Biology 1 Fall 1980

I enjoyed this class even though I have had no prior science or biology courses. This instructor made biology interesting for me. He was well organized. I loved the lecture on the praying mantis. It was a good course and before the semester, I was dreading it.

His tests covered what he taught. He was exact about what he wanted students to learn. The numerous examples incorporated into the lectures definitely added interest.

I like Dr. Stark. He has a personality instead of being a robot like most professors in a class this size.

I really enjoyed this course. It was easy to follow, very organized. The teacher was interesting, had a sense of humor and pleasant to listen to in class.

I thought the lectures were very interesting even though I am an English major. They increased my awareness of what goes on in nature day to day and the overall continuing impact that man has on his environment. The lecturer was very amusing and his jokes helped to lighten up the material. He seemed concerned that we really did understand the material.

Dr. Stark is a great teacher and I look forward to his classes.

Communicated well with class - talked slow enough to take notes - a bit of humor and friendliness.

I thought the course was excellent! I wish he taught chemistry so I could take more of his courses.

Biology 1 Fall, 1982

Teacher is very clear and easier to understand. He seems to be one of the better professors on this campus

Dr. Stark was clear and easy to understand. He made the course interesting.

He is a fine teacher. I hope he gets a lot of grants for his research.

Prof. Stark is an asset to the department. He taught this course well, and, although I despise biology, he did manage to teach me enough to get a good grade in the subject. Give him a raise.

Course was well administered and has broadened both my understanding and interest in biology.

Best lecturer ever in the history of Mizzou.

This course was better than I expected, much of the subject matter was interesting, Prof. Stark was very easy to follow, and taking notes was also easy.

In talking with friends in other lectures, I was highly impressed by the way you relate information to the real world. In [the other] classes, many of my friends are frustrated by the "meaninglessness" of the information they are getting in lectures and then just regurgitation for the tests. They don't get the value from their lectures that I get from yours.

Prof. Stark is well informed and interesting. He helps relate the information to today's world and future consequences. I enjoyed the class.

Senior Stark es un hombre simpatico.

I am a graduating senior who put off taking biology 'til the last minute because I hate science so much. I really enjoyed the lectures and appreciated your sense of humor - also I appreciated the relevance of your university lecture which the freshmen seemed to regard as irrelevant. @ µîd that we really did understand the material.

Dr. Stark is a great teacher and I look forward to his classes.

Communicated well with class - talked slow enough to take notes

Biology 1 Winter, 1986

I waited a long time to take this class (senior) because I hadn't had biology since 9th grade (20 yrs ago). But I really enjoyed the class! The instructor had a lot to do with this because he really explained everything well. I wish he could teach all my classes!

Dr. Stark was helpful to students when needed.

I like the humor you throw in. It's very dead-pan, but it helps keep our attention. Very organized. Use of examples very helpful. Heck of a job, Dr. Stark. Thanks. I now have a much greater appreciation of Biology.

He was a very knowledgeable professor and I learned very much.

I like Dr. Stark's method of teaching and he seems concerned with the students.

Good idea to give answers and post test curve promptly.

I liked how topics always interrelated to earlier material. Dr. Stark is amusing. The music was fun.

Good, fair tests.

Notes were easily taken by the lecture material and blackboard use.

Teacher kept interest in the class up. Dr. Stark made the class very interesting.

I enjoyed the instructor relating topics to current world-wide events and problems we are facing.

Provided an excellent teaching conditions and were concerned for the students which is often difficult to maintain in a class of a large size.

I enjoyed the class. I didn't do as well as I could have but it wasn't the teacher's fault. The jokes and music are really cute. Have a nice summer!

I considered him a good teacher. He was really helpful.

The lectures were enjoyable and gave me an extremely good idea of what would be covered on the tests. The tests were challenging because of the questions that were asked to separate the A's from the B's.

I liked the informal structure of the lectures.

Dr. Stark made Biology fairly interesting for a non-science major.

Biology 1 Fall, 1987

He is a very good speaker and makes the subject quite interesting. It would be nice to sit and listen and not have to take notes so feverishly to keep up with him. I liked him.

