Historical instructor

RICHARD VIERSTRA

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.06/5 from 17 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

BIO152 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Dr. Vierstra is a great lecturer and I would take him again despite my serious lack of interest in botany. He's a funny guy and is really passionate about what he teaches, and his tests were extremely fair. Very clear lectures. And low key, he's quite attractive for his age. I'd recommend him!
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BIO152 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Vierstra was the second best professor of the three for 152. Everything for his exams are on the powerpoint, but there is A LOT of material. Reading the book is a waste of time, but make sure you know every single word on every slide. Pay close attention in class. Overall, nice guy, made some funny jokes.
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BIO152 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Pretty chill guy. Makes a lot of sex references with plants which is just uncomfortable for everyone. Don't bother reading the book, everything is on the lecture slides. Lots of info, just study and you'll be fine. Oh, watch out for the wording on the exam. The questions will try to trip you up.
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BIO152 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Tries to use some humor to keep the students awake. Didn't give the answer key for the practice exam. The exam itself was pretty easy, just a lot of information.
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BIO152 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Okay teacher, but tried a little bit too hard with all his jokes. Presented a lot of information which was actually fairly interesting (considering how much plants suck) but near exam time you got a little bit worried about how much you'd need to know. You're allowed a notecard but I didn't need to use it at all. Super easy exam.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with RICHARD VIERSTRA

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

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Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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