Manson is really nice and she’s an engaging lecturer. She posts powerpoints on Collab, which is great, and you can use the powerpoints, textbook, and your notes on exams, which is even better. Most of my friends and I thought this class was a lot easier than BIOL 2100. One of the hardest parts was learning the vocabulary (especially in the second half of the semester when you have to know the names of different groups of plants and animals) and the plant reproduction unit, but otherwise it’s not too difficult. The textbook is boring, but it’s helpful if you read it. My main problem was that labs were long and I felt I could have gotten the same amount of information and understanding from spending a few minutes reviewing my notes or watching a video. But at least lab is an opportunity to review what you know. If you’re taking the class in-person, be sure to record lectures and copy the review questions that Manson asks during lecture (these review questions are helpful while studying).

I really liked Professor Manson as a person, but I really did not enjoy this class. I took this class before taking BIOL 2100, so I didn't have any prior experience with a bio class at UVA, but this class definitely was tricky for me. I took AP bio in high school, but I only really had familiarity with the topics covered on her first exam. Her lectures made me feel like I understood what was happening, but her exams were really, really hard for me. I am not the strongest test taker and her wording for questions resulted in me struggling for a good grade majority of the semester. She loves to put questions with options I, II, and III and then has you choose which options are correct and her wording is subpar and makes choosing the right answer hard. I really enjoyed the last unit which is basically anatomy and physiology for a couple major systems of the body and I was quite comfortable with the information which helped me on the last exam. For studying, I recommend recording her lectures, go over her powerpoints, and use the textbook more for areas that you are struggling with. I found the textbook less helpful for the second and third unit due to the fact the reading would give a lot of detail on specific species we did not need to know. Labs were easy but rarely did I find them helpful for understanding the information taught in class. I was lucky and had a nice TA who was a fairly easy grader, but lab experiences can be different depending on your TA. I attended several office hours and I don't really know how helpful they were in the long run. Definitely do her practice exams and focus on applying the big concepts to certain examples and understanding how the evolution of certain species resulted in different things. We had the option to take a cumulative final to drop our lowest test grade and, if you get that option, take advantage of it. Since each exam is 17.5% of your grade, it doesn't hurt to give yourself the opportunity to better your grade. If you put the time into the class your grade shouldn't be too bad, but there is a learning curve on understanding what she is looking for in order to succeed.

I really enjoyed this class and the professor. I did not take AP Bio in high school or the first semester of BIology at UVA but I still ended the class with an A. It is definitely doable. Focus your studying on the power points and try to relate and apply the concepts. Go to lecture and take notes. It helped me to keep a notebook, even though she gives you the slides. A lot of my friends would just sit and watch the lecture, do not do this. Take actual hand-written notes. I felt that was the major key to my success. Exams matter a lot and are rarely curved. Study a week in advance so that you can constantly review topics from each leture. I also read the textbook! Do this when you are reviewing for each test. If you are familiar with the concepts you will do fine on the tests. But again, her tests are not memorization based, more conceptually based. Apply what you learn and you will do great.

This semester was a struggle because of the online transition, but Dr. Manson made every effort to help make the class still enjoyable. The tests are a bit challenging, but as long as you complete the readings on time (and take notes), take good notes during lectures, and go to office hours, you should be fine.

So, I know a lot of people don't like her and honestly, I didn't at first either. She used TopHat instead of iClicker, the wording in her exam can be confusing, and labs are super boring. What changed my mind and had me ending up with an A+ was giving her a chance. Here's what helped: difficult exam questions that aren't straightforward can be solved with a process of elimination; if you're stuck, don't look for the right answer, reason through what most definitely can't be right. Start studying a week in advance. Go to office hours prepared with questions to ask—try to make connections between lectures and challenge her knowledge. Don't skip lecture and since she has the basics of what she wants to say on her powerpoint slides, print them out or just put those words and images in your notes somehow before lecture so you can focus on what she's saying and add that on. Skim through the textbook and try to take notes from there to supplement. I liked Dave more, but you can't make the professor your enemy and expect to get an A easily. Don't let these reviews scare you or else you're undermining your potential to do well.

I wouldn't recommend this class unless you're premed or a bio major or need to take it. I got an A in this class as well as 2100 but I preferred 2100 a lot more. The grading breakdown is similar to 2100 except there is one less exam and lab is 20%. The exams are worth 70% and there is 10% in mastering hw. I found Kittlesen to be a lot more entertaining and easier to pay attention to and his lecture difficulty was mimicked by the exams. Manson, however, lectured as if she were teaching a kindergarten class with really simple facts and basic concepts during lecture and then increased the difficulty level a lot on exams. Her lectures are very dry and to be honest it's her personality not the content. It's not the most interesting stuff but it isn't horribly boring either. You'll probably get sick of her cheesy jokes really soon! I would try and put in at least 5-10 hours of studying the week of the exam and you should be fine. The practice exams are useful in that they are practice questions but I never felt like the practice exam was indicative of the real exam's difficulty. Her practice exams are also 30 questions instead of full-length. This semester she gave us the opportunity to take the cumulative exam in order to replace our lowest exam grade if she does that next semester I would definitely try and take it, to be honest, it was the easiest of the 5 exams. I have taken 5 exams for her and I don't think I know the best way to prepare for them even now, but definitely focus on lecture notes and understanding the different questions on the practice exams, why the answer is correct, and what's wrong about other answer choices. Lab as everyone mentioned is entirely dependent on your TA. My friend's TA was really nice and would go over the questions before letting them submit so he got a 100% in the lab, my TA (Maira) was very rude and was a harsh grader. She marked us off for very silly reasons and even told us wrong answers when we asked her. Quizlet all of your HW and do all extra credit it will help you come to the end of the semester. It is definitely doable to get an A/A-. In fact if you work hard and do everything I think it's hard to get below a B+. I wouldn't read the textbook as lecture material is all that she tests on. She will say anything in the 'assigned' readings is fair game but that's BS, she didn't have a single question on the exam that wasn't discussed in lecture/lab, albeit some of her questions were really obscure and dumb. Her wording on exams leaves a lot to be desired as she words questions in very dumb ways so that there are multiple possible answers or the question isn't clear. Good luck, you've got this!

