Comments:BIO - I took lawson in fall 2023. his tests are hard but doable if you listen in class and dont cram the night before. be prepared for questions that are ones you have never seen before. his tests are all application so you really have to know all the information well. do the quizzes, assingments, go to class somewhat, and dont cram. read the night before class. i was going to get a b but then he added some random grades at the end. its doable, but hard and i had to change my studying style completely. do good so you dont have to cram for the final. but i wouldnt recommend lawson if your not gonna take your time studying, listening in class, and overall putting a lot of your time into this class. do not wing this class or his tests  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - He's a tough professor. I took honors and AP bio in high school and was at the top of my class so that I would have a good understanding of the class. No. The tests were complex, and I would be studying days, even a week in advance, and still could barely make a 50 on these exams. I never went during office hours, but the one time I emailed him, I did receive a response, and he was helpful in class with questions. Other than that, I've heard negative things about him. One thing that could have been better was the workload, typically only one quiz a week, and reading. The quizzes are difficult thought but impossible. I wouldn't recommend him as a professor.  - Grade In Class:F

Comments:1305 - Dr. Lawson definitely knows what he's talking about in class, but he's not a great teacher. His exams are super nitpicky and specific, and he gives us a lot of in-class quizzes. He's mostly nice, but his jokes aren't super funny, and he talks about his PhD a lot. I did learn a lot in his class, but I would recommend taking it at MCC or somewhere else  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - Dr. Lawson is amazing. Most people complain about him because of the lecture vagueness, however he just has high expectations. You need to read the textbook and WATCH THE DATA TALKS!!! Those are lifesavers and the only way you will do above average. His classes are always interesting, and you work with your group on so much. You have 4 exams, and he allows your final to replace the lowest. All multiple choice. The tests are mainly application, but if you studied youll be fine. The quizzes are pretty easy and usually only twice a month. He doesn't take attendance, but if you want to understand the lesson, go to class! He deeply cares about his students and is truly one of my favorite professors. Bio is hard, but Lawson is a good teacher! Just pay attention and use the resources provided  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:1305 - This course is good for you if you are willing to study a lot outside of class on your own. He is a great guy and he uses examples that we will understand to help us understand it. He uses a different book. My biggest piece of advice is to read the chapter before class, watch the datatalk videos for that chapter and then go to class. The test are focused mainly on the graphs from the book. If you are looking for a biology class where you can memorize and just spit it out on the test, do not take this class. You have to be able to apply the knowledge learned in this class. He gives team practice tests before the exams which are extremely helpful to see what you need to study before the exam. Overall, Lawson was not bad. He is a good professor but you have to be able and willing to put the work in.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - This class is so much harder than it needs to be! He uses the honors textbook for a regular Biology class and expects you to already understand concepts of biology from freshmen year. The test averages are 60% and more than 10 people dropped the class after the first one. Avoid Lawson at ALL chance if you can!!  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:1305 - DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS< I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU WANT TO FAIL. This man all he does is talks about jokes, he does not care about the well being of his students he rather his students fail and not understand instead of helping. He is the only BIO 1305 teacher to teach out of a different book then all the other 1305 biology so if you think you and your friends can help eachother out nope because he has a completely different book. The average on his test are below 50 every time but he will not curve or round up on anything. He also do not believe in A plus or B plus. He sets standard grades so it does not matter if you have a 89.89 he will not found it up to an A you will simply just have a B in his class even though tech it's supposed to round up. So like I said DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS UNLESS YOU WANT TO FAIL THE CHOICE IS YOURS BUT IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE HIM YOU WILL EITHER DROP THE CLASS OR MAKE A (C) IN HIS CLASS< I WISH YOU LUCK!  