Himelblau, Edward  

Dr. Himelblau is the best instructor at Poly bar none. Take him if you can, he has a minor in art which helps keep the class interesting (cartoons and stuff).

Himelblau is THE man to take if your taking BIO 161. I took 161 during summer quarter, after hearing horror stories from all my friends about how difficult it was. I enrolled in a workshop, just to be safe. However, I think it's almost impossible not to get a good great the way Himelblau teaches Lectures are always interesting and fun. He knows how to teach, even if its at 8am. He doesn't present boring powerpoints to the class, and give weekly 'objectives' for you to fill out on your own time. midterm material is drawn directly from the 'objectives'. I thought i would end up with a C in this class, but I'm flying high with an A Take Himelblau!

I absolutely LOVED Dr. Himelblau! Couldn't have asked for a better professor for my first quarter of college biology. His lectures are interesting and very easy to follow and his test are generally pretty straight-forward. He's more than willing to help students with any questions. He was perfect for my beginning level but I know he's great for advanced students as well.

Great teacher. loves bio and sees it in everyday life. charismatic and understanding.

He's a good teacher, definitely loves the subject and loves teaching.

Himelblau is a really good teacher that really cares about teaching his students and helping them with their problems. The only reason I got a C is because I did not read the book or pay attention in lecture and tried to learn it all the day before the exams. He has weekly objectives that if you master you should do okay on the tests but be aware that the tests' free response sections are graded very meticulously and you have to have a complete mastery of the subject to get full credit on the questions. Also, I only went to one of his office hours and he was sooo helpful and caring that I wish I would have went to more. So if you really apply yourself to the class he is a great teacher but it is hard to catch up if you fall behind. All in all Himelblau is the man

BEEEESSSSTTTTT PROF!!!! i looooved Himelblau!! :D you can't go wrong w/ taking him as the professor... note the difference between enrolling in a hard class... and enrolling in a hard class with an amazing professor...

Dr. Himelblau is a caring and gentle genius. I must say, his bio 161 class was difficult even being a biology major but I feel like I learned a lot from him. Of course I had to put in a lot of long hours studying to be able to synthesize and remember all the vast amounts of information that is in the curriculum. His tests are fair. I think 40 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions. No real homework that you'll have to turn in. And he hands out a study guide for the tests which is everything that's on the tests so stay on top of those cause it takes a while to compile all that information into one place in order to study. He's a generous teacher but also, you definitely earn the grade you receive. So overall, I say take him if you get the chance. You'll enjoy it hopefully. ps. Lab however is pretty boring.

So, I'm slightly torn with this guy. Himelblau is a very nice man, he is very excited about everything he talks about, which is very cute, but unfortunately, he kind of teaches all over the place. He is funny and not boring to listen too, but he speaks really quickly (because he's so enthralled) and jumps all over the board. He'll be explaining one thing and go back to another saying "oops I forgot to add this." But this happens every lecture and not just once. I really like him as a person, but as a teacher, he's iffy. He does give weekly objectives that are ver batem on the exams, which is nice. He's better than others though, I will say that.

Not done with the quarter, but i have a few things to say. Nice, easy to understand if you follow Bio really well. TOO MUCH READING. If you need a GE, go for something else. I had four classes and two labs this quarter and his reading near made me fail my three other midterms (all in the 60s). (I got an A in his.) Reading: 2-3 Chapters per week, each chapter is around 20-30 pages. And yes, you need to read them. I heard recently that he mostly teaches 400-level classes, so dumbing the homework down to a capable load for a freshman level class must be hard for him. Just a warning. If you take him, though, GO TO LECTURE. He does say things in lecture the book doesn't explain and they will be on the exams. And it's good support for the reading, too. Take all his notes.

himelblau is awesome. I had his class at 7:40 so I ended up sleeping through a lot of the lectures which was NOT a good idea. His mid-terms were killer, but his final was super easy which is why I got an A. He really loves his subject and tries to make it interesting for his students. He is also just really funny. He makes weird jokes and at one point during the quarter he threw corn at the class. That was funny. Its a hard class, but if you work hard, you will be okay. You MUST read the text if you want a good grade, and sadly the text is really boring.

