Alexander Ball - McMaster University, Hamilton, ON

Professor: Alexander Ball

Department: Medicine

College: McMaster University, Hamilton, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HTHSCI2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He's available and wants students to succeed, but his lectures are pretty dry and on the esoteric side. If you're taking 2F03 and have multiple lecturers, he probably won't be your favourite. ps he makes all the killer bellringer questions

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2L03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Ball was one of the best profs I had at McMaster and anatomy was absolutely phenomenal owning primarily to himself and Dr. Wainman. I could not recommend this course more.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Ball really knows his material and is an engaging lecturer. You will often see him in the anatomy lab helping students out! He can be quite brutally direct when a student answers a question wrong, but it's funny anyway. :)

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HTHSCI2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Awesome prof and an even nicer guy!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HLTH1H06
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Ball's lecture style is dry and will put you to sleep. He knows a lot about anatomy, but not a whole lot about teaching apparently. He makes inappropriate jokes which are kind of funny but a little awkward. Also his pants never fit him right. I usually listened to a different lecture recording because he fumbles his words and talks too fast.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He is VERY knowledgeable, and I think people just don't like learning about the CNS in general. Sitting through lecture is difficult because there are too many slides and too much material to cover in 50 minutes. I would usually just sit and listen without taking notes, then listen back to the lecture and take notes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HLTH1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Anatomy itself is a very hard coarse. So no matter if you get waiman, helli or him, if you want above a 60, you have to rewatch the lectures. He is very knowledgeable but besides that he goes very fast, most of his slides are pictures, but after rewatching, what he says does make sense.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HLTH1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's a nice guy but can be very unclear in his lectures, bounces from topic to topic quickly. Makes it difficult to understand the concepts. He knows his stuff but does not teach it well.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

he can be unclear and a bit all over the place in lectures. he knows his stuff but he is just a very bland person.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

all his slides are pictures. you really have to listen to what he is saying to fully understand the information. he goes too fast and i feel like i have to read over the material 3 times before understanding it

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ANA1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Ball is not a very enthusiastic lecturer but he does know a LOT about anatomy. He brings in extra models of what we are talking about in lecture as a visual aid, which is helpful. He has a very monotonous voice and is hard to follow. Be prepared to re-listen to his lectures to take good notes.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HTHSCI2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Anatomy and physiology is by no means an easy course. If you are taking it as an elective, be prepared to work hard. That being said, best course I've ever taken. Dr. Ball dedicates hours to students outside of class and lab. You'll hate him at first because his lecture are crowded and dense. But by the end, everything will click and it's awesome!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HTHSCI2L03L3
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Extremely knowledgeable in his field and very approachable. Definitely the best professor to go to for help if you're in Chem Eng and Bioeng or Elec and Biomed Eng. Spends a lot of time in the anatomy lab and will ensure that you have the core concepts down before moving to anything else.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC1C06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This man knows his stuff! Makes terminology mistakes in lecture, but all lecture videos are posted online after. Dense material, difficult exams but highly informed and eager to meet and go over concept in the anatomy lab.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Amazing professor. Extremely helpful, and is willing to meet at any time to go over concepts in the lab, a level of helpfulness I have never seen from any other professor before. Yes, he was covering a lot of info, but that doesn't mean it was 'incomprehensible', just DENSE. An UNFORGETTABLE experience. Best prof in the course.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2F03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very frustrating listening to his lectures; his lectures are inaccurate sometimes; very unorganised; tests are fairly hard and very very specific. His lecture slides only contain pictures and the content he presents is very dense. Thus, it becomes kind of hard to keep up.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ANA1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Ball is not clear during his lectures, his information on slides is disorganized, or not present, meaning that you have to listen to his lectures several times in order to write down the information. The other professors in the course had very clear and easy to follow lecture slides, perhaps they could teach Dr. Ball how to make a powerpoint.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HTHSC2L03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Such a great prof!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ANAT01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr Ball was not the greatest professor in my opinion. I was in the nursing program and he seemed to really dislike us, which made the course that much more difficult. I found him pompous and rude, and overall a poor teacher.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HSCI1H06
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

You start hating Dr. Ball by your fourth lecture with him, and keep hating till after you get Wainman back, and you realize that Alexander Ball was annoying, cracked stupid jokes and covered way too much info in one lecture, but he was so damn good anyway. When you relisten to the lectures, everything becomes crystal clear. ps.doesn't like nurses.