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:1305 - I do not know why there are people complaining about the low ratings and then saying they were successful by teaching themselves the material. I did not come here to teach myself so if you do not want to have to learn the entire material all on your own, I would suggest avoiding his class. Plus taking notes in his lectures helps a little for quizzes but does NOTHING for his exams. Overall it is just a stressful experience  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - I actually really liked Dr. Lawson. His class is different than all the other 1305 classes because I has kind of a flipped classroom format so you will teach yourself the readings from the textbook and then you will do team activities in class. I personally feel like I just do better in a lecture hall but I did get to know the people in my group which was really fun. If you take his class I 100% recommend going to his office hours just once a week, he will give you a lot of tips for the tests that he didn't usually give in class and because he didn't really teach in class it was helpful to clarify things from the book in office hours. His class can be kind of frustrating at time but he truly does care about the students and tries to make class fun (he even will bring candy sometimes!) Also his tests are not worth that much of your grade, a lot of it is based on take home quizzes and participation so if you are not a great test taker that can be really helpful  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1305 HNR - Fall 2022: Class is based on a textbook that merges biology and history together. If you like reading and taking notes on how scientists gained our current biological understanding, this class should be manageable. Dr. Lawson is a nice professor, but do not expect mercy on grading, and the exams are all multiple choice. Advice: Do not argue about grades or correct answer choices because others have done that to no avail; Keep up with the enormous reading demand; Take flexible notes in class; go to office hours to review past exams; understand how grading works (pay attention to exam grade substitution/quiz drops, they are incredibly beneficial to students).  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - Dr. Lawson is not as bad as all these ratings!!!! His class is set up in a way that you have to learn the material on your own, but I actually preferred it to the lecture-learning style. He's funny, but his classes are a bit boring, he doesn't take attendance. He seems easier than more of the other biology professors, and you can get an A as long as you stay on top of it and actually work hard to learn and understand the material!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - this was lowk a hard class to get through it is very different from other classes because you need to really understand the material and how to apply it. goes deeper than just memorization  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:BIO 1305 - I liked Dr. Lawson a lot. I realized this around the middle of the semester, and it surprised me. At the beginning of the year, he came on very strong and I thought this was going to be a very difficult class. It turned out to be one of my easier classes, though. He is an excellent teacher and a really nice guy. His office hours are at difficult times, though, so if you need him you might need to send him an email. He is very prompt at responding. He quizzes almost every week, and they are hard, but the tests are not that bad. For most of the semester, my quiz grades were bringing my total grade down compared to my tests! The book wasn't bad, although it was written by a Campbell, and you know they can't be trusted ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯. One very important thing, however, which I don't see people mentioning here, is that he does not give minus letter grades, only plus grades. (eg. 100-90=A, 89-87=B+, 86-80=B, etc.) This is very important and can really save your GPA. This is only one more reason why I highly recommend him. His lectures are very clear and he is a great teacher. The only real downside to taking his class is that he uses a different book from the rest of the 1305 profs. This means that if you don't like him, it might be difficult to take a different professor for BIO 1306. However, I'm excited to retake him in the spring, and I would highly recommend Dr. Lawson for any classes you take in the future!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1302 - For this class only study the powerpoints and watch the video that he provides. Those will help you so much. I did that and just tried to memorize everything that I took notes about. His rating is low for no reason.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305/1306 - This dude is the BOMB. I have no idea what these other ratings are saying. Most people do bad in this class because they are not used to having to understand the material instead of just memorize it and spit it back up on an exam.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - Although he is available, I'd recommend avoiding him as much as possible. not only is he an awful teacher, but he is condescending in his office hours. Don't let my grade fool you, it is only because I took bio in High school. he disguises "team learning" as you and your peers (who all don't know what we're doing) teaching yourselves. avoid him if you can.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1302 - literally the worst. he thinks he is good and thats that sad part, tests every two weeks, and you never have an idea of what he's going to test you about.