Himelbalau is one energetic man. I'm pretty sure if you just spend time on the weekly objectives and take notes during the lecture, you'll do fine on the tests. I can't think of any test questions that were strictly from the book and absent from the objectives or notes. The only thing is the lab sucks for this class. Take Himelblau! With a bit of work, I'm sure anyone could get an A in his class.

great professor, has an obvious passion for biology and working with people! keep up on chapter objectives and understand the worksheets and you will do fine..

Himelblau is an amazing teacher! He is such a nice person and has a lot of little visual aids that help with you understand the material in his lectures better. He also gives you a list of \"objectives\" from each unit which all of his exam questions are based off of. The exams aren\'t impossible but you definitely need to study. There are two midterms and final that is cumulative. Overall he is a great prof that really cares about how his students do! I would recommend him to anyone!

Very entertaining in lecture, my only problem was that I didn\'t pay attention all the time, otherwise, I believe I would have gotten an A. He presents the material in very interesting ways: walking on the very wobbly table to explain motor proteins, video taping cheerios to show spontaneous reactions and entropy, shoving spaghetti and meatballs into a bag to demonstrate the interior of a cell, and throwing peas at us to get us excited about Gregor Mendel and genetics. LOVE this professor and I recommend him to everyone. His objectives and worksheets help tremendously on the midterms and finals as study guides, so do them and not last minute.

If you\'re an incoming freshmen with some background of biology I suggest taking a different bio course, like genetics 351. This course is a heaping amount of information to plow through your first quarter and is incredibly overwhelming. I suggest taking this with a light load of 13 units or 17 units but easy classes since your soul being will dedicated to understaning and memorizing information in lecture and lab. Dr. Himelblau also teaches 162 and Genetics (Bio 351) and I HIGHLY recommend trying to get him for all three if you can! Oh and do yourself a favor and do not take Keeling, she is a nightmare.

Do the lecture objectives! Seriously the best teacher I've had at Poly so far. If you have the opportunity, take Himelblau!

Himelblau is absolutely awesome if you're taking a semi-introductory biology course. He presents the information incredibly clearly with diagrams and everyday examples to help clarify topics that are usually the most challenging for students. It would help if you've taken a bio course (like AP bio...and did well) or a chem course because there are some aspects of 161 that would be difficult to understand with no science background (I.E. reduced molecules, excited electrons, etc.). If you understand (at least even a little) all of the objectives, you're guaranteed to do well on the midterms. The difference between an A and a B is knowing how to apply the topics to new situations. The final is a little easier and to do well on that I definitely suggest going into office hours and looking on the key because his questions are variations of his midterms (same concepts but asked differently or applied differently). Other than that he's passionate about bio and a fantastic professor.

I retook this course because I had that devil woman Keeling last year. Let me just say I wished I had Himelblau the first time I took this class. This guy is the shit. Presents the material clearly, has productive office hours, and just an overall great guy. As long as you do the objectives, you will rape the tests. Definitely recommend him for any bio course he will teach

Dr. Himelblau is an excellent professor. You can tell he has a true passion for Biology and wants his students to understand the subject. His lectures were surprisingly interesting and he was really good at creating metaphors for what we were learning. The tests are pretty challenging, but I attended a few office hours and this really helped. It always helps if the teacher know you are trying your best. The text is good to look over, but mostly do the objectives. If you do a thorough job on the objectives and study them a lot and really understand everything, you will do fine.

Dr. Himelblau is an amazing teacher. He's always super energetic no matter what time of day it is. It really does make a biology lecture more bearable. The class is difficult but if you go to class regularly and do the lecture objectives it will make studying for the tests a lot easier.

Himelblau is the shit! Take him!

Professor Himelblau is thus far my favorite biology teacher at Cal Poly! He had a way of explaining the material in BIO 161 that made it very easy to understand with many pictures, and his midterms and final, while somewhat challenging, were definitely doable if you studied properly. I would recommend Professor Himelblau to anyone looking for a professor with a great personality and a great teaching style.

