BIOL 359Evolution 1: Mechanisms

81% liked it72% easy76% useful

From 139 ratings and 44 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

• I took this class Winter 2021 and had a really bad experience. The content itself is not complicated, I even found some things quite interesting to learn about. However, the 4 quizzes (1 hour for 24 questions) throughout the term, were not easy at all. There were questions that didn't relate to the content and seemed purposely like it was just trying to trick you into selecting a wrong answer. This unfortunately followed through to the exam, 83 questions in two hours, which after contacting other students, many had a bad experience with the exam thinking they did well but getting a bad final mark. No understanding or help from this prof either it is overall just a tragic course. I made…

  May 2021 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• The course content was pretty straightforward. If you’re going to take this course, I would suggest taking it with Jonathan Witt! He’s amazing. He adds 4-8 bonus marks using the “word of the day” definitions so take note of them for free marks on the midterms and final. No surprises on his exams either. Write down everything he says and you can easily achieve an 85+

  Dec 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• great course, pretty easy to get 90+ and the prof is funny and nice. this is a memorization course so i recommend making flashcards and questions for little niche things that the prof says (like which is more common: transitions or tranversions). 2 x 25% midterms and 50% exam with half of it being mcq (they are slightly tricky and require a bit of logic but memorizing what evolution/non-evolution forces change allele frequency and/or hw disequilibrium goes a long way), a quarter being fill in the blank (the question is a definition and u write the word) and the rest being short answers (defining a word or calculation question such as hw test or hamiltons rule). altho the structure of the…

  Dec 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• Really fun course if taken with Dr. Witt. The grading structure was 2 x 25% midterms and a 50% final, which may seem draconian at first, but there are actually plentiful bonus questions on each. The bonus questions ask the definition of unrelated complex words, which he covers in the class. However the tests themselves are pretty tough, so know the content well. The content, unlike many upper year bio courses, is really logical and easy to follow.

  Dec 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• Only take this course, if you absolutely need it.
  The course was bland, 70% of the course was textbook readings, other 30% was lecture videos.
  Usually there is around 3-4 HRS of videos and like 100pages of readings a week.
  Took this course in SPRING 2021, throughout the course, it felt like the professor, was setting us up for failure. Quizzes were practically unfinished, constantly altering the answers after submission which made it impossible to study for the final.
  Final exam was fair, but required the textbook readings to do well.
  Best advice is to do well in the assignments, quizzes because the final will bring down your final mark.

  Aug 2021 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this