He is accommodating if you have an issue and he is legend. He’s also pretty funny sometimes without even trying. (records lectures, posts slides before class that contain all necessary information)
I was super scared of this class but I fell in love with it as the weeks passed. This class is a lot of work in my opinion (but so is every 153A class [probably]). The homework’s are not too easy, especially right after learning the material, and I had to utilize some office hours to get help on tough questions. But the homework’s are graded leniently (completion except 1 problem graded for accuracy) which was nice.
I love how Lannan has quizzes that are memorization based ONLY, just so you learn basic stuff like amino acids and glycolysis/TCA/ETC. THESE ARE EASY POINTS! I literally learned all the stuff for quizzes 30 minutes before (except the amino acids, that takes longer ha).
The midterms I believe are extremely fair and, yes, he does have some tough problems and requires specific wordings, but I feel like it isn’t that crazy of a thing to ask because you should be learning those “specific wordings” already. Also, he does change point values on exams if problems are too tough and if not a lot of people get the answer. He does put extra credit questions on his exams, which could include tougher questions, or more specific questions, or just drawing a meme or picture. For me, I think I studied 2-3 days before the exam, and I got A’s on each one. HINT: I think reading through all the slides right before the exam is pretty helpful.
You have to use iclicker for participation, but you can click in anywhere in the world so you don’t “have” to attend. Discussion does have attendance though, so try to get a good discussion if you can. I think you can miss some discussions and you can miss a week’s worth of class.
Although the final this quarter was no harm, I still took it as if it were normal and, once again, the test was well made and more than fair. His final tests the new material, and it is cumulative but it tests stuff that wasn’t on the first 2 midterms, so you can kind of hone your studying for the previous chapters if you remember what was not tested on already. HINT: I suggest that after each midterm you write down what was not tested on (or focused heavily on) so you can study it for the final.
Homework’s are great to use as studying resources (he uploads the answers). He also uploads learning objectives which also helps if you can answer them. Even though Lannan is great, I did use outside sources for more perspectives on certain topics. I used AK lectures on YouTube which really helped.
He also offers extra credit. 2% that includes a creative group project, LA and prof feedback, and Campuswire participation.
Overall, this class was hard, but it was extremely rewarding. Lannan has moved into my top 3 professors at UCLA. He really cares about his students and his students’ learning. I know there are other professors like Jarret who I’ve heard are easy A’s. This class might not be the “easiest”, but in terms of the difficulty of the material, Lannan teaches it super well and if you study for a little bit you can easily get an A, and you WILL learn something. By making his exams the way he has, you really learn the material, which is great for MCAT or just learning biochem for future courses. I would highly recommend this course with Lannan if he is an option!

This class broken down:
Midterm 1 200 points 20%
Midterm 2 200 points 20%
Quizzes (5 total, 1 is dropped) 100 points 10%
Homework (usually weekly) 120 points 12%
Participation (iclicker+discussion) 80 points 8%
Final 300 points 30%