John Vardon - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Professor: John Vardon

Department: English

College: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His humour is sarcastic, clever, and dry - and bad enough that you might learn how to chuckle/groan. You definitely need to to know grammar in his class. His favourite "critic", Johan Nodrav must be his alter ego as "Nodrav" is his name backwards!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

You literally spend the entire semester learning simple middle school grammar (comes, apostrophes, etc.). He's a tough marker and is very subjective. The lectures are dry and dull.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Super boring class. He makes stupid jokes but if you don't take them too seriously you might be able to chuckle a little. Puts a lot of effort in to grading and gives lots of feedback. Easy midterms but you're not really prepared for them in class, you have to learn it on your own. Overall really pointless to attend class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Essay grades depend %100 on his opinion and whether he agrees with yours

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

defiantly a tougher course than expected, NOT as bird as one might assume! the assignments are easy, but the midterms are a little confusing if you don't go to class. its course grammar-so a little hard to study for. good prof. he's funny if you actually follow along and listen to him. classed can be a bit dull, but worth.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

After hearing this was a bird course - it definitely was not. As an English Literature student, his reasons for giving poor grades were ridiculous such as saying an essay was not supposed to be opinionated when the question was "do you agree with this side or this side?"

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

You better like his sense of humor, but I did. He tries hard given the rather dull-ness of his content. He knows most people don't give a flying football, so he never takes anything too seriously. I like this class, hopefully I can take my other ENG req. with him.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Vardon is great, and his class really is not that tough. It doesn't mean that you can just skip class or not put any effort in essays. Lot of people struggle because they are lazy. The midterms are easy, but essays make up most of your class mark. He is a fair marker, so just try your best! RECOMMENDED if you have to take any English course

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Good guy, good class. Assignments are really easy, has a couple of tests but nothing too difficult. Just take good notes and pay attention to what he's saying, not just what he's writing. Great way of improving grammar for future assignments. A good one to take!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No rubrics for assignments, marks and comments on opinions rather than writing ability, no online support or overheads, scribbles disorganized lecture notes on whiteboard. Class should be called "grammar". No focus on the various uses of English whatsoever. Tests are very easy, early highschool level at best, assignments are marked subjectively.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• 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:

Quite the hard marker. I won't say its a bird course at all.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• 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:

Great prof. Classes can be boring, but he's funny and makes weird jokes. Pretty easy course overall

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL306A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Awesome prof. Makes boring stuff funny.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Texts: Lion, Witch, Wardrobe; A Bird in the House. take it if you want help with general English rules. If you had about 80% in high school--this will be a bird course. Good prof. Interesting, understanding

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He was really understanding when it came to deadlines. As long as you have a valid reason, he gave you as much time as you needed, given you don't abuse it. He marks fairly, a bit on the easy side, but like any other English prof, he's tough on grammar and punctuation. He enjoys a good sense of humour in your writing.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

One of them most quirky and bizarre profs I've had. He shows up late and lets you out early but is a nice guy. He'll let you have extensions on essays if you just tell him you need more time.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Oh Vardon! He has the BEST sense of humour, I laughed many a time in his lectures. But that's the thing: because of the dull nature of his course, he tries his best to ****e things up, and succeeds most of the time. So many people fall asleep in his classes, and that's very disrespectful to a prof who's trying hard to make the content come alive

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Really funny in a lame sort of way. :) Classes are let out early and started late.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGL140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's a very strange prof. If you like his humour, you'll probably stay awake in class. He explains things well, but you really need to stay focused - which can sometimes be very hard. He tends to overcriticize essays if you don't provide enough evidence to support your ideas.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG140R
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

His notes are all over the place, so it's hard to create good notes. He has some jokes that occassionally can keep me awake, but I slept every class for a certain period of time. His midterms were made to be easy, although I didn't do as well as I should've on them. He marks fairly, and tries to make the class easy.