David Ley - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: David Ley

Department: Geography

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

David Ley knows how to convey material well. He cares about his students, and makes sure that they truly understand what is going on. He has the perfect balance of content and fluff, giving time to process new information. I love this guy. He is a real gem.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GEOG457
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Ley is a legend in urban geography. He's incredibly knowledgeable and pointed to a lot of the issues we now know are happening in the Vancouver housing market way before they happened so material is applied. Also he's incredibly clever. Teaching style for seminar is standard but material is very modern. Participation(15)/Test(40)/Project(40).

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Co-lectured with Trevor Barnes. Class has no midterm, 25% paper and 50% final based on lectures and textbook readings. I found this class quite hard and avg was 68%. Professor Ley's lectures are very clear and well structured but material can be quite heavy so be sure to listen carefully and take notes. Btw he has a cool British accent.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEO457AND122
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I really love his teaching style and he is extremely knowledgeable. He is adorable in all his proper Britishness, but then surprises you out of no where with his sense of humor and down to earth nature. I like that he doesn't just hand you lecture notes and -as long as you show up and listen- you will learn a lot. He challenges you to be critical.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. His lectures were incredibly hard to follow, take notes on, and go back to. Text was useless, course was based on articles. Mandatory discussions where the TA was foreign and didn't know proper English. Feedback she gave me was useless. MC & Final all written. Final was 4 essays in 2 hours.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Brilliant professor. The class in general was extremely interesting, and I love the way Professor Ley teaches. Be ready to take lots of notes with him teaching.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof! He is passionate and knowledgeable with what he loves to teach. His monotone voice can get boring and his notes aren't user friendly, but if you listen to lectures the provided notes make a lot more sense. I absolutely love this course! The content is so interesting and I can actually retain the information I learn.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Even after years of teaching this subject, you can tell his passion for geography is still at an all-time high. In addition to being a great lecturer, he's a charming man if you ever have the chance to speak with him. A really understanding professor. I definitely recommend him.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Most interesting class I've taken so far, and the only one where the lecture hall remained consistently full throughout the course! Ley needs to evolve form using the skewed projector (lol) but the content of his lectures is fascinating. Really insightful approach on the cause of global issues (oil, debt, arms, etc). Got an A+...but TAs are useless

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEO122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Fascinating course, definitely the most interesting i took this year and excellent professor, take notes in class and brief notes from readings because they will be useful for exams. However the class was not easy, avg was a 62 this term so keep that in mind when signing up. Definitely recommend it because of how interesting it was.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The course content was clearly organized, the presentations were clean and methodical, the notes he provided were model, and the occasional jokes were germane and clever. The exams seemed to hope that you had fit everything provided into answers to the large question for each themed section of the course... Practice exams at the GIC, abstracts... A

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

It's hard to give this professor a rating because he doesn't mark the midterm or the term papers-the TAs do them, and you don't know who marked your paper on the final. This class was the most interesting but had the lowest class average. His notes can get confusing so go to class but he's really nice and is sort of like your most favourite grandpa

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of my favourite classes all year! The content was interesting and the lectures very concise and insightful. A bit of a hard marker though, and sometimes I felt the lecture was a little boring but I really loved the content. I highly recommend this course!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• 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:

GREAT GREAT class. usually people tend to skip out on geography lectures after the first couple weeks. but in this class in the big geog lecture hall, about 80% of the people still frequently attend class even near the end of the semester. got me really interested in globalization. thumbs UP

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good enough professor... but if you want to debate your mark don't bother... they don't even having a marking scheme.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the most articulate professors I've had this year - although geography is definitely not my field of study, I was actually interested in Dr. Ley's lectures. Its clear that he is very intelligent, and knows the specifics!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Ley has a sense of humour so dry it makes the sahara look like an ocean, but his lectures are interesting and clear. asking stupid questions will receive replies like "oh what, you again?" or "You're not listening. be quiet." he is a kind and intelligent man who knows his stuff & can teach it well. challenge him intellectually at your own risk.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's kind of boring in the lectures, and isn't receptive to questions, but he knows his stuff, and can teach it.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• 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:

He inspired Geography in me. Really. If you can manage to arrange your schedule so you can take his calss - DO.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEOG122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Ley is the best lecturer I have had yet at UBC! He came to class every day prepared with an interesting lecture that kept the class fascinating. He is very knoweldgeable about the subject matter and is enthusiastic about student understanding. He doesn't confuse his lecture with unrelated tangents but loads each day with interesting facts.