Philip Dearden - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Philip Dearden

Department: Geography

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dearden is inspiring, but I found his teaching inconsistent. Many lectures were truly amazing, while others were confusing and dry. If you want to do well, read his textbook (the chapter summaries help, and use the link for extra practice Q's). He reuses questions from previous years on finals, so study old exams from Zap. The lab is fun but heavy.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

bad

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Phil Dearden is an inspiration - I would take his class just to broaden my knowledge of the world. Lectures are engaging from start to finish as he tells stories and shows pictures from his life experiences. The exams were straightforward as long as you paid attention in class and studied the stuff he hinted at as being important.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Easy lecture material, but tests sometimes included large sections on what felt like small, insignificant details during the lectures. Lectures were interesting, but slides consisted almost solely of pictures from his field work and little information. Facilitates lots of discussions in the lectures.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you take this class it will change how you view the environment and the world. Dr. Dearden is extremely passionate and engaging. You will need to take detailed notes and read basically a whole textbook but it is possible to do well if you put in the work - I got 53% on the first midterm but my final grade was a B+.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are unbelievably engaging, as he is often speaking for his own experiences. 1hour 20min lectures are to long though, because you need to be able to pay attention every second. The class will give you a whole new outlook on life. The labs are SUPER easy, lots of group work, and worth a lot of the course! MUST read text book and go to class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The content he teaches is great and as a prof he inspires thought, however the Exam portion of the class is borderline impossible with many students completely BOMBING the middterm and many more with the final. The labs are great but dependant on the TA (Kinga FTW).

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEO100A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures were engaging and lowkey life changing. He provides anecdotes that are interesting but also relevant to the course material. Phil is actually the coolest guy I know and has done so many things. He also really knows his stuff, he literally wrote the textbook. If u have any interest in the environment take this course!!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The grading is very very very inconsistent. Things my friends got marked right on assignments I would get marked wrong etc. Grill your TAs for the marks and make sure to look over your midterm carefully. Okay class overall. Dearden is very knowledgeble but the labs are tideous and a waste of time. Buy old exams and study terms from his website.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEOG357
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! He claims that some students were able to achieve an A, I don't see how that was possible. His tests set you up to fail, literally. Unless you have a photographic memory it is very difficult to retain all the information you are tested on, it is not about broad concepts but rather fine details. He is a good guy, bad prof.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Honestly, the course wasn't too hard. If you showed up to lectures and took decent notes, you probably did pretty well. There were a few questions on his tests that were really specific and not completely fair, but buy old finals and you'll be fine. If you're in GEOG you have to take this course, but otherwise it's an ok elective. The labs were fun

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Really interesting guy and course material but he told the class that the midterm and exam would be on the lectures and they are almost all from the textbook. But again he had really inspiring stories if you're into getting out into the field and helping the environment.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEOG357
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst course I've ever taken for sure. I felt like everything (assignments to exams) was intentionally designed to punish students. Hard work will never be rewarded for this course. It is too bad because originally I had so much interest in the topic of the course, but in the end I simply felt defeated and lost interest completely.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I enjoyed having Dearden as a prof. That being said, he is definitely not for everyone. His lectures can be hard to follow, so be sure to take very good notes, and the labs are a lot of work for a first year course. On the positive side, the midterm and final aren't hard, as long as you study for them! I'd recommend buying old exams to study with.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GEOG357
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is an extremely traditional prof. He gives no room for creativity in assignments or answers on exams. It has to be textbook perfect word for word as he wants it or else you loose a lot of marks. He's condescending to the students. He talks for an hour about his field work; useless as it is not on any tests.. waste of class time. Dont take

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 101A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This is one of the best classes I have ever taken. He cares about how much we learn and that is so awesome. It is hard, but I feel like I have learned so much. I would take a class with Dr. Dearden again in a second. So great!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GEO101A
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You will either hate, or love Dearden as a prof. Pros is that he is really into what he teaches, very passionate. If you are truly passionate and engaged with such content then you will love this course. However, if you are not interested in it, save yourself, and drop the course. Teaching style is very difficult, content is too specific.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GEOG357
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dearden is lazy & doesn't care. I'd email for help and get 3 word responses & in some cases, very rude responses. While he has amazing experience, he only teaches you his work and his textbook. You HAVE TO read textbook to be successful. Listen carefully cause he jumps from topics and his test questions come from stuff he briefly mentioned once.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 101A
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible teaching style, does not know how to use a document camera as everything is out of focus and he tries to adjust it but never works. Doesn't use powerpoint or post any kind of useful studying material. Uses old newspaper clippings and terribly laminated visual aids. Hard to know what to take notes on as he jumps from topic to topic.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very inspiring to listen to, best lecturer I've had