Mark Flaherty - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Mark Flaherty

Department: Geography

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEO226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Don't really understand the hate for this guy. Made a morning stats class tolerable, was very clear on course expectations. Only critique is sometimes he goes too fast when there's a big formula on the slides. Go to the lectures and labs and it's fine.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GEO347B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I feel bad that the department made Mark teach Stats- doesn't showcase his knowledge & research. I agree that 226 wasn't great but I took 347B with him & didn't regret it- 6 small papers & a midterm. He is a fair, methodical marker and has interesting perspectives on global development. Also a fair midterm. Interesting, fact-based class, great guy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

so Mark, where to begin, the lectures were confusing, when asked for midterm/final prep questions, his reply was that he was 'too busy' to create/post them. there was no textbook either. this course was by far the worst I have taken so far in university. my TA was fantastic, that is how I passed the course.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEO226
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

-terrible lectures, runs through examples too fast -gives no clear expectations/criteria -very dry (even stats can be more exciting then he makes it) -doesn't seem to care about the material -expects us to understand concepts without explanation, in an intro stats class -avoid if you can!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hands down the worst class of my undergrad. Lectures were extremely dry and unorganized. I rarely walked away feeling like I had learned something. Labs were often unrelated to lecture content and didn't provide enough instruction. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on, and I attended most classes and all labs. Very frustrating.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you do not have experience in stats you will not know what he is talking about and he skips over important concepts in his lecture. His slides consist of jokes and pictures that are not relevant to the material. Take any other stats class that you can to avoid him if you do not know the basics of stats already.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEO226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

AVOID! I only missed 2 lectures due to traffic incidents and it was like I hadn't missed anything as he just reads the slides which are mostly just quotes from people or examples. There is also no text book and he does not post practice questions. He does not show how to use the formulas and does not teach well.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

A laid back professor. I would definitely take a class from him again.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Flaherty seems like a nice enough person, but didn't seem that interested in teaching this particular course. He was often late for class and didn't give any clear guidelines for what was expected for assignments. I found most of the teaching was done by his TAs and that during his lectures he ranted a lot.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEOG347B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good course topic, but the guy was truly in another headspace. No syllabus, unclear guidelines, lacking correspondance. I honestly felt like I had to 'unlearn' how to write an essay in order to get a decent grade (hint: don't have an argument). His mind is in research and field work.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I find that he did the best he could teaching a statistics class at 830 in the morning. He made it very clear you will not pass the course if you do not come to class, yet only a quarter of students would be there during the scheduled times. Do not listen to the people complaining about him. There is no reason not to pass this course if you try.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Go to class get an A. Lectures are dry, but it's pretty hard to make stats exciting. Don't shy away from him because of the rating on this site. He's not the most enthusiastic prof out there, but when your teaching material no one wants to learn it's pretty hard to be.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worst prof I've had within my Geography degree thus far. Very dry lecturer, often seemed sarcastic when students questioned the material. Labs haven't been updated since 2001, most have broken links. Terrible coordination between TA component; truly wish I had taken stats 255 instead. Be sure to know your formulas even if he says it's not required.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is so bad I wanted to warn others about him. Nice enough guy, but has no clue that he doesnt know how to teach. Isnt clear about concepts, no structure to examples, run thru examples sooo fast, he seems afraid of questions. Worst powerpoints I have seen, worst lecturer in my degree. AND got angry with our class when we couldnt answer questions.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GEOG347B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This guy needs to modernize his life...get out of the seventies... nice guy, but just doesnt care, no passion, easy class though but with him its just not interesting!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• 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 think he's getting an extra bad rap because no one likes stats! I thought he was fantastic~ way back in 2004 mind.. things do change. It was a subject I was dreading but he put meaningful examples to work in his lectures, took it slow, and seemed happy to answer questions. I consider it one of the most valuable courses of my entire undergrad.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• 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:

Don't take this class if you need stats, just take stats in another department (pysch, soc, anth, etc.) and get Geog to accept the credit. Terrible teacher, he simply doesn't care, doesn't even try. Complete waste of time and energy.

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Attend labs, skip class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: STATS
• 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:

Took his course a decade ago and I wouldn't be surprised if he's still using the same worn out old overheads. (my brother saw the same ones 5 years later) I would leave his class with 7 pages of notes (all crap). He flew throught the info. NO time for questions. Unavailable for help. Get in a good lab and find a good lab buddy to survive this one!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• 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:

Wow, what the hell was up with that final? Did anyone else find it insane?? I understood more content through the lab website than i did through his lectures. I enjoyed stats until that final! I still feel sick about it.