Fidopiastis, Pat  

Excellent Professor, very knowledgeable and helpful during office hours and during class in answering question. You will learn so much in this class and really be drawn into the world of microbiology. It is hard to find teachers that actually turn you on to a subject, but Dr. F is so likable and so smart that you really will enjoy taking any class with him.

Dr. Fidopiastis is an incredibly enthusiastic professor who seems to really love what he teaches. Lectures can be a bit confusing to follow, because he knows the material so well he sometimes does not seem to recognize what students are finding challenging. Exams are rather tricky, I would always come out decently nervous about what grade I would receive. While Dr. Fidopiastis is a very nice professor who loves microbiology, just be prepared to work hard to get a good grade in the class.

Dr. F is an amazing teacher. by far one of my favorites at calpoly. He is very knowledgable in what he talks about and has a lot of experience in the industry which enabled him to share various stories about his times working in the field. GO TO CLASS. every single one of his tests are directly from his powerpoints. also make sure you take notes on literally everything he says because you bet his test you on something he mentioned once for a very short period of time. He makes the class very interesting and is super enthusiastic. I highly recommend Dr. F to anyone that doesnt miss classes, pays close attention, and is actually interested in learning about microbiology.

pat is extremely enthusiastic and love micro bio. he's also very down to earth and will help you with any problem you have. pat's also very straight forward with the material on his test and will not put trivial things on the test or make you do trivial labs. take his lab it's the best one out of all the other teachers

Dr. F is a really awesome person and super enthusiastic about the topics he discusses. He is straight forward with what he says will be on exams but what bothered me was the wording of his questions. For many questions on tests I would know the material well but would get it wrong because of tricky ways Dr. F wrote his questions. Read the questions thoroughly before you answer them on tests. Other than this problem for me, Dr. F made the class very enjoyable.

Everyone comes to PolyRatings for advice about the exams so I'll just cut to the chase: 2 midterms, 1 cumulative final. The midterms were 50 questions, and the final was 75. The tests are based strictly (for the most part) off of what was on the power points. That being said, I highly suggest never skipping class. He will oftentimes tell you the specific things he will test you on/things he won't test you on for each slide. Occasionally, there's something he talked about in depth that you can't find from the Powerpoint that will have one question about it- and considering each question is worth 2% of credit, it's worth always going to class. The midterms are worth 20% and the final ended up being worth 40%. While that was frustrating, it ended up being extremely worth preparing extra hard for the midterms because then I remembered concepts when it came to studying for the final. ProTips: -Buy the textbook. He will tell you you don't necessarily need it, but some of the slides on his power points are extremely vague and there's no way I would have done well in this course without doing some guided reading. -Pay attention to lab and how it relates to lecture topics. Some of the questions will ask you about stains (usually just gram stain) or a particular microbe you worked with in lab so don't treat the two like separate entities. Lab is actually supplemental to lecture for once. -Do well in lab. It's worth 40% of the course so if you get an A in it, that's like getting an A on the final exam. -Know every single term on a slide and what it has to do with. He considers everything on the slides fair game for questions, unless he specifies otherwise. -Be familiar with the diagrams, images, and chemical equations used in power points. He will use a few pictures on the exam and ask you what it is or what process it represents. -Make flashcards. Half the battle with this class is term recognition, and flashcards are the best way to review everything before a test. He's a cool professor, make sure to talk with him one on one. He's so stoked about micro, it makes the class really fun.

Dr. F is one of the best teachers at Cal Poly. He does tend to go off on a few tangents during lecture, but he shows an obvious passion for the field of microbiology. I would recommend taking his class.

Dr. Fidopiastisis one of my favorite professors I have ever had. He lectures based on power points and gives multiple choice tests based directly on his lectures. There is no need to buy a book except for clarification, but you should probably just go to his office hours instead to spend quality time with a cool dude.