Professor Manson is an average professor. I never went to office hours, but she seemed a tad cold. This class was pretty difficult, more difficult that 2100 with Dave, I would say. Tests were much harder. She would make wording very vague and somewhat ambiguous. I got A's on all of the tests, but I felt like I very well could have got D's on all of them. Many of the questions don't really make sense or have two answers that seem like they could be correct. Labs are determined by your TA's. Some graded very easily and some where very hard on grading, which is simply luck of the draw. The concepts were almost completely new to me even after taking AP Bio. I didn't read before class, but I would recommend reading through the textbook at least once before the test. Also, go through her lectures because she pulls a lot of questions on tests from lectures. 2 or 3 questions on each test are lab based. Overall, I would say this class was slightly harder than Kittlesen's 2100, but very doable at the same time. She also offers up to 1.5% extra credit.

Dr. Manson is a nice and accommodating instructor, but I believe that her exam difficulty is not reflective of lecture content, most of which is regurgitated from the textbook. Part of this difficulty is how she intentionally speaks in broad terms using words such as "significant" and "associated" when lecturing so what she says is not incorrect but leaves lots of room for interpretation. These words were found on the test, too, making things a bit ambiguous, but evolution is generally an ambiguous subject as well. I found her course to be more challenging than BIOL 2100. I did poorly on the first test but improved two letter grades up on the second. You need to memorize what the textbook says about a concept and apply that sentence to other terms. Also, Dr. Manson likes to put those questions with multiple answers on her tests (I and II only vs I and III only), so you must know where everything falls in relation to one another.

THIS CLASS IS THE WORST with this professor at this time. Let me do a breakdown:
1. I only took this class as a pre-med requirement. (i.e I only took it because I had to, PLUS she seems to be the only Biol 2200 professor for the spring semester, so I couldn't even choose another teacher....very disappointing).
2. Grade Breakdown is very disproportionate: Tests=70%, Lab=20%, and Homework=10% (Exams are the biggest portion of your grade, and I bombed the first and third, so that brought down my entire average--also have a good understanding of the first and third topics: it really helps)
3. Manson's lectures make the material seem easy and doable, but the exams are terrible. Although the class is a pre-med weed out, and it would make sense that the material would be a little more difficult, I took 3 years of Biology in high school including some of the information in this class, and nothing could have prepared me for the structure of these exams. They are all only 40 questions, but terribly worded and inane with nit-picky information Manson did not elucidate on in lecture.
4. That being said, this is how to prepare yourself for this class: 1. RECORD LECTURES (a lot of the stupid things she said in class I thought she said just off-handed or for fun, but were concepts you needed to understand in depth for the exam. 2. Skim the textbook before class (it helps give you a background on the information), 3. the class focuses HEAVILY on Ecology (if this isn't your strong suit like me, you'll have to teach yourself the material, 4. ONLY GO TO OFFICE HOURS IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS (contrary to popular opinion, listening to other people's questions doesn't help you understand the information, or at least it didn't help me! 5. Watch explanation videos online (i.e Crash Course /Bozeman Science) to really comprehend complex processes that Manson glosses over in lecture.
Final Point: Although Professor Manson clearly had a great passion for the ecological subjects she teaches, her extremely difficult exams, poor assistance, and general apathy for her students' numerical success made this class very difficult to enjoy.
I got an A+ in homework and Lab, so really what was extremely difficult were the exams: additionally, although some of the lab information is occasionally on the exams, the 2 hour labs are usually a waste of time and tie in poorly to the class material.
**Tip: focus on understanding concepts and memorizing definitions, rather than memorizing everything because you'll be asked to really "apply knowledge" on the exams rather than know random facts. Trust me, don't take this class unless you need to, or if you actually like ecology.

I would not recommend taking this class unless you need to. Professor Manson is a pretty nice woman and she is respected for her own research on insects, but she is a horrible teacher. Unlike 2100 she actually has a lot of words in her powerpoints to take notes from but she basically just reads off them so you would almost be better off just reading the powerpoints on your own at your own speed. Her tests are unreasonably difficult (she probably made the last two harder out of suspicion for people cheating but that screws over anybody who doesn't cheat). Definitely read the textbook and make sure you memorize terms. She acts like the tests are application based but if you don't know the specific terms you are screwed. Honestly wouldn't be a bad idea to read the textbook chapters before her lectures too, because she her slides ( and therefore her lectures) assume that you are able to memorize terms and their meanings immediately after they're defined which can make portions of lecture harder to follow.