I do NOT understand the negative reviews of Dr. Newmark. He covers the genetics portion which I found to be the most straightforward. He has a unique lecture approach but he makes it clear what the important takeaways are. Plus the exam was extremely fair. Would definitely take another class taught by him!

Other reviews didn't like his lecture style which definitely isn't for everyone, but personally I enjoyed the history behind the science. He was funny and always tried to spice up his lectures a little bit. Of the 3 bio 151 professors I liked him the best since he didn't just bombard you with information, but occasionally at the expense of depth.

Don't be too hard on Phil. Most of the comments below are true and yeah, he sucks at teaching. What that also means is because he fills out with useless information, you don't have a lot of things to study. Exam average was 82, and exam was mostly doable. There are a lot of self learning since he doesn't teach much, but it isn't impossible.

I hate to do this to my man Phil, but he's an awful teacher. He's super nice and funny and you can tell that he cares about his students, but the man can't teach. His biology lectures are basically history lessons about how certain things were discovered, but that's not what you're tested on. Spends very little time going over actual biology.

Yeah, he is a HHMI professor, but he is a bad news. He can't emphasize what is important and if you ask what's important, he flips out. He cares so much about the "history" of how things are found, but not "how" things work in biological sense. His lecture does not match nowhere to his hw, quizzes, and lecture activities. Avoid him like SARS-CoV2.

It is easy to see Newmark's passion in what he is talking about, he is just really bad at teaching to the point. His "genetics" lessons, are history lessons, he simply does not teach what is being tested on. He assumes we will learn everything from the textbook so he gets to talk about what he wants in the actual lecture, sorry Phil.

Tests are focussed on concepts, which is great. You have to work for it, but it is well worth it. I used office hours a lot because concepts are hard, but it's really fun and intellectually stimulating.

VERY FAST LECTURER and he doesn't post his slides before class which is frustrating. One of the three profs in Bio 151. He cares about the material but taught as if you had previous knowledge. Would take him for an upper-level genetics course. Easy to approach but not good at explaining material in different ways. YOU ARE NOT TESTED ON ANY HISTORY!

He fills his slides with useless information, gives you no information on what you will be tested on, and is so ambiguous. I would avoid at all costs. Sad that I got stuck with him for an easy class.

Dr. Newmark is more focused on teaching the discovery of material we learn instead of the actual material. This makes learning the material a bit more difficult since it requires students to engage in deep thinking. He is a good professor if you are interested in actually learning about genetics but not the best if you are just focused on grades.

Lecture material is not related to quizzes or exams.

Newmark is hilariously underprepared, putting way too much info on slides that he goes through way too fast, and downright rude; he has told sick students who were coughing to "go home". He drones on about history and other irrelevant details, and didn't even make an outline for what we ACTUALLY need to know for the exam and lecture activities.

Phil is one of the worst professors I have ever crossed paths with. He rambles on about historical facts and things that are completely unrelated. Does not allow you to ask what is important for the exam. Lacks clarity and direction in a way that I have never experienced. Genetics is hard enough, he makes it awful. I had 2 tutors & still struggled.