AI Rate Professor

Biological Sciences

W. Dirk Sikkema

BIOSC040 · BIO50 · BIOSC50 · 8 lifetime ratings

AI rating
28/100
RMP rating
2.6/5
Take again
66.67%
Difficulty
4.4

The decision

Expect a hard bio class with and ; only take him if you can grind outside class.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough TestsPop QuizzesGet Ready To ReadOff-Topic LecturesLabs Essential
  • as very hard and often poorly aligned with lectures.
  • , and .
  • Personality can be fine, but lecture quality and .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

32/100

An A is possible but only with heavy outside studying; and poorly matched to lectures.

.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

24/100

Content load, dense reading, and of effort.

.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

18/100

Students , and that skipping class risks failing.

.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

42/100

A minority like his traditional style and , but many call him a weak lecturer with .

.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

34/100

Clear criteria exist, but tough exams and generous.

Format shift

Based only on in-person reviews.

Workload

Heavy

28/100

Students report , and substantial outside prep to keep up.

Format shift

Based only on in-person reviews.

Teaching experience

Poor

36/100

Some call him nice and informational, yet many say lectures ramble, rush, or fail to prepare students for tests.

Format shift

Based only on in-person reviews.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

78/100

and study questions as essential support work.

Format shift

Based only on in-person reviews.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

8 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

, and ; some students pass with hard work while many criticize weak lectures and brutal tests.

Main concern

and require extensive outside reading.

What students said

“ but you can achieve a good grade if you study outside of class.”
BIO50
“ !”
BIOSC040
“ and some questions are on stuff we didn't even cover in class!”
BIOSC50

Remote format

Online

0 reviews

Low confidence

No stored summary is available for this format.

Main concern

No main concern is stored for this format.

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are repeatedly described as very hard, sometimes covering material not taught in lecture, with pop quizzes as an added risk.

Tough ExamsPop QuizzesLecture-Test MismatchStudy Questions Recommended

Assessment risk

Strict

28/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and , and require textbook study plus provided practice materials.

Tests Are ToughPop QuizzesPractice Tests On WebsiteLabs Essential
“ and quizzes arent too bad but ”
BIO50
“ !”
BIOSC040
“ . Lectures don't relfect .”
BIOSC50

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“He's definitely not the and seems to always be in a rush to leave.”

Voice snapshots generated from 8 , and mixed lecture quality. Credibility rating: High.

📝

28/100

“ !”

📚

28/100

“you need to attend lectures, study the powerpoints and textbooks, a lot of information that goes beyond the classroom”

🧪 Labs And Outside Study

36/100

“Make sure you do all the lab reports and really study!”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • Horrible teacher!! Lecture PowerPoints are informational but he never lectures well.
  • He tends to go off topic when lecturing sometimes.
  • He seems like he'd be a great guy to have a beer with and chat about topics, but when it comes to teaching, he's isn't the brightest of the bunch.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • and some questions are on stuff we didn't even cover in class!
  • but you can achieve a good grade if you study outside of class.
  • I am an A student and I struggled in this class.

Theme 3

⚠️ About Passing Strategy

  • Skip class? You won't pass.
  • If you do the study questions in the back of the chapters like he suggests you too you will do fine.
  • Buy a study guide to pass.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

8

Recent reviews read by the AI

8

Lifetime ratings

74/100

Evidence confidence

Eight in-person reviews across several years show , and uneven lecturing, supporting higher confidence.

Inside 8 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 50
4 out of 53
3 out of 50
2 out of 54
1 out of 51

Course coverage

BIO504 reviews
BIOSC503 reviews
BIOSC0401 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

1 reported outcomes

A range

1

A 1

B range

0

No reported values

C range

0

No reported values

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

0

No reported values