Himelblau is one the best teachers I've had at Cal Poly so far. By no means is his class easy, but he is more than willing to help any student struggling. He has a passion for the subject which is obvious to see while he is teaching which makes the lectures bearable. He supplies his students with outside material and objectives to focus on for each chapter which is what the test is mainly focused on. He also gives you the benefit of the doubt with grade rounding (you have to still be really close) and if you forget to do an assignment he will usually extend the due date. I get to take him next quarter for BIO 162 and couldn't be happier.

Himelblau is awesome! His objectives bring everything together so you know what to expect on the midterms. It's a hard class but Himelblau makes it possible for everyone to succeed. You just have to do the work and ask him if you don't understand an objective. He has a chat session through PolyLearn the night before exams for any last minute questions which are really helpful. I'd recommend him!

Dr. Himelblau is honestly one of the best professors at Cal Poly. And most importantly, he truly has the student's success at heart. You would be hard pressed to say something bad about the guy. Not much else needs to be said, but TAKE DR. HIMELBLAU!!

Prof. Himelblau is one of the best prepared instructors I've had. His class is very engaging and informative, with lectures consisting of him writing on powerpoint slides that go along with his lecture notes and short videos that showcase important processes. The grade consists of the lab, online homework scores, 2 midterms, and the final. The homework is MasteringBiology, and was usually assigned about 3 weeks before it was due. He also gave time between the last class and the final to make up any not turned in for partial credit. The two midterms are two-thirds information from lecture and one-third info from the book, so it is actually important to read the book (most of what he covers in lecture can also be found in the book, but not all). I'm not usually someone that enjoys biology, but Himelblau honestly makes it fun to be in class and listen to him, and I would recommend him to anyone that needs to take 161.

Wow, this guy is amazing. He really loves teaching and cares about his students success. I failed my first two midterms and told me I could still pass. He showed me how I should study for the final and I went into the final feeling very prepared. Overall really awesome teacher.

He's really nice and genuinely wants to help all his students. His tests are extremely hard. If you want to do well in his class, read all the chapters extremely thoroughly and get a study group to talk about it. For his tests, his lectures are not that important, I slept through lectures, read the book in extreme detail and did extremely well on his midterms/final (96%+). Just read the book and you'll be fine.

Annoying as fuck professor

dont go to office hours. youll be waiting there for 30 minutes because he only talks one on one with students, which is beneficial for you if you're the one he's talking to I guess. His midterms are pretty tough but he adjusted the weight of them which was cool. Watch out he throws peas at everyone during lecture when learning about Mendel.

some of the polyratings for Dr. Himelblau make me mad. This is one of the nicest teachers i have ever had. Yes, his class is hard. Yes, his tests are challenging, but that does not in any way take away from the fact that Dr. Himelblau is a great guy and a phenomenal teacher. In fact, HE IS AMAZING! He has an awesome lecture packet that you buy at the bookstore, for like 6 bucks and they are prepared in a really organized and helpful manner. He is really good at coming up with ways of remembering topics and he will do fun demos in lecture to instill in us specific concepts. His class consits of quiz-like assignments on polylearn for every chapter, 3 midterms and a final. He even throws a few points of extra credit in there. I thought all the exams were fairly challenging but he gives you objectives before hand which lay out what will be on covered on the exams. you must know the objectives very very well. i have heard people complain about him in office hours. I never had a problem and i went a few times. Heres the thing: if you need a ton of help, he won’t be able to provide that because he has A LOT of students. you need to figure a lot out on your own and come to office hours with a couple specific questions. This is college and professors are not here to baby you. Dr. Himelblau is helpful in office hours if you put in enough self study. This class requires a lot of studying if you didn’t take AP bio, but himelblau makes it interesting and it is so cute how excited he gets about biology. The lab for this class is the worse part. Its actually pretty hard because the TAs that run the lab grade reports super harsh and don’t really know what they are talking about. I didn’t have much biology knowledge prior to this class so i believe that this is by no means an easy A. you actually have to work really hard to get a B.. and even at that you may get a C. However, i would not shy away from it because himelblau is awesome and i think everyone should have the opportunity of having him! One of my favorite teachers by far.

