I thought professor Hegg was a good lecturer who tried to keep the class involved as much as anyone can with a room full of 400 people. He talked about football to break things up sometimes and was very enthusiastic which made everyone pay a little bit more attention.



His exam questions were tough for sure, but its a 400 level science course. If you can't handle this, then good luck in any kind of grad school or med school. Just study really hard the week of the exam and you'll be fine. Also, the class is graded on a set scale and a percentile scale (>90% of class is 4.0, etc.), they use whichever one gives you a better grade. So although Hegg's exams are tough, they are tough for everyone else too so the curve will help you.



Both profs in this class say you need to read the book, but I just used it for reference if I didn't understand a topic and that worked out well. This is one of the toughest pre-med courses along with PSL 431/432, so just work hard, get through it and you'll be better off in the long run. Both are similar in the way they are taught and in the amount that you have to study. I would suggest that you do not take both at the same time if you can avoid it.



Sorry for rambling a bit, but overall, I would say professor is an enthusiastic professor who teaches a tough class and forces you to think a little harder about the topics presented.

Hegg was seriously legit, he was my favorite biochem prof out of the 4 I had. His lectures are entertaining and I really got a lot out of them. I four pointed his exams by re reading my lecture notes and never touching the book. He knows what he is talking about and its clear in lecture what he expects you to know for the exam. A lot of people think he was horrible and his exams were hard but thats only because they expected to barely study and ace the class. You HAVE to study because they exams are difficult, but if you do study you can sail smoothly into a 4.0 with Hegg.

Eric Hegg's a great guy, he's extremely excited to teach Biochemistry and does a good job at it. His slides about football are also amusing. If you ever visit his office hours he's more than willing to help. If you can survive his exams then you're 3/4 of the way to a 4.0 Just study his material well; do his homework sets, read the book and his slides, and try the old exam.

Eric Hegg is the best professor you will have in BMB 461/462. For all the reviews from people about how he's the devil, and his exams are impossible, ignore them. Those are the students who are not cut out for this type of study intensive major. I understand not everyone in the Biochem series is a BMB major, but if you have to take these classes then you're still an upper level science, and you know very well that you will get demolished if you don't study. He is extremely enthusiastic about everything he teaches, and that will really make you want to learn the material. If you emphatically review his lecture sides, and reference the book when needed, his exams will be ridiculously easy. However, if you try to weasel your way by without putting in the effort, his exams are notorious for weeding out people that handle this rigorous of a course. After all, this is an upper level 4XX class, so its not gonna be a pushover. Just enjoy him while you can!

"OK. So..." Hegg has an uncanny ability to put me to sleep. Aside from him starting every lecture and sentence with "OK. So...", what was most annoying was the fact that his lecture slides are all black type on a white background with some type of pale-blue for the diagrams/pictures.



His exams are difficult, and he does not explain things very well. For example, we discussed some topics that were covered in general chemistry, so I was already pretty familiar with them;however, the way he explained them was terrible. As he was explaining them I was thinking of much easier and clearer ways to explain them to the class. It scares me to think about the stuff that wasn't covered in previous classes that I was hearing for the first time and how my understanding of them is inferior to somebody who had somebody else explain them.



On a positive note, he seems like a nice guy and he posts recordings of the lectures online.

Hegg is not the devil as some make it sound. His material is not easy and he knows it. Reading is not a definite must to beat the average (about a 50%) as long as you study and actually UNDERSTAND the notes. He writes his tests based upon a thorough understanding, not strictly memorization of the details. This class is without question a "washout" class and should be treated as such. Work hard, study hard, and you will be fine. As far as personality, Hegg actually seems pretty cool. He's about as nerdy as possible and constantly reminded me of Bill Nye. He does think his class is a little more important to everyone than it actually is though, and could use a reminder that not everyone is a Biochemistry major. Long story short, don't avoid him if you typically do well in similar classes (Intro Chemistry 1/2 and Orgo) and plan on working hard... otherwise look somewhere else.

I know that a lot of people didn't like Prof Hegg and I understand why, he was hard!! I have a 4.0 but it's not due to lack of studying...I studied nonstop for a week before the exams and knew everything from every page of the notes. The reason I give him a 3.5 is because to me, there was nothing on the exams that wasn't covered in lecture, or at least somewhat expected (he would sometimes tell us to look at something he wouldn't have time to cover). I liked that he wouldn't exam on something he didn't spend time on. It's nice to have a prof that made you feel like he was actually a prof and you should pay attention in lecture, instead of depending on the book to teach you like most profs. All in all, interesting lecturer, a lot harder than you think exams, but fair and learned a lot!

I think the Hegg generally has good intentions in the class and that he doesn't want to screw everyone over, it just ends up happening anyway. His tests are way to hard for what he prepares you with. The practice questions that he gave us were junk and the book was a minor help. Mostly the notes were your best friend and you just have to be able to take tests well to get by with him. Not knowing where you ever stand in the class is not a good thing either since they curve the class and wont give you a grading scale its always a guess as of where you stand with your peers. The is especially frustrating when the class average is so low. If you can take the class with someone who is a bit easier i would suggest it, but its really not the end of the world if you get him.

