Reviews of professor Benjamin Blackman

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
While Professor Blackman had the most material to teach, the supporting topic handouts and lecture notes are easy to read and provide tons of assistance. This ultimately makes it so that while his section is the hardest it is simultaneously the most manageable if you devote enough time to it. His topic handouts in particular are incredibly useful.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
I'm not even kidding when I say his section could be its own class, but he expects us to learn it over a month. The exam is also incredibly hard, and the course average for this exam was a D. He seems like a nice dude, but his exams are horrific, and the material is even worse. Unless he shortens his material or curves his exams, avoid him!!!!

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Professor Blackman is great. The lectures, however, are horrible. Each lecture is packed with a lot of information and the exam is horrible even if you study so much. The class average was a D- because it was that hard.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Too much content in too little time.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Although I know Prof. Blackman means well, there is too much material in the org. bio. section of Bio 1B for his teaching to actually be enjoyable. The lectures almost always ran overtime and were jam-packed with material. I had to self-teach almost everything. Some exam questions were odd, but his exam is manageable if you study a LOT.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
i would avoid taking bio 1b with him, he is a really nice person and he is passionate about what he teaches, but he is not good at teaching it. he goes over a lot of information in one lecture and does not explain core concepts like the life cycles very well (my notes for his section was about 20 pages per hour lecture). his test avg was a d-

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
He was so understanding and empathetic and did everything he could to not add to the stress of the virus and election. One discussion post and reading per week, a short and a long essay. Super straightforward and fun! Some of the readings were a bit tough, but he wants to help you understand them and discussion was super flexible. PLEASE take!

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
He really cares about what he's teaching but he is terrible at teaching. He goes over so much content in one lecture but doesn't explain it in depth/ adequately. His tests are EXTREMELY specific (like, half the content was based on minute details in the required readings) and the avg grade was a D-. Do not recommend unless you wanna be confused lol

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
He is a grad student and still figuring out the structure of his class, but overall he is fun and entertaining. He is truly passionate about the readings he assigns and actually interacts with his students in attempt to get more people to participate in class discussions.