Valley Stewart - University of California Davis

Professor: Valley Stewart

Department: TBD

College: University of California Davis

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I'm not sure why everyone likes him so much. I was taking ochem that quarter and it was easier than MIC102 with him lol. I thought his tests were similar to practice tests yes, but because there's so much random info I think this class is hard to study for. And in office hours he was just rude to students, like making fun of them and laughing??

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• 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:

Dr. Stewart has nice lectures and tests are based off of the slides. Also, his tests are similar to the practice tests

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Stewart is very nice and gives a good lecture. He posted all of the PowerPoint slides and podcasts on Canvas. Past exams are available for student to practice. His exams are fair, it came straight for his lectures.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Class is based solely on exams (2 midterms and a final). The test questions are all MCs and mostly straightforward. Some questions are a bit tricky. Stewart has attitudes but his lectures are fine. He gave past exams as practice and the question on the actual exams are very similar.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• 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 loved the slides, they were visually pleasing and had such good info. On the detailed ones he makes sure to mention that not all details are assigned for us to know. Extremely organized which I appreciated, makes studying straightforward. Tests were fair and returned quickly. Good lecturer and good presentation of material. Would recommend.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures were pretty hard to watch as he's pretty boring, going to class and rewatching the lectures were definitely a chore at times. His exams can be oddly specific as well, which I'm not sure if it was because I was too bored to catch that concept or because it was too specific. Tho I can't complain, he gave out a big curve and was a fair grader

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class material is not easy. I am rating Valley Stewart, not the course. Stewart is the most organized professor I have ever had and he knows his material like the back of his hand. He is very accessible outside of class (OH/Piazza) and provides a lot of feedback given good questions. His exams are very straight forward, memorize the slides A.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Midterms wereI cannot emphasize this enoughextremely similar to his practice midterms. He tests based on his lecture slides so avoid googling or you'll be left with irrelevant/wrong information. Lectures were recorded but nothing beats hearing "I'm a jelly donut" echo through the Mondavi Center in person.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures were helpful and clear. He went over the previous lecture before each class and asked if anyone had questions. He was also available during office hours, but I understand why people are intimidated by him. I disliked his few exams and points-based system, but his tests had straightforward multiple choice questions for the most part.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This professor can be snarky on piazza and doesn't teach concepts well. He doesn't make attendance mandatory which is nice, but in terms of teaching he is not the best. The big idea can be hard to grasp, and the tiny details he includes on exams are hard to tie into the big picture without just memorizing them.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Overall a really good professor that truly cares about his students trying to understand concepts as opposed to just memorizing stuff. Provides sufficient materials to do well and is highly active on Piazza to answer questions. Highly recommend taking this course with him

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• 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:

He's bad at explaining concepts. Need to google everything by myself.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lecture is boring and hard to follow. Lectures are video recorded and posted on canvas, don't even show up unless you have questions. STUDY THE PRACTICE EXAMS - he bases his exams off of those and just re-works the problem on the actual midterm, but everything is very familiar from the practice exams. Funny guy, poor lecturer, somewhat rude as well

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• 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:

First off, this is MICROBIOLOGY, so don't expect an easy A. It's all about staying ahead and reading the book/slides before class. Trust me, it would make the lectures/exams way more smooth. I thought Stewart was a great lecturer; sure he could be a bit rude, but his exams and grading are very fair. Take advantage of his practice tests!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• 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:

No assigned homework so course grade is entirely dependent on exam performance. All exams are multiple choice but anything discussed in lecture (and in rare cases, the reading) is fair game for exams. Answers questions well but does not come across as very approachable to begin with. Dry sense of humor if you're into that!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The professor is mean/unresponsive to students' concerns on piazza (ex. "why don't you go to class and pay attention instead?"). His lectures are decent, but he does not emphasize material and ask ambiguous/inconsistent questions for the exams (ex. states that LPS' structure is conserved, yet variable as MAMPs). Would recommend using past exams...

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I personally didnt like this class. There was no homework and I felt like it was hard to learn the material without reading the textbook which is very detail heavy. The prof is also really mean on piazza! You literally ask a question and hell just say GO TO CLASS. Like dang dude, youre a teacher to answer questions!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Honestly this class was not bad. The prof was pretty good at lecturing and had a sense of dry humor. 2/3 of the exams had 3 MC choices which are rare. Dont even need to go to lecture. Just watch the lecture videos and youre good. If you dont listen to what he says, itll be hard cause his slides are hard to follow....

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Cons: Valley Stewart is often rude and non-responsive to student questions. His lecturing style requires you to listen because he includes material not written in slides. His midterms have many mistakes which make them hard to study with because you don't know which revision of the answers is correct.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MIC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not the most interesting lecturer, dry and sometimes comes off a little arrogant sounding but has good intentions for his students overall, just have to watch the lec videos, take detailed notes from what he goes over hardly need to do assigned readings. He gives very helpful practice questions and very straight forward MT's. Would recommend.