Richard MacPhail - Duke University

Professor: Richard MacPhail

Department: Chemistry

College: Duke University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you have not taken AP Chem, read read read the textbook! MacPhail isn't the best lecturer so be prepared to learn a lot on your own. Make sure to do all of the discussion problems and study well. The tests are fairly difficult.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• 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:

Dr. McPhail is not a great lecturer. Additionally, he does not post the lecture notes on Sakai till the end of the unit. I would suggest that you read the corresponding textbook section, take notes, and do assigned problems before you attend his lectures. Otherwise, you'll be lost if you didn't have an AP Chemistry score of 4 or 5 pre-Chem101

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's really nice, but the flip classroom structure makes it hard to learn.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

MacPhail is very nice and wants you to succeed. Lectures helped me understand the book. Team based learning only works well if you have an engaged team, but doing applications as a team does help you learn concepts yourself. Nothing is weighted too heavily so if one category is low, you can still do well. Tests are straightforward, lab is not bad.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

lectures really aren't useful so don't bother going to those. instead read the book and do the practice tests he gives you on sakai. go to his office hours before the final. he makes you think that you're going to do worse than you think and is actually very generous with curving the class. i failed a midterm and still got an A

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He Is a nice, very accessible teacher. He makes an effort to help the students and clarify the tough concepts. Chemistry is confusing in and of itself, and the fact that it's a flipped class makes the course harder, but he tries to help the students and he is fair.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

McPhail's lectures are confusing, at least for me (my class was reversed classroom). Better to skip the lecture and read the book, paying attention to the small rules and quirks about topics. Attendance for the applications is required if you want to pass. The tests are pretty tricky too, but if you take SAGE and go into office hours, you'll be ok.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures were very ehh. He doesn't make things as clear as Roy does, but that may be because his chapters for the class made less sense to me in general. He's a very nice teacher though and is very available outside of class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

he teaches the more math-y parts of chem 101, so his lectures are inherently a little painstaking to listen to. but he drops in some jokes and i think he makes an actual effort to make the lectures and class enjoyable. :-)

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not as great a lecturer as Roy, and his handwriting on the chalkboard is hard to read. He writes easier exams than Roy, but you still have to read the textbook if you want to have any idea what's going on in class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

For me, reading the textbook before class was a must. I got the most out of MacPhail's lectures by taking notes beforehand and then just listening to him talk and watching him do examples. His exam questions are pretty straightforward, but make sure you can reliably do computations so as not to lose easy points.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are fine. I preferred just reading the textbook and doing the unit plan. He was nice and accessible outside of class

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor MacPhail is my favorite professor I've ever had. His name may be MacPhail but if you think hard about chemistry then you will DEF McPass this class!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. MacPhail is so responsible. His lectures can get intense, and maybe boring for other students, but they're great for anyone who actually cares about chemistry. He clearly loves his subject and is always willing to explain confusion outside of class. Friendly man, great class. Take it if you care about Chem.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Never fear, you can MacPass in Dr MacPhails class if you put in the effort. I actually preferred him over Roy. Hes to the point, but maintains a sense of humor. He has long hippie hair, probably because he went to Oberlin, but dont let that fool you. Hes a smart man.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Doctor Richard MacPhail made me a better person

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not a particularly good lecturer, especially compared with Roy. He definitely writes easier exams than Roy, but lecture was not helpful.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101DL
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. MacPhail sometimes co-teaches the class with Dr. Roy, which can be a bit confusing because their teaching styles differ. He gives you examples instead of explaining what's happening and why. The tests are difficult and the Sapling doesn't help much. The labs were simple most of the time and didn't really have anything to do with the lecture.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM301L
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. MacPhail oversaw this lab course, and he graded some of the writing assignments. Grading criteria were somewhat clear, but could have been clearer.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Literally the least helpful professor I have ever taken a class with. He makes me angry. I almost regret my choice of college because of this man.