Strand, Christine  

She is extremely intelligent but extremely difficult. Don't let the sweetness fool you. Enjoy

I have taken Dr. Strand for multiple A&P classes and I choose her each time! She's not an easy professor, but we are in upper level classes and the profs shouldn't be easy! She is very clear with what she wants you to know and posts lectures (usually) the night before class so you can print out notes. Tests are fair and she's big on examples that cover a lot of material we studied but are new to us. She does give some homework (journal article summary) which is nice to buffer your grade a bit! People have told me that she is too intimidating to go to her office hours but, as someone who was literally in her office every week while in her class, she's totally willing to help or chat etc just show that your interested and want to learn/improve. Great prof expect to learn a lot!

Cal Poly is privileged to have Dr. Strand as a professor. She is a top-notch lecturer and includes a ton of information in her classes. She integrates a lot of pathology in her exams, so if you have a pre-health interest this is a great class for you. Her lectures are very detailed. Like her A&P classes, she posts her lectures on blackboard. I highly recommend printing them, bringing them to class, and writing directly on them. She talks very fast in lecture so I also recommend going back and rewriting your notes after class. I can guarantee you rewriting your notes will significantly raise your grade. Her grading is very fair. She grades on a flat scale, so a 90% is an A, which really helped keep me motivated to do well. I also recommend this class in general, especially if you have taken BIO 432/433 or the equivalent ZOO series. Histology integrates information you have learned into a microscopic view, which was really cool. If you haven't taken the A&P series, you will have to work very hard, but again, you can do well. Great professor, great class.

I'm naming my firstborn child Doctorstrand. Strand is a badass, legitimately one of the coolest professors at Cal Poly. If you're not in her class, you're in the wrong class. Go switch classes right now. If it's too late to switch classes, go to her office just to kick it with her.

Dr. Strand is a great professor. She is challenging, but very fair and you will learn a ton in her class. Her grading is awesome, she doesn't give A- grades so the A range is down to a 90%. I had her for two quarters and in both she gave 10 extra credit points throughout the quarter. For lecture she posts all slides on blackboard before lecture. The lab periods are left very open to learn on your own, and you can ask questions if confused on something. This was a great class, you will be pushed to the max, but you can get a great grade if you study hard and take it seriously.

Dr. Strand is is probably one of the most knowledgeable teachers I have had at cal poly. However, that being said, she is also one of the most difficult. Her tests are pretty challenging, but having her as a teacher is even more challenging. She is really intimidating in office hours, and it's really hard to approach her, especially if she is in a bad mood. She knows a lot about the subject, but is very rude if you ask her a question. She makes you feel stupid and useless. As far as test goes, she bases most of the questions on lecture, but the multiple choice are tricky, and she grades the short answer very strictly. This class caused me a lot of stress, just because of the teacher. She makes everything more stressful than it needs to be. Take a different teacher if you're given the opportunity.

Dr. Strand was gone for our first week of classes due to being at some conference, so we had some ultra-chill grad student TA do a lecture or two. This made for a great contrast to seeing Strand bustle in on her first day back, walking a mile a minute, and start talking in her abrasive Strand tone. It got to a point that I had to contain my laughter because I thought she was kidding! She went on a 5 minute little rant about how it would be a tough class, so we should deal with it, etc. That said, she never really stopped having that abrasive, non-approachable manner but we all got used to it after having her for a year (for the whole anatomy series). Pretty soon we got to know her sense of humor and it become a whole lot more pleasant. Of course, she could be a little more approachable, but if you sack up and talk to her she is easy enough. She even asked me how things were going for me a few times when she knew I was applying to professional school. So don't let her mannerisms scare you off. That said, it was quite the challenging class - especially in lab. I am good at memorizing but not so good with identifying things in lab. Plus, lab is very much self-teaching and I was not always the best at holding myself accountable. So make sure you watch out for that. If you want an easier teacher, I know that there were some other kids in my major who took someone else and found it to be a breeze. Honestly I would have taken that easy ticket if I could, just for the sake of being lazy. But hey, I probably came out better prepped for professional school with her class under my belt.

