Alan Kelly - University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Professor: Alan Kelly

Department: Biology

College: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of my favorite classes I have taken here at the UO. It is perfect for students who are interested in biology, especially cancer, but are not necessarily Bio majors. Alan is a fantastic professor. He knows how to teach this material well without making it too difficult for an intro-level course. The guest lectures were also awesome. Thanks Alan!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Alan is a fantastic professor! If you have the chance, definitely take his class. He's engaging, knowledgable, and makes the material accessible for people who might have a difficult time understanding it otherwise. I would take his class again in a heartbeat!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan is an amazing prof! His lectures are engaging and efficient. He doesn't just try to fill the time during lecture; he comes well prepared and uses the time well. The tests are hard but if needed he curves the grade. The lab and the homework are both helpful to reinforce material learned in class. And there's no textbook!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO123
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Fairly interesting professor with great PowerPoint slides. He is pretty funny, knowledgable, and keeps lectures interesting. The TAs graded homeworks fairly harshly. Go to class and study for tests and you should get a B or higher.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Kelly is an amazing professor! He's hilarious and engaging! I highly recommend this course. There is a lot of information to absorb, but just attend the lectures and read the chapters (no textbook!!) and you'll do great. Prof Kelly is also very helpful if you go to his office hours. Incredible teacher of a fascinating topic!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Easily the smartest human I have ever encountered. Material is really difficult and there's a lot of it, really hard to catch up if you miss a class. Requires you to memorize and understand a lot. Tests and quizzes are really difficult, be prepared to study a ton. He curves the class at the end based on total points which really helped.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan is INCREDIBLE, by far the best professor I've ever had, that being said his exams are TOUGH, they are fill in the blank, short answer, and multiple choice and they are hard! I studied A LOT and still averaged C's on the exams. The homework is also graded toughly. iClickers are used each class and guest lectures are ALL on the exams.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO123
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This biology class is so much fun, and so easy. Honestly if you come to class like 80% of the time and pay attention in lectures, you'll do great. He allows a full page of notes for the both midterms, and then one page front and back for the final. He's extremely helpful and works with students to make sure they get the best grade possible.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO214
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan Kelly is a super nice guy and he works very hard to make the class really engaging, interesting, and understandable, and Labs engaging and relevant. Make no mistake; this class is demanding, and the exams are difficult and you will be crunched for time taking them, but the course is doable. He also lets you drop an exam which is nice.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

While the class is probably one of the most difficult I've taken, going to his office hours really helped clarify how to do test problems and concepts that were confusing in class. Tests are pretty long for the time you're given but he gives you the option to drop a midterm! Overall the class was very interesting but hard and he's a really nice guy

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan is a good lecturer, great guy, and is totally there to provide help to those who seek it out. The course was super interesting, and lectures are set up in ways that are student-friendly with clicker questions and demos. Tests are similar in style to Mark Carrier's, but so long that I found them impossible to finish in 50 minutes.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SEVERAL123
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

What an amazing professor. Has very expectations for students, but gives them ample tools with which to succeed. He can be frank and seem unwelcoming, but is very accommodating to the students who reach out and who make an effort. He even memorizes all his students names!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BI123
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved Alan as a teacher. He made things very interesting and there was quite a bit of class participation which was great. Homework he assigned was not very hard, but the tests were fairly hard. However, if you go to class and take good notes you should be fine. It was cool how he would come to the discussions- very personable and approachable.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan loves teaching biology and is an enthusiastic and engaging professor.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

EXTREMELY vague, not afraid to fail half of his 200 student class. You will have no idea what your grade is all term, BB doesn't give actual grade. Seems uninterested in students who are struggling. Caters to traditional students, nontrads: good luck, you'll need it. Doesn't prepare you for exams. Gave a 9 page exam in 45 minutes & no one finished.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was my first class with Alan, I can't wait to take his Microbiology lab!!! Alan is a tough instructor, gives difficult tests, and has some iClicker questions that really make you think. There is there is no homework and no research paper. Just make sure you can do the problems from the practice packet backwards, forwards, and upside down.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The most needlessly difficult professor that I had ever had, and I already have a science degree. He gives a 9 page exam in a 50 minute class and tests on material that was not discussed or covered in lecture. You are expected to learn the challenging material on your own. His attitude discourages, instead of promoting learning.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BI331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Allen is one of the best biology teachers I have had at the U of O. In addition to 331 I had him in 214. If you put the time in and do the work, then you will get the most from his classes.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alan is awesome! He made this class incredibly interesting and was very straightforward about his expectations for the class. He made a point to learn EVERYONE'S names throughout the term, and was an absolute pro at it. I would love to work with him again, he was spectacular.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BI214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the lectures or quizzes. The exams are ridiculously challenging. A master at coming up with novel problems that cover the material. The exam questions are hard to interpret. The final was 15 pages long, and the most brutal/saddening exam I have ever taken.