Shields, Cameron  

Warning: this class is very intense! With that being said, Dr. Shields is organized, approachable and most importantly she wants her students to succeed. Your grade is made up of 2 midterms (100pts each), final (150pts), online quizzes (50pts), 4 lab quizzes (40pts), and 2 lab practicals (100pts each). Everything you need to know is discussed in class or on her power point slides, just be prepared to spend a significant amount of time reviewing the slides. This class requires you to memorize a HUGE volume of information. Dr. Shields understands this and shares stories/mnemonics to help the class remember certain terms and concepts. She even ends class early on occasion and offers 10pts extra credit points, which may be crucial to boost your grade up! TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD GRADE: take notes on EVERYTHING she says in lecture, allow yourself at least 5 days to study for every exam, form a study group, make flashcards for harder concepts and terms, take pictures of the body system models in lab (so you can study from them), all the quiz questions can be found on quizlet, and finally go to office hours and review your old exams to prepare for the final (she reuses questions)!

Dr. Shields is a really good lecture teacher. She has lecture slides on polylearn for you to print out each week and they are so helpful because all of her tests are based off of the notes. There are two midterms and a partially cumulative final, all of which are really fair. You have to study a lot for this class and it is a ton of information. As long as you fully understand all the concepts though, and you use the book for reference, you will do fine on the tests. This professor knows how to teach the material so it makes sense to the students. She is very smart and also really funny during class. Take dr. shields if you can, go to class every time and study this subject everyday. It is extremely hard to get an A in the class, but doable. Good luck!

Professor Shields deserves nothing more than 4 stars. She's by far the best professor I've had at Cal Poly. Honestly, all I can ask for in a professor is to care about their students and them learning and Shields does far beyond that. She absolutely loves teaching this material to her students and really really wants her students to learn the material and enjoy it as well. if I could just keep taking anatomy every quarter I would. The class is hard, don't get me wrong, but professor Shields makes class not absolutely dreadful. Anytime someone asks a question she replies "thats a good question!!" then actually answers it!!! EVEN if it doesn't really have to do with the material we are currently learning. She LOVES answering questions and she deserves so much respect for that. She truly just wants her students to be excited about learning and honestly I could never ask for more from a professor. Take her as a teacher if you can!! Sometimes I go into office hours just because I really want to hear to talk about anatomy more...... and this is coming from someone that is doing terrible in the class. I appreciate Dr. Shields so much and think that if every one of my teachers was like her I would absolutely love school. Love you Dr. Shields, you da bestest

This class is pretty intense, but I don't think you can get much better of an instructor than Dr. Shields. The lectures tell you exactly what you need to know, and the tests are on that material. But be aware there is a LOT of material, and you do have to know it pretty well to do well on the exams. She says to go over the lecture notes 10 times before the exam, which I think is excessive, but that's definitely the idea in this class (that and mnemonics) . She also fields some weird and interesting questions from students with ease (she is an MD) which gives the class some flavor. There's also like 5% EC at the end of the quarter (between the lecture and lab), so that's cool too. Also, I didn't have Shields for the lab in this class, but I think there are a few things worth mentioning about that: The lab grade is like 40% of your total grade, so it's pretty important. It's also almost entirely memorizing large chunks of anatomy (each lab practical was on like 4-page term lists). I'll recommend my strategy, which was get a whiteboard and draw the body parts over and over until you can do it in your sleep. For the muscles in the second half, google "3D anatomy" and find a good 3D model that shows you how things fit together. You do get to do some dissections and visit the cadaver lab, which I thought was very cool.

DON'T TAKE 232 BEFORE 231!!! All of the teachers will say it's not a cumulative series, but really 30% of the material covered in 231 is covered also covered again in 232. I took 232 last quarter and I'm in 231 this quarter so trust me, i know... The class was horribly difficult for me (I have a 3.5 in BMED as a reference), and I couldn't understand why... I thought all of other students were unbelievably intelligent, but in reality is was just because they learned everything already and it was all review. TAKE 232 AFTER 231 OR YOU'LL BE AT A HUGE DISADVANTAGE!!!