Professor Himelblau is a fantastic professor, who presents material clearly in lecture and makes it clear what is expected of students. One can succeed by doing the objectives for each topic covered in the class, which Professor Himelblau puts on his polylearn. The objectives are what he looks at while writing the midterms (3) and the final exam. If material is unclear to you go to his office hours and he will gladly help. I received a B+ on the first midterm, however, after attending office hours before each of the next two midterms and the final exam I saw my scores increase into the A range comfortably. Himelblau is a great teacher and a super friendly man and fun fact he is also an illustrator of biology cartoons. Take him if possible.

Professor Himelblau is one of the best professors I've had at Poly. He is extremely organized, and provides a notebook with pages for all of the notes you will take throughout the quarter. It is a great tool to help students that struggle with organization. Additionally, he gives the "learning objectives" for every chapter that is essentially the study guide for the exam. If you study the objectives and know them well, you will do well on the exams. He gives fair tests - they are difficult if you do not properly prepare. However, this is a class where your grade truly reflects how much you know the subject. He is an excellent instructor and does a great job answering questions in class and office hours. He is such a kind and approachable person too! I highly, highly recommend Professor Himelblau if you truly want to learn the contents of this course and master them. It is not an easy class, but he makes it extremely interesting and his passion for the subject makes students excited to learn. Love this professor!

Excellent teacher!!! I took AP bio in high school so this class was all a review for me, but he explained concepts better than my high school teacher had. He has a very fun personality and is great at explaining difficult concepts. Tests were pulled from concepts on the objectives. I thought tests were very easy (mostly because I had already taken AP Bio. This is definitely the BEST teacher for Bio.

One of the best professors I have had so far! He has lecture notebooks that can be found at the book store, which are SUPER helpful when it comes it studying. This class requires a lot of work on the student's part- but Himelblau does an incredible job at making Biology fun and understandable. He is super nice at office hours too. But be prepared to study a LOT. He's one of those teachers that wants their students to succeed and not only earn good grades, but actually LEARN the material better too. A lot of the stuff that he mentions during lecture is related to what's going to be on the test. PAY ATTENTION TO HIS DRAWINGS on his lecture notebooks. I promise they're not just silly little cartoon, they matter a lot when it comes to the tests.

Himelblau tells you exactly what you need to know in the objectives he gives for each chapter. Study those, and answer them independently and you will do very well.

Professor Himelblau is probably the best instructor I have had at Cal Poly. He makes a lecture of 100+ students fun and interesting as it can be. He is not only incredibly knowledgeable in his field, but he is amazing at presenting the material. His class worksheets are extremely helpful, and he tells you exactly what you need to know for the tests. There is reading in this class, which is highly recommended, but is not too bad. I cannot say enough good things about Professor Himelblau. His tests are challenging, but he prepares you very well for them. Office hours are highly recommended as well. If you have the chance, take Himelblau!!

Professor Himelblau is truly the best. He makes his lectures very interesting and presents the material very well. Himelblau makes lecture worksheets that you take notes on during lecture. There are about 100 pages that you can buy at the student store(it's like $7). There is one quiz in the second week of class to make sure you are on top of the reading, two midterms about week 4 and 8 and a final that is half week 9 and 10 material and half material from the first two midterms. The workload is very manageable if you stay on top of it. There is about 10 polylearn homework assignments over the quarter which is fairly easy(between 4 and 12 questions). Himelblau gives you "Objectives" which is basically a study guide for the questions you need to know about the chapter. The tests are hard but if you know all the objectives you will do well. Go into office hours if you are struggling on an objective or a certain topic. He is extremely helpful during office hours and will really make sure you understand the material. Take Himelblau!

