Joan Sharp - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Joan Sharp

Department: Science

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I found lectures to be useless as it was just case studies most of the time. I learnt most of the material from the textbook and the labs. If you are willing to put in the time to read through the textbook its fairly easy to get a good mark. Exams were fair and did not only test how much you memorized but how much you understood the material.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are an inferior regurgitation of the textbook reading if you managed to dig up the pages assigned for the week on canvas -- this course's canvas page is a goddamn mess with a bunch of redundant memes and legalese. Lots of stuttering and autobiographical asides, dry and mechanical presentation. Feels like I paid for an insult, not a course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BISC100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Although Bio 100 is a difficult course with some difficult topics Joan is an unbelievable teacher. She cares so much about her students and is very clear in what she wants you to learn. DO THE PRACTICE TESTS, they are 75% the exact same questions as are on the exam. If you never read the book and memorized the practice test answers you will get a A

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BISC100
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I don't know why people are narking on this prof so much. She cares about her students immensely, and though she goes off on tangents sometimes, it really wasn't too bad if you keep up. She gives worksheets, icklickers and sample exams, gives clear grading criteria and requirements, and gives great feedback and tells you what will be on the exam.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BISC100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

ALOT of work for a 1st year course. Assignments every week and iclicker participation as well, and tutorial attendance marks, AND 4 hour labs every week. This course takes up 8 hours a week minus study time. She loses her thoughts every few minutes and goes off topic. Never gives full marks, ALWAYS do practice exams they are basicaly the actual exa

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely insane marking for a first year course. Tests were long and only an hour, with no time to check over your answers. Lecture was interesting but shouldn't have been mandatory as it was all case studies. Essentially all the class material is in the 4 lbs textbook, which you need to extract yourself. Labs were fun but again the marking

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Joan can make this course very stressful and frustrating, as she is a very tough marker and will only give out marks to answers that are word for word on her all-paragraph answer tests and assignments. Her lectures are mandatory (i-clicker) but are extremely boring and impossible to learn from. Overall she is very knowledgeable but can't teach.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Joan seems super knowledgeable on science in general, but she was disorganized, unfocussed, and far too text-heavy for a first year course (she co-wrote the textbook..). Tip: for the "forest walk" lab, don't go with Joan! Again, she was very knowledgeable, but she gave so much information that we didn't know what to learn for the exam.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Although she is a tough marker, she is a great professor who gives plenty of feedback. She seems to really care that her students understand the concepts, rather than just pass the class. She is always accessible for extra help, and is very inspirational - though you may not get the grade you want, she makes the topics interesting and engaging.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I'm not really sure what to think of this class in general. Joan is a bit odd and her class can feel a bit more like a humanities class than a science course, especially since we have no multiple choice on the exam. Generally she cares a lot and I found that looking through her slides before exams gave me a decent idea what she was going to target.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

WORST prof I have ever had in my entire life. Lectures were straight up useless but is mandatory bc of iclickers... Goes off topic during lecture and starts chatting with TAs right in the middle of class... wasted at least 15min each class trying to fix laptop, and genuinely doesnt care if you do well. (Doesn't explain/give feedback over email)

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Joan is an amazing prof, she spends so much of her own free time trying to help out her students. Go to her review sessions, they provide an upper hand on the curve when she explains what she is looking for in her grading style. Read the textbook as well, you will be tested on it even though you will not go over it in class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• 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:

I found this course difficult and boring at times. I felt like my life was centered around this course as it took up so many hours of my life. I swear we had something for this class every day. Joan's lectures were boring and dry and I never wanted to sit through her lectures. The textbook has a lot of useless information and was not helpful to me.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO102
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She knows her stuff for sure, but does not know how to teach.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BISC102LAB
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Sharp clearly knows her stuff (she wrote our textbook and lab manual!) but goes on a lot of tangents. It can be really hard to focus on what she's saying which sometimes has little to do with the lab. It's can be hard to hear her when she's facing the wall. She does give a lot of extra help if you ask her for it and is very easy to approach.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Joan is a nice enough prof, but honestly I found her so frustrating. I don't know what it is but she seems arrogant, and not at all willing to explain why the marks she gives are so low. She wants an exact answer, and if you don't word it exactly right expect a very low grade.I wouldn't recommend taking her class unless super passionate about bio.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BISC102LAB
• 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:

Joan makes me irrationally angry. She's very picky, but she's a pretty good prof. I just really don't like her and I have no idea why...

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BISC102
• 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:

Super passionate and overall has a very kind grandmotherly attitude. Good at explaining but has a very quiet and soft voice that puts some people to sleep.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 316
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Just as everyone says, she is an amazing prof!! Absolutely wonderful. She goes above and beyond to help her students. However, its not that people who complain about her class aren't "hardworking", her tests are HARD. I do well in all BISC courses (it is my major after all) however in this class I am struggling to even get a B. She's a tough marker

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BISC100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

she is so picky... I don't deny that she is a kind professor, however, if you don't really need this course, don't take it. especially with Joan.