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| 2012, Arianna |
Dr. Bryant,
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for all you have taught me
this short summer session. I know my grades probably don't reflect it
very well (haha,) but I do feel like I've actually learned valuable
knowledge that will stay with me forever, which is something I cannot
say about many other classes I've taken.
Thanks for teaching me about the immune system, and more importantly, how to study and think in an
integrative fashion.
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| 2012, Chris |
Hello Dr. Bryant,
My name is Christopher, and I am a former student of your Immunology class (maybe in 2010?). I am currently in medical school, and we just covered immunology and host defenses. I want you to know that your class greatly helped me understand the dynamics of immunology, and made medical school immunology so much easier.
I have two medical school friends who also took your class with me, and we all agree that you did a great job teaching it! Your class definitely prepared us for this, and for that, I wanted to thank you.
Have a great one,
Chris.
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| 2010, Hoa |
After taking Bio360K my knowledge of immunology have increased immensely. The amount of material that this class present could be very intimidating at first. The way this course is organized really helps you understand how things in the body are linked to one another. This course have also improved my critical thinking and problem solving skills for the better. I use my critical thinking and problem solving skills that I have learned everyday, whether it be trying to answer a question, writing an essay, learning something new, or making a decision. One of the things i really liked about this class was the Socratic method of teaching. This method of teaching really forced me to be prepared for class and kept me interested in the material throughout the semester. Without this method of teaching, I believe that many students would have fallen behind because there is so much material to cover. The one thing that really helped me succeed in this course was the use of concept maps. Learning how to create concept maps not only gave me a big picture, but also helped me keep everything organized and allowed me to see how things are related to one another.
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| 2010, Karli |
Pros
Dr. Bryant is by far the best professor I've had at UT. He is
charismatic, well prepared and understands not only his subject but
how it integrates into biology at large. Through this course, I have
developed a more mature understanding of the human body, not as
individual components but as an integrated machine. Dr. Bryant claims
that his course will prepare you for the "real world", which at first
we laughed at but now realized he was really on to something. He
treats us like adults who are interested in learning, which turned
some people off because it comes with responsibility. If you are
unprepared for lecture, you will get very little out of it. He expects
you to keep up with the material, which in reality meant reading about
a 1/3 of a chapter every night. He was always available for any
questions you may have, and genuinely interested in your progress and
helping you do well. He also provides a ridiculous amount of extra
credit opportunities.
Cons
He expects that you will do the work required to actually have an
interesting discussion in class. You are required to read outside of
class. But honestly, it's ridiculous to think that you won't have to
do any preparation for such a high level class. He previously got
negative reviews, but I disagree with all of them. See pro's if you
have questions. In my experience, the people who didn't like him are
the ones who wouldn't ask for help when it was needed, and who thought
grades were given, not earned.
Good luck!
.
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| 2010, Kyndra |
BIO360K was a very demanding class that kept me on my toes and helped me learn to teach myself - a valuable tool I will use for the rest of my life. I was so used to being spoon fed material and this class opened my eyes to my ability to take my learning firmly into my own hands. I no longer have to rely on a teacher to learn what I am interested in. I feel confident in my abilities to expand my knowledge on any field that strikes my fancy. This class also helped me learn to critically think and to approach each question with an open mind free from clutter. I feel I am better able to organize answers to any question and I feel that I can answer more in depth than I would be able to if I just brain dumped - as I used to do in the past. Because of the skill sets I learned in this class I could conquer all other upper division classes easily - I had the confidence to read and learn from the book as well as enter into an exam knowing I had developed skill sets to tackle any question. I expect to use these skill sets when I enter into Medical School as well - these approaches I have learned for critically thinking and answering questions can be used to tackle anything that crosses my path. Also by teaching myself and having this information reinforced in class I feel that I have retained the information better than if I were to have just memorized and regurgitated. I took this class when I was a sophomore and just last semester I took two other classes called Immune Disorders and Molecular Immunology - I was surprised at how much information I had retained from Immunology two years earlier - I knew more than most people in my classes who had taken the class with a different teacher just one semester before. This course was much more valuable to me than just teaching me Immunology - I felt I was being taught for the first time how to think and how to learn - something that I had assumed I was doing all along but thanks to this class I feel I can do so on another level.
Thanks again for everything!!
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| 2010, Morgan |
As for my testimonial for your class I really want to say thank you again. I was in your 2009, and in your 2010 immunology class. Your course was by far the hardest course I took at UT, but I also learned and remember a ton of material. I use it every day because in the lab almost all of the tests are immunology based. It definitely helps me, not to mention be ahead of the other students, to not only know all the facts but to know how the immune system works and to be able to trouble shoot in order to know what could be wrong with my patients. I think that too many teachers put the emphasis on recalling the facts instead of actually being able to interpret and understand the process.
For your current and future students the best advice I could give them is know what you want and know what your getting yourself into. This will be one of the hardest courses you ever take so if your not going to work hard you might as well get out now. But before you drop it think about where you want to be in ten years. For me it was med school and I figured learning the material now as an undergrad would put me ahead in med school (and it did). Know going into the class that you absolutely have to read the book. Read it before class, again after class, and then use the book to make flow charts and lots of notes. It's important that you can recall the information but it is more important that you know what will happen when there is a defect or problem with one of the players involved.
One last thing, I know reading this that you are probably thinking "yea yea teachers pet", but you should know that I dropped his class the first time I took it. I studies hard, but I didn't understand what I was learning I just tried to remember all the facts instead of integrating them into the big picture.
Well Good luck!!! And thank you so much Dr. Bryant for everything. Without you being a hard and dedicated teacher I most definitely would not be in medical technology school!!! Plus I am moving to Germany in August because I got an offer to work at a hospital on a military base over there!!! Thanks so much and I will keep you updated as to how school and work goes!
Morgan
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