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:BIO 4302 - Dr. Lawson is the best biology professor I've had at Baylor. Some people don't like him because he doesn't sit up front and give you a boring lecture for the entire class period. Instead you do team activities and reading quizzes that help you learn way more than a lecture but are actually pretty fun. The absolute best microbio teacher there is- if you study the textbook a little outside of class an A is very attainable as the weekly reading quizzes are 40 percent of your grade (and they aren't super hard)  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - Lawson was okay. In the beginning of the year I was excited for the "active learning" he claimed to teach. As the year went on, I learned that really meant students teach themselves everything. The lectures were useless. Lawson doesn't add anything he just talks about maybe half the chapter in vague detail. The amount of reading was insane and the tests are applied learning and concepts with multiple answer questions from hell. The team activities, weekly quizzes, and discussion boards were the only thing that saved my grade.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - alright so, this class sucks. I love bio, ive always been good at it, but this man made me rethink my major a little bit. His lectures are completely useless, you will have to read and take notes on every chapter of the textbook he covers to maybe get a B on the tests. His tests will not be like normal bio where its recalling info you're taught and then just answering it, he asks you to relate things to dumb figures that have nothing to do with what you are learning. the things that saved my grades were that he has quizzes weekly so that was the only helpful thing. I studied for his final for probably 20 hours and nothing that I studied was directly on the final, it was all applied knowledge. He will every five seconds mention he is a microbiologist and instead of being a teacher he should just go be one. Do not take this class if you can avoid it, you'll be ok most likely if you do but its just such an annoying class cause you are completely teaching your self. if any prof ever says they used active learning, run because you will not learn a single thing about bio in this class.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - Do not take this class if you do not want a hit on your GPA. His lectures can be very skewed and uninformative to what he actually tests on. Sometimes, he will be knowledgeable and explain things very well, but for the most part, his class is not worth taking if you like dedicating the majority of your time to this subject. Your grade is mainly supported by the safety net of quizzes and other assignments.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:BIO 1302 - I LOVE THIS MAN. He is literally the goat. I think he let us out of class 15 minutes early every time. He makes jokes that are sometimes funny and I feel like he doesn't have unrealistic expectations of students. The only thing is that he is super strict about test taking which can be kind of stressful. All his tests were on lockdown even before COVID. Literally all I would do was study the powerpoints and it was an easy A. I don't know that I ever really read. I really don't understand why he has such low ratings. I guess the other people on here have never had hard professors because this man is so thoughtful. Over the entire snow week he sent us emails that he wouldn't check attendance because he didn't want us to drive or walk to class if we didn't feel comfortable. He also told us not to worry about any assignments and to just drink hot cocoa and stay warm. Literally just pay attention in class and study the powerpoints. Especially pay attention to the questions on the powerpoints because those were often on tests. I thought I would hate this class, but it ended up being on of my favorites at Baylor and he ended up being one of my favorite professors.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - DO NOT TAKE THIS MAN!!!! On the first day of class, he literally made a joke about how terrible his reviews were. Things just went rapidly downhill from there. This man is incredibly knowledgeable and he has an amazing sense of humor, but he can't teach to save his life. Lectures consisted of him going on tangents and telling random stories; you'll leave with new fun facts to tell, but with zero preparation for his tests. Which brings me to my next point--his tests were absolute nightmares. If you like interpreting graphs about some experiment that someone did 50 years ago, then they'll be perfect for you! Otherwise, they're an absolute pain to study for. It doesn't help that he uses a completely different textbook from the other professors. This means that half of the people at the tutoring center literally can't help you because they aren't familiar with his weird graphs. Even the SI admitted that she didn't take him and had to teach herself the textbook. While impressive, this doesn't exactly bode well since she 1) isn't familiar with his teaching style, 2) she didn't even know if her interpretation of the graphs was right (spoiler: she gave us the wrong info on more than one occasion), and 3) she could barely properly explain things BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THEM EITHER. Lawson has made it abundantly clear that he is fully aware of how horrible his class is, he just doesn't care. To him, it's a "test" that shows we're "ready for medical school" (his words, not mine). If you take this class, good luck. The only two glimmers of hope are that Lawson himself is always willing to meet with you and that he heavily curves the class at the end (because everyone is doing so badly).  