Really interesting course if your are interested in microbiome research. It's overwhelming at first because of how much information and work you have to do but its manageable once you get used to the schedule. The only bad part of the course is that they open the assignments for the week on Tuesdays which I found inconvenient but that might be with my schedule.

This class has lots of required reading and short lectures each week along with 2 presentations. They spend time on many different categories of microbiome research but you are allowed to focus on what you are most interested in for your big projects. There is lots of interaction required with the course (post on discussion boards over many days, engage with content while being timed)

Dr. Ahrens is the professor who gives the most feedback and lectures however there are two other professors involved in the course. The professors all give interesting lectures and do a good job of breaking them up so they are easy to digest. Feedback and email response is usually very quick and detailed. Professors are kind and understanding.

Read and annotate articles on a different day than you decide to write about them. Set reminders two comment on journal club and discussion posts on multiple days. If you are taking or have taken BSC4936 there is overlap that is helpful for finding articles!