2.8
Quality3.6
Difficulty40%
Would Retake157
Reviews40%
Would Retake
157
Reviews
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5
41
4
18
3
16
2
27
1
55
What Students Say
“This course was incredibly difficult”
PSYC315 - 1.0 rating“He loves testing articles and giving hard fill in the blank/ short answer questions”
PSYC315 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
26%
Textbook Required
33%
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B+
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PSYCH315
4.0
(1)PSYC315
2.8
(139)315
2.8
(4)PSYC413
1.8
(13)Difficulty by Course
PSYC315
3.7
PSYC413
3.3
315
3.3
PSYCH315
3.0
Reviews (157)
Dr. Baron is one the of few professors that genuinely want his students to succeed. Although his teaching style is not for everyone (no textbook, journal articles only), I found this course refreshing and challenging. His course has inspired me to consider taking upper year courses in developmental psychology. I would take another course of his!
if u r someone who enjoys structure/clarity, this is not the class for you. this class is less about childhood/adolescence and more abt learning how to read/write academic journals/response papers. Came outta this not learning anymore than what I came in with.
Class was about learning how to write papers, I didn't learn a thing about dev't psych. The final exam was based on developing your own experiments to prove theories- how do you grade that?
Didn't learn much about childhood/adolescence, no real structure to course content. More about learning how to write. Nice that he really tries to help with our critical/writing skills but not I wanted to learn in this class. No textbook, just academic articles. Difficult to understand. Annoying assessment formats, paper comparing
no structure to the lecture material at all. the course is more about learning how to write instead of actually learning material about childhood/adolescence. if I had known this was how the course was structured, I would have take a different elective. not recommended.
He is definitely more involved with research than teaching and it shows! He puts very little effort into the course. The class is definitely not about development psychology, its about how to read/write/think critically about articles. I do not recommend taking psyc315 with