Chris Orvig - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Chris Orvig

Department: Chemistry

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Orvig clearly has a passion for chemistry which makes his lectures more or less easy to pay attention to. However, for the most part, he just copies and pastes parts of pages from the Chirp, and partly explains the concepts. A lot of work at home,re-reading the chirp, and watching videos are required to actually understand the topics.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

No need to show up, just read and you pass. His lecture is just about him joking about winning Nobel prize and re-citing that damn ChIRP

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

One time I tried to ask him a question, it led to him screaming "RTFQ" multiple times. I dropped out of chem that day.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not the best lecturer. His lecture and slides are simply the custom textbook. However, he is clear about the course expectations and what we need to know for the exam. "Remember, RTFQ" "double-bond single-bond double-bond single-bond double-bond single-bond double-bond single-bond double-bond single-bond double-bond single-bond"

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• 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:

he reads off the chirp so if u dont wanna go to class just read the chrip and youre good to go. personally i didnt mind his lectures as he stayed focus on the course content unlike other profs who sometimes start going off into details about thei personal probs or research

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Although many think he is not a good lecturer, I think he is very clear about his lecture and learning objectives, and tests are never out of the range he mentioned. Very humorous lecture as well for people who like chemistry. However, he doesn't answer questions in class, and office hour openings are narrow. Better go to TA for questions.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof Orvig seems to have a clear understanding of what he is teaching. But I really wish he wouldn't cut us off or act like we committed a crime when we are asking questions. It's not like we are trying to purposefully annoy him and waste his time.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

On day one he told the class that the UBC motto "Tuum est" translates to "It's up to you." He may have thought that this motto absolves him of any responsibility as an instructor to teach. Not only was this a bad intro to chemistry, but it was a bad intro to UBC. After MT2 I skipped all classes to improve mood, which thankfully saved my mark.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He was one of my first profoessors at UBC and I was traumatized by his teaching skills. His lectures were basically useless and everyone would skip them and teach themselves how to do everything. his slides are bascially the whole Chirp and he reads off of them. Do not waste your time in his class, sleep or read the Chrip by yourself.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are made for skipping. If you read the chirp (textbook) and understand everything, there's no need to go to class. He just literally reads off his slides, which he posts after class. Go for the quizzes, read the textbook.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are very boring, and are mostly just from the ChIRP. Kinda funny, but it's quite difficult to pay attention when he teaches. There is no homework, there are only a couple quizzes (along with the midterms and final exam).

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I had no motivation to attend his lectures after the first week.. he simple reads straight out of the mandatory workbook (the ChIRP) and assumes the whole class understands what he does in each example. Its easy to fall behind.. just because your prof isn't up to par doesn't mean you shouldn't be either! READ & Understand the concepts to the core

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There's honestly no point in showing up for his lectures. You can just study off the ChIRP and you'll be fine.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Chris just reads off the chirp(the textbook), I only showed up to his quizzes since there was no use of going to his lectures. If you don't like lectures and would rather study off the book by yourself, he's the one for you.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A rude, condescending, belittling person. Makes students feel stupid for asking the wrong questions in class. Cuts people off mid-sentence. Treats students like they're 13 years old. I was appalled at how he treated us as.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He basically copied textbook pages onto a ppt and showed it to us during lectures. After quizzes (they were held at the start of lectures) half the people would leave the class. I showed up once during office hours and he was incredibly rude and acted like I was wasting his time. The only course I have ever failed at UBC. Avoid Orvig at all costs.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If possible, I would strongly recommend NOT being in Dr. Orvig's class for CHEM 121. I enjoyed chemistry until I got him as a prof and things just went downhill. His lectures are just him reading from the course textbook. Absolutely do not recommend.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Orvig is a great professor to learn from if you know basic concepts in chemistry. His classes were generally good and, according to me, his teaching style was effective. I liked how he relates everything to the Periodic Table; if you remember his advice and do your reading, scoring in this class is easy.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Orvig is definitely not the best prof to have for CHEM 121. I used to enjoy chem until I got him as a prof. His lectures are literally useless. All he does in class is go over the CHIRP and that can easily be done at home without ever having to attend an actual lecture except for the quizzes (which I thought were pretty easy). Try and avoid.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Orvig somewhat knows what he is talking about, but is a lazy lecturer. Although he is quite humorous, he prepares nothing, its just paraphrasing the ChiRp. Chemistry was my highest grade in high school and I ended up failing it in his class. He gives no practise questions or any resources for help outside of or even in class.