Terri Rife - James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Professor: Terri Rife

Department: Biology

College: James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Rife's lectures are hard to follow and the tests are very challenging and confusing compared to the baseline material discussed in class. Most questions are not conceptual they are applications so make sure you know everything forwards, backwards, inside and out. Homework and attendance will save your grade!!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO214
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

BIO 140: I recommend not taking her class if you can avoid. It's incredibly frustrating. All her tests are phrased really weird and the answers are confusing, but when you try to ask for clarification she won't give you a straight answer. DO NOT BUY THE TEXTBOOK. It's expensive and you can buy the code for learning curve which gives you it online.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

She's a very nice lady, although her teaching methods are a little off. Overall her slides are easy to follow and clicker questions in lecture are for attendance. If you want to succeed on exams make sure to go to the review sessions and take the practice exams. IF/AT group quizzes are good grade-boosters especially if your group is smart.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Most boring lecture I've had this semester. She doesn't explain things well and if you have a question you might have to wait a while for her to realize. You'll need a clicker for this class. Before every test there are group quizzes which can be easy 100s.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She is very enthusiastic about the subject but she doesn't seem to know how to teach it very well. She seems to think that the class already knows what she's talking about so she doesn't go very in-depth on topics and tends to rush through things. She's a bit odd and maybe has a theatre minor because she was pretty theatrical throughout the class

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Tries to make lectures engaging but honestly was so boring. Found myself wondering off too many times. Requires textbook and lots of reading. All quizzes and homework are online, tests are hard

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Rife is extremely sweet but you will be so confused unless you have taken an advanced biology class before. The more she tries to explain, the more confused you are. The questions on tests and quizzes are nearly impossible to understand. Your best shot is REALLY reading the book.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Rife is EXTREMELY unorganized and over explains everything, making all topics extremely unclear and difficult to learn. She is sweet and obviously knows a lot about biology but I DO NOT RECOMMEND her class. Quizzes are extremely hard and tests aren't much easier. Her lectures are so unorganized I didn't even know what we were covering most days

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

If you did not take any type of advanced placement biology classes in high school you will probably have to drop the class. She is very disorganized and does not lecture on what is important. She gives quizzes that are nearly impossible on purpose to "prepare you for the exam." Her demonstrations also make no sense

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Rife is a super sweet lady; you can tell she really loves Biology, however she tends to go in depth about the wrong things during lecture. Honestly, if you take good notes from the powerpoints, you will do very well on the tests. I only went to class to get clicker points. The quizzes are much harder than the exams, but go to PASS for help!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO214LAB
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She is the most disorganized teacher I have had. She has a problem with over explaining simple things, and makes lab take way longer than it should. Not necessarily a bad prof, just boring and slow.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO214LAB
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Rife was a great lab professor. She is really nice and willing to help. She does have a quiet voice so make sure to pay attention. She doesn't give any tests the whole semester besides the final exam, but there are weekly quizzes (you are allowed to use a sheet of notes though). One full lab report the whole semester also.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO214LAB
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She is the best lab professor Ive had yet. Definitely take her. She cares so much about making cellmolecular lab understandable and tangible to her students.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Worst class I've ever taken. Rife is unorganized, confusing, terrible at explaining things, spells + writes like a 10 yr old, grades unfairly, and is the worst prof I've had at JMU. Not remotely like 214; all about techniques. Don't take this unless you want to go to grad school for research! Idk people like her even make it to grad school.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I was really excited about this class and it turned out to be a huge disappointment. It wasn't necessarily that the material was hard, but Dr. Rife made exams difficult and her grading was horrendous. She made things that shouldn't have been difficult concepts confusing.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GSCI165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Take home tests, hands out powerpoints. Material is easy but you still have to go to class cause attendance is part of the grade. Make sure you get to class on time. She's nice and more than willing to help you if you respect her class and actually pay attention.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GSCI166
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

the class is easy but you have to show up because attendance is part of the grade. There is lots of busy work but its not hard. She treats students kind of like little kids instead of teaching us how to be teachers of little kids. She does give you lots of resources for when you are a teacher

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GSCI165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

take home tests, but have a lot of information on them. labs are interesting but boring. attendance is part of grade. overall a very easy class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GSCI165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

she's a really nice professor, the labs are actually interesting and all of her tests are take home!! U DEFINATLY SHOULD TAKE HER, U WOULD BE CRAZY NOT TO!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GSCI165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The in-class activities are a breeze, but she teaches way to in depth. Her first test wasn't that bad, but her second test has way too much information on it. Its cumulative and with all her in depth material, its crazy to study. nice lady, but way too much work for a one credit class