Kelley, James  

Professor Kelley's BIO 114 class is enjoyable! I was dreading to take this GE, but I have actually learned a lot about plants through the field trips and lab activities. He is a helpful, expressive professor passionate about plants. Beware, there are a couple of pop quizzes and some memorization.

I absolutely loved BIO 114! I was nervous at first because in High School I was awful at biology, but this class is nothing like that. If you go to class, study his powerpoints from lectures and actually give a damn about what's going on in class you'll do fine. The labs and weekly hikes are awesome for this class. I took my lab with Jason Johns who was also awesome, and actually cared about his students grasping the materials covered in lab/on the hikes. If you're okay with memorizing 80+ plant names and scientific names by the end of the quarter, then this is the class for you. I didn't know how much I enjoyed plants and botany until I took this course and it was by far my favorite class I've ever taken at Cal Poly, I highly recommend taking it!

Professor Kelley is the sweetest guy with the most amazing passion for Bio and plants included. He looks exactly like James Corden and also wear the best button down shirts, some are even super nerdy with like cells on them or something. I wouldn't say he is one of those professors who gets to know their students well because he is never in his office hours and you can tell that he's more focused on his graduate work than his students. That being said he was a great professor and taught extremely well. He gives "pop quizzes" that most people fail even if you did show up to class but really if you're in class at that time he'll give you full credit on the quiz regardless of true score. If he notices a lot people leaving his lecture, at the end of the lecture he might also give on of those pop quizzes. His tests are easy, his slides have everything you need! DO NOT BUY THE BOTANY BOOK, it's on course reserves and you really don't need it for any test because like I said, the slides give you everything you need and understanding plants really isn't that hard. If you have any questions go up to him after class because if you raise your hand in lecture I guarantee he will NEVER see it.

James is not your average grad student. Granted, he wont go out of his way to be there for office hours or answer your question, but pay attention in class and you shouldn't have any. He has powerpoints every day which are super easy to follow and organized. If you go to class, and actually stay awake, you should do fine. That being said, STUDY FOR THE TESTS. They are not a walk in the park.

James is so passionate about plants its contagious. He was an excellent instructor and presented the material in a very clear, engaging way. It was always fun to go to class because he got me excited about plants, and he is a really passionate, excited person about his subject. His tests were quite easy. Take good notes in this class, and review notes before classes to prepare for pop attendance quizzes, and review before the tests and you'll do fine. He does quite a few "attendance pop quizzes" which are basically to make sure you're showing up to class, and are easy, and he often gives full points just for filling it out. Bottom line, go to class (it's fun anyways). This was a super enjoyable class to take for a GE, and I would definitely recommend it if you need that GE filled.

Such a fun class!!! James is adorable and he is so passionate about plants. Coming to class is never hard. Everyone should take this class if they can. It fascinated me so much that I decided to take two more botany classes!

I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!