John Swaddle - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Professor: John Swaddle

Department: Biology

College: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIOL204
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Swaddle does his best to make the pre-med weeder course manageable for students who do not plan on going to med school.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIOL204
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Swaddle is THE BEST. He was kind and engaging during lectures. Really wants to help you succeed. Accessible outside of class. Don't worry about reading the textbooks, listening to his lectures is enough! He runs review sessions before every midterm and posts every single lecture online. A true gem! And you've gotta love his accent!!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIOL204
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I LOVE professor Swaddle! He is super interesting and gives real examples to the concepts he teaches. He is also humorous and really wants his students to succeed. I hope to take more classes with him in the future!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIOL312
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Swaddle is the best. If you take Evolution of Organisms, you'll have to read The Selfish Gene and write a four page paper on it, so don't take the class if you're not up for that. Lectures are interesting, and he posts the recordings online.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO312
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Love Swaddle; he's such an interesting lecturer. I found the material to be somewhat easy and intuitive but the exams were difficult and mostly just memorization. You're also graded harshly if something you said on the test wasn't exactly worded the same way in the answer key. Don't get the textbook, just the Dawkins book and go to review sessions.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you're going to take BIOL220, take it with Swaddle. It's not actually too hard... just show up for lecture, take good notes, and know those notes well and you'll be fine. I didn't use the textbook and got an A, but you'll need it with MasteringBio for BIOL225. His assessments are not easy, but it's an obtainable A through steady work.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Definitely will be one of your hardest classes in general and seems to be designed specifically to trick you. You can study the material over and over again, but up to a certain point, you can only rely on excellent critical thinking skills. You will only get an A if you are the smartest of W&M students.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He was very clear and concise in his lectures and made this tough class not so tough. He is one of those professors that leaves a great and lasting impression on his students. If you go to class and keep up with the powerpoints and quizzes, you should be fine. Not an easy class but Professor Swaddle is definitely the most fit to teach it.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Swaddle makes Biology interesting! He is very caring and learned every student's name. He will go out of his way to help you succeed if you reach out to him. Every lecture was engaging and enjoyable. The assessments, midterms, and final are quite difficult though and you will have to put in a lot of studying, but it is well worth it.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This professor and class were really great! Lectures were engaging and entertaining. I really enjoyed it even though I do not plan to go farther in biology or related fields.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO220
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I love John P Swaddle so very much. This man is hilarious, and an amazing lecturer. It feels like he's teaching you even though he's standing in front of a 200 person lecture hall. His clarity, his style, and his knowledgability is overall extraordinary. He also has an adorable British accent.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you study his lectures (which he posts online), you can do great on the quizzes. The quizzes make up the majority of the grade and aren't too hard - I studied the night before and day of for all of them and did fine. The final was a killer though and dropped my grade pretty badly.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Really enjoyed this class. His presentations were clear and what he expected of us was well iterated. He is a challenging grader, but is very open about negotiating regrades. Challenging but helpful; would definitely recommend.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: 220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

he looks nice but grades hard

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Swaddle is by far the best professor I have ever had. He is hilarious, helpful, and has a killer accent. He wants to make sure that you truly understand Biology, and is adamant about getting students to his office hours. If you do your work, come to class, and do well on his quizzes, it is anything but a weed-out class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Swaddle is helpful and wants everyone to succeed, but it's still easy to tell that the class is designed to be a weed-out class. Be sure to complete all assigned readings on time, take good notes, and constantly review the material. Even with preparation, it was sometimes hard to understand what exactly the tests and exams were asking for.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Swaddle was one of my favorite professors from this semester. He definitely knows what he is talking about and he made every effort to keep the class engaged. His assessments are tough, but he reviews every single one with the whole class to make sure everyone understands the content. I would not hesitate to take another class with him.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was definitely designed as a weed out class. The examsweekly quizzes at times were designed to trick you and didn't represent knowledge of the material. It was a very hard class. Swaddle is a great lecturer and a good professor but the course itself is just very frustrating because the topics are pretty basic. DON'T TAKE THIS AS A GER.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Intro Bio is a tough class. I don't recommend taking it simply to fulfill a science GER unless you have a significant amount of background knowledge in the subject of biology. Weekly quizzes are designed to help you study throughout the semester rather than cramming for the midtermfinal. Be able to apply concepts to specific examples from text.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIOL220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Must take Swaddle! If you have taken AP Bio, very manageable class. Weekly quizzes can be tricky and the midtermfinal are intensive with high level thinking required. Don't expect to do well just by memorizing concepts - need to apply them to the big picture. That being said, learned so much from the class. Swaddle is an excellent teacher.