Martin Cowie - University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Professor: Martin Cowie

Department: Science

College: University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid this guy! His notes are all over the place. If you don't make them as detailed as possible, you won't understand them later. I had to study from the book. His exams are DEATH. There's no connection between his practice test and his exams. I failed all of his exams and I studied my ass off! He also gets annoyed easily. His final was very hard.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Horrible, I found his exams relatively easy but the averages were very low and instead of trying to help the class do better he just yelled at everyone, even when someone in the class had a seizure during the exam. Avoid him, his exams don't reflect the material he gives you.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I thought he was a terrible professor. He would do very basic examples in class, and then have extremely difficult tests that no one was prepared for. My class of 350 had an average of 48%, and he got angry at us and blamed us. Avoid.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Terrible terrible professor, does not prepare you for the tests. The notes that he gives are useless as the questions he asks are nothing like the examples he does.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The guy was alright. Although I did well, the tests were very hard, often combining quesitons from the problem set in a way that you have never seen before. With that said, the rediculously low class averages made it easy to do well. Good lecturer.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cowie was the funniest professor I've had to date. Keeps the class engaged. His notes and problem sets are key to success. The textbook problems did not match the difficulty of his exams, and I only used the textbook for clarification of his notes. Overall, great professor. His tests are challenging, but manageable.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• 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:

Dr. Cowie, was a great prof, his interest in the field was very clear. His tests are not a challenge, if you work through the problems sets and practice final he provides. He's extremely helpful during office hours, and makes sure that you understand the crucial concepts of the course.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cowie is a great prof. You don't have to be amazing at chemistry to get a good grade, just go to lectures and do the problem sets, ask questions when you don't understand (he was very helpful at office hours). If you put the work in you'll be fine, if you dont't your screwed. That's as fair as it gets. I would definitely take his class again.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hardest tests I've ever had. He combines problems from different sections of the course and asks questions he never taught. The possibilities for his exam questions are endless so no matter how much you study there's always going to be something he asks that you didn't study (because he didn't teach it).

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Makes a couple jokes here and there, but the biggest joke is the quality of education I have received from him (at least so far as represented by his ridiculous tests). Only take this prof if you cannot get enough of Chem and it is your life, other than that you might find yourself wanting to slit your wrists after each test.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is one of the worst profs I have ever had. He makes his exams ridiculously impossible unless your some kind of chem freak, and the material on his exams barely matches the stuff he teaches, he teaches only the minimal steps. Sometimes it is some what similar to his problem set but then adds something completely messed up so its impossible.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

he teaches the course well but when it comes to doing his midterms i could have studied for five minutes instead of five days and still get a failing mark. he gives a problem in the practice set but when it comes to the test he adds a twist to it that unless you are a nerd you have no clue what to do. it seems his previous midterms were a lot easie

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

he is one of the worst instructors that i have ever had. his test are ridiculously hard, midterm average <50%. its not even worth studying hard for his test since most of the stuff on the test he has not be taught and his practice finals are a joke since there was not one similar question.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Good lectures. However, his exams are very hard and often are not representative of what he taught in class. Wouldn't reccomend this prof if you are a B or B+ student (hard to fall into that range on his exams it seems). However, if you are normally an A's student or somebody below the curve, this might just be your prof

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• 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:

Posts notes online, fill in the blank so you have to go to class. Goes through notes fairly slowly, and if you take the time to review, his exams become a piece of cake =). However, his pace is sometimes boring, but he cracks jokes sometimes to keep it interesting.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I find the class pretty hard and the mid term averages were both about 50%, however he said his averages have typically been 60-75% in past years. You MUST use his notes and do his problem sets, he doesn't use the textbook. We were also behind in the lecture, so we didn't really know how to the lab work.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hard class, our averages for 2 midterms were 50% with 400 and 200 people respectively. Notes are fillin. Must go to class daily. Serious when he needs to be, funny in other times

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• 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:

Must attend class, Notes are print off and fill in the blank. Test is extremely hard as both mid term class average is very low. One thing about this prof is that he's very rude when you talk to him personally(office hours).

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEMBB
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Good prof! Lecture notes are great but you have to be in class to get the notes for them since he doesn't post them onto the website. Exams were challenging, class average was very low.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM102
• 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:

This man is hillarious! Best print off the notes and fill them in, or you'll fall behind. His help sessions were wonderful. The final was awfully hard, but since it's on the curve, it's ok. Overall, good prof. You can get away without using the text, but DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS, sometimes the same questions get copied to the exam!