does anyone know anything abt those new LifeSci courses? LifeSci 3A03, 3B03, 3C03, 3DD3, 3K03 ???????

i have to take 2....any ideas on which are any good (interesting + easy). Feel free to rant abt professors, hardships, useless textbooks

There are no course reviews on it.

Im hoping for some information as well. Any valid and legitimate information pertainig to 3rd year life sci courses will get an automatic like + thumbs up.

Id also like to know this.

I didn't take 3B03 or 3K03 because they seemed like they'd be the most difficult so eff that. I wanted to take 3A03 bc it seemed the most interesting but it was full :/

Last semester I had 3DD3...pretty much everyone hated Prof Kolasa but I only went to the first couple of classes cuz it was too early for my liking so I can't really judge his teaching. The material was super easy though...all I did was read his online textbook thing he provided (even though you didnt have to) bc his notes pretty much made no sense unless you read it. I 12ed the class. Theres a lot of presenting in the tutorials (about 1 every 3 weeks in abnormally large groups) and you had to do about 4 or 5 reports on the presentation topics...sounds like a lot of work, but it was really easily marked. So yeah, if you like easy ecology type content take this course.

As for 3C03...take this for sure. I had it this semester and Beston provides pretty much the best notes so didnt even have to go to class. The content is actually really interesting (evolution of sex, aggression, communication, etc) and there are no assignments, just 3 non-cumulative midterms and an exam. Tests and exams are multiple choice, fill in the blanks and short answer...not super easy but definitely not hard. All questions are fair and its pretty easy to 10+ this class.

Originally Posted by sheena123

I didn't take 3B03 or 3K03 because they seemed like they'd be the most difficult so eff that. I wanted to take 3A03 bc it seemed the most interesting but it was full :/

Last semester I had 3DD3...pretty much everyone hated Prof Kolasa but I only went to the first couple of classes cuz it was too early for my liking so I can't really judge his teaching. The material was super easy though...all I did was read his online textbook thing he provided (even though you didnt have to) bc his notes pretty much made no sense unless you read it. I 12ed the class. Theres a lot of presenting in the tutorials (about 1 every 3 weeks in abnormally large groups) and you had to do about 4 or 5 reports on the presentation topics...sounds like a lot of work, but it was really easily marked. So yeah, if you like easy ecology type content take this course.

As for 3C03...take this for sure. I had it this semester and Beston provides pretty much the best notes so didnt even have to go to class. The content is actually really interesting (evolution of sex, aggression, communication, etc) and there are no assignments, just 3 non-cumulative midterms and an exam. Tests and exams are multiple choice, fill in the blanks and short answer...not super easy but definitely not hard. All questions are fair and its pretty easy to 10+ this class.

thank you so much! If anyone else wants to elaborate on these courses or rant/advise about other courses then plz do!

I also took 3DD3 and hated it. Like you said, the prof is horrible. I went to the majority of classes but towards the end I stopped going, it was a waste of time. Tests and the exam were fair, but the notes he provides make it harder to understand because they don't make sense. But I don't like ecology anyways so this is probably why I just didn't enjoy the class overall.

I took 3B03 Neurobiological Mechanisms of Behaviour.. The first half of the semester was taught by Dr. Ullal and the other half was taught by Dr. Jacobs. If you've taken 2C03, you're familiar with Dr. Ullal's teaching style, which is exactly the way he teaches this course. He even used some slides from last year. The material was really interesting to learn. Dr. Jacobs focused on more of the biological aspect of behaviour (aka chemical synapses, synaptic plasticity, neurons, etc) so his section was definitely harder but manageable. His teaching style is similar to how he taught Bio 1A03 for my year, his testing is application-based. I actually ended up liking his material better. Evaluations consisted of two midterms, all short answer, but they give you a choice of questions to answer, which I really liked. We were required to do one group presentation about a chosen topic worth 20%, which was pretty easy. Overall, this was one of my favourite courses this semester and I recommend it.

I personally didn't take 3A03 but I have a few friends that did. I heard that it was relatively easy. I believe there were 2-3 midterms and some papers and an in-class exam which I think was an essay so there's lots of opportunities for marks. Not too sure about the actual content though. It was taught by Dr. Dej who in my opinion is a great prof so I'm sure she made the content interesting.