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1302 - Dr. Lawson is not nearly as bad as these reviews say he is. I am still taking micro with him, and it's not easy, but it's doable if you put in effort. Despite what a lot of the reviews say, his tests are HEAVILY lecture based, and there's also some info from the study guide. He provides LOTS of resources to help your practice and learn more, and he has always been available for any help I have needed. Lectures were overwhelming, but I highly recommend printing out the powerpoint slides and takin notes off of those, or rewatching lectures. He offers up to 3% extra credit on your overall grade, which is really useful if you are on the verge of moving up a letter grade. He is a good guy and is very heavily sarcastic (which I thought was funny), you will be fine in micro if you just take the time to study!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:4302 - I think Dr. Lawson is great. He is super nice, very interesting and practical. The class is not super easy, but it’s doable. I would highly recommend him. I don’t think other reviews on here are fair to him at all.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:bio 1302 - Dr. Lawson is an ok professor. His lectures don't really line up with what's in the book. I found that his exams were more textbook-based rather than lecture-based. He's kind of lazy though; he literally uses questions from the internet for his exams. For my science classes, I like to look up practice questions online as a form of studying, and I recognized a lot of those questions when I would later take my exam. Not fair that the man has a PhD and can't even come up with his own exam questions. Why do we have to work hard studying when he can't even write his own exams? Anyways, read the book if you wanna do well. Office hours aren't very helpful; he made me feel stupid. Be able to apply what you know and not just restate what you know; he asks a lot of application questions. Don't use the study guides; they go on tangents and mention things he never discussed. Overall, not the best professor, but he's the only one for 1302, so you just have to deal with it.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Intro to Bio - This class was tough mainly because of the textbook. It focuses on application even though it's an intro class which in my opinion, should focus more on fundamentals and general concepts. The tests were application based as well. I struggled in this class and didn't like it very much. BUT, Dr. Lawson is helpful. He always makes himself available to go over every quiz and test with students and truly wants his students to succeed. This class is difficult, but Dr. Lawson is a good professor and a funny, nice dude that has students' best interests in mind. I will also say that this teaching style and textbook style, though initially tough to learn, has helped me thoroughly remember the material beyond the classroom.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1306 - Here's the thing. Dr. Lawson teaches 1306 with the Integrated Concepts of Biology (ICB) curriculum, which is different from what most other general bio classes are (1405/1406 are taught with the same book). I took BIO 1305 with the normal curriculum instead of ICB, and I got a very high A in the class. I was expecting similar results for this semester, but that wasn't what happened. The ICB is hard, but I don't blame the professor at all. The thing about ICB and the way Dr. Lawson teaches it is that the tests are more focused on the specific experiments we read about in the book and hear about in lecture. Picking up the big picture concepts is harder when looking at these. I don't feel like I learned anything new about biology after this semester. Most of this was spent learning and memorizing the experiment results, which is harder. I thought Lawson himself was so funny and quirky. I loved his sense of humor so much. He did get off on weird tangents sometimes, but it didn't really hinder lecture overall. I liked his discussions, even if the curriculum used wasn't great.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - The tests were so awful and I spend at least 3-4 hours a night on that material and the majority of my weekends as well (especially since the tests were over the weekend). It felt like I couldn't take a break. The quizzes weren't any better either. His lectures were a jumbled mess and I would be waiting for him to say something useful that might be on the test. Before I knew it an hour and 15 min were up and there wasn't anything worth taking notes over. He constantly went on tangents and I tried to use other resources because his lectures were useless. I tried the baylor bio videos and went to the success center and tried to find videos online but since he has his own little book he wanted to go by nothing helped. I also prefer physical books instead of online textbooks. Basically if you get Lawson good luck. The only good thing about him is he was normally in his office after class for office hours. It seemed like he wanted to help you but also for you to do poorly if that makes sense.