Karyn Ball - University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Professor: Karyn Ball

Department: English

College: University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I wasn't even an English major but Prof Ball was my favourite instructor I ever had at uni. I took two classes with her, both of which were really challenging--but I came out of them (hopefully) marginally smarter or, at least, a more critical thinker. The material was difficult but she gave thoughtful feedback. Also she was hilarious.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A good prof. If you already like the subject matter, shes especially awesome. If you dont, why are you taking an upper lvl English undergrad theory class? Has a refreshing amount of faith in undergrad students. Doesnt hold anyones hand, but is accessible and helpful. Prompt email responses, too. Also has a sense of humour. Thats nice.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL357
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good with marking, usually returned papers within a week with decent feedback, but very pedantic, would minus 2 points for every grammatical error. But she did allow you to resubmit based on her feedback. Was lecture heavy with unnecessarily complicated vocab, used no powerpoints, and thought she was hilarious but wasn't.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL357
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Takes days if not an entire week to answer her emails. She is also very condescending towards her students.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGL357
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I have never been more disappointed in a course or teacher. This is more of a graduate level philosophy course rather than a senior level English course. We had less than twenty students in the course and people just kept leaving. She is VERY nitpicky. Plus she thinks she is hilarious and continues to make jokes while nobody ever laughs.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG102
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

An amazing professor that really cared about grammar which helped in the long run. The stories for the class were interesting and she provided good feedback on your essays. If you were unhappy with your grade she gave you a chance to boost it by doing a very short assignment. She is a bit of a tough grader so do not expect it to be easy.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG219
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The first day of this course left me feeling like I just walked out of a latin class instead of english. Personally, I found her use of complex words hard to comprehend at first. However, I was able to get used to it and learn new vocab too! She was really helpful in a sense that she is flexible when it comes to the papers. I enjoyed her class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGL219
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She seems very difficult to work with at first but she actually has a great sense of humour and is EXTREMELY knowledgeably about pretty much everything. She's very helpful (you just have to make the effort to ask) and she is very clear about what she wants out of your papers however, because of her tenure she marks on her own grading scale.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 124
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

doesn't curve anything and docs for grammar errors? yes, hello, this is an english class. that's the point. i loved this prof. she has a great sense of humour and lectures were always interesting.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class was very interesting but also pretty hard. The prof knows her stuff but keeping up can be problematic. Harder than all the 300 courses I'm taking. Listen in class and take all the notes you can, because if you don't when essay time comes it will be like drawing blood from a stone.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG124
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This was my first year and she was by far my worst prof. She is very sarcastic and clearly does not think much of her students. Docks 4% for gram erros and doesnt curve a single thing, under impression that 100 level students should be getting C's. Unapproachable mostly due to her not caring and sarcasm. Id avoid at all costs if possible.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was my second class with Prof Ball. She's a tough marker but an excellent teacher, and I find her sarcasm hilarious.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG124
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I enjoyed this class a lot. Her lectures were always interesting and engaging -- she has an awesome dry, deadpan sense of humour. I found her feedback on essays to be constructive and helpful. I'd definitely recommend it!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• 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:

REALLY enjoyed class. She's sarcastic and comes off as more than a little elitist...but she is a great teacher who wants her students to do well. Class was always interesting and I walked away from the course feeling like a better thinker. I don't think there's anything wrong with her docking marks for grammar and punctuation errors in english.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL124
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Insanely hard and sarcastic prof. Marks the class extremely tough and docks 4 percent for every grammer error you make resulting in terrible marks on essays for all students. Does not curve anything either. Not very approachable and classes tend to drag on a lot. Avoid at all costs.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG124
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is clearly a very smart woman, but she also thinks quite highly of herself. Her sense of humour is sometimes a little offensive, and she was not always clear in what she wanted in assignments. She's quite tough on grammar too.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGL367
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do yourself a favor and NEVER take her class. It is closer to graduate level philosophy than senior level English.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL122
• 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:

She seems intimidating but she's quite engaging and even hilarious at times. A very intelligent woman.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Class was surprinsingly easy, but seemed pointless. I did very well.She thinks very highly of herself.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGL302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Wow. Just wow...