Ian O'Connell - University of Victoria

Professor: Ian O'Connell

Department: TBD

College: University of Victoria

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I like the guy. His lectures are fairly entertaining even when the material is absolutely dry. Exams are very detail oriented, easy to pass, hard to ace. He did a terrible job of transferring the course online though. No online lectures, no readings, only the slides to study from for the exam. If school is still online, I'd be cautious taking Ian.

Rating # 2

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

For the first time in my life, I understood stats. He uses geography based examples. The slides are really helpful. The labs are pretty straightforward. The two midterms are way too long (I never finished one). The final is much better. The way he pronounces "Poisson" is hilarious.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEO222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a good prof overall. The lab section of the course was super fun and easy. The exams however are brutal. The questions are super specific and not really relevant to our future as GIS professionals. Beware!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class with very poor TAs set up to help. Maybe it was just this semester? But an awful experience, time consuming labs that are barely worth anything, tests on some random material, no textbook, also takes a painfully long time to mark even though the final was not very long. Disappointing to say the least.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• 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:

Ian's stats course has made me not so horrified of math! He is funny and knowledgeable about the topics in the course. Midterms and exams are what you'd expect, and the labs are short. There are 8 labs though, so it's kind of a never-ending barrage of work.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof. I didnt do as well as I wanted on the midterm, so he helped me figure out what I did wrong. We went over it twice together and it got me super prepared for the final. Tests are straightforward, read the lecture slides and understand the functions of various tools in GIS. You will do well if you work hard.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEOG325
• 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:

Ian has been my favourite prof of my undergrad.. have taken 3 courses with him and will continue to take them just cause he is so awesome!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEOG325
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Loved this class! He is an amazing prof and the lectures are engaging and interesting. The labs can be challenging and the grading criteria for the labs aren't always made clear. What is expected in the lab assignments can also be taught rather poorly. The course material involves a lot tedious math but for the most part its mindless simple math.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEOG226
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great guy, makes getting for an early class worth it, stats is fun with him

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The labs were super easy all semester, but the lab final was CRAZY difficult. Hard to prepare for it. Also, lecture makes sense, but midterm and final were also very tricky... says he doesn't write trick questions but then puts very specific to his lecture q's on the exams. He is a nice guy go to office hours if you need clarification.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ian is an awesome prof and is clearly passionate, however this is my second course with him and his test questions are more often than not worded and targeted towards "A+" level answers... which means if you don't know the calculations or answer to an A+ extent, you won't get marks and will fail that question. Questions do not test your knowledge.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEOG323
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This course should only be taken by people obsessed with maps. Ian's a fun prof who makes the subject slightly exciting, however the labs and final project are very nit-picky when it comes to grading the little details. Only take this course if u are okay with critiscm of irrelevant mistakes. These mistakes are big no-no's and make your map "weak".

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEO222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Can tell he is passionate about what he teaches. Always bouncing around the classroom cracking jokes trying to keep students engaged throughout what can feel like really boring material. Midterm and final were tough and marked toughly. Study small details on his lecture slides. Lectures can sometimes feel scattered and jumbled.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ian is very passionate about GIS. He made a topic that seemed boring into one that had me thinking about what I wanted to concentrate my geography degree in.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GEOG325
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I hated GEOG 325, the field work was interesting but I am not a math person and all the work is v math heavy. Ian made lectures interesting, you can tell he cares. Did not always convey info well, it felt scattered across the slides sometimes. Despite hating the course, Ian is a super awesome person. Enthusiastic and funny, I'd get a beer with him.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Many people don't like Ian's humor but I found that it made the very dry material interesting and engaging. His lectures were kind of scattered and didn't make a lot of sense at the time. He really cares about his students and is very clear about what's expected of on the exams, STUDY LECTURE SLIDES!!!! Labs are pretty easy to do well on.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GEO222
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ian is great, he made GIS lectures bearable considering it is a super boring subject (in lecture, the labs were a lot more interesting).

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GEOG323
• 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:

This is a fun course (Especially final project). Ian is always passionate about maps and cartography so it is never boring. As in previous classes Ian can get a bit cocky and is no good at explaining anything that comes remotely close to math or stats, but overall good course, good prof, would recommend.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GEOG325
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not very helpful. Grades assignments in an entirely unfair manner. If you don't understand his explanations, he is not particularly helpful in providing any sort of alternate method of explanation; simply says "It's simple" and makes you feel inferior.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEOG222
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Great Prof, really cares about his work