Overall, I had really high expectations going into this class as it was one of the most interesting sounding electives. I won't say it let me down, but it was not as great as I wanted it to be. The material was not too difficult, but I was just surprised at how the field of linguistics and physiology merge, and there isn't too much empirical data. On top of that, the professor was fine but her powerpoints were a little all over the place, not well made and material didn't integrate well together. That being said, the class is graded on participation, three quizzes, a midterm and a non-cumulative final. There is also a "Mythbusters" presentation that you do one in discussion that is pretty fun. They are recorded for other discussion sections to view as a question from them will be on the midterms. As long as you do the few readings there are, review slides and put effort into your presentation (follow the guidelines they post) you will be fine. I messed up on one quiz, and even just that small mistake jeopardized my grade but I was able to recover by doing well on the final.

Super easy physci elective. Professor White is passionate about the material, and although not everyone would find birdsong super interesting, teaches it in a way that is engaging and easy to get through. Workload is light and consists of short multiple choice quizzes and a presentation. Attendance wasn't mandatory and lectures were posted.

This was one of the classes I chose when my entire schedule went to shit and I had no other phy sci classes open to me. It wasn't a bad course but I would have rather taken something on the actual human body than birds.

Despite this class not being my first choice, it was actually interesting. It's all about language. How we speak. Why we speak. Why certain animals cant. Its funny though, Dr. White starts of the class asking if FOXP2 is the key to language and the class ended without a solid answer. Dr. White herself is cool because you can tell she really likes her research and the material, but she can get really confusing sometimes when she lectures. Her explanations get really jumbled and I found myself thinking "what the..." a lot. Her testing method is also eh. The multiple choice has really ambiguous answer choices. The final was way easier because it was pure free response. She scared the class by talking about experimental design questions but she ended up asking questions that had to do with experiments she covered in class so it wasn't bad at all.

BREAKDOWN:
Three Quizzes: 30% (10% each)
Two Midterms: 40% (20% each)
Myth Busters Presentation: 18%
Attendance and Participation: 12%

Overall, if I had to take Dr. White again, I would! Just not something thats my first choice in terms of material or instructor