Roberta Birks - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Roberta Birks

Department: English

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG112
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Best English prof ever.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL112
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Very kind person who is engaged with her subject and s clearly knowledgeable about what she has to say. I had her for ENGL 112 though and I didn't like the class mainly because I just don't like English, not because of her. Class was mainly discussion and very little out of class work except for a term paper which isn't so heavy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL112
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Doesn't give a criteria sheet, so it's kinda hard to see what she's marking on. Gave us interesting readings, very approachable. But an overall easy marker. Nice prof, didn't hate class. Overall, just another english course.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A very nice person, but not a great prof. She does not explain the themes and ideas behind the novels we read, and she mainly talks about background information that isn't helpful. She didn't give us her criteria for our in class essay and our term paper, so no one knew how she even marked those assignments.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG112
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is a good teacher from what i've seen. She does mark easy on the small stuff and a fair bit harder on the larger essay's but it is still fair. Very nice with interesting readings. Always reachable by email.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She was always unclear about what we were expected to do for assignments and didn't give much feedback. She missed quite a few classes. She would always talk about things unrelated to what we were learning about and didn't teach much English.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGL112
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Criteria for her marking is unclear and very inconsistent. Feedback on my papers were useless, I'm often unsure about how I can improve my work.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG110
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Horrible. She gives A+'s on the small assignments worth only 2%, leaving you thinking you're in good hands but for the big assignments she'll give you a much lower mark. She doesn't teach you English but rather talks about English. Our class had to guidance to writing an essay and she had no criteria so we didn't know what she was looking for.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Birks has to be one of the easiest English teachers ever. She is an easy marker. She mostly bases her criteria on thought and content rather than grammar. Lovely lady, and helpful if needed. Her instructions may be unclear sometimes, but shes always willing to help.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The prof is a nice person. Her class is easy and the homework doesn't have too much stuff. But she always reads the papers and get sleepy during her class. She almost teaches nothing useful for our papers. She is really strict for grammars than ideas, so if you are confident of your grammar you can choose it. Otherwise, don't choose her course

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG222
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Really nice prof. Very clear what she was expecting, easy grader, super helpful during office hours, and gave lots of feedback on every assignment.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She has such great insight into texts, but she'll read pretty quickly through them - so take fast notes. I really enjoyed her classes and the works that she picked for the course. She's very fair and straightforward. Gosh I miss her classes.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

There are in class journals, an in class essay, a presentation, and a term paper. You study Richard III, poetry, short stories and the Book of Negros. I found lectures to be incredibly boring, but she is an easy marker. There were only a few people who got lower than a B on the in class paper. If you only care about the grade you get, she's perfect

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL470
• 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:

I really enjoyed the novels that she chose for the required readings. She's very knowledgable and open-minded so class discussions were interesting. She is also very kind, helpful and approachable. Would love to take another class of hers.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG470D
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Cool prof, really loves class discussion. Presents material well. Open to different perspectives. Canadian Lit books were not interesting but Birks made it worth while with good discussion. I'd take another class with her.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGL222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Birks is one of the most charming profs at UBC. I had her for 120 and 222. She is very friendly and has a good sense of humour. She definitely knows her stuff. Sometimes she jumps around in her lectures but she's a fair marker for both journals/essays unlike what some people have said. You'll enjoy her class!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Birks was an easy marker for in-class journals, but not for essays. She doesn't have notes which doesn't help when she jumps around topics. I attended every class and paid attention but still received below average marks, which won't help me with my English major application. Isn't too helpful. I would AVOID her. Mostly interesting novels though.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL220
• 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:

Cons: She didn't make it clear what was needed for the final exam. On the exam we had to know definitions of keywords and authors that she only mentioned a few times. However, her PROS make up for it: Very nice, makes lectures fun, great reader (important for a class with poetry), doesn't stutter, easy to listen to. Take her class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGL100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

she is easy on in-class journals, but kind of unfair on essays (which are worth wayyy more than the inclass journals). She mostly repeats class lectures. She is very nice and very quick to respond on emails.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGL222
• 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:

Dr. Birks is the most helpful English professor I've encountered at UBC. She takes the time to get to know her students and her passion for Canadian literature really comes through. Take a course with her- you won't regret it.