Shivanthi Anandan

School: Drexel University
Department: Biology
Location:Philadelphia, PA
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
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 This is for the BIO 480 ST: Discovering Antibiotics class.
Truly amazing class. Tons of independent research. Lots of work (weekly lab notebook, final report, quizzes every other week, final presentation) but you will learn a lot and get tons of hands on lab work. She demands a lot from her students so expect to work hard and learn a lot.
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 Pros: She is very knowledgeable
Had great conversations during office hours
Cons: No back exam supplied by her
Difficult grader
Cumulative
Tests were difficult to get A's
Dr. Anandan was a good teacher. She hits a lot of the big concept ideas and also goes over a lot of details. She was a bit intense at times with how she expected us to study. We had to know "every word, figure, and punctuation mark in the assigned chapters." However, she would also tell us, "You shouldn't be memorizing!" The reality is that you need to memorize some terms and then understand how the concepts work using the terminology.
She isn't for everyone; a lot of people stopped going to lecture.
The lab TA was not clear on what she was expecting in lab reports or the notebook. I would get several random point deductions that would be justified if I had any way of knowing before they were due.
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 Pros: She seems to really care about her students and will take the time to answer questions if you go up to her during her office hours. She gives you weekly online quizzes with unlimited tries which is good, and the quizzes are good ways to study for her exams.
Cons: Extremely difficult and strict, she says no curving ever and she means it. Also she says that you need to know every little punctuation in the textbook so I recommend reading it.
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 Pros: She knows her stuff.
Cons: She doesn't want you to succeed. Tests are cumulative. Tests include more of past information than current material. For the last exam, she did not post the answers so you did not have all the necessary information to study for the final.
You can go to her office hours for help but she will only give you clues or unnecessary, in-depth information. It seems as though she doesn't want you to do well in her class. Teachers are supposed to help you not try to bring you down.
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 Pros: she seems nice in lecture and goes over the material well
Cons: talks too much, is in love with herself, and intentionally makes her exams really hard
answers questions well and comes off really nice, but if you ask her a question about an exam or anything where she might doubt herself she is not helpful. her exams are all really hard
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 Pros: She knew what she was talking about
Cons: She read the powerpoint slides. She is a tough grader. She is very unprofessional when it comes to grading and making mistakes. Her exams would be filled with errors which she'd generally be unwilling to fix. She does not work with the students and takes offense to every little thing. Her class was not an enjoyable experience, and I would not take her again. I'm sure she's a nice person, but as a professor she is extremely undesirable.
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 Pros: Good teacher. Knows what shes talking about!
Cons: Her project is hard... study early, she grades it like its the real deal. Her tests are kind of hard so study extra...
She actually tries to get to know you and calls on people (even though its a lecture class of like 150 people) so be prepared if you go to lecture... I recommend raising your hand and answering a question or two so she gets to know you, shes a big whig in the dept and she has a photographic memory... so if she remembers you it could be useful...
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 Anandan is a great teacher. at first people were saying she's really strict, but she's just setting rules that students should be used to.....it is college. skim the book, definitely know the ppt slides. her tests are very straight forward. for the poster presentation, she even said not to spend money printing your poster at Kinkos. focus on your info being scientifically correct and then make it look nice. i liked how she incorporated art into her lectures
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 Anandan made me reconsider my major. I took the class first term as a freshman and got a B-. Then, taking BIO214/215 the next quarter (a supposedly more difficult class...) I got an A. That will give you an idea. Although I feel she is intelligent, she is an unfair grader and deprecates her students.
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 This class was very, very hard. She does not grade very fairly and will take points off wherever possible. Although she is difficult, she is a good teacher if you want to learn the class content. If you just have to take this class as a requirement, and are not very interrested in Biology, it will be difficult.
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 Okay, stop picking on Indians, you racist idiots. She definitely does not favor them... her favorite students last quarter were a black kid and a white kid. That's proof enough, now shut up.