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1406 - As a former 1405 student, I understood his teaching style more so that helped me get a better grade the second semester. Lawson, for as quirky of a man as he is, is a good teacher. He responds to emails very quickly and has open office hours so you can get help whenever you need it. He is very kind and although he can get a little distracted during lecture, as long as you read the textbook, you will be fine. The textbook is difficult to read, though, so be prepared. As an integrative concepts of biology course, it is not a typical wrote memorization course. It teaches you how to read primary literature and ultimately analyze and interpret graphs and data to form your own conclusions, not just believe what is told to you. Lawson was helpful by answering questions in detail. For 1405/1406, lab is worth 25% of your grade, so make sure you do well. Your TA’s want to help you, so if you do your work, you should be fine. You will not get an easy A in the class, though, so please level your expectations if you believe you will. It is possible, but it will require a lot of hard work and studying for exams. Lawson is also a slow grader and took 3 months to grade one assignment- I wish I were kidding. Best of luck to you and your 4.0 szn  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1302 - His lectures are not very heavily book based. the tests focus on things he finds important, his study guides are not helpful whatsoever rather they steer away from a lot of things he likes to focus on. I ended up doing better on the tests once i stopped doing his study guides and solely focused on his lectures. A lot of his lectures he likes to go on irrelevant tangents that he will never test you on. He tries to be nice when you go to his office hours. I went in for office hours in the beginning of the year and he told me to google the answer. his tests are all on the weekend through a lockdown browser and he had about 5 of them throughout the semester, not including the final. Overall a pretty easy class, but it was a little miserable by having tests on the weekends rather than having it throughout the week, but made the shift to online classes a lot easier.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:1306 - This man is a great teacher! I know all of the other reviews say that he's garbage, and I still can't figure out why. Yeah, it was a hard class, but if you did the reading and took notes during the lectures, you're gonna be fine! Honestly, if you don't have time for the reading, just go to the lectures! His tests are mostly on the graphs in the book (which is different from the other bio classes, which I rather like, it was less dense, much shorter passages) and he explains all of them really really well! I would take this prof again, for sure!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1405 - I would not recommend this class unless you are proficient in advanced biology. The textbook that Lawson uses is different from the rest of the Intro Bio courses. It is composed of advanced biology concepts that are very difficult to understand and Lawson does not do a good job at teaching the content. Expect to spend hours raking over the textbook trying to digest the content.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:BIO 1306 - One of the worst professors I have had. I do not know what he is talking about during most lectures and he pretty much is condescending when the entire class does not know what is going on. Not helpful at all. His exams are extremely difficult and hard to comprehend. Overall, do not take this course.  - Grade In Class:D

Comments:1406 - ok. so listen here. Dr. Lawson's class is hard. there is no way around that but if you are truly interested in research and wanna feel comfortable with scientific literature and basic lab skills , you might consider this class. First, I'll tell you if you're an entering freshman hoping for an easy A this is not the class for you. The knowledge they test is VERY specific and incorporates stuff that most (if not all) regular 1305/6 bio kids will never have to do. If you want an easy A , get out now. Now, if you're stuck, listen here. This class is hard but not impossible to make an A. I made a B first semester (1305) and was devastated, came back second semester and made an A. Step 1: TAKE LAB SERIOUSLY my lab was taught by adair and tbh i was SO confused the whole year and wish I would have taken pre labs and lecture more seriously, lab is 25% of your grade which is A LOT so make a good grade in there! ask questions ! understand what's going on ! STEP 2: UNDERSTAND THE TEXTBOOK this textbook is unlike anything i have ever seen and don't expect to see anything like this in the future. it is RESEARCH BASED !! in the beginning of every section it lists the objectives and important stuff DONT IGNORE THIS it is important and this is how they make exams. ( btw if you're stuck on an exam ask yourself "what are they testing me on/ what do they want me to know? this has saved me time and time again) they try to teach biological concepts through literature so understand each experiment!!! understand what they are asking and why !!! why is this research being conducted ? what did they learn from it ?? ( more than once I really didn't understand the experiment or anything ab it , but since I understood the results/ conclusions I still got those exam questions right. ) STEP 3: and this is the most important thing you will get from me UNDERSTAND THE GRAPHS AND FIGURES !!!!!! this entire class is based on your ability to interpret graphs and figures so get used to it. they will teach you new graphs . make sure you know what they're conveying and know how to read them. i am not kidding when I say graphs and figures are +50% of exams. and a good chunk of those will be graphs/figures you have never seen b/c they are trying to see if you REALLY know how to read them. I felt stupid even going over my old notes for the final bc the majority of the final was graph interpretation. STEP4: do the BMI's ! understanding the math is super important and it's hard to make an A w/o understanding the BMI's STEP5 : DO THE IG/RQs this si the reason I transformed my grade from an A to a B. the tests are basically a reflection of IQ/RQs I've even seen some quiz questions that were VERBATIM from the iq/rqs. Understand what they are saying and why. all in all this was my hardest class at Baylor but also very rewarding I feel comfortable around primary/ scientific literature which a lot of freshman pre-med cant say. I also have a year of lab research under my belt that I can put on my resume to apply to other labs and also medical school. Work hard in this class. Understand whats going on all the time and ask questions when you don't. hes really not the best at explaining things so youre better off finding answers to your questions by yourself. I wish you the best of luck and hope the other comments don't rid you of all hope to make an A.