Dr. Himelblau is a sweet guy and very good at his job. His lectures are organized and he provides outlines for note taking. His class feels almost like a high school class in terms of style but the material is just way more detailed and complicated. Himelblau's tests are challenging, but the questions are all fair. He also provides a set of reading objectives for each chapter and he bases all test questions off of the focus areas emphasized in the objective sets. 10/10 recommend.

Himelblau is AWESOME!!! He taught the plant portion of my class. I am not a plant person, but I always found myself completely understanding him, and not understanding the animal stuff. He kept class interesting with props and relevant stories, If you get a chance to have Himelblau, take it!

Lectures are super clear, and he gives lecture objectives so basically they are like study guides for the test and lab. You go to lecture and do the objectives you'll get a good grade and understand the material at the same time! He's great at making things simple, interesting and to the point. If you have the choice, take him! And he has a tattoo on his hand that says plants suck! If you are a girl, you'll probably want to give him a hug after every lecture because he's so cute!

Very excellent teacher, he makes plants seem interesting. Love him! Teaches with Dr. Taylor. There are three midterms, study hard.

This class was hard, but I definitely could've done better if I put more effort in. Himelblau was awesome; very enthusiastic and really passionate about what he teaches.

I thought Himelblau was a very good professor. Some things that I did not like about him were homework and tests. Homework was on mastering biology and was over $40 for just this quarter. It was slightly helpful, but anything there could be found in the book. I would have preferred his own questions posted on poly learn like other professors do. Also test questions were often worded confusingly. I feel as if I would have done much better on tests if I understood every question. But in lecture, Himelblau is great. He is very clear on every topic and is the king of plants.A

Dr. Himelblau is easily my favorite professor at Cal Poly. He is entertaining, knowledgable, and so sweet! His drawings literally made my day every single time, even though his portion of the class was based around plants (which can get kind of boring). But he brings everything to life. Take him! His exams aren't really hard if you pay attention and do the objectives.

Dont take this scumbag

Dr. Himelblau is hands down the best professor I've had at Cal Poly so far. I had him for BIO 161 and 162 and have nothing but amazing things to say. He is constantly looking for new and creative ways to present the material. He is also very organized and this shows through his teaching. He is so helpful in office hours if you go you are guaranteed to come out with your questions fully answered. Take him if you get the chance you will not regret it he is the best.

Himelblau is the sweetest man and his class is so reasonable. I really enjoyed learning from him because he taught well and he had clearly laid out expectations for all of his students. His portion of the exam was very realistic, and you could tell he wanted to really test if students were learning important overall concepts rather than memorizing small, insignificant details. The objectives that he laid out for each lecture were VERY useful for studying. Himelblau would host a lot of office hours before midterms and finals and was always so enthusiastic and sweet with helping students. The class ended up being really difficult because of the animal portion, but Himelblau cared a lot about making sure students could do as well as possible so he (as well as Dr. Blank) added a lot of grade boosters to the class because he recognized that people were struggling. 10/10 would recommend Himelblau for any bio class!

HIMELBLAU ROCKS! He presented information very clearly and clearly outlined what he wanted us to understand. His lectures were engaging and clear and it would be so useful to study from. Himelblau's plant section on the exams were very fair and he does not put little tid-bits of information that were VERY specific on the exam like Dr. Blank did. Also, he has little grade boosters throughout the quarter, like extra credit and the curves on the tests were pretty significant because the class overall did not do as well. I remember on the first midterm, only 3% of the class got an A on it.

Great new professor!

This was an enjoyable class, and I did learn a lot. He sort of reminds me of the guy from Blue's Clues, by the way he is very enthusiastic about the subject matter and how he presents it... Not that he teaches us like we're babies, but just how he goes to great effort to make sure we understand the material. He likes to introduce different parts of genetics with usually a historical story or reference. He has two exams and a final, and three computer assignments, and extra credit. He lets you turn into up to 10 x/c assignments, each at 3 points. But you have to turn in at least 5 by the 5th week of class, and then the rest by the last week of class. So you can't turn in all 10 assignments during the last week. That's pretty clever, and it makes you go out and learn more about genetics, even if it just means reading an article. Overall, I really enjoyed the class, and anyone wanting to take this class would benefit from taking it from him.