Pros: Sometimes the lectures had football scores in them, which was funny.

Cons: Very boring lecture, tests always had curveball questions

My biggest problem with Hegg was the way his tests were written. It reminded me of HNF 150 where the study guides had no real direction and no matter how much you studied you didn't feel too confident on the material. He makes it very hard to stay awake in lecture and if you don't read the book the exams will kill you. I studied for a week before the second exam and read all the reading sections and still got a 69%. My average after his two tests is a 79%, and I have a 4.0 science GPA up to this point (3.92 cumulative). Luckily, the cutoff grade for a 4.0 is an 81%. If you take this class with Hegg, expect to rely on the curve.

Hegg seems like a nice enough guy, and he knows the information very well. The problem is the information he expects you to know for the exams is almost unreachable with the lecture and notes provided. TO me, an average on an exam of 50% does not seem satisfactory. I feel like if they made the material a little more relatable we could learn more than 50% of it. Basically if the material goes beyond what is needed for the MCAT, it is useless to me. Maybe that seems like a poor attitude, but I just can't see myself using 95% of the material of this class in my latter career. Obviously, this is a required class, if you can get it with someone else I would recommend it but I don't know that its even possible, so have fun!

Pros: Great lecturer. He speaks loudly and clearly. He always throws in slides about football to keep people entertained.

His lecture slides are easy to take notes from and he includes learning objectives.

He gives a lot of clicker quizzes which are very helpful in understanding the material.

If you get to class early and sit in the front, chances are he'll start a conversation with you.

He's an extremely nice guy and really knows what he's talking about.

His exams aren't too hard, although the free response questions are usually a lot tougher than the multiple choice problems.

Cons: none

Hegg is the man.

Ok so dont listen to the people below. I am overall a good student and I thought he taught terribly. This guy acted like BMB 461 was your only class. Understand, that people have lives, jobs, labs, OTHER CLASSES! He was responsible for two exams (the first two) and Benning was responsible for the second two. Benning's third exam has been 10x better than Hegg's put together. Benning's test actually reflected what he taught in class. I suggest not taking it with Hegg if thats the case. You know your in trouble when the first test avg is 46%.

Hegg actually got the information across relatively well. He's not one of those old profs that just stands up and talks in a monotone. He's relatively easy to listen to and makes the material relatively easy. The reason for his 3.0 though is the difficulty of his exams. They truly are the hardest I have ever taken, and that includes physio exams. He made the second one better but the class averages still hovered around 50 +/-. He's a nice guy and is willing to help but study and definitely read the book.

I didnt think he was terrible, I've definitely had worse teachers. Lectures were alright I guess. He comes across as just a nerdy pretty nice guy so you would expect the exams to be pretty fair but they werent. That's basically my biggest problem with him is that he intentionally made all the exams really hard and I thought that about half the material tested was fair. I'm actually doing significantly better in psl431 than in here because of hegg's exams.

Pros: You will learn a lot from Eric Hegg, he makes you think and not just regurgitate information. He provides plenty of extra practice through his optional homework, as well as practice exams. They also have lecture notes and recordings for reviewing.

Cons: Clicker questions are obnoxious.

His exams are pretty difficult, ONLY cramming at the last minute will get you nowhere. You have to be able to read through the whole question and think outside the box.

Pros:

Dr. Hegg was definitely the best of the two lecturers this semester (he covered 1st half, 2 exams) he was easy to listen to, willing to help, and excited about teaching, which makes it easier to learn and pay attention. Overall its a pretty difficult class and grades are based on percent rank in the class. His tests were a little more difficult as were his write out questions, you just really have to know the concepts. Overall good teacher

I'm surprised that anyone would rate Hegg so low. He's the best biochem prof I've experienced - he concentrated on the conceptual, instead of it being a memorization-intensive course. He wrote very difficult and LONG exams, but he curved them. Yes, the average on the first exam was less than 50%. No, the majority of the class did not fail, although apparently enough were unaware of what a curve is to rate him a 0.0 on allmsu.

I don't understand how people are giving him such a high rating. The two exams he gave were not reflected of the material we covered. His attitude was if he mentioned it in class, it was on the exam, yet if you didn't read the book there was no way for a decent grade. He was boring, horrible at teaching and made horrible exams. Just more of the same crap MSU has to offer. Prof's who care more about their research than teaching.

Exams are very difficult, not because its biochem but because that's the way he makes them intentionally (that came from his own mouth). The average on the 1st exam was 48 and is expected to be lower on the 2nd exam. The course is graded on a curve, but somehow a few people still managed to get scores in the 90's. I wouldn't recommend taking biochem in the fall to avoid depending on a curve like I currently am.

The post on 11/21/2007 has it about right. Hegg knows this material is hard and wants you to know it too. He writes hard exams, as he plainly said. I feel like I learned more with his lectures and overall thought his lectures were more interesting, but be prepared to study your ass off for this stuff. Overall, the Benning/Hegg combination was not a bad one. Its hard, but its Biochem, not business.