Shields is THE professor to take for Bio 231/232. I took her for both and loved it. She is extremely clear with what information she wants you to know for the exams. She is a very sweet professor who will explain any student's questions in depth. She truly cares about A&P and wants to see her students succeed in understanding the material. She went through medical school and often includes relative stories of her time as a resident/intern which makes lecture a bit more exciting. If there is one way to do well in her class, it is to almost solely study LECTURE NOTES! LECTURE NOTES! LECTURE NOTES! 100% recommend taking her class. I wish I could take her for more courses.

She is one of the nicest professors I have ever had. The class itself is difficult because its ZOO but I enjoyed studying the material. I wished I had her for lab, I feel like I would have done better in class. Overall, she is extremely caring and nice, responds promptly, and is extremely generous! Take her if you could!!!

The best teacher on campus. First of all, she's an actual physician (MD, plus a retired ophthalmologist). I struggled in this class because I was stupid enough to take it with calculus and organic chemistry. I was afraid of getting a D in the class. But I went to her office hours, and she did more than help me. She taught me how to study. She'll ask you questions about yourself, then suggest ways to study her material. And they freaking worked. I pulled through with a C. She even helped me study for my lab practical (which she didn't instruct), because I didn't have any other friend or study partner in that class ahaha. Definitely go to her office hours early so she can tell you the best way to study. She definitely knows her shit. She's been through medical school for heaven's sake. She knows how to study the material and memorize it. (That's what this class is anyway). And if you ask her a vague question during lecture, she'll understand what you're asking, and explain it really well. And she's humble too; if she's not sure about a question, she doesn't BS around the question. She'll say, "I'm not sure on that one. Google it and then show me what you find!" She's so sweet too.

This lady is the bomb. Seriously, she is so passionate about students, really loves us and is just really sweet. She makes tests hard, but they're really not, considering they are directly out of the slides. Don't bother reading. I only used the book for the MAP assignments. Take this woman!

I had Dr. Shields for Fall quarter and she was great! Her slides are really helpful and she's clear about what she wants you to know for the midterms. There were 2 midterms and the final composed of a midterm for the 3rd unit and a small comprehensive test. Dr. Shields is really understanding and funny so I'd highly recommend her. Same goes for the lab. There are a ton of terms to learn, but that's zoology for you.

Dr. Shields is awesome! She's so patient in lab and always keeps us entertained with her Dr. stories. Her tests are very fair and based completely off her lecture material, and she gives extra handouts to help with the more difficult concepts. I can't think of a single negative about her or the class. I thought 332 was much more interesting than 331 which made things that much better. Take Shields!

Dr. Shields is simply fabulous. She truly cares about students, and she gives you mnemonics and tricks to help remember things! I had her for 331 and 332; take her whenever you can!

The most amazing professor at Cal Poly. She is the nicest, and most helpful instructor that you could possibly have. She truly has a passion for teaching that shows with every one of her lectures. I had her for both lecture and lab for 332 and lecture for 331. Despite the fact that she is insanely intelligent, she wants students to understand the information and succeed in class more than anything. I highly recommend her and wish I could take more classes with her.

Dr. Shields is literally one of the smartest people I have ever met in my entire life. She knows how to present all the material in a clear way, and is very helpful during lab. She provides all the information that you need to know for the exam and does not trick you at all... you just need to know everything on every slide. Her tests are fair, and basically test if you learned all the information she presented to you -- there is no way you can rip on her because she is a fair teacher will fair expectations. She wants you to learn! Granted this class was hard as f*ck...... but she was a great teacher and I would highly recommend her.

Shields is an awesome and straightforward teacher. Her tests came straight out of her lectures, so if you pay attention and know everything on her slides you will do fine in the class! Anat & Phys isn't an easy subject but she goes through it very clearly and will spend however long in class clarifying anything that is confusing. I bombed the first midterm, but figured out how to study for the second midterm and final and still pulled through with an A. She is a sweetheart, definitely take her class if you get the chance!