Jan Dvorak - University of California Davis

Professor: Jan Dvorak

Department: TBD

College: University of California Davis

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

As long as you read the textbook you will get a good grade. I did not read as much and it showed. My advice is to print the notes and study the topics in detail with the book.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Read the relevant parts of the textbook, some of the concepts that are tested are not even covered in lecture. Go to the TA office hours, the TA are a great resource. Hardest part of the class is the fact that you're graded on very few things (2 HW, 2 midterm, 1 final) thats it.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• 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 don't have his past midterms/ finals, don't even try. He can literally put anything on the midterm. For example, he will give about about 30+ diagrams for the midterm filled with tiny words and he'll blank them out. He is sometimes hard to understand but he is passionate. His practice test was similar to mt1. Read his annotations!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Can be a bit confusing at first but a great choice when you get used to him. Go over his podcasts and notes. He is the easiest BIS 101 professor because a third of his classes gets an A, and only people who write nonsense on exams fail. That's a very generous curve. Make sure you pay attention to his notes and examples, exams come directly from it

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's an amazing guy. He really cares about his students. However, his tests are hard. He annotates his lecture notes which will save your life. But you are required to know a lot of photos for tests that are in your notes. You have to work for your grade. YouTube Videos and his notes helped me through his class!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dvorak is a really good professor. He creates lecture notes and will then annotate them and post them so you can write on them in class but also go back and see his summaries after the lecture. Everything on his test are straight from the annotated notes. I will say he can give too much information sometimes. His tests could be harder, they're fair

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are very boring. His notes are mostly figures and aren't very good. I suggest reading the textbook. His exams are nothing like the practice exams. Don't work on practice problems too much because I did it and not a single one of them was on the second midterm.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Took him spring 2016 and heard he curved and midterms were easy. WRONG!!! do not take him if you want an A. He changed his grading policy and curved 3% even when average was a 67-70%. Highly not recommend if you don't want a C or B!! Take any other professor.....

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Terrible professor. Super hard to get an A. If you want an A do not take him.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIS1O1
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures can be slow at times and them fast at times. But he only tests you on the stuff he spends a lot of time going over. Just memorize the lecture notes and do the practice problems to prepare for the exams. Going to lecture and reading the textbook helped me grasp the concepts and understand the material, so I would recommend that.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dvorak was my favorite professor this past quarter! His lectures are information intensive, but everything on midterms are pulled directly from lecture notes. You know exactly how to study to get an A! He's really helpful in office hours and will take a plethora of questions back to back. Easiest and also most rewarding A! You'll learn a lot!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Some days hard to follow but other days you'll feel like he zapped information into your brain. He's a jolly old man and very dedicated to students. Print out all his notes and know EVERYTHING. You'll end up with about 400 pages. Midterms aren't bad, final around same difficulty but three times as much material. Can pull anything from notes

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He has a light accent. Homework 20 points, 2 midterms at 100pts each, and final 180 points for a total of 400 points. 360A+, 330A. Study the annotated lecture notes, and listen to the podcasts after lecture. Test are all free response/short answer. The final was rough. Overall he's an amazing professor. Easiest grader for BIS101. Test avgs 75%

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I have to don't that his accent makes the class a little bit difficult to understand but definitely it's not impossible to do well in this class. Professor Devork does care about his students and is generous in grading. If you study his annotated lectures, attend OH, and do his practice exams, you will be OK.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I really liked Professor Dvorak. I thought his corny genetics metaphors were the best and they still help me remember. His accent was a little difficult at first but I definitely got used to it and was fine after about the second lecture. Study his annotated lecture notes and you will be golden. When I took it I had the best TAs ever so that helped

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I love love this professor, He is sooo soo kind. If you have a question just ask because he is willing to clarify the question for you. Very nice guy and professor. I don't trust most of these reviews! Follow the Lec notes, attend OH's, ask questions. * Attempt Midterm Regrades, Cause the ProfTA's are very generous with regrades!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I love this guy so far. Great professor! His notes are especially helpful and he follows the textbook pretty carefully!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dvorak truly cares for his student, but he just can't teach. OHs are always packed. TAs are helpful sometimes. DL are useless. No recommend because he might be your GPA killer.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Just memorize the slides. Lecture was pretty useless, hard to understand.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIS101
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great powerpoints, amazing TA's. Need to study and really grasp all the lecture slides. easy B hard A. one of the better bis 101 teachers. 2midterms 1 final. slight curve at end of class.