As for the review, she grades very very harshly, and she can be unreasonable. She's a good teacher, and does cares about students, but this is NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT an easy class. Take my word for it.
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 Honestly, she's really a lot nicer than people make her out to be. She could have failed my project but gave me the chance to fix it when I made two huge, grade-murdering mistakes. She's definitely available for help (she always tries to make time even though she's really busy on a billion committees), and she doesn't favor the Indian students at all. I mean, if anything, I've noticed some of them get in more trouble with her (though they *are* a pretty rambunctious group...). I'd take her again and I probably will, when I have to take Microbiology, plus I want to take Microbial Genetics. I definitely recommend her, unless you're a total slacker. I'm terrible with Biology, and I think I'll make it out of this with my GPA not too horrible damaged.
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 She is a genius. Dr. Anandan is by far the best teacher and mentor at Drexel. She cares about all of her students and will go out of her way no matter what to make sure they understand the information. She tells you exactly what you need to do to get an A in her class and all you need to do is listen to her advice and you'll be golden. I would retake her class any day and hopefully can take all of her classes in the future.
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 Dr. Anandan is the best teacher I have had at Drexel so far. Her lectures are fun and fascinating, because she actually talks to the class, rather than speed reading her Powerpoint recitations in class like the other bio teachers I've had so far, and has a good sense of humor. Her tests are fair, as are the projects and her grading. She is always happy to answer questions, and encourages students to take an active interest in their learning. She is very strict, particularly with the cheating policy (no homework sharing is permitted, even on multiple choice assignments), but if you're honest and hard working, you won't have any problems. I definiately recommend if you have the opportunity, you take her class.
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 Dr. Anandan is an understanding teacher. She looks out for what is best for her students - there was a discrepancy on one of our exams with two of the questions. It was only possible to score 95/100 points, and she provided extra credit at the beginning of the exam to all students. She would not consider regrading the exams at first, however a couple students sent her e-mails and she regraded the exams. She makes lectures interesting because she has a little sense of humor, and she knows what she's talking about. Read the book with along with her lecture slides - she makes her lecture slides scampy on purpose to force students to read the textbook. She does not get intimidated easily, and she makes sure her students do well.
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 I took this course becuz I really liked Dr. Anandan's style of teaching for BIO 117. But when it came to 221, believe me, I was scared for my grades. The class requires you to come to lecture everyday and tk notes..its hard to keep up with hr talking so at times i was quite book dependent..her only grades were the two midterms and final..the lab portion was mad easy and thnk god we had a mad easy TA...the tests are MC, Essay, and Fill in the blnk...so if you are looking for an easy elective...dont consider this one..its a lite work load but the tests are alil bit monsterous..but dont wory about lab if you had the same TA i did..anyways i came out w/ an A at the end..but boy was it a struggle of sorts
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 Dr.Anandan is a awesome teacher. She has a genuine care for her students. She tries here best to get to know them. There is a good amount of work but its not to complicated as long as your detailed and precise with your answers. She is a fair grader as long as u answer the question. Test are like the homeworks no real curveballs are thrown at u.
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 Wonderfull Prof. She really cares about the students success. Throught provoking lectures, and is an all around nice person. There was quite a bit of work required for the class, but if you're looking to get off easy you shouldn't be a bio major. All bio teachers give alot of work, and she is not the exception. She does however try her hardest to make sure you understand the material
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 Great Teacher...interesting/engaging lectures...the lab work is intense but interesting..but utlize the TAs..exams are quite easy and she likes to reuse the questions...prepare ur self for pop quizes in lab and rec but they are worth very little and lots of chances for EC...excellent prof to hv!!!!
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 Dr. Anadan definately cares about her students. Her homeworks are very helpful, do them. She keeps lectures interesting and involves the attending students. He grading is fair and she is very helpful. I would reccomend this class. However, I will warn, genetics can be complicated. But Dr. Anadan will give you the tools you need to succeed, use them.

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