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1306 - Worst teacher ever. I literally got an A in BIO 1305 with barely any effort so I thought Lawson's class was going to be a breeze. Well, it wasn't. I studied my brains out for every single test and still ended up with average grades. If you don't already have a general understanding of Biology, this class will definitely be tough for you. And for those of you who do, the only way you could get an A is if you do every single thing possible. By that I mean you have to go to SI, tutoring and office hours. The best thing to do is just don't register for his class  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - This class killed me. It gave me so much unnecessary stress, and I spent almost every single night of my Freshman fall slaving over this class. Exams and quizzes were impossible, and no matter how much I studied I could not receive the grade that I felt like I worked for. I've taken multiple biology classes prior to this one, including AP Biology in high school and it doesn't even compare. All exams were on the weekend, and not only that but were on weekends such as; parents weekend, homecoming, and the weekend of college gameday. Ending this class with a B is one of my proudest accomplishments of college thus far.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1302 - I am currently taking micro with Dr. Lawson and I absolutely love it! If you’re planning on taking or having to take one of Lawson’s classes, don’t let these other reviews scare you. I genuinely believe that if you put in all the work expected by Lawson, which includes reading, doing your online assignments, going to SI and office hours, his test reviews, and paying attention in lecture, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t do well. In fact, he’s an extremely helpful professor and if you have a question about ANYTHING, he is willing to help you and explains it so thoroughly. He really does care about his students and that has been very clearly in our transition to online classes. He is so knowledgeable about biology and has such passion for it! If you have the opportunity and are willing to be challenged, totally take Lawson’s class!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:BIO 1306 - Please save yourself. This is the worst class you can take. While I was taking BIO 1305, I constantly heard people talk about Lawson's class being horrible. So I tried my best to avoid his class but I couldnt't cause that was the only option I had. I knew his class would be horrible once I saw that he had 101 total seats and 60 spaces were available. Keep in mind I registered 2 months later than everyone else. Just know this, Lawwson's class is not a Biology class. It's a nightmare. He has different content from all the other professors. He even uses a different book. Everytime I read the book, the first paragraph or 2 is about general Biology and then the rest is about some study that some researcher conducted 50 years ago. And then his exams are the definition of hell. Please just take another professor. if you don't have this option wait till the next semester to take the class.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - For students actually interested in Bio: this class is for you. If you are a non-bio major or appreciate poop jokes than look elsewhere. Yes, Lawson is a newer lecturer, but I found his lectures to be thought-provoking and more interesting than most. Lawson's tests are well-designed and tough, don't expect to breeze by without reading as you need to know textbook concepts well enough to apply them. The textbook exclusive to Lawson 1305 and 1405 itself is a much more engaging read than Campbell Bio. If you can't hang, don't take the class.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:microbio 1302 - I did not listen to a SINGLE thing he said in lecture. If you want to do well on his tests, READ THE BOOK. He rants about things that will not be on the test during lecture. If you want to review his powerpoints, it does not hurt but don't expect to pass if you don't read the book. I didn't listen to him at all during lecture and didn't review his powerpoint slides and simply read the book. I still made an A. You probably won't have the option of taking another professor since he is the only section. Don't be late to class because he uses clickers to check attendance and give you a 3 point extra curve on your total grade through clicker points.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1405 - I would not recommend taking Lawson. His lectures are very disorganized and confusing. The tests and quizzes are online and are only available for the weekend which was not ideal for me. The online book used in this class is still being developed and often caused problems. Also, the book used in this class assumes you already have a basic understanding of biology, and instead of teaching the basics of biology, it tests your understanding of biology through graphs and charts. It sounds like a great idea, but coming into an introductory biology course, I had no previous knowledge of the basics of biology. Throughout the semester, I taught myself biology basics in order to understand the textbook. When it comes to office hours, Lawson was very helpful and available. The tests are hard. They are very difficult to properly prepare for. The tests are application based, and beyond reading and understanding the textbook and going to office hours, it was difficult to know what to study to succeed. Overall, the class was manageable, but I would not recommend it.