BIOL 3010

Professor Parichy is extremely knowledgeable but his lectures are quite difficult to follow - a bunch of the topics at the beginning of the semester could have used a lot more clarification in lecture than they got, and he seemed to assume we knew a lot more about genetics going into the class going in than we did. Additionally, his study questions were not particularly helpful, and exams often featured several questions regarding specific details from examples in-class. The textbook was only minimally related to the course material and isn't worth buying or renting. I personally found his half of the class a lot harder than Doug's, but your mileage may vary.

Idk what the guy below is talking about, but the study questions that they posted were really helpful. They basically told us what was going to be on the test. Just go to office hours, where they go over the study questions, and you'll be fine. Honestly, this was probably the easiest semester of genetics in like the past 7 years. Dave was the man, very knowledgeable and had a nice humor. Doug was also very nice, though I thought his half of the class was less interesting, as he talked more about bioethics. Dave talked more about cellular genetics. All in all, the people that took this semester of genetics lucked out on professors tbh.

Dave was the man, though the material takes time to work through, its a very doable class. Dave was very clear cut, concise and knew exactly what he was going to talk about every day. Doug was a bit more scattered, and the exams showed the differences between the two. You either know Dave’s material or you don’t. With Doug, you can know the material and still have difficulty interpreting the point of the question. I learned a lot though. Worth taking.

Great professors. don't buy the textbook.

This class was half taught by Parichy & half Galloway. Parichy was great; even though all his lectures were pre-recorded and I couldn't attend office hours, his slides are very complete and you will always know what you need to know for exams. His exams were very straightforward and not difficult if you studied. Galloway is a completely different story. Her lectures were a lot harder to understand, and sometimes she will stop and say "I didn't explain that very well". I agree with other reviewers that her exams were cryptic; I studied far more for Galloway's first exam and did 20 pts worse than my highest score on Parichy's. I really wish the bio department would choose one professor for this course because it is super disorienting to have to change your study methods halfway through the semester.

I took this class with Parichy and Galloway with 4 equally weighted exams. Both of these professors have completely different exam writing styles, so prepared to be disoriented. Parichy's exams are straightforward and direct to the point -- it's clear that he isn't trying to trick you at all. Exam averages are pretty high (85ish). Didn't need the textbook. Do the study questions and the section is borderline easy. The transition is something else though, so I recommend getting a free copy of the textbook for the latter half with Galloway. #tCF2020

The professor for this course switches halfway through the semester. Because I took this course virtually during COVID, exams were open note but definitely not easy. Parichy's lectures were prerecorded and often went over time, but he was as concise as possible and generally his lectures were solidly related to the exam content. For his half of the course, don't bother with the textbook unless you are confused about a topic he mentions in lecture -- but even then, going to office hours is a better bet.

Professor Parichy is such an awesome instructor. He has a lot of knowledge and he is very effective in teaching genetics. I personally went to his office hour a lot and he really wants to help students. Exams are difficult but manageable if you do transcripts like any other biology class. I definitely missed him for the second half of the semester which was taught by Professor Galloway. #tCF2020

This was the most reasonable biology class I've taken at UVA. The assessments were fair, quickly graded, and I can confidently say I learned material. Dave really wants to help his students and understands he makes mistakes (he would let us dispute exam questions and remove unreasonable ones.) After each class (which you could participate asynchronously to my delight) he published extremely helpful study questions. I used the compiled questions as a study guide and this allowed me to do well on exams. While the grade is composed of just exams, there's quite a few of them so they aren't weighted as heavily.

I was really worried about taking this class and am so glad I took it with Dave. He's funny, able to explain difficult concepts clearly, and definitely cares about his students.

Note: the textbook is optional and I didn't feel like it was necessary (unless you prefer to learn via reading)

Dave is very clear cut and is very effective in teaching genetics. This semester, I believe we were lucky to not have to switch to another professor halfway through. Dave's exams were difficult but fair if you studied hard and understood the material. There were some questions on each exam that the class overall did not get correct but Dave was super flexible in giving points back alongside being aware of his own mistakes. He also allowed us to submit regrades for questions if there was ambiguity given the nature of multiple choice exams. Overall, super reasonable guy and has a good sense of humor in my opinion. Would recommend Dave if you plan on taking the class!