Robert Harris - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Robert Harris

Department: Zoology

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIOL155
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great prof who tells entertaining stories and loves what he teaches. The lectures can be quite dense, but you will do well on the exams as long as you focus on his review material. Definitely go to his office hours because he will explain things in great detail.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are interesting, but sometimes may get a little bit boring. Harris is a pretty funny prof, and he's always at his office so you could always pop up and ask him questions. Lecture goes into a lot of detail that won't be tested in exams. As long as you keep brief notes and go to review sections, you'll do well. Really enjoyed this class!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIOL155
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

FOCUS. ON. THE. REVIEW. SLIDES. I skipped almost 50% of class in the last term (this was a year long class...I could not take it anymore...) and I still did well on the final just by going to the review session and review slides. Dr. Harris means well by just talking through the class slides, but it just gets so boring and isn't engaging.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIOL155
• 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:

Thank god for youtube. As an arts student taking this class for my science requirement (yes, huge mistake) Dr. Harris made it impossible to understand anything in class and went off on irrelevant tangents. Easy enough class if you read the textbook and his review slides are exactly what are on the exams. But, he won't teach you a thing.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO155
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great Professor! Has lots of stories to tell that help you remember the small details. he assumes you have prior bio knowledge though. Course was fun for me. Easy to talk to Dr. Harris. He good at explaining things and he posts the lectures online before hand. Pre-read before hand so you can ask him question in lecture

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Amazing dude tho, hard class tho.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Harris is a fantastic prof. This course has an insane amount of material so it isn't his fault for how fast faced the course is. He makes sure he is clear for everything and gives you tips and hints on what to study for the final. This course is very material heavy so don't take a full course load with it.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• 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:

Dr. Harris is a fantastic prof, he is funny, brilliant and easy to talk to. This class is very fast paced so you really have to keep up with the lecture and readings. Content heavy so be prepared for lots of studying, ideal to take 3 courses with this course.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIOL155
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Highly recommend taking the class in the summer (as I did). Harris is an AMAZING professor and that cannot be emphasized enough. He is the best professor I've had the pleasure to meet at UBC so far. Don't skip class, there is a lot to remember, but he is super helpful, hilarious, easy to approach, and super helpful in conceptual understanding.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Knows his stuff, explains material concisely and interestingly. Exam is basically the exam review and any hints he gives during the lectures using the words "hint hint". Has frequent office hours, highly recommend you go for extra clarification. Only downside is that there's a lot of material to cover and tests are cumulative and all written.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best prof I've had thus far. Lectures are amazing, and his asides will contribute to your understanding of the material. He does go very quickly though, so take an audio recording to make sure you get everything (there's A LOT of material). Tests are all short-answer, but the questions are fair and his review sessions will prepare you for them.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIOL153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Biology is my favourite subject so I REALLY enjoyed taking this course. He's fast and concise during lectures; you know he's a genius w/ the way he describes things. EXTREMELY fair! If you go to his exam reviews, you're all set. What you learn during review IS the exam. Funny, loves his wife and his students a lot. Will miss him!!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 157
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

But 157 labs has a extremely heavy memorization load.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIOL153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Definitely the hardest class I've taken so far. BIOL 153 covers a lot of material, but Dr. Harris does a really good job in explaining the info. He also drops a lot of hints in his lectures about what's going to be on the exams, so make sure you pay attention! Final was hard because it covers everything from sept-april, so be prepared.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIOL153
• 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:

This is probably the hardest class I've taken at UBC so far. It's probably fairly easy to get a good mark if you only take 2 other classes with it but there is a TON of material to learn and it's super fast-paced. That being said, Dr. Harris is clear and lets you know his expectations and gives you tips on how to succeed. The lab is a breeze.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIO155
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Harris was an AMAZING prof! This was one of my absolute favourite courses this year! There is a lot of material for this course and you really need to know it all in depth if you want to do well, but it is absolutely doable if you put the work in. Dr. Harris makes it interesting and he clearly explains everything. I loved this class!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: 155
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU NEED IT! It's a very engaging class, and can be interesting at times but it is a huge time commitment as there is so much content. The tests count for 100% of your grade, and the final is cumulative (from September to April) It's purely memorization of like every process in the human body. Dr. Harris is a funny guy

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tough class, lots to know, but Dr. Harris is clearly passionate about this subject and has fun with the material. He is fair. Don't expect to breeze through but if you are willing to work hard and are as passionate about the subject as him you will be motivated and do well in this class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIOL153
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr Harris has taught BIOL 153 for several years and provides great resources (notes, slides) on his website. His lectures are very informative and takes time to answer questions in class and in his office. It's a demanding course but manageable if you put in the time.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO153
• 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:

He is a very nice guy. His teaching method doesn't work for all students but if you pay attention to his lectures, you are fine for the exams. He drops many hints on what to know and looks out for the best interest of his class.