Allen Thornton - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Allen Thornton

Department: Psychology

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

before I took him I scoffed @ reviews about his use of archaic acronyms that no one knows. I thought, how hard can it be to figure out acronyms! well, 1/4 thru his course & I had to sign up jst to complain about looking up acronyms every 2nd slide. Course isn't over yet so my review's incomplete but this issue was urgent enough for a premature rvw

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Don't fret if the textbook is intimidating, Allen makes very clear what he wants you to know. His slides can be a bit hard to follow, and the fact it's an 8:30 class doesn't help. But if you love the brain, then you'll like the course. There's no reason to not do well on the NA quiz, it often determines the A's. The tests aren't a cake walk, study!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Class is awesome - he is not. One of the worst actually. He sits in his chair and spins around while he talks and uses medical shorthands on his slides that he expects us to know (this makes the slides sometimes hard to follow and annoying to read honestly). I'm in the neuroscience program so I love the brain, but he made this class such a letdown.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's fine. It was an 8:30AM class so attendance was really low, and it's really hard to pay attention. He gives a lot of insight to how things are in clinical psych though, so that's nice. Tests are tough, but only because it's really heavy on memorisation.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ughhhh... Lectures are so boring he's just reading off of his slides. Textbook is a brick full of jargon. I'm totally uninspired and very confused by his disorganized notes. 2 exams multiple choices, 1 neuroanatomy quiz. Wish our TA taught the entire course.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• 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:

Took this in the Spring '13 term. He's pretty awesome! He'd share relevant stories and show interesting clips throughout lecture, all graded components (a midterm, a final, and a neuroanatomy quiz) were fairly marked, he also provides a website (from UBC) that's got 3D reconstructions and cross-sectional photos of the brain, make good use of it!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Ignore the whiners. This is a great class, terrific for anyone with any interest in the brain.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: 387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I love this class! Interesting lectures, nice prof, very approachable and works hard to make material interesting for students.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst professors I've ever had. 13 weeks and $450 I'll never get back. Plan on learning half the slides yourself because he never gets through them all in class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This guy is waste of our money/resources and a disgrace to SFU. His knowledge is about equal to a 3/4th year biology major. Seems very bored and uninterested when teaching. I wonder how a guy like this can be hired. Anyways, avoid his class at all costs because he seems to have a bitterness against students.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

the course content was really interesting, but the prof was really boring! his lecture notes are so disorganized! however, exams and the overall marking scheme were fair too. it's still possible to get an A even if you don't go to his lectures, just read the book, and notes.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great class and interesting subject. Loved the lectures. Not an easy course, but he is very fair on his exams and marking of the paper. You definitely need to study. By the way, he deducted 1 point out of 100 for each day the paper was late..not onerous

Rating # 15

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Bad prof! He speeds through like 50 slides a class and makes the class both boring and confusing. When asked questions, he doesn't know the answer half the time. He's also a dick in the fact that your paper is 1 day late if it isnt handed in at very start of class. Avoid him at all costs!!!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Also found that he doesn't care much about the material & that he's just going through the paces until he can return to his 'reseach'. I found him to be quite disorganized & is easily stumped when asked questions. Avoid him at all costs!!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's good, but assumes you have total knowledge of everything in 280 and prerequisites. No recap.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYC387
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very interesting material but you really have to put in the effort. Lectures unhelpful, seems like he doesn't care about the course.