The course was the best taught course I ever had and I'm a senior. Although I find Biology and science difficult, the use of movies and other real examples helped me to see the concepts. I've taken another Bio 1 class and dropped it because I couldn't see what he was saying. You deserved a standing ovation at the end of the last class.

Professor Stark - Best wishes and all the successes for the year to come. Sincerely, From one of your students who appreciates you and with many thanks and respect to you.

The class was very interesting and covered many different topics. Dr. Stark is an excellent teacher. He is very knowledgeable of his field and also has a pleasant personality.

Very knowledgeable.

Seemed really interested in biology and attempted to make it interesting. Liked the music played before lecture. Was well prepared and knowledgeable.

The supplements with lectures (films, slides, etc.) are good.

I think the course was very interesting and well organized. The tests were challenging yet fair.

The lectures were interesting and easy to follow in most cases. The repeating of certain subjects helped me to retain them.

The instructor was one of the more knowledgeable in his field on campus.

Knows material. Dropping lowest score is a very good idea.

I enjoyed his manner of speaking. He sounded like David Altenborough, "Life on Earth" series!

Easy to take notes.

Good humor. Fun listening to.

The teacher knew his material well and presented it in an understandable way.

Good class

Professor Stark certainly knows his stuff. Through the course, I developed an appreciation for the subject matter. I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot


Biology BL A-104 "Principles of Biology" Fall, 1992

Very enthusiastic instructor

I liked the study questions before each test, also the lowest test grade dropped, and the test graded on a curve.

Lecture was helpful.

Lecture was a good experience. See ya next semester!

Dr. Stark is an excellent professor. Thanks.

This instructor was one of my better instructors because he seemed to "care" what he was teaching and who he was teaching.

Dr. Stark conducts excellent and funny lectures which are easy to understand and follow!

Dr. Stark was probably the neatest Biology teacher I ever had - the man has character.

I felt Dr. Stark was an excellent Professor.

Bio 106 Spring semester, 1993

Dr. Stark is great.

Instructor was funny and it was obvious he enjoyed his job. His humor added a kind of spice. He was fine.

The course and instructor were both interesting, not boring as in some courses.

A very good class.

Dr. Stark made it interesting, especially in the music.

Dr. Stark knows his material well.

I love you Dr. Stark.

Sample test questions were quite helpful. Great music.

Very knowledgeable instructor.

I really enjoyed the course. The tests were not too demanding. The teacher was exceptional, and I would be encouraged to study under him again.

Dr. Stark's a good teacher with good lectures.

Stark was very knowledgeable and down to earth. Excellent.

The professor always prepared for class, lectures were well organized and informative, too.

The instructor was enthusiastic. Dr. Stark was very accessible and friendly.


Biology BL A-106 "Principles of Biology" Spring, 1995

Very well prepared lecture. Could really tell that he put a lot of time into preparing his lectures

Dr. Stark was quite well informed on the course topics. Many times I found Dr. Stark's examples to be very helpful and I enjoyed the class very much most of the time.

Instructor was always on time and seemed interested in the material he was teaching. He also did a good job in making the course as interesting as he could by giving us transparancies and slides throughout his lectures

It was very helpful to have old tests on file

Dr. Stark was a very good instructor. I liked his dry humor. I thought that it was understood what would be on the test.

Though I've decided that biology is not for me, Professor Stark was very informative and related the subjects to real life where it was applicable.

Professor Stark is very straightforward. He tries to provide information that is useful and relates it to stories to make it understandable. He has been quite organized in his presentations of lecture.

I thought that the semester was more interesting than the last one because it was more about humans and stuff I could relate to. I like the idea of dropping the lowest test grade because it doesn't make the class as stressful.

Dr. Stark was very fair; he told us what he wanted from us, and the test questions were not trick questions; he tested us on what he taught us.

Dr. Stark knows a lot about biology and he is excited about it

The subject is tremendously interesting to me - I realize that it must be difficult for the instructor to keep the attention of a large class for 1 1/2 hours

I really enjoyed Dr. Stark's enthusiasm.

Dr. Stark did a good job considering all that is up against a teacher in this situation.