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - This is one of the hardest classes I've ever taken at Baylor. I'm also an upperclassman so I've had a lot of experience with other classes. The test averages were awful, around 50s and 60s. He barely curved the tests too. He expects so much out of us and the tests are online and usually when we have football games or important events. He knows this but doesn't care. Be expected to read a very confusing book that none of the other classes read. This class also has different tutoring sessions from the other class since it is COMPLETELY different from the others. My advice is to avoid this professor at all costs.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:1305 - This is the hardest class I have ever taken in my entire life. I wouldn’t recommend it. It caused me so much unnecessary stress. SI is a better way to learn the material than class but it can only help so much. We had a test on homecoming weekend and on another weekend that was filled with student activities. His tests are application based so there not even about the material that you learn in class. He goes through his lectures too fast and it inhibits students from actually learning. He never curves any of his tests and there’s always grammatical errors on them. His office hours are more helpful than going to class but that’s only because in office hours, he basically reteaches it to you. The textbook is different from other classes textbook and assumes prior knowledge of biology. Some people were able to do quite well in his class, but many were forced to drop. Basically, take this class at your own risk.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - Lord knows everyone who had this man experienced hell on earth this semester. Going to class is pointless because his slides are pictures copied and pasted from the textbook that he doesn't even explain to you clearly. He often times will go on multiple tangents during lectures, you will walk out of lecture some days saying wow I just learned about STD's or diarrhea and didn't learn anything about biology. He uses a new book that is different from every section and way harder (also it is online). The tests are all online on the weekends and on homecoming weekend. If you want to pass this class you have to go to everything and I mean literally everything. Go to SI, honestly SI was probably the reason I passed this class. She was way more knowledgable than lawson and made great reviews. I would also recommend going to tutoring bc it is basically like an extra lecture that they put on (makes up for the wasted time you sit in actual lecture learning nothing). Also, after every test I went to his office hours and made him go through every single questions with me and explain it until I was satisfied (this helped a lot bc he likes answers that are worded weird). If you take this class it will be extremely frustrating and there will be so many times that you want to give up, but do not give up!!!! Lawson does not give an F about his students and this class is meant to weed people out so do not give him that benefit by just dropping. Stick it out and just be willing to grind. I was so close to getting a B at the end I finished with a 79 and it only fueled me to work harder when I retake this class with a diff prof. Just know that if I did it, you can do it too. You got this.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - Oh Lawson. His class is horrifying. One cannot take a break in his class or they will fail. I got so worried for my grade in this class that it greatly affected my other classes. His office hours are worthless and his lessons are even worst. He gives a quiz almost every weekend and his test are also on the weekend. Even studying at times felt completely useless because the wording on the test was just so difficult to understand. Just don't take him. Take literally anyone else.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! He is lazy professor that instead of teaching goes over his "power points" which are just slides with pictures copied and pasted from the textbook. He goes off on tangents every 5 minutes if not more about topics completely unrelated to biology including how he is a microbiologist. He uses a different textbook than all the other intro to bio classes which has all quizzes and tests/midterms due over the weekends. He is not a good fit for this class and especially for incoming college students.  - Grade In Class:D

