Grading/Exams: The class was graded on 8 multiple choice homework assignments (worth 1% each) and 5 multiple choice exams (worth 23% each with the lowest scoring one dropped, hence an optional "final"). All of the exams, except the final I believe, are non-cumulative. The homework questions are the tricker questions that you might find on an exam, but you can essentially guarantee 100% on all of them by going to TA office hours. The exam questions are overall fair, requiring detailed and specific understanding of terms and concepts. There were a few questions that tested information directly from the slides as a knowledge check (the only ones I thought were slightly unfair). There was one extra credit opportunity (1% boost) that involved taking something like a survey and there was no curve.

Personal Opinion/Experience: This was the first biology class I took in college and it was not significantly harder than AP Biology or AP Environmental Science. There were some familiar concepts from those classes, but hardly any prior knowledge is actually required for this course. I personally did not open the textbook a single time and the lectures by themselves (which are recorded) were enough. Both Cox and Brodie made their lectures interesting, so I showed up anyways. Personally, I thought Brodie's exams were fairer/clearer, but not by a significant amount. The discussion periods ran by the TAs provided some nice extra practice and review for exams. I managed an A by re-reading my notes day prior or day of the exam, so I think someone who studies in a healthier/better fashion can get an A as well. I would not stress too much about this class as a core biology course and would even recommend it as class in it of itself (if you just want to take a class for fun/non-specific course credit).

Don't think that this is an easier bio course just because it comes after cell and genetics. Bio 3020 is still a challenge in of itself, especially when it comes to the tests. There are 4 exams, with an optional final to replace your lowest grade. People stated that Brodie's exams were more difficult, but I felt as though Cox's were less straightforward. These tests are designed to trick you with word choice and incredibly specific information, so you need to know your material by heart to do well in this course.

Early in the semester, the professors both suggested not buying the textbook. I wholeheartedly agree with them, as all test-related material is covered in the lecture. You can read to better understand a topic, but you'd probably just be wasting your time. The most effective review strategies I found involved making Anki decks, blurting, teaching lectures to a group, and having ChatGPT make exam-style questions.

The content of this course was fascinating to me, but the grade breakdown really hampered my enjoyment. It's all tests with 8 total homework assignments. The problem is that these homework assignments are 5 questions, so one wrong answer brings you down to an 80. I would recommend going to office hours, as the TAs will just give you the answers. You'll need all the points you can get to do well in this class, but you will still end up getting a B regardless of how hard you study.

I really enjoyed this class! The class consists of 4 exams (each 23% of your grade) and an optional cumulative final that can be used to replace your lowest grade. There are 8 homework assignments in total (each 1% of your grade). They are usually tougher than the test questions so I would recommend going into any of the TA's office hours to check your answers with them. I'm pretty sure Professor Cox won't answer direct questions about the homework, but Professor Brodie will. There was one extra credit opportunity that would raise your final grade by 1%, and it was a study you had to take at the beginning and end of the semester. There were no other extra credit, no curves, and I believe no rounding. I did not need to read either textbook at all because all of the material is covered in the lectures. Both teachers record the lecture, which are good to use for studying. Professor Cox's tests are more straightforward and many of his questions contain an all of the above option as well as math. He tests on knowledge of specific examples he uses in class, so if he's spending a lot of time talking about an animal example, it's good to know how that example applies to the concept he's teaching and just small details about his major examples. Professor Brodie does not test on examples he uses in class, and his questions are a bit more confusing and conceptual. All the tests are 32 multiple questions, which allows for very few mistakes. There is some tricky wording so just be sure to read the question and answers well. Both professors are great in office hours, and will answer the same question multiple times so don't be afraid to ask. The discussions are optional, but helpful as the TAs make extra questions for review. The final wasn't bad at all, and some of the questions felt like a rewording of a question off a previous test. I started studying at least a week before, and mostly studied by retaking notes on lecture recordings and teaching the concepts to my hallmates. An A is definitely doable and if you've taken AP Biology or AP Environmental Science, some concepts might be familiar. Overall, a very interesting class, and I would recommend!

