Xuhua Xia - University of Ottawa

Professor: Xuhua Xia

Department: Science

College: University of Ottawa

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Awesome prof, would definitely take again. Doesn't hammer on the details, wants you to know the major ideas behind the lectures. Gives sample questions for the exams which are extremely helpful. If you can take him 1000000% recommend. You won't regret it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is clearly very smart and passionate, the material itself is straight forward, and the tests are very fair, but his lectures are really confusing and hard to follow. He expects you have a solid background in statistics (which makes things hard), and i wish he'd put everything important on the slides bc if you miss what he says you're screwed

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BPS4104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The lectures overall can be confusing and seem a bit aimless, but the topics that are necessary to know for evaluation are clearly emphasized. If you pay attention, Dr. Xia's classes are fairly easy to do well on with much less effort than the vast majority of biology classes. He is also very receptive to questions and is quite helpful.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Go to the lectures as he clearly explains what is important. I took this as my science elective and it was definitely the best decision. It required less work than my mandatory courses and the practice problems helped immensely.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lectures were very interesting and easy to take notes on. Do the practice questions they're so helpful for the midterms.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BPS4104
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Xia fails to clearly communicate all the clear knowledge he possess to the students. I sometimes feel he just expects the students to understand a concept although his explanations are all over the place. He talks to quick and fails to really engage his audience and he consistently recycles his slide from last year not adding anything new

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• 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:

ASK QUESTIONS if you don't understand. Prof Xia is very helpful, but does move fast during the course, assuming you have the skills required to apply the mathematical concepts correctly without going step-by-step in class. The textbook is USELESS for explaining anything. Slides are quite busy, but study what he tells you to! Overall, v recommended!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

My best advice would be to go into this class with a relaxed approach. Review major concepts after every class, but dont fret the details: he doesn't test them. If you mess up the major concepts, you lose lots of marks on the test. People that complain here didn't understand key learning goals that he hinted at throughout the course.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• 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:

I'll be honest, I didn't do well on the first midterm, but once I went to talk to him he was really helpful in explaining concepts. His review sessions also help clear up what the main focus will be on the tests. Make sure to take good notes in class as the slides can be confusing without explanation.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Would not take again. He cares about us, he wants us to do well, he gives lots of hints about the exams, granted. I just cannot get over the extremely short midterms and no marks for showing your work. The slides are also TERRIBLE. If this class is mandatory, go to the review classes and don't punch the wrong button in your calculator

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His slides seem chaotic/all over the place, so if you skip class it's really difficult to figure out what is important and what is not. He is available to help during office hours and was really helpful if you didn't understand what he was saying during lectures. He holds review sessions before exams, which definitely saved me at least once!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO3120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice prof, but emails the entire class to complain about bad reviews on this site. In a fairness, didn't know what direction he was trying to go with when teaching, but reading the textbook chapters got me an A.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The course material is very bland. The professor explains the content well, but has an accent which made it a bit difficult for me to understand (but English is also my second language so that factors into it). The exams are very short (final was 4 pg) but it is easy to do well if you pay attention in lectures and review the content.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Wonderful class! It was mandatory for me, however I would have taken it regardless. The material is very interesting, applications based and easy, but you still have to put in effort! A lot of people did not do very well simply because they assumed they didnt have to study/review it too much. The prof loves to help in any way he can. I recommend.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: NA4
• 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:

Dr. Xia is a very knowledgable professor. He is also very hard working and friendly. In order to succeed in his course, you have to study hard and ask questions. In all honestly, I learnt more with Dr. Xia than any other prof in my undergrad. He teaches his students to be more independent and appreciate research in the science field.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO3102
• 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:

Dr. Xia is an awesome prof! This was the first class I took with respect to Molecular genetics and I'm loving it. He keeps the class interesting by giving us background and providing real world application, which is extremely helpful for all us newbies to the field. His midterms are also very fair, study what he tells you to, and you're golden!!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BPS4104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Xia is a great professor and one of my favourite. It was a pleasure taking his course. He is really passionate about what he teaches and is very knowledgeable in it. He has an accent but you get used to it and it's not as bad as other people make it out to be. He is really wise and I have great respect for him. Fantastic professor

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BPS4104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very hard to understand. don't expect yourself to get used to his pronunciation, drop the course if you still don't get it after the or four course, cause it will not get better. Not very helpful in class, but if you have the old stuff from previous years (notes...) it may be helpful, cause following him in class is confusing!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BPS4104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I am well acquainted with this professor, especially out of class. He has a mild accent but I may have just gotten used to it. Is very nice and you can talk to him expecting a good answer. His course is pretty hard, however, what's the point of an easy course? You're there to learn.