Very interesting course

I liked the fact that this semester's biology class had one instructor. I feel that you know what you're teaching and explain it well.

Dr. Stark deserves smaller classes. Would be nice to have more 1 on 1 with him.

Class is too big. It is ridiculous that theology classes are of 25 and sciences are 250

Tests were great.


Bio 106 Spring, 1999

I enjoyed the course very much, especially the instructor's teaching methods. Also I liked the way the instructor had a song at the beginning of lecture that went with the lecture. The lectures were very clear and concise in their presentation of material.

Professor very knowledgeable, very good job of relating material to current issues in society. Unique and creative use of multimedia to help students learn (music, etc.). Very admirable use of internet and computer!!

I enjoyed the use of multimedia: i.e. websites, diagtrams, cd roms.

Overall the class was very interesting and I feel I learned a lot!

104 2001

Dr Stark was very helpful in making himself available to students outside of class. He actually cared about how I was doing in biology. He gave me useful study tips that I could use to help me study. He actually taught me how to study for his class. I will most definitely recommend him to all those individuals who will take biology that I come in contact with.

I thought Dr stark was a wonderful teacher because instead opf just going through the material he tried to infuse his lectures with stories that pertained to the material. It is much easier for me to remember information (plus really incorporate it into my long term memory) when the info is presented in this manner. Plus lecture is much more interesting

The professor knew plenty of information and was very enthusiastic about it. The internet was helpful, especially when receiving grades

Notes well organized. Very interested in biology


104 2002

Course was fun

He was a good teacher and person

I very much enjoyed Dr. Stark's method of lecture and well-rounded knowledge/expressability of the subjects covered

Interesting class and knowledgeable and good teacher. Lectures were interesting and transparencies and slides were very helpful!

The instructor was well aware of current events and kept students knowledgeable of scientific discoveries He was enthusiastic and friendly

I liked the class

I enjoyed this course

Bio 106 2002

Hi Dr. Stark, my name is *** and I'm in oyur Bio
106 lecture. I just wanted to let you know that I found the
Berkely websire really helpful. Its one of the best bio
sites I've seen because its easy to navigate and easy to
read and understand. Thanks for the link.

My name
is ***. I really enjoyed some of your lectures. It
was like watching the discovery channel, informative and
relaxing. Do you really run 1 mile every day? Thanks
again!

I don't know if you remember me, but I came to your office
after the second biology test asking you for study tips and
how I could improve me grade, and I just wanted to thank you
for your help. It worked! I improved from a C on the first
and second test to and A on the third test and the final. I
really appreciate your help.


I really enjoyed the instructor's enthusiasm for biology. The slides, stories and transparencies made the course more enjoyable. I really enjoyed the instructor and class

I liked that the tests were always graded very quickly

Instructor is very knowledgeable

The instructor was excellent. He was considerate of the students and loved what he did. Overall, excellent

Stark: YOU ROCKED THE HOUSE


Bio 106 2003

I enjoyed the instructor. The class was hard, but it seemed the instructor tried to narrow things down pretty well

Having the class notes is good

A good introductory course

Showed much enthusiasm toward class

I learned a lot

This was an interesting class. It was well put together. Dr. Stark is very knowledgeable and a friendly professor

Overall this is a good class - with a wonderful textbook

I think the class was very informative

I enjoyed the music played at the beginning of class and professor Stark was very enthusiastic about the material

Stark is a well-versed body of knowledge in biology and his teaching pedagogy is meaningful

I liked how you showed examples and told stories

Slide shows were great. Good, enthusiastic teacher

Stark was a great teacher. He was very informative and always available and amiable. I really enjoyed his class and I felt like I learned a lot

The information was good

Stark really understands the material and explained it well when people had specific questions

I enjoyed the examples you gave. They cleared things up for me. Your interest made me interested

I liked the survey philosophy that covered comparative and non-human aspects of Biology

Professor was nice

The class was very nice. Teacher was nice and the tests hard enough

This was my favorite class this semester. I am a biology major and I believe that this class has successfully prepared me for future biology courses and has had a great impact on my knowledge of current biological issues. Stark did a great job presenting the material. I appreciate his effort.