Dr. Himelblau is an amazing professor. He is brilliant but is still in the top percentage of his professional colleagues when it comes to his ability to clearly communicate information. I also had him for BIO 162. I highly recommend him. Go to lecture, read as much as you can (it\'s not ALL necessary), and DO LECTURE OBJECTIVES!!! Some chapters I wasn\'t able to fully read and doing lecture objectives was enough to get me through. I\'ve only had one other prof who does lecture objectives and they are a life saver. They really help highlight exactly what you need to know, which is super helpful as a student.

Best teacher I've had at Poly. Take him any chance you get- he presents the material in a clear manner and you really wants students to succeed.

Himelblau is far and beyond the nicest and organized professor I've had. He loves teaching and will answer any question you have. The class itself is fairly easy. You take an exam every two weeks for a total of 5 exams that consists of MC and shorts answers. You already get points here and there from in-class assignments. Get that yellow handbook he wrote from the bookstore and, combined with lecture, helps you fly through that class. Genetics is a super interesting course and I totally recommend Himelblau for the class.

Himelblau is an amaaazzinnng professor! He makes genetics such an interesting subject. I Was really unsure about the whole biology major thing, until i took his class.. the most interesting class i've taken at cal poly yet. Tests are fair. Do the objectives he assigns and know those for the test and you will do fine.

Dr. Himelblau is awesome! I don't even know my grade in the class yet and really it doesn't matter in this case. He's a great teacher and he makes lectures interesting so you will want to come to class everyday. He gives you weekly objectives, and if you do those then the tests are no problem. Himelblau is the best and every bio major knows it. :)

DR. H IS DA BOMB DOT COM. Seriously though, everyone speaks truth when they say he is the shit. Not only is he an extremely nice man that is so obviously passionate about what he teaches, he really knows how to make every one of his classes interesting. I can actually say that I looked forward to going to class every time. If you get the chance to take him for any class. DO IT.

Himelblau is on top of his game. Not only does he know his bio material, but he is really interested in being an educator and it shows. Highly interactive class. Take Himelblau.

Take the time to see Dr. Himelblau in his office hours if you have questions about anything. Dr. Himelblau is very helpful and is always willing to work with you if you are having difficulty with the material.

Dr. Himelblau is awesome! He attempts to present the material in new, creative ways, and loves analogies. He puts a lot of work into his teaching and cares about his students. Although his tests can be rather difficult, he gives extra credit over the course. I found it hard to keep up with his lectures at times. He can go extremely fast and sometimes assumes you have more background in the material than you actually do. If you go to his office hours, he is extremely willing to help. Overall, he is a great professor to take Genetics with!

He is such an organized, methodical teacher who is up to date with interesting bits of biology info. With respect to Genetics, along with Bio 161, he has such clever ways of relaying ideas to students not just in genetics terms but in everyday terms (ie comparing chromosomes to candy). He prepares you for his 3 exams with 'objective' outlining any and all questions for the exam. Such a goofy, intelligent, modern Bill Nye, take him for genetics!

Professor Himelblau is absolutely fantastic. Even if I tried, I don't think I could say a single bad thing about the guy. He's constantly enthusiastic about his material, and is just an all around great professor. He takes the challenging concepts of Genetics and rewires them so that his students can understand them the first time around. His workbork is also extremely helpful, giving useful diagrams and some comics that he draws himself. Overall, I would absolutely recommend Himalblau for Genetics, if not any class you every have to take in your life.

Dr. Himelblau is an amazing professor. It's obvious how much he loves teaching and helping students to be successful. His lectures are great - he uses a lot of different tools; workbook, powerpoint slides, articles, practice, hands-on activities. It should be noted that he expects you to really know the information - all of the readings he posts on PolyLearn are fair game (and WILL be on exams!) and you simply have to know the material - not just memorizing keywords. That being said, he is eager to help anyone that asks questions and goes in to his office hours. I got a B because I made the mistake of assuming I already knew a lot about genetics so I assumed I would do well. He goes into much more depth on these topics than any other genetics course I've taken - but I learned a lot from it too, so that's awesome.

