Class Review: Microbiology

Microbiology with Lab

BI 204 at Worcester State College

Professor: Dr. Ellen Fynan

Schedule: Lecture M,W,F 11:30-12:30; (Lab) T,TH 1:00-2:30

Grade Achieved: A

Overall: The class was an excellent and through review of microbiology. The professor’s expectations were reasonable and straight forward. She did not go easy on the class, and required a good deal of memorization. The conceptual material was explained quite well during the lecture.

Instructor: The instructor really enjoyed the material she was teaching, especially viruses and vaccines. She made sure to mention how things could be applied to clinical situations, which it made it more interesting.

Grading: The grading was upfront and fair. You were told how many questions and what type of material would be covered on each exam. Small in-class bonus quizzes offer 2 or 3 points here and there. Labs were an easy A if you were sure to read the lab manual before writing out your answers.

Materials: The book was mentioned infrequently in class. The professor relied mainly on her Powerpoint lectures. You could get by in the class without a text I imagine, but I don’t think you would get an A just by studying her lectures. The website for the text proved invaluable for quizzes and mp3 lectures.

Notes Technique: I recorded the lecture slide by slide onto notecards so I wouldn’t have to waste the time later.

Study Technique: To study I used index cards, and made lists/charts for large amounts of information to be memorized.