Received the following summer

I am just emailing you to tell you how valuable your website was
to me this summer. I received an internship to Eli Lilly this summer
dealing with neuroscience, metabotropic glutamate receptors (the famous
G-protein) to be exact. This lab also dealt with GABA, AMPA, and kainate
receptors. I had many questions this summer and I turned to your website
when I had them. All three of your courses answered my questions in some
way shape or form. Thank you for puting the time in to you websites; they
made me look like I knew what I was talking about!


Received from a graduating senior in 2005

I also want to thank you for your teaching methods and compassion towards biology. It was because of your class freshman year that I decided to become a biology major, and your teaching has given me the skills that I needed to have success in my more advanced bio classes.

Received from a graduating senior in 2006

Concerning general biology, practice questions for the OAT prove to be a snap.

Bio 110 Fall 2007

Mr. Stark is the man! Very funny! He loves his job and is always excited to be about class. How could anyone not love and respect this man?

I really enjoyed learning about physiology as did many of my classmates.

It will help us in the future since we are allied Health professions.

I feel like I learned information important to my major

Lots of information, but all appropriate and useful

I really liked having the outlines given to us, because then I knew where the focus was for each topic, and I could just write in extra information.

It was very helpful to have the outlines on the web so that we could listen to the lecture and write additional notes that were not already on the outline.

Would love if every class had outlines like this

Having applicable test questions from the past on each outline definitely helped because going through the right and wrong answers is the best way for me to study.

Having lectures on PowerPoint presentations was really helpful because I'm a very visual learner.

I listened to every lecture both in class and on the PodCast, and that was my most effective study method.

The podcasts and outlines saved my grade! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I loved the podcasts because I was usually tired in 9AM class and the podcast helped me to pay attention better. Plus I was able to pause and to rewind in order to write down important information.

It was extremely helpful to be able to listen to the lectures a second time and get a better idea of the key points to study

I did so much better on the exams after I listened to the lectures for a second time because they allowed me to greater understand and retain the material.

E-mail from sophomore received 9/5/08

Hey! how's it goin? You've got a whole new group of freshmen to baffle until they figure out how great of a professor you are!  Must be thrilling, ha ha.  I just wanted to check in and say hi, sophomore year is going OK.  Our physiology teacher really leaves something to be desired, and I, as well as others, have uttered the phrase "I wish Stark was our physio proffessor" more than a few times.  I'll stop by during your office hours sometime.  Have a great year, and thank you again for your fantastic teaching in bio 110 first semester last year physiology and physiological psych seems like a review because of your class!  Take care.

From June 18, 2008 letter ...

..."granting a certificate of accreditation for a period of seven years" to occupational therapy based on the site visit I participated in, listed under "major strengths of the program" - "recognition of the quality of education provided by external faculty."

Fall, 2008

I thought Prof Stark is a very good teacher. He knew the material he taught and always had an answer to the questions asked. I liked how he put the lecture notesw and podcast online, it really helped while studying and especially if you didn't understand a concept you could always refer back to it.

The teacher was very helpful and willing to explain. You can tell his love for what he teaches!

Good teacher definitely knows what he is talking about and makes sure we understand the material and can apply it in different ways

The course and the instructor were both very good. The majority of the material that was presented during class was explained well

He knows his stuff and will do anything to help students. He is a good instructor and person.

The podcasts that were posted were an amazing idea, this way if you don't catch everything in class you can go back to it, sometimes he taught so fast so I was able to pause the podcast and replay it to understand and take notes

Stark was a great teacher

The instructor enjoys his profession and teaching the course and tried to answer questions when they were asked

I found the outlines and podcasts most helpful. I like Professor Stark.

He is a very nice man. He's pretty fun and you can tell he loves teaching this and has a passion for biology

I think the class is very beneficial

I thought the professor choose topics releavant towards health careers

The class was able to teach me everything I needed to know about basic subjects of natural science and biology in general

The lab and the lecture were well coordinated so that the experiments reinforced the lecture lessons in the lab.

