I found this course interesting and easy, Dr.Dudley knows her stuff but has some of the worst writing i have ever seen, that is pretty much the only bad side of this course the material you learn is very interesting and can be applied to everyday aspects of life. 60% of the course is lab, and 40%...

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I agree, this course can be enjoyable if you put in the effort. The only drawback is that you have to be dedicated to the labs or else the material will build up fast. They test you on the material you learned during the lab at the end of each lab (pass/fail based) but the TA's generally help you out.
This is a course where you will benefit greatly by asking questions and making sure that before you leave each lab, you understand everything that was shown to you. This makes it WAY easier than taking it home and trying to figure it out yourself..

I also had Dr. Cameron who was a very agreeable person keeping the lectures light and enjoyable, and like others have said before, gives hints about the exam/labs/tests!

I had this course w/ Dr. Cameron in Fall of 2012 and overall it was a pretty easy course. The 2 midterms are online and worth 15% each and it is easy to do very well on both. One the first midterm, the class average was very high like most people got over 100% because of the bonus questions included. For the second midterm, she didn't include bonus questions to balance out the high average of the first midterm. However, people still did well, most people got over 80%. The labs were straightforward as you walk around the stations, take notes and draw pictures of various things. Make sure you bring a camera and take a picture of everything especially the scanning electron micrograph images. The exam for the course was worth 40% and it was very easy since most the questions including the short answers were similar to or the exact question to the ones on the previous years exam (she posts an older version of the exam as a study aid on avenue). The only 'hard' thing in the course was studying for the lab exam as there is so much material to know, but my advice would be study all the pictures and review the main concepts in lab notes. All the images in the lab exam were images in previous labs and the questions regarding them were not to hard to answer. Overall, the lab exam wasn't to hard, the class average was around 75% for this.

Originally Posted by Swampis

I had this course w/ Dr. Cameron in Fall of 2012 and overall it was a pretty easy course. The 2 midterms are online and worth 15% each and it is easy to do very well on both. One the first midterm, the class average was very high like most people got over 100% because of the bonus questions included. For the second midterm, she didn't include bonus questions to balance out the high average of the first midterm. However, people still did well, most people got over 80%. The labs were straightforward as you walk around the stations, take notes and draw pictures of various things. Make sure you bring a camera and take a picture of everything especially the scanning electron micrograph images. The exam for the course was worth 40% and it was very easy since most the questions including the short answers were similar to or the exact question to the ones on the previous years exam (she posts an older version of the exam as a study aid on avenue). The only 'hard' thing in the course was studying for the lab exam as there is so much material to know, but my advice would be study all the pictures and review the main concepts in lab notes. All the images in the lab exam were images in previous labs and the questions regarding them were not to hard to answer. Overall, the lab exam wasn't to hard, the class average was around 75% for this.

Do you think a 12 would be very possible in this course??

Originally Posted by drslayer987

Do you think a 12 would be very possible in this course??

Yes, is it possible, I got a 12 in it.

Originally Posted by drslayer987

Do you think a 12 would be very possible in this course??

Yep, definitely. There was quite a few 12s in my year (took it in 2010/2011), according to Dr. Cameron.

What version of the textbook can be used?

Originally Posted by skk1

What version of the textbook can be used?

There's only one version of the textbook.. Plant Biology, Smith A.M., G. Coupland, L. Dolan, N. Harberd, J.
Jones, C. Martin, R. Sablowski & A. Amey. Garland Science, NY, NY.

in terms of relevant info and what you actually learn, this is probably the best 2nd year bio. the stuff from the labs will especially stick with you.

Originally Posted by Silver

in terms of relevant info and what you actually learn, this is probably the best 2nd year bio. the stuff from the labs will especially stick with you.

Agreed. Not to mention that Dr. Cameron is one of those profs that actually cares about her students and really does want you to do well. She's super nice and approachable, although I admit that the material was dry at times. It was totally worth it in the end because the labs were actually pretty interesting and different from any other course.

PS- If the course is still the same, you get to visit the greenhouse! Pretty much like the only way to get in there and the course helped to get that off my to-do checklist .

If anyone has taken both this course and BIO 3FF3 (evolution course taught by Dr. Stone)... which one would you recommend? Which one is easier to get a higher grade in and which one has a lighter workload??

Thanks a lot!

How can one achieve a 12? in terms of studying, taking notes, labs, textbook?

Originally Posted by skk1

How can one achieve a 12? in terms of studying, taking notes, labs, textbook?

bro. questions like these...shouldnt be asked

Fall 2013 with Dr Cameron

- She read off the slides, so it wasn't necessary to go to lectures. However, I went to lectures because I thought the lectures were really boring and I wouldn't review the material after class

- The labs were fun. You go into the lab, look at the pretty flowers and take photos. For some labs, It wasn't necessary to stay the full 3-hours. However, the TAs were really knowledgeable and would clarify material (labs+lectures)

- Quizzes. I thought the quizzes were difficult. There were lecture material + lab material + questions based on microscope slides (everything looks the same!!). I know most people recommend doing the quizzes with a partner, however, I got a better mark doing the quiz by myself. Be sure to study the material + lab photos before attempting the quiz.

- Greenhouse assignment. This was pretty easy, don't freak out. Just go through your lab photos (label the photos as you go through the labs), visit the greenhouse and use google

- The final exam was similar to the practice exam she posts (Dr. Cameron told us that she does repeat questions), so be sure to go through it.

Took this course in Fall 2016 with Dr. Cameron. Overall, this course is a bit dull, but made me fascinated about plants. Dr. Cameron literally reads every word off of the slides, but sometimes does provide some clarity about confusing topics. She seems approachable, but will also shoot down stupid questions. The course breakdown is as follows:
20% Lab Tests (2 10% non-cumualtive tests)
15% Lab Assignments (Weighed differently)
20% Midterm
45% Final Exam

Every week, there was a 3 hour lab, however, very rarely would you be there for the entire 3 hours. This was probably one of the best lab courses I have taken so far, as the labs are pretty chill, and not rushed. You do experiments like trying to to grow broccoli from a tiny piece, to extracting chloroplasts and looking at they through a microscope. The lab assignments are really straight forward, and are very easy to do well on. The Lab test were slightly more difficult. These tests were just multiple choice, however, they were bell ringers. Make sure to actually study for these, or you'll just be looking at plants for about 45 minutes. Questions ranged from the difference between 2 families of plants, to where certain seeds came from. Overall, just great lab.

Both the Midterm and the Exam consisted of M/C questions, and short answers. For the midterm however, it wasn't the usually scantron M/C. Each question comprised of 4-7 answers,. Usually there would be 3 single answers, and the rest would be: All of the above, A and B, A and C, B and C etc. Overall, I didn't do terrible on the midterm, but i definitely should have studied more. Make sure you fully understand everything in the powerpoint slides. The final exam wasn't too bad, considering that she posted a practice exam before. She also told us the long short answer question, which was great.

In Conclusion, this course seemed dull in the beginning, but I learned to love it, and I am going to take more plant bio classes in the future. Just try to go to class, and make sure to understand EVERYTHING!!!