F. Barry Cooper - University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Professor: F. Barry Cooper

Department: Political Science

College: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cooper doesn't seem especially interested in preparing or teaching this class. Instead he uses lecture time to rant semi-intelligibly about whatever particular social trend bothers him. His assigned readings include self published non-academic diatribes by political blowhards. You'll need to talk to the TA to figure out what's going on. Avoid!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very hard to tell what was important or even what Dr. Cooper was talking about. I found there was no structure to lectures, each powerpoint slide consisted of 7-12 words (we stayed on the same slide the whole class), very hard to understand the point of what he was saying. The 12 pages essay was brutal, along with the essay final. Very hard marker

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good professor. People that don't like him shouldn't be taken political thought classes because that's just the way these classes are no matter what prof you get

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POLI201
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

BORING. Paper at the end is pointless and useless. Not the easiest class.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Retirement is imminent for this man. His antiquated and often offensive views would be fine if he did not cite his own personal belief as fact that contradicts real peer reviewed research. His lack of belief in global warming and climate change is dismissive and destructive to real conclusive research being made by the WHO and governments globally.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There comes a point where professors must realize that their time teaching should come to an end. There was little direction in this class when it came to lectures. Often times he would go off on tangents and rant on about stuff that was seemingly pointless. There is no enthusiasm to his teaching and it was more than often impossible to focus.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He's awesome and the new TA is so funny and awesome. If you show up, you're guaranteed to pass because everything is open book so you just use your notes from class. Even if you don't show up, just google everything during the open book exam and you're golden.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are very confusing and hard to follow and his powerpoints didn't help. Powerpoints had very basic information and It was hard to tell whether what was was talking about was relevant or not.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Midterm&Final are open book but you need to pay attention/show up to the lectures or else your notes won't help you bc everything is very specific. 10% bonus for attendance is nice. Wouldn't have gotten a good mark w/o a study group, make friends to share notes with. If it's in the morning, bring coffee because his voice will put you to sleep.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Best prof ever, everything was open book. You dont need to show up because his tests are incredibly easy. Had to read only one book, the times I went he was pretty funny. Marks pretty good!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This class was easy, midterm and final are open book and a 10% participation bonus The lectures may be confusing but common themes relate the material and make it relevant to the course I find his lectures interesting as he adds his own comments and they're funny and the events are pretty interesting. His TA takes a long time to mark though.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are very confusing and disorganized. As a first year course, it was a disappointment, as the majority of material was very ambiguous. It's hard to pick out what is important what isn't as he constantly rambles. I could see the benefit of taking a higher level course (400/500/600 level) with him, but there are better options for first year

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very heavy lectures, I found it was difficult to know when he was genuinely talking about course content and when he was just ranting. Lectures were unorganized as he jumped back and forth from topic to topic. He had his moments of humour and his office hours were usually somewhat helpful. Another perk was that the midterm and final open book.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

At the beginning of the semester I was not a fan, but I now really enjoy this class. Dr. Cooper is kinda funny in his own way and his lectures are very interesting to listen to. A lot of people get butt-hurt from them, so stay away if you're easily offended. The TA does most of the marking, but he marks pretty fairly.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POLI619
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cooper by far is the best Professor I had during my years as an undergraduate student at University of Calgary. I took over 6 courses with him as he taught me how to think more than any other Professor. I learned how to articulate myself mush more efficiently and write better. I strongly recommend Dr. Cooper's courses in Political Thought.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cooper seems to be very knowledgeable in the material he is teaching. However, he struggles at actually communicating it. He rambles and does not provide lecture notes. The class I took was an intro class and the material covered was definitely not intro level stuff. When asking questions, I felt I didn't receive clear or helpful answers.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• 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:

He is definitely a rambler which makes his lectures difficult to follow, but Dr. Cooper was not the worst part of this class. The TA did all of the marking for the course and was a ridiculously difficult grader. Would take marks off for the most pointless reasons and wouldn't give feedback that could actually help you do better in the future.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This professor gave me one of the worst experiences I've had. His lectures are incredibly boring to listen to as he rambles on about useless material. There is a lack of criteria for the grading used and the TA marks the papers without proper justification. Take the class with another professor if possible.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLI213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He seems like a nice guy, but his class was NOT a good experience for me. He gives vague, rambling lectures in which you learn practically nothing. The grading was very harsh, and I had no idea how to succeed. The grading was done by his TA, who loves talking down to students and giving low grades. He even made fun of a woman for her weight!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POLI409
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is the most amazing Prof, I took over 5 courses with Dr. Cooper and is by far the most knowledgable prof I have had. He has always inspired me to do more and to broaden my horizons, he makes you think! He is very outspoken and doesn't care what people think! He is also very fair and accommodating when it comes to assignments and grading.