Reviews of professor Amanda Schrager-Lavelle

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Dr. Lavelle was in my opinion a great educational professor. She cares about her students and demonstrates that by providing additional help when needed. She provided both in person and online platforms for students to attend class. I recommend this professor!

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
she is nice enough as a person, but the classes were very lecture-heavy. the content itself was taught in such a way that I felt I needed to reteach myself everything again so I could try and get the basic concepts of it, the study guide was only good for seeing what was not on the test. I would strongly recommend some other professors.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Dr. Lavelle doesnt respect her students. A week into class, she started enforcing a policy where if you needed to step out of her lecture for any reason, she wouldnt let you come back. The class average on the first exam was a 59% and she didnt curve it at all. Another BIOL105 class had an 87% on the same exam. That should tell you everything.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Not a great class. Attended class every day but had to learn the material on my own outside of class. It doesn't seem like she enjoys teaching, especially dealing with students. Very picky grader. The good thing about this class is she gives you lots of things that can help buffer your grade. Do not take this class unless you have to!

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
This was by far the worst class I have ever taken. Its not that the material was particularly difficult, it's the fact that the professor was unclear. She never explained anything in detail, but then expects you to know specifics on exams. When asked a question, she would belittle you for not knowing. Don't take this class, big mistake on my part.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Although Dr. Lavelle is a kind person, her lectures are unorganized and ridiculously fast paced. She asks questions on exams that were not covered in depth and not on the study guide. If you miss a lecture her PowerPoints provide almost no information and are not helpful in learning the material. Due dates are also not made clear.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Objectively the worst teacher I've ever had. Impossible to follow her lectures, nothing is clear or in order. When someone asks a question, she just nervously laughs and then belittles students when she doesn't know the answer. Won't talk to students without masks and openly criticizes CMU policy. The class is more genetics than developmental bio.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
If there was a lower rating for Dr. Lavelle, then it would have been given! Don't get me wrong she is a nice and caring person but my goodness she should not be a professor! Her content for BIOL 310 is incredibly confusing and struggles to answer student's questions clearly. Her slides were the only resources for studying for exams. Don't take her!