FUCK SCITABLE!!!!!

I'm definitely gonna get hate for this but fuck it. I'm gonna derail off what I call the "Himelblau hype train" and give an honest review. There is no doubt that Himelblau is a very nice professor and is willing to help whenever possible. But his "experiment" in running the class without a textbook is a bit annoying. The readings online are from a website called Scitable and the readings can get totally confusing, I often have to borrow a genetics book from someone else or do addition research online to understand what the fuck scitable is saying. Plus, his lectures can get a bit confusing and all over the place. But that doesn't mean he does not explain things well. The course workbook that is required is semi helpful but not totally organized and there can be case studies that he requires us to do in class that definitely give students a real life genetics examples, but can get a bit confusing to grasp an first. Also, there are not enough practice problems! At least with a textbook, they provide practice problems that allow students to think and work through, but students who are working off scitable alone are vulnerable to deep shit. Dont get me wrong, there are those who love is approach and feel that textbooks are a waste of money, etc. But honestly at least teaching off a book will guide you on what you need to know and explain certain concepts in a way to make students understand.

Dr. Himelblau is awesome. He obviously puts a lot of effort into preparing his lectures and it really shows. He wants you to understand the material forwards and backwards and helps you along the way tremendously. I cannot recommend him enough. TAKE HIM!

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Himelblau is an average/below average professor. I honestly hated the fact that he made us read BS "scitable" readings instead of taking a more conservative approach and assigning readings from an actual book to guide us. So, fuck his approach to the class. Tests werent too bad except the fact that he docks a shit load of points off for the free response if you dont answer it his way which is fucking bullshit. He's a nice guy but overrated. Overall its a doable course but his workbook and scitable bullshit bugs the shit outta me.

This man is the sweetest human being! Every time I talk to him, he makes me feel like he has known me for 10 years. He also is highly in tune with difficulties students are having and is a very fair professor. The only slight thing is that my notes make sense when he is teaching them in class and he gives great examples. But later I get confused with what I am looking at when I go back to study.

HIMELBAEEEE

I LOVE Doctor Himelblau. Amazing man. Extremely smart, extremely knowledgeable, and he puts in so much work for the class. You can't take Genetics with any other professor. It blew me away how he pretty much created his own book and course off online readings, and his notes are AMAZINGLYY organized and so SO helpful. No other professor has such organized note packet. I loved how he brought in new information and journal readings and adapted and added new current studies to add to his exams. Genetics is a tough class, but by taking it with Himelblau, he made it more than doable. So sweet and personable in office hours. He truly genuinely cares about all of his students. I personally absolutely loved the scitable readings, reading online made it easier to answer the objectives as its easier to search for key terms and not get bogged down with an overload of info. You HAVE to take genetics with Himelblau!

This class was a very useful, hands-on laboratory covering important basics in molecular biology labs (PCR, cloning, sequence analysis…). Most of the labs were well-explained and Prof. Himelblau did a good job of guiding the class through them. These in-lab explanations are important to doing well on the exams because they tell you how part of the lab works. The midterm was alright but the final was challenging, so be prepared for that. The lab notebook is also important, grade-wise and practice-wise, and it's not hard to do pretty well on it. Homework and quizzes were pretty minimal and relied either on lab stuff or understanding PCR, which was the main focus of the 1-hour lecture. Prof. Himelblau himself is wonderful at answering questions in class and at OH and is a very friendly professor. Ask him about his cartoons (also on Instagram!) if he doesn't show the class.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.

Dr Himelblau is a great professor. He really wants to help the students learn the material. He is not as challenging as some of the other Molecular/Micro teachers but he is very helpful and very approachable. He is a good teacher to take for any class because he does not push you beyond what you can do but rather helps you work to your potential.