Overall good class; however, I found the class quite boring. If you are not interested in evolution and ecology and don't need the class, I wouldn't recommend it. If you do have to take it, it's not too hard; there are 4 midterms and a final, one of which is dropped, so you technically aren't required to take the final if you are satisfied with your grade. There are 8 homework assignments throughout the year, each worth 1% of your grade. They were easy, but only 5 questions, so one wrong is an 80. There was an extra credit opportunity to get a few points back on the homework. Professor Cox teaches the first half of the semester and Professor Brodie teaches the second. I found them both to be good lectures. Professor Cox's exams were more straightforward to me, and specifically, the second Brodie exam was complicated, and many of the questions were worded weirdly. The final was challenging because it covered al.l the material, but doable, so if you're debating taking it or not to boost your grade, I would recommend taking it. Overall, one of the easier 3000 biology classes.
(not sure if the TAs will keep TAing, but they were great my semester!!)

Class was pretty interesting! Dr. Cox teaches the first evolution half, then Dr. Brodie teaches ecology. For my semester, 8% of the final grade was homework, the rest is just exams. The homework assignments are 5 questions each and fairly difficult. The correct answer is not clear, so I highly suggest going to office hours to get your homework checked. There were times where I only got one or two correct for silly reasons when I didn't get it checked. The Wednesday night discussion section is for exams, but also used for TA review. They typically go over the previous homework assignment, previous exam questions, or general review problems. The exams are difficult, simply because you have to know really specific details about every topic. The multiple choice questions are so specific, one little word or phrase could make that entire answer choice incorrect. During my semester, one of the TAs provided non-official study guides for us to work through. I highly suggest you work through the entire thing if they are provided for you.

Robert Cox teaches the first half of the class. The information gets more fascinating during the 2nd/3rd exam but generally is pretty interesting. Exams are moderately difficult but fairly straightforward (unlike Brodie). The homework is honestly my biggest issue with this half of the class because it’s extremely difficult and honestly more of a detriment to your grade than anything. They should have made it so you get a 2nd attempt for half credit or something. Butch Brodie’s half starts out great but completely falls apart with the last exam. The content is nowhere near as interesting as the rest of the class and we needed a whole class day to argue about how ambiguous the questions were and barely any points were given back despite some of the wrong answers making clear logical sense given the question.

The course is fairly interesting, and doesn’t deviate very far from the typical UVA Bio formula, but my experience with the last 1/4 and the final completely soured any enjoyment i had of the rest of the class

This has been my favorite bio class so far because the content is SUPER interesting. The first half is taught by Professor Cox and the second half is taught by Professor Brodie. In my opinion, Professor Cox's exams were easier than Professor Brodie's exams. The exams are in-person, closed note, 32 multiple choice questions on a scantron. The only thing that I didn't like about evo/eco was the huge weight of the exams. The four exams are worth 92% and the other 8% comes from 8 weekly homework assignments. I found that the homeworks were actually more difficult than the exams, so they brought my grade down a bit. The final is cumulative and optional, but will replace your lowest midterm if you choose to take it. Overall, evo/eco is a fantastic course that I genuinely learned a lot from. I was always excited to come to lecture because of the incredible real-life examples they use. Both professors are really passionate about the content and want you to succeed. #tCFS24

Cox taught Evolution, and Brodie taught Ecology. Both were very similar, although I liked Cox better because his slides were more detailed/organized. I found the content both covered to be very interesting and not too challenging. However, the homework and exams (both open note) counted for the entirety of the grade, and were difficult like others in the Biology department. They required more reading comprehension and understanding of the questions/answer than knowledge of the content. Brodie’s tests especially were very unclear and ambiguous. No additional grade boosting opportunities/curve. This made it difficult to get an A, but a B or higher is extremely obtainable.

Robert Cox was an amazing lecturer! From day one, you can tell that he is very detailed and passionate about the course material. I would recommend paying really close attention to his lectures because his exams are largely based off of them. I would honestly not bother reading the textbook unless you need supplemental help because he covers the concepts really well and in-depth during lecture. I would also encourage the use of posting questions on to Piazza because he would address the most commonly asked questions and most difficult concepts in his pre-exam review session power points.

I took this class because I thought that it would be the "easier" upper level bio class. While I thought that the content of the class was pretty straightforward and easy to understand, the tests were not. The tests are designed to test your reading comprehension and logical reasoning, and even with more studying it did not improve my performance on these exams. There was often so much debate about wording of questions that they would end up giving students a few points back on the tests as a result.

I think that Professor Cox is a great lecturer and overall the professors and TA are there to support students, but the exams are difficult and do not always reflect what is being taught in lecture. This is rough considering that 92% of your grade is based on exams, but your lowest exam is dropped at the end. Homework is super hard, but only counts for 8% of your grade. Final exam is cumulative and optional, and I was counting on it to boost my grade but they made it even harder than the other exams. I thought that the content was interesting, and wish that there could be some changes made to this course!