Guest RXK Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Hello, i'm an undergraduate student at UofT, and i was wondering if i could get some feedback on the two courses: General and Human Genetics (HMB265H) and Intro. to Health and Disease (HMB202H). i'm really interested in knowing the difficulty, workloads, and evaluation criteria of both courses. also, i've taken a look at the anti-calender and it seems that HMB265 is a difficult and unpopular course whereas, HMB202 is praised... as well, M. Sauer will be teaching 265 in the coming academic year (and the instructor for 202 has not yet been listed). Thanks, RXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Hi there, Although the HMB (Human Biology) courses are run by New College and don't seem to be listed in the table of contents of the UofT Arts & Science Student Union's Anti-Calendar, some are reviewed in it. You can find them in the "Medical Sciences" section. M. Sauer's teaching in HMB265 is reviewed too--the feedback isn't glowing, unfortunately. Here you go: assu.sa.utoronto.ca/anti_2003/medicalsciences.PDF Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CTU24 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 I took both these courses in 2nd year (2 years ago), so here's a summary of what I remember: HMB202: Prof= Pfeiffer + Brown(for microbio) -Pfeiffer taught basically the whole course -it really had basically no textbook and no clear direction -it was all over the place, lots of reading of pointless info not covered in class -the tests evaluated small details b/c the course really had no overriding theme evaluation = 5 labs 5% each, 20% midterm, 20% term paper, 35% exam workload = above average; a lab every 2 weeks with a write up in a group of 3; lots of reading; term paper on the growth of a body part (~20 pg) difficulty = microbio parts was 5 lectures and was fine; growth part had no clear direction and tested small details -the average was B- but I think this was deceiving b/c it was hard to get over 90%, so there was a small standard deviation People will disgree with me on this, but I feel this course has practically no educational value. It's not a preqreq for upper years, and the only point of taking would be to get 80+, but it would be a lot of fruatrating work to get it Verdict = don't take it HMB265: Prof = M. Sauer -one of the worst profs I've had -races through the lecture, and speaks a million words a minute in the last 10 minutes of the lecture to cram everything in evaluation = 5 assign or quizzes 5% each, 35% midterm, 40% exam workload = above average; lots of reading with a GOOD textbook; assignments every other week due in tutorial; practice questions to keep up with difficulty = can do very well on the assignments, midterms are all multiple choice and not that hard if you keep up with the reading and problems in the text -again, people will disagree with me on this. I felt the prof was horrible, but the material was interesting and useful. This course is a prereq for many upper year courses, and it is always useful to know a little about genetics. Like many courses, it is hard, but I got over 90 by keeping up with the reading, doing the questions regularly, and rocking the assignments. verdict = I would cautiously recommend this course BTW, be cautious with the anti-calendar, you will find those courses that are "easy" get good ratings, while more educational, adn useful courses get panned. So, use the AC as a guide rather than as an all-knowing source of info. Good luck with your choice, CTU24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 If you wish to take genetics, I recommend the BIO genetics course over HMB265. It's still a difficult course, but most people feel it's better organized and taught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 0T6 Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 I took both courses this past year. 202 has changed a lot, there's a new prof with a completely different approach. What we did this year was spend a week on a different system of the body and look at basic structure and then homeostasis of that systen and disruptions (diseases). There were 4 "labs" which ranged from a dietary recall to a short write up on mad cow disease, a research paper on a choice of 6 topics from the threat of avian influenza to long-term breastfeeding, a midterm, and an exam. I loved the course, even though it was at 9 AM on a MOnday 265 seems to carry this stench it just can't rid itself of. Sauer really cut out a lot of material this year which made the lectures somewhat comprehendable, but it still was a lot of material. The 1st half of the course is relatively easy but it gets a little harder after the midterm. Go to tutorials, work on assignments YOURself, and keep up with lectures (not necessarily textbook) and you'll be arite. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RXK Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 Hi, OT6: could you please elaborate on the format of the midterm and exam such as whether it was fully m/c or a combo of m/c and short answers. also, which course did you find more difficult? lastly, which did you find was harder to do well (>90%) in?... CTU24: thanks for your thorough and sincere answer! Kirsteen and Cheech10: thanks for your input too! HMB265 is unavoidable for me since it is part of my subject POSt so i will have to take it eventually, but i would prefer to take it in third year or perhaps in the summer (if it is offered, which i don't think it is). so, would there be any repercussions to taking it in third year as apposed to second. i have scanned through many of the third year science courses that i can take and only a few require it as a prereq. (also, all my other courses in third year will correspond with the year.) p.s. 202 sounds like a fabulous course and i would love to take it, but unfortunately it overlaps with my elective:( . therefore, i'm wondering whether to drop that elective, CLA201H, and add HMB202. Thanks again, RXK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 Other than not being able to take courses that require it as a prereq (and not taking too many lower level courses in upper years, but you seem ok there) there shouldn't be any negative consequences to leaving it for 3rd year. I think CLA201 MIGHT be easier for you than HMB202, but only if you typically do well in and enjoy humanities courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CTU24 Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 glad to hear HMB202 has changed 0T6...looks like my critical course evaluations finally paid off...it actually sounds like a decent, organized course the way you descirbe it. as for HMB265, i doubt it is offered in the summer. it is a preqreq for some immunology courses, MGB courses, Bio349 (a requirement in many programs), and some biochem courses. definitely look into this before leaving it until third year. i also hear that CLA201 is very easy, and so may be a better "GPA booster" than HMB202, and both courses aren't really requirements for upper years. Good luck with your decision CTU24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UofT Student Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 RXK, HMB265 is a prerequisite for some 3rd year (and 4th year) courses. See what courses you need to take for your degree and check if HMB265 is a prereq for any of those courses, to be safe. HMB202 is a prereq for future courses in the H&D program, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CTU24 Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 HMB202 is a prereq for future courses in the H&D program, I believe This is true except it only applies to 2 courses according to the current course calendar--a thrid year lab and a fourth year seminar. Both courses are small and intended for students specializing in human bio H+D (like I used to). The best human bio courses IMO, HMB302 (histology) does not require HMB202. So really, HMB202 is not a prereq for any significant courses outside of the H+D specialist CTU24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 0T6 Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 The midterm and exam both had MCQ and short answer components, the only difference is that the final had 2 essays (chosen out of 4 topics i think). In terms of what's easier to get >90 in.. umm I got 2% lower in 202 than I did in 265 so i SHOULD say 265 is easier.. but really 202 I found SOOOOOOO much more intresting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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