It was hard transitioning from high school into college but I believe that biology 110 helped me realize what I really have to do to prepare myself for tests in the future.

I thought that the information was very appropriate. It has a challenging aspect and provides information that will take each student further in his or her carreer.

It was really nice to have the labs and the lectures coincide. I love having the ability to go back and listen to the podcasts if I missed something in class or needed to hear the explanation and be able to pause it to make sure I understand everything. Professor Stark did a wonderful job making all resources available for us to succeed in his class.

I loved how the lecture & lab were coordinated...My chem lecture & lab did not correspond to each other very well & it was very frustrating. Bio was a nice change : )

I liked the way the lab coordinated with the topics being taught that week in lecture. I feel it helped me learn better.

Most things were revelant and worth the time

The labs and lectures always worker well together with what was being taught.

I liked how the material corresponded from lecture to lab. It helped reiterate what was said in lecture. If I was confused about anything in lecture then usually after lab I had a good handle on the material.

i really enjoyed having the podcasts to listen to later to help with studying

The questions, the web outlines and the PodCasts were indeed very helpful.

The previous exam questions, podcasts, and the incorporation of physiology were all greatly appreciated!

I liked having the previous exam questions and podcasts. That way, if someone was sick or was late to class, they were able to listen to the lecture and the previous questions served as good study material.

I do feel that all of these things were helpful in achieving a good grade in the class. The podcast is greatly appreciated!

they were all great and very helpful. the TA review before the test is also helpful.

The podcasts were very helpful when I went back to review for exams.

I learned a lot from this course. I judge that by how much I say "did you know..." at the dinner table or when talking to a friend. The courses were I have learned and will retain the most information are because its interesting enough to talk about outside of class. Not because the information itself but how the teacher/ TA's made me care and interested in what we were learning. If I wasn't interested in the material (whether the information or how it was given to me) I notice I usually forget by the next semester.

I did learn a lot. I had AP Bio as a senior in high school so this course was a good review and went more in depth as well

I felt like the course was really interesting and gave a lot of information, and just enough to know what is going on, but not so complicated that it is at an advance level

this course taught me a lot that i didn't already know about bio.

I got a good overview of many key biology topics

after learning good study habits and getting used to everything, I feel that I learned a lot from this bio course

i did have a lot of fun. i enjoyed the class

I enjoyed learning the material.

I took both honors biology and AP biology in high school, but there was still some new material that I learned in this course.

I haven't had a biology course since my sophomore year in high school, so by default, I learned much information this year which I did not know before attending the class.

the course was very informative

I do feel that I learned a lot because I had not taken Biology since freshman year of high school, so therefore, I had a lot to learn.

I feel that I learned a lot in this course; although it was condensed and sometimes moved quickly the material covered was very good.

I know I learned a lot in this course, both through the lecture and the lab.

I learned more than I ever thought I could

I took AP biology from my high school, and for the most part this course seemed to be a review of the basic material we covered in that class, however, this calss went more into detail. I would say I learned some new information

one of my favorite classes i liked all the students and the TA were great

I think Lab was the best and probably 95% of why I probably will remember a lot of this information years from now. It was set in a relaxing and "curious" environment, where questions and passion were welcomed. (unlike Chemistry, where instead or trying to really learn the material and spark interested, students are worried how the lab write looks, or getting things wrong. Is it not true you learn the most by getting things wrong!) That is another thing I like about Bio lab, during lab it wasn't as important getting everything right but understanding why something wasn't right. (through directly asking you this in the lab or doing more research in the post labs)

I loved Bio lab

Lab was relaxed and it was a good learning environment

Lab was fun and a great learning experience.

the labs were a lot of fun. they also helped me understand some of the major concepts for test that would have taken me longer without the labs

i loved my TA's, they made lab really enjoyable

I enjoyed labs and learned a lot in them, but in a fun, comfortable setting.

Yes, i liked the material we studied and the TAs were very helpful and knowledgable

i did, i liked my ta's, the experiments were fun. i liked the differences of labs and how they helped everything come together

I had fun in every single lab

I had a lot of fun in lab due to the TAs

Yes, lab was very fun because it was much less tedius compared to chemistry lab, so we could relax more and focus on what we were learning instead of worrying about having exactly the right format.

