This course was very interesting and useful for me, but I believe there is an unbalance between the level of highly specialised information (micobiology related and about the clinical trials and studies), that I find insufficiently explained and the tutors pass very fast through these sections, and general-level information, which I find too general.

I would have liked to hear more about how to restore the gut microbiota after an antibiotic course for example, or how to change out diets to encourage beneficial bacteria. Also I would have liked to hear more about what are the ways of creating a map of the gut microbiota in the general population: how can I discover if my microbiota is ok. I feel this latter wasn't clear enough. And I would have liked to hear more about the most recent studies or trials related to 'beneficial bacterial pills'.

One of the best courses I've ever taken online. The food log assignments - reflections & final project are immensely beneficial. If you're curious about your microbes, don't miss this course.

Both enjoyable and challenging. Hear an interesting range of lectures, backed up with a wide range of articles. Shook up my idea of what it takes to be a healthy human - a healthy microbiome.

I was denied completion of this course because a fellow course taker felt the need to "grade" unfairly. I suggest all "peers" keep in mind we are here to learn not to be judge so critically. The spirit of the course was destroyed by a thoughtless action. If you wish to be critical that's fine but at least have the courage to leave feedback for me to review. Coward.

I enjoyed the course very much. Not being a medical student, there was a lot of language that was just beyond me, but I managed to figure it out.

My concern is that I am now unable to get a certificate, even though this was a free course that was offered. Please can you let me know when and how I can obtain a certificate for this course.

Kind regards,

Candice Braganca

A really great course. It goes into great depth on the human microbiome. Science is aimed at the intelligent layperson level - and so easy to absorb. I watched the course on 1.25x speed setting and that was just perfect.

Some of the links are really interesting, so remember to check those out.

Overall this course has covered a lot of good and interesting information! I found the presentation to be lacking somewhat as the course-leaders were reading off the info in front of the camera, which gave the lectures an artificial sort of feel. I did enjoy the different interviews along the way, which spiced things up a bit. The grading of this course needs to be revised, in my view, as some things will go amiss when students grade each other. All in all it's clear that a lot of work has gone into this course, and that is definitely to be commended by all involved.

Great subject and some very well presented videos. However there were several which were incomprehensible. Either because of the quality of the video or the very heavy accent of the speaker especially to a non-American viewer. One doesn't always want to read a transcript but to listen and concentrate. If all the videos had been of good listenable quality I would have given the course 5 stars

Con este curso llegue a descubrir el inmenso mundo del intestino humano y sus conexiones cada vez mas sorprendentes con el cerebro, y hasta nuestra contextura física, donde vimos que el futuro de nuestra salud estará cada vez mas vinculado con la actividad de nuestro intestino. Muchísimas gracias Coursera, por los profesionales A1 dignos de admiración con los que cuentan como profesores del curso y por la ayuda económica otorgada, con la cual dan oportunidades a muchos estudiantes por lo cual pude hacer mi sueño realidad.

The Microbiome course has been a great course, I enjoyed each part of it. Thank you for all efforts to put it together and to make it available to everyone. It would be great if some of the readings which are part of the course can be all made available outside the pay wall.

I wish a great success for the American Gut Project, including Canada, and later include Mexico.

BIG THANK YOU!

Excellent course to have an overview of microbiome research and main topics related to this research line. Explanations are very clear and they are very easy to follow, congratulations to the excellent instructors!!

The only thing I would like to improve is to go deeper into the methods and techniques since the course is too general (or create a second course, more specialized).

as a biologist I can evaluate it from a scientific point of view and I think the course is absolutely fantastic. lessons are well organised. it really helped me to arise a clear consciousness of the deep relation between what I eat and my physical/mental health. well recommended to sci students and people who whish to understand more about the issue

This was the most interesting course I have taken so far with Coursera.

The Microbiome popularity right now is high and there is so much hype about it, I appreciated being able to find out what it is really all about. I look forward to learning more and now being able to weed out myth from reality.

Thanks so much.

Very interesting course and very timely at the moment given the ground-breaking research in this area! I only have two minor criticisms. Firstly, the presenters seemed to be reading from a script, which made them seem quite wooden and unnatural and thus hard for me to follow at times. Secondly, I would have preferred a little more focus on what we can do to improve our gut microbial diversity. I have tried all the basic advice given with little effect. However, perhaps we just don't know enough at this stage. Also, it would be interesting to explore the anomalies a little more. For example people with high levels of firmicutes who are also lean. Overall, I found the course useful though, thank you!

Fantastic information, although already somewhat outdated! References and videos of Jeff Leach should probably be scrubbed. I was very disappointed to find out that he has some serious credibility issues.

I have followed the course by listening to the audiobook of Rob Knight's Follow Your Gut.

Appreciate the efforts of all involved in this course! It certainly has me wanting more information on this incredibly fascinating topic!

The course is good, my only objection was that there was no personal Lecturer or Mentor feedback as in some other courses. In fact in the discussion section, it was obvious that some questions that had been asked some time ago were not answered. In fact one could have finished the course and not got a reply. this happened to me.

Interesting and informative. The only reason it is not 5-stars is because some lectures were too much PR, and some assignments required non-scientists to name-drop microbes and design a study without proper reference.

Excellent introduction to the gut microbiome and its importance to our health. Lots of science but would have like a little more information about how to increase and balance the microbiome through nutrition.

Waiting on the completing peer review work and the grading of my own work in Week 6 was stressful and annoying. Overall though, this was a good course! Thanks!

Less detailed information then expected but great for people that don't have any knowledge about (gut) microbiota yet

the information was presented so slowly that it was hard to follow. i have taken a couple other introductory biology/genetics courses so some of the information was familiar, but i (and a friend who watched over my shoulder) found the videos nearly unwatchable due to the slow pace the presenters were speaking

Extremely clear presentations by the researchers, but loses 2 stars for relying on assignments based on Google Docs which did not load properly and resulted in me not being able to complete the course.

Very disappointed in this course. It is more of an infomercial for American Gut than an actual course. Additional knowledge gained was very little.

"Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome" is a fabulously informative course that contains a significant amount of pertinent information presented in a well-paced, user-friendly manner. The class offers high quality ancillary resources for further research on the topic in the forms of interviews, journal articles, books and website links.

I would recommend this course to anyone who might have an interest in the gut microbiome, whether it be for personal reasons or for academic research as it provides a solid foundation for future studies in this arena.

Really great, really informative. These guys are at the forefront of the research. This course was well constructed, well-rounded. We heard from lots of different experts in the field. I really liked the suggested course readings, including Martin Blaser's new one "Missing Microbes". I also loved learning about Jeff Leech and his self-experimentation. And the link to the microbiology colloquium reports was a gold mine. This course was insightful and has kept my interest the whole way through. Well done, and thanks for the opportunity! :O)