Dave McKercher - University of Victoria

Professor: Dave McKercher

Department: TBD

College: University of Victoria

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: LING110
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

McKercher is great when he's in a good mood, otherwise yells at students for yawning and being on phones (not kidding). Attend class so you don't have to do the readings, he basically lectures directly from the text and the experiments are lowkey impossible to understand. Overall course was helpful for my major

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: LING203
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Amazing professor. He respects everyone and wants everyone to understand the concepts and succeed. Very clear with his explanations so I barely even read the textbooks, just showed up to his lectures and took notes. He is super helpful in his office hours! He is super sassy and makes class interesting and fun. He makes a difficult class easy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: LING203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dave is very caring and wants you to succeed. His lectures are always packed full of information but in a very accessible way. He's super helpful and easy to talk to one on one. Use office hours!! Dave is very clear of what he wants with his assignments, he does not use ambiguous language on his assignments or tests. Go to class, do your readings.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: LING325
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dave is by far one of the most inspiring people at uvic. He genuinely cares about his students and wants them to do well. If he sees you are making an effort but are still struggling he will take that into consideration with his marking. He's very helpful one on one in office hours. Course was tough, would recommend taking 203 before taking it.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: LING370A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Pay attention to his i-clickers! And go to his office hours. If you're feeling nervous about a class with Dave, he can be intimidating in a big class but one-on-one he's a gem. Overall, a solid instructor, and he's a Standford PhD graduate and Biochemist so he's well-versed in basically everything.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: LING370B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dave did a great job with this course. Lectures were somewhat difficult to take notes because he teaches directly out of the textbook, but if you get the major points down and go to the sections in the textbook you'll do fine. He is always great during office hours. Textbook wasn't great but as long as you read it you'll do well. iClickers daily

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: 370A
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

My favourite Linguistics prof! I took as many classes with Dave as I could while doing my Ling degree (110,203,325, 398, 370 A & B). I don't understand the people that dislike him or have left him bad ratings. They must be the same humour and respect devoid people who get offended and surprised when told they can't stare at facebook 24/7 in class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSYC370B
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Almost all of his notes are what he says orally, and he doesn't post them online, aside from a brief recap of what he went over in class). I found him hard to follow some of the time, as he would bounce around from different researchers. He's a nice guy, just with a different teaching style you have to really get used to.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: LING370B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dave is probably my favourite prof in Linguistics. He takes a little bit to warm up to, but his lectures are very easy to follow. If you are used to taking notes from slides you might have some difficulty with his classes, because he doesn't really use slides. But if you show up to class and take good notes, you won't have any problem doing well!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH370A
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ive had 3 classes with Dave. If you respect him in class, as he should be, you wont have a problem. Hes a wonderful prof with a great sense of humour who is very passionate about linguistics. Hes sassy and is tough, but fair and that can be taken in the wrong way. He explains things clearly and really cares about his students. Friendly in O H

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: LING325
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. McKercher is an awesome prof, super passionate and enthusiastic about the material. He doesn't post the slides online, so don't miss class! There were 6 homework assignments based on lecture, and the 2 midterms tested the same or similar problems.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: LING110
• 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:

I would not take LING110 again with Dave teaching. He is snippy and condescending, also seemingly prone to mood swings. I felt like I was taking a class with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He goes from being happy-go-lucky to annoyed and crabby in a matter of seconds, and it shows. When I asked when the final was he condescendingly gave a non-answer.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: LING110
• 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:

The material is interesting, however he is a very sensitive professor and is quick to become passive aggressive when an error is pointed out. He doesn't post slides and NEVER look at your phone, he will call you out. There's a lot of readings but the assignments are easy. All though a first year class, wouldn't recommend until later in degree.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: LING370B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

People either love him or hate him, but I think he's a great prof! His lectures are clear and well-organized, and it's obvious that he's passionate about what he teaches. His tests are fair, and it's not hard to get a good mark. He's sassy and easily offended though, so don't be caught on your phone or checking the time!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: LING203
• 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:

Often found myself copying as much down as possible and only really understanding the lectures after re-reading the notes and text book material. His homework assignments and iclicker questions were very good at focusing the lecture material and helping prepare for the tests. He takes offense too easily, such as when people leave early or yawn.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: LING325
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I've had a few classes with McKercher. His classes are always well organised, homework is distributed fairly throughout the course. Grading criteria is clear. He is a little awkward and is often on a different page from students when there's a misunderstanding. Very passionate and knowledgeable and wants to help. Just ask questions and clarify.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: LING110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Short temper, kind of mean and jaded, very easy marker. He posts none of his notes and he moves through the lecture very quickly, but it is interesting material. He will hate you less if you answer questions, show up early, and DONT yawn, look at the clock, argue or sass. No phones, ever. You will regret it. The class is super interesting though.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYC370A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Good prof, but way too passive aggressive and over-inflated ego. If you're an undergrad, get ready to be looked down at.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: LING110
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A very good professor. Always gives positive/non-condescending responses to people participating in class, even if they're wrong. Funny. Does good exam prep. Do not use your phone in his class, he hates it. Review preceding midterms/quizzes before other midterms/quizzes or the final, some questions are extremely similar.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: LING200
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Poor explanations, do not recommend