Life Sciecne 3B03: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Behaviour

This course was taught by two professors: Dr. Ullal and Dr. Jacobs. They are both excellent at teaching their respective lectures so teaching is not an issue in this course.
Course Breakdown:
Seminar (20%)
Midterm 1 (20%)
Midterm 2 (20%)
Final Exam (40%)

Dr. Ullal's section covered a lot of concepts from his other classes like Psych 2E03, Life Sci 2C03, Visual Neuroscience etc... So if you liked any of those courses, his material should be very easy to understand. His material is more clinical based as he teaches about the causes, pathology and clinical manifestations of many neurological disorders inculding Parkinson's and Huntington's. He also briefly covers visual neuroscience - similar to his 2E03 course, but not as in depth. You will learn about a few neurological pathways and circuitries (basal ganglia and cerebellum) and understand how certain neurological disorders effect these pathways.

Dr. Jacob's material is more difficult, but this is my opinion, others may have found it easier. He focusses much more on the molecular and cellular aspects of nurbiology. You will study the cellular basis of learning and memory as well as processes of nerve conduction (action potentials, resting potentials...). You will also learn about retinal circuitry in great detail.

The two midterms are very fair. If you do not prepare well, you will fail, but if you study every slide and attend the lectures you will find the midterms quite easy. The midterms are short answer and you are given a choice of which questions to answer. For example, you may be given 5 questions total and asked only to answer 4.

The seminar is a group project where you present concepts related to what you are learning in class. These go on throughout the semester from January to March and are quite easy. All you have to do is find a primary paper that relates to a certain topic (all topics are provided) and present the main findings and how it relates to the material learnt in class. Be sure to scan through the topics and choose the one you like early because they fill quickly. It is better to present early, but choose the topic you like because you understand it best.

The final exam is ALL short answer questions, just like the midterms. It is slightly more difficult than the midterms simply because of the amount of material you have to study (it is cumulative). It focuses more on Dr. Jacob's material, but Ullal's material still encompasses about 30% of the exam.

Overall, this is a very interesting course, but you must put in the work. It is not a bird course, but it is easy to do well if you commit to your studies.

Best of Luck and I hope you enjoy the course if you decide to take it!

Originally Posted by traveler10

does anyone know anything abt those new LifeSci courses? LifeSci 3A03, 3B03, 3C03, 3DD3, 3K03 ???????

i have to take 2....any ideas on which are any good (interesting + easy). Feel free to rant abt professors, hardships, useless textbooks

There are no course reviews on it.

I took 3A03. It was an easy and interesting course. We had 5 modules (5 different diseases) taught by different professors. There was a midterm for each module worth 15% each. For each module, there was also a paper that was about 500 words and an in-class essay worth. No exam!

I haven't taken any of the other courses but my friend took Life Science 3C03 and she said it was really easy and fair. The exam had no new material. There were 3 tests throughout the term and the same material was on the exam.

Life Sci 3A03.

As mentioned earlier, the course consisted of 5 modules, which can make the course rather inconsistent. The professor would present information over 3 classes and the fourth class would be the midterm and the cycle would repeat for the next module.

As a correction to the post above, each midterm was worth 12%. A comprehensive breakdown of the course can be found below. It is important to note that this course lacked an instructional assistant, resulting in much of the work burden being placed on Dr. Dej. As a result, receiving test marks were often delayed. Essays that were submitted in January are yet to be graded/posted on avenue to learn. This should be a non-issue for future classes, as the class of winter '11 were assured that an instructional assistant will be assigned to the course.

Please note there was no formal course outline posted. The course breakdown was ever-changing on the "News Announcement" of the course homepage. Below is the most recent post.

Rather than tying the bonus 5% to one module, your best test will be valued at +3% (15% total) and your best essay will be valued at +2% (8% total).

Five tests: 12% x 5 = 60 % plus 3% for the best grade

Four essays: 6% x 4 = 24% plus 2% for best grade

In-class essay: 9%

Evaluation: 2% will be provided for participating in the evaluation that is currently available.

Would appreciate it if anyone who took Life Sci 3K03 can provide some info about the course.

Thanks

Originally Posted by baworm

I also took 3DD3

Originally Posted by R633

Life Sciecne 3B03: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Behaviour

Originally Posted by Sameen

I took 3A03.

Originally Posted by scholes

Life Sci 3A03.

Thank you all for sharing!

Hope others can shed light on other courses or add their own experiences to this thread.

Bumpppppppppppppppppp pp

Any opinions on 3K03?

I took 3A03 and 3DD3. 3A03 was a wonderful course. It was interesting and easy to get a 11-12 in. Although Dr. Dej was very slow with the marking with this course, and we still dont have all our marks for this course. Very easy to get a 11 in this course with minimal effort.

3DD3 on the other hand was a pain in the butt. Kolasa was horrible and I would definitely avoid this guy. A lot of people took 3DD3 as a easy 11-12 course and barely made a 10. He mumbles in front of class and you get a headache 5 minutes after listening to him. The tutorials were a night mare as well with 40-50 people in each tutorial. If you can find another easy course, then take that instead.