This class had two midterms, 50 questions each, and one noncumulative final that was 50 questions. He posts all of his slides on his polylearn at the beginning of the quarter so you can access them all before class. Some of his lecture slides are pretty sparse so I recommend reading the textbook or recording and relistening to his lectures later to take better notes. His test questions only come from his slides and what he talks about during lecture. If something is written on his syllabus it is unlikely to change so it's really dependable. For lab, he is very hands off so once you are finished you can leave. He had two written midterms and a final (NO lab practical). For those, you need to know everything that was in the lab notebook (including genus and species of bacteria that you did tests on). He will ask obscure questions so know your material! You can do really well on them if you make flashcards right away and study them. None of his lab tests were cumulative so that made it easier to study. As a person, Dr. F is hilarious and super nerdy. He tends to tell personal stories about his career, all revolving around his love for Microbiology. It was refreshing to have a professor who has such a passion for what he does and wants to share it with his students! Highly recommend.

Dr. F is an intelligent guy and has lots of interesting stories to share about his research. The lecture slides posted on his polylearn don't necessarily follow the text super well so make sure you pay attention in class. There are 2 midterms and a noncumulative final, the lab portion is 40% of your grade and there's one extra credit assignment.

One of the best teachers at CP. Highly recommend. Have taken him for more than one quarter. Love his teaching style and great help during office hours.

Also previous post are very true, his is enthusiastic about teaching and he is a very upbeat about teaching and yes he is better than dr yeung. BUT both of them are pretty bad for this class he was there for a total of 4or5 weeks. His brings this very knowledgeable old man for the first 4 weeks, who is IMPOSSIBLE to hear if you are not in the first 2 rows. He lectures through ppt which is annoying as hell, and if you ask him what to know from each slide he will say "just understand what is going on in the slide" and on exams he asks VERY VERY SPECIFIC questions. His.His exams are beyond terrible, the first midterm was with the old guy. The 2nd midterm was a complete piece of shit. his final was ok. Honestly he is pretty mediocre, i personally would not recommend him.

Judging by the previous person's error-ridden, poorly typed rant, you can kind of tell that the person just didn't know how to study for MCRO 320. The material was presented just fine.... PowerPoints, board, animations, YouTube vids... Dr. Pinkel was hard to hear but he brought a huge amount of experience and that alone was worth it. Pinkel was more than happy to meet me in his office hours and answered all my questions. That second exam that was mentioned by this previous person had a few questions that were questionable, so Dr. F. realized this and gave us the opportunity to re-do the whole exam as a take home and re-answer everything we got wrong. This changed my grade significantly. That seemed fair to me because a lot of what I got wrong was me just not studying hard enough. Great professor, great knowledge, great enthusiasm. period.

This has been my favorite class at cal poly so far. Dr. F is an awesome lecturer and understands that this is a 3 unit class. He is not that organized, so if thats a problem for you maybe try a different instructor. No textbook and all the lecture slides are online. but he lectures about stuff not on the slides and excepts you to know it, so go to class!

Dr. F is an amazing teacher. He is very passionate and driven in his work. Lectures are VERY important for this class. It may seem doable to get by without going to class frequently, which is slightly true as I would sometimes skip, however to do well and get an A/B you must attend lecture and really listen to what he is saying aside from what is on the slide. He gives you all of the presentations beforehand for the entire quarter so my biggest recommendation would be PRINT THESE. Write directly on them, expand on the points rather than taking your own notes and focusing on copying down the slides. This class is very manageable in terms of work and tests. The three tests are all the same length and relatively same amount of material, but the "final" is worth more points to try and boost your grade. He tests kinda hard asking you to really analyze pathways and structures of viruses. You cannot get by purely on memorization of the definitions/ concepts. Other than that, this was a great class and very interesting to learn about. Go to office hours, or just try to get to know him because he is truly a super dope person.

Dr. F is probably one of the most intelligent professors I have ever had the pleasure of being taught by. I came into this class unsure and intimidated of what I was going to be dealing with. I have always had a hate for microbiology, due to it often being so detail orientated and difficult to see its larger relevance. Dr. F does an amazing job at explaining the concepts (often complex cellular mechanisms) in a very straight-forward, no nonsense way. He then relays it back to scientific breakthroughs such as how we've been able to create vaccines/drugs and disease prevention. I really appreciate how he has made this a non-stressful and really enjoyable class. I recommend 1) printing out the powerpoint slides ahead of time, then writing extra notes on top of them. You definitely cannot get by without attending class. 2) Pay special attention to protein/enzyme/structure function. There is a lot of them to memorize, but you need to know them in order to do well! He is also super laid back in office hours.