I agree with all who posted before me

I genuinely feel like I learned more about anatomy by playing with myself than from this woman.

This class SHOULD BE difficult no matter which professor you enroll with. It is anatomy AND physiology and the physiology portion requires that you put a lot of time and effort in. That being said, I learned a hell of a lot more with Strand in 433 than I did with Blank in 432. She is very knowledgeable, funny (she watches South Park!), and helpful. All of the people that said she was unapproachable probably never even attempted to approach her... She talks very fast which is something I had to adapt to while taking notes, but using my laptop definitely helped. The material was so interesting and I was able to incorporate so much of what we learned into other classes and into life in general. Favorite class of my undergrad. One of my favorite professors. She's awesome, wait to take the class with her if you have the choice.

Dr. Strand has been one of the best professors I have ever had at Poly. I had heard she was unapproachable and intimidating, but in reality it is 100% the opposite. She was ALWAYS helpful, no matter if it was in lecture, lab, or office hours. She speaks very quickly in class, but could always clarify any topics we had difficulty understanding. BIO 433 has by far been my favorite undergrad class, and alot of that can be attributed to this professor. If you are intimidated by her, go into her office hours and you will surely find that she is approachable, kind, and wants the best for her students. 433 is meant to be an EXTREMELY difficult class...it is a 5 unit anat AND phys class. Obviously you must work hard to get a good grade in this class, and if this class is too hard for you then you might want to rethink having a concentration in anatomy and physiology. I highly recommend taking 432 AND 433 with Strand, you will be so thankful you did!

You're going to want to read this whole thing about Strand and her teaching habits. Strand is very understanding of personal complications and she is more than willing to be on your side. BUT she is very moody and has an unstable character. One week she will be your best friend. Then the next week she won't care who you are and will make you do tons of work because she is so lazy to instruct you on anything. She will make you feel inferior because she expects you to remember material from prerequisite classes inside and out. I survived her class because she didn't like me and mutually I disliked her so in the end things evened out. I try not to say the word "hate" but Strand is a borderline hated teacher for me. She talks very fast like Eminem and Busta Rhymes so record everything she says in lecture. Bio 432 and 433 had 3 midterms with a final. Her labs have quizzes every other week with a group experiment and presentation on that experiment at the end of the quarter. There are also 2 lab practicals. For how difficult she presents the material and the ridiculous amount she makes you know, getting a B is pretty easy. The secret is maintaining all the points possible throughout the quarter including especially prelabs, extra credit, lab quizzes, and lab reports. It's obvious but you will see what I mean once she kicks your ass on the first worksheet because you made dumb mistakes that for some reason she is very picky about. Get to know her grader! That person will help you ALOT. Strand is a used car salesman. She talks down her class like its pretty easy. Then you will walk out of the test in tears because Strand writes a test made to mess up your soul. She has multiple choice, true false, matching, and free response sections and they all suck! You have to know all material thoroughly as if someone has a gun to your head while you recite everything you have learned. Strand doesn't think her classes are that difficult but at least once in a quarter you will breakdown in tears because of the workload and burden she puts on your shoulders. I have come out with B's in Bio 432 and 433 with her and if I can get that, anyone else can but I did work my ass off just for the B. Don't let her attitude piss you off or intimidate you. Collect all the points you can, do all the work and extra credit, and especially show her that you are trying a little. At the end of the quarter she will not like you and won't help you if haven't displayed any bit of work ethic. Try to get old papers, quizzes, and tests from friends. I survived Strand because Im hardnosed and do not care about people and don't give a shit about this woman Strand. Work your ass off and don't let her bullshit with the work and scheduling of tests and lab quizzes get to your head. If you let Strand control you emotionally your grade is gone for the quarter.

Professor Strand is by far my favorite teacher at Cal Poly, and that's saying something because I have had a hand full of amazing teachers here. I already miss Anat/Physio with her and every class since is super boring in comparison. You should be ready to dedicate your time to this class, but getting a good grade is definitely not impossible. Yes she expects you to learn, but isn't that what your in college for?? She has a great sense of humor and is very engaging in every lecture. TAKE PROFESSOR STRAND!!! you will not regret it!!! best teacher evvvvvvva