MICB 301 & MICB 302

MICB 301 (with Dr. William Mohn)

• Course Taken: MWF 10am (September, 2014 - December, 2014)
• Format: Lectures with topical readings + group assignments, and one bioinformatics project. He has a lot of iClicker questions throughout the term for participation marks (no answers posted). Dr. Mohn writes his own notes and the class uses them as the "textbook". Make sure you stay on top of the readings, otherwise the iClicker questions are completely meaningless. He allows for a lot of discussion in the class, and occasionally people ask relatively off-topic questions which is annoying. The readings can sometimes be quite long, and the topical readings + group assignments are relatively easy once you figure out what they are looking for. The exams (midterm, final) are cumulative and primarily memorization based. The bioinformatics assignment is essentially a walk-through guide in how to align various DNA sequences to determine what microbes are present from that sample, and the computation is very very simple. 
• Textbook: None 
• Class Average: 76%
• Personal Experience: Dr. Mohn's course is interesting because he tries to facilitate discussion. However, he is often quite vague on what he is looking for especially in the bioinformatics assignment where we had to write a 500-word "abstract". Make sure you memorize the course notes and answer tests with exactly the same wording. He does not hold regular office hours, so if you need help email him to book an appointment. 

• Advice: If you do not have to take this course for your degree, I do not recommend taking this course as an easy elective. 

MICB 302 (with Dr. Tracey Kion and Dr. Pauline Johnson)

• Course Taken: T/Th 9:30am (September, 2014 - December, 2014)
• Format: Typical lecture-style course with no homework, but lots of in-class iClickers. The course is split up into 2 sections. Dr. Kion covers the basic "facts" about B cells, T cells such as class-switching while Dr. Johnson emphasizes how various aspects of the immune system gets activated. The exams are typically short-answers and very memorization heavy despite there being case-studies. Often it is best to memorize the wording/ phrases from the professors' notes to ensure the TAs will mark it correct. There is quite a bit of content, and especially Dr. Johnson's section it can get a bit confusing. There are weekly tutorials, and the TAs are typically quite helpful with clarifying pathways.  
• Grading Scheme: Dr. Kion's Section (2 Midterms, 25% each), Dr. Johnson's Final 50%
• Textbook: The Immune System (Parham)
• Class Average: 77%
• Personal Experience: Dr. Kion as usual is extremely knowledgable and a great lecturer. Her notes cover exactly what you need to know, and the textbook is not needed if you understand her lectures. Dr. Johnson is definitely more experienced with research than lecturing, and her slides often reflect the vast amount of information in the field rather than what she expects students to know/ understand. Given the nature of her section where various pathways and how the immune system "talks" to each other, there is a lot of jumping around and it can get confusing. It is often helpful to go to tutorial and do the worksheet to ensure you keep on top of the course. 

• Advice: This is a very dense and intricate course if you are curious about the details of immunology. Drawing out pathways always help. Pre-reading may not be helpful, but reviewing afterwards definitely is.