Fidopastias is an overall awesome guy. I took this class for fun and ended up loving it. He essentially has lectures going over a virus or bacterium and goes through their cellular structure, activity, symptoms, who it affects, how to treat it, how to test for it, etc. The best way to succeed is to print out his lecture slides beforehand and write on them. Pay attention to what he says in class! Sometimes he goes on tangents about patients he has helped treat but those examples were very helpful for remembering important details. He also is really easy going in office hours and willing to answer any questions you have. I had no microbiology background going into this class (and barely passed bio 161) and had no problem with it. My last tip is to not underestimate the cellular structures/receptors. At least half of his exams ask about those, so you really need to know their function and activity.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.

Fido is AMAZING! He is such a good professor. Everything is clear and he knows what he's talking about. He makes the topics interesting by relating the material to very real examples of things you are familiar with. He gives you everything you will need to know. The tests are straight-forward and there is no trickery. He simply wants to know if you're understanding the material. He wants to help you, is very approachable, and an overall great guy. He's laid-back and down to earth, and makes the atmosphere in the classroom feel the same way. I took Fidopiastis for 221 my freshman year and liked him so much I took him again for another class, lecture and lab. He's very helpful in both settings and gets to know each student individually which is nice. He makes a point of learning names and successfully tries not to be just another anonymous professor. Regardless of if you have to take a micro class or want to, TAKE PAT! You'll be glad you did.

Dr. F is the shit. Super cool guy, really laid back, makes lab time fun, encourages us to think critically and understand concepts. He made me want to care about Vibrio fischeri. He is one of the best professors in the bio department. Although he goes off on tangents, I think they add a real life element to his classes and as a Micro major, they get me thinking about jobs in the field.

Pat is great for MCRO 224. Highly recommend him, if you have the opportunity. But for this class, no way. He\'s disorganized. The topics he discusses in lecture seem really easy, but you get to the exams and you just sit there and bilnd. In lab, all you\'re going to do is run growth curves on different Vibrio fischeri mutants. And that\'s the only microbe you\'ll ever see by the way, V. fischeri. The most redundant thing ever. As for the exams. Good news: they\'re take-home. Bad news: they take FOREVER and are ungodly difficult. With partners, the first one took around 18 hours of full throttle work (no goofing off on facebook) to complete. The second was about the same. You\'re not supposed to work together on them but if you don\'t there\'s no way you\'re getting above a C on them. And, beware of the papers he assigns; they\'re usually a BIG portion of the exams. The worst thing is you get nothing out of it. I took this class 2 quarters ago and I can\'t remember a single thing. NOTHING. All this anger aside, he\'s still a nice guy. Approachable in office hours, easy to talk to, knows what he\'s talking about (usually). If you haunt him like the plague in his office hours, you might get more out of the class than I did. Good luck.

MCRO 424 was clearly not intended to be an exhaustive overview on the physiology of all bacteria nor should it be. I loved that we got to focus on physiological mechanisms used by Vibrio fischeri that are found broadly across many types of bacteria (e.g. quorum sensing, protease activity, biofilm production, etc). Had the course tried to be too broad, it would have been confusing. We did several growth curves that required a lot of time outside of class. Despite the time commitment, it was important to get a sense for what it takes to do actual research. It was welcomed that we had the time to repeat the work and incorporate things we learned by doing repeated runs. This is how I would imagine graduate school research works so I was happy to be exposed to it. We also learned molecular techniques such as conjugating DNA into VF cells, interpreting microarray data, and performing PCR. Just as important, we worked on actual research projects on going in the professor\'s lab. This meant that our results could be publishable! Furthermore, we wrote a paper and gave talks on our work. I have never received so much great feedback on my paper or talks as I got from this class. The exams were fair (and take home!) and as long as you understood the material, knew how to stay organized (because Dr F expects you to do that for yourself rather than hold your hand) and you spoke to Dr. F. in office hours, you did well. At least I did!

If you want an unorganized lecture with no true outline to the material, this is the class for you.

class totally flowed logically if you were paying attention and understood the material. good overlap with the lab. exams had some lame questions but DrF always made sure to fix problems and adjust grades.

Great course with real research exposure.