I loved attending bio labs and they helped me to remember the information from lecture on a much deeper level.

the labs were fun and educational

I thought lab was done very well. My TA's were very fun and made lab interesting. I also felt like they knew what they were talking about and i trusted their judgements and the information they passed onto us.

In the disection labs, I had a lot of fun.

I enjoyed this lab a lot. It was definitely one of my favorite classes this semester. Dissections and other hands-on labs with great instructors was very helpful to understand the lecture.

I like how detailed the History of Life (chapter 17) was
I also like Exam 4 material most interesting on animal and human physiology.

I liked muscles/ the ones that were about the anatomy.

I liked the lecture on Nutrition, since I am a dietetics major.

I thought that learning about the human body was the most interesting part. It was difficult, but it was interesting to see how things funcion.

I enjoyed the human body systems lectures

I enjoyed Biochemistry portions, cellular respiration

I enjoyed Physiology

i liked to learn about the different disease that effect the body. it was interesting to learn about the disease as the pertain to the material

I liked the last lectures about the body systems, etc.

I liked the coverage of muscles, nervous system

I liked learning about the senses in lecture

I liked Genetics, Muscles, and Nervous System

I liked Development

My favorite lecture topics were the different systems of the body.

liked genetics and all the body system lectures

i liked the evolution and the physiology topics

I liked nutrition

I liked Reproduction

I really liked studying the body systems. I also enjoyed anytime when we talked about physiology.

I liked nutrtion (a nutrition major though)

I liked the lectures that have to do with anatomy and physiology

I liked Genotypes/phenotypes

I liked Learning about cells and the systems of the human body.

I liked digestive system and circulatory

I liked evolution and circulation

My favorite lecture topics involved genetics and the different diseases and disorders associated with them.

i liked how things were repeated in multiple lectures

Cells, genetic disorders, the digestive system, and the circulatory system were my favorite topics within the lecture part of the course.

I liked more of the physiology/anatomy lectures. I ejoyed the topics about muscles, digestion, circulation, nervous system, etc.

My favorite lecture topics were the ones in the second half of the semester. I found learning about the different parts of the body and nutrition were very interesting!

The lectures about the body systems was my favorite

I enjoyed when we finally got into the body systems. It seemed to pertain a little more to our careers, but I know we have to start at the beginning too.

I really liked the part where we got to physiology. I was much more interested in the material and it was easier for me to study.

my favorite lecture topics were the human anatomy lectures--the cardiovascular system, muscular system, etc.

I enjoyed learing about the heart a lot

The systems were really interesting and applicable.

after the first test I realized listening and note taking might actually help my grade

My favorite lecture topics were the cell and organic chemistry lectures.

Learning about physiological things such as the cardiac and respitory system.

I like learning about the human anatomy and body systems, as well as evolution.

My favorite labs were looking at the bacteria and the jelly bean lab

i really enjoyed the fetal pig lab. i also liked that labs that involved inspecting how our bodies work.

I found the pig dissection to be very helpful, because we could see exactly where each organ was

I really enjoyed the pig dissection and the eyeball dissection and jelly bean labs.

The senses lab was fun. and well as the fetal pig lab

The dissections was my favorite and the ones that included examining cells under a microscope.

it was nice to have an easy and laid back lab

my favorite labs were in the interactive lab

The heart monitor lab was my favorite, the disection labs, and the tissues lab.

I liked all the labs about the same. I especially liked when we learned about the heart rate monitor and taking blood pressure because we actually knew what was happening in our bodies to produce different results

i think the topics were chosen well

it seems that we covered all the basics

i dont really know what could be added, i thought that the infromation covered was good

I think that a wide variety of topics are covered, and it is sufficient.

I feel that the lectures do a good job on touching base on just about any topics a person might want to learn in first year Biology

I think that this class covered the essentials of biology

I think that all of the labs matched up very well with lecture and I can't think of anything else that should be added.

I think that the labs corresponded to the lecture very well, so I can't think of any to be added.


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