Douglas Ross - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Douglas Ross

Department: Political Science

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POL347
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

cool dude and great prof

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The lectures and readings are scattered and unclear. The exam cheat sheet he gives you for the final is again all over the place, and the questions that are presented are absurd. A very nice man, who is great help during his office hours, but just does a terrible job teaching and structuring the course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Worst class I have ever taken. While Prof. Ross is a fantastic academic and clearly knows his material, the delivery of his lectures, the wide breadth of content assigned in weekly readings (interesting but scattered) and the overall disorganization of the class make it utterly terrible. The Syllabus had 2 sentence description for a 40% paper.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POL443
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the best Poli Sci profs I've ever had. He makes you work for your grade but is always available for help and really goes above and beyond if you ask. There are pop quizzes and no final but he usually tells you when the quizzes are and what readings they're on (there are a lot). Don't look for the big picture, memorize the numbers and names.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POL448
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ross is a very fair man. You have to do all the reading to excel in his class. Is also a very writing intensive course, just keep in mind that this is a 4th year course and 4th year level course work is expected.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ross is very interesting and knowledgeable but his lectures consist of long rants and are very disorganized. Make sure you read all of the readings because that's whats being tested not his rants in class. There are movies in lecture every class that are interesting. A hard final exam, but overall the class was enjoyable despite its shortcomings.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a really interesting prof, and clearly brilliant, but his lectures are a little bit chaotic and hard to follow/take notes on. I loved the readings and they never felt like work, but I wish this had been a seminar, because I feel like he'd be awesome to have as a seminar prof.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Overall it was a decent class. However the tutorials were much more useful than the lectures. The lectures were often off topic and turned into him ranting about random subjects. I admit I missed a few of them but still got a decent grade. However, I don't think I would take another class with him. Turns an interesting subject into something boring

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Teaching style does not do favours for this class There is literally no structure for his lectures and they are essentially long rants This does not adequately prepare you at all for the final so you have to end up teaching yourself all the material through the textbook. You need to be a military historian to do well Would not take this class again

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POL348443
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The most amazing prof at SFU! He is very interested in his field. His lectures are always engaging and makes a 4-hour class pass by very quickly. The current events sections in his lectures always tie in with the lecture theme and come in handy for the papers and exams. Best political science professor!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POL422
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Takes a real interest in his students. Upper level seminars with him are the best since he's willing to engage in real discussions with his students. Lectures are so-so. He really loves planes haha

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Seriously rather would watch the news on TV instead of going to his class. Utterly pointless really.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• 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:

He is a lovely man, however, his teaching style leaves a lot to be desired. His lecture consists of a self-talk about current events, followed by a Hollywood film and then a half hour seminar discussion, on which your participation grade is determined (80 kids in the class- kind of makes it hard). A real shame that this course is taught so poorly.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POL443
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Douglas Ross is one of the greatest men that has ever lived.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POL443
• 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:

Prof is very helpful towards papers and presentation topics.. all you have to do is ask him his opinion and he will typically rample off an answer or two that can really help you out. The final exam was said to be hard but there were only 2 essay questions and you had to choose 5 definitons out of literally 50. Great Prof, Will take another course

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POL443
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was intimidated going into the class. I was pleasantly surprised that he is nothing like the comments written about him. Incredible caring professor. I love the way he brings contemporary politics into the class. Fair marker. He reminds me of one of those seasoned generals who have been there done that knows everything. highly recommended.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POL443
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Had two classes with him. He is a knowledgeable prof, friendly, and marking is usually fair, so-so. His only downside is that he keeps very low engagement in class by talking for too long, not very clearly. Very high "fall asleep" rate, even on important topics. He is big on plagiarism, and I really like that he is open to any kind of discussion.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POL348
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He, and I suppose the TA as well, suspected I plagarized (I am a good writer and put lot's of effort into my papers) so he deducted massive points for an inconsequential oversight. I had to confront him to get my grade back. It's not like I haven't experienced that type of behavior directed towards me before.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POL347
• 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:

Dr. Ross speaks clearly and can effectively communicate most concepts to students. His lecture style was relatively engaging and the material he presented was on the whole interesting. I would take another class with him.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POL448
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

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