Comments:BIO 1305 - Do not take his class. He makes it clear that he is a Microbiologist all the time. He is so arrogant and that is all he knows to talk about. His quizzes and tests are online. His midterm exams are scheduled on the weekends, which included homecoming and big game days this year. He is a terrible professor and unworthy of working at Baylor.  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:1306 - Just don't take his class. Find different professors for your Biology class. He used a new textbook for this class, and it made no sense at all. Biology Lecture and Biology lab are supposed to go together, but this class had nothing to do with what we learned in the biology lab. I went to every SI and studied all day and still made a bad grade. DONT TAKE THIS CLASS  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:1305 - I had Lawson as an incoming freshman and, granted, I never took AP bio in high school and I am not amazing at science in the first place, but he made a Freshman bio class into a research style class. He gave us chapter quizzes that were extremely difficult despite the resources we had to take them, the tests were near impossible to pass, and my average before I dropped was a 42%. I do NOT recommend this teacher because his office hours are not helpful, S.I. wasn't helpful for the tests that he made for us and I went to tutoring, S.I. every day, and went to his office hours, and, despite this, I did horribly. Before the tests, people would say how prepared I was and how well I knew the material and after taking the test, I would get a 40% and my average would drop down about 20 points. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. Biology in college is already hard enough without a teacher who is obsessed with the fact that he is a "microbiologist". -10/10 do not recommend.  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:1305 - The comments in here are from people who came to college being the top of their class and not ready to work as hard as you need to. Although I have struggled throughout the semester with certain topic there are resources a lot of people overlook. This class will teach you how to study and go beyond the teaching of the textbook. You aren't going to be spoon feed information and I honestly think that's a blessing. If you take him be ready to work but it will help you in the long run  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - Dr. Lawson is very disorganized while teaching. He jumps from topic to topic during class and is difficult to follow. Most of the time, he's telling bad jokes and using bad analogies to explain the material. His quizzes and tests are all online, but the tests are scheduled on the weekends, which included homecoming weekend this year. He allows students to use notes and the textbook on the quizzes, but the book is not at all helpful. We are expected to apply basic concepts of biology without actually learning the basic concepts.  - Grade In Class:D

Comments:BIO 1305 - DO NOT TAKE LAWSON. He is the worst professor in the bio department. He does not teach well at all, his discussions are all over the place. He makes the tests and quizzes impossible. They are filled with random questions and most don't relate to what we've covered. He goes off on weird tangents and makes sure everyone knows he's a microbiologist. If I took a shot every time he mentioned "as a microbiologist, I..." I'd literally be dead. This class is not helpful at all for learning the material. STAY AWAY FROM LAWSON   - Grade In Class:C

Comments:BIO 1405 - Lawson expects students to do the textbook reading and come to class with at least a basic understanding of the material. He is available everyday of the week and his office hours are really helpful! He is definitely a COLLEGE professor so be prepared to put in work. But he really is a great teacher and demonstrates his expansive knowledge in class daily.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1405 - Lawson expects his students to work hard outside of class to get a good grade. This requires you to read and study the textbook, which may take some time and effort but is manageable. This year a new textbook is being used and while there have been some rough spots, he has worked hard to help us adapt to this book. Like any intro biology class this class requires some work, but with the tools he gives you it is very possible as long as you read the textbook. Also, he is available many times throughout the week for office hours. Going to these helps a lot because he will explain certain concepts more in depth to try and help you understand the material. Overall, if you take this clsss it will help prepare you for the rest of college and graduate school due to the rigor and way of thinking the textbook promotes that other intro bio clssses may not have.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1305 - Lawson expects his students to put in the work required to get a good grade. This means you actually have to study and read the textbook which a lot of his current students don't understand. The fact that not everything gets handed to you in college is a hard pill to swallow. Take Lawson if you want to be prepared for the rest of college and potentially medical school. You will have to work hard but if you read the textbook you will be successful.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - He is the worst teacher I’ve ever had. He does not know how to teach. He came from a community college and that is where he belongs, not at Baylor University. He makes it very clear that he was a Microbiologist and that is all he knows to talk about. He also has spent much of his time in class talking about STDs and said some very inappropriate things. I currently have A’s in all of my classes except for this one. If you enjoy watching videos of plants having sex, because you will see this in class, take Lawson, otherwise, STAY AWAY.  - Grade In Class:F

Comments:1405 - Do not take Lawson. He uses a new textbook and goes off on tangents in class that do not pertain to the text. He does not set you up for success on the exams (which are on the weekends, even homecoming weekend).   - Grade In Class:A