Chris Westbury - University of Alberta

Professor: Chris Westbury

Department: TBD

College: University of Alberta

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH431
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A very enlightening class with an amazing professor. Highly recommend this class if you're thinking of entering any clinical-related field. Chris uses very abstract and philosophical examples that can be intimidating at first, but he is always happy to try and simplify them if you ask. Fair tests if you study well. Paper is easy to do well on.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Chris Westbury is such a good prof, he gives clear and detailed information for the papers and the tests. This is a third-year course for a psychology major so it only makes sense that it has more information. 2 Papers, 1 midterm and 1 cumulative final. No textbook but has detailed slides

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PSYC303
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Westbury's lectures are very close to what is written on the lecture slides that he posts online. The term paper can be challenging if you aren't used to writing papers but if you are interested in the topic and take the time to develop your paper it will pay off. Also having an outline handed in beforehand allows for good feedback to work with

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSYC303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great class and a great prof! Tests are very fair but do require you to know at least the main points from the lectures. Very thought provoking paper topics as well. I would highly recommend if you like philosophy and psychology!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

his exams are very hard and are very detailed. hardest class I have ever taken.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Did not enjoy this class at all. The concepts themselves are interesting enough but he makes the test so incredibly difficult that it is hard to do well. Unless you are one of his "prized students" don't expect to do well. I'm a 4th year psych student and have taken mulitple 400 level courses and found them 10x easier than his class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I did not enjoy the PSYCO303 class. He is fine to listen to in lecture, and he tries to make things exciting, but the material is just so boring. Most students fail his classes, he has said so himself. Tests are very detailed, but all info from lecture slides. No textbook, which can be difficult. Theres 3 tests, a paper outline, and a term paper.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Readings were important and there were lots of them, but it was all articles so no textbook costs. If you like history or philosophy survey-type classes then this is great. It's broad, thought-provoking, and beautifully cohesive. It's a fair bit of work, but one of my favourite undergrad classes.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH431
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I knew he was a tough prof, but I was surprised by just how tough he was. Very interesting lectures on the theory behind psychology, but the exams ask very specific questions. The project saved my grade in the class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

While his class is not a cakewalk, it certainly is manageable. His exams are difficult, but fair. And the writing assignment for the class was graded according to a very clear rubric. You can pass his class even if you do poorly on the exams, as his writing assignment is weighted heavily and graded fairly. Overall, a good professor.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He flies through 50+ slides every class and makes the final cumulative. There's so much to learn and each class is unrelated to the other so it makes it really hard to follow. I didn't really understand the point of this class. It was just all over the place, I couldn't really tell you what I learned.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Fantastic class. The content could be really boring but Dr. Westbury made lectures really interesting and entertaining. The exams were all very fair but challenging. Highly recommended.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No text, articles for most lectures. 2 MT, final & paper. Info in each class is mostly unrelated to others, was hard for me to follow. Take if you like history or are intellectual enough, not for an easy mark unless you're good at memorizing. Tests aren't too bad if you know what's going on - MC & some SA on the final. I love is humor!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Westbury's class was probably one of the toughest I've taken, however my grade ended up being surprisingly excellent (I put in a lot of effort). I found both midterms really tough, but he made the cumulative final very easy and fair. He pretty much reads just off his slides for the lecture, so I would not say attendance is mandatory.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO303
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His tests are very specific and you are tested on small details but if you study, you will get the grade you want. He talks very quickly but you get used to it after a few lectures. Class attendance isn't necessary but he does test on things that he mentions in class and aren't on the lecture notes. Pretty interesting class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

At first I found myself disliking this course (mainly because of the difficulty of the first few readings) but as it went on I found it really enjoyable. Westbury did a great job of shaping the course so that it was thought-provoking and in the end it really added to my overall understanding of psychology. Take it if you are up for the challenge!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO239
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Reads right off the slides. Exams questions are straight from the notes and textbook, make sure you read both. If you pay attention, he does crack a few good jokes!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO239
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

While he's a nice guy, his lectures consisted of him reading directly off his slides, so attendance is not mandatory. Tests were pretty straight forward, as long as you read the textbook and his lecture notes. Interesting course, but almost purely memorization-based (could be a good thing)

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PSYCO239
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The tests were hard. There was so much info on the lecture slides and he basically just sped through them reading word for word. Kind of monotone, which made it really easy to not pay attention. I thought he had a good sense of humour and I enjoyed the material so it wasn't all bad, but not that great either.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PSYCHA1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is an awesome prof, slightly dull at times as he reads off his notes but I prefer this style over the profs who have two words on each slide and if you miss one class you could miss vital information. I actually enjoyed attending his class (although you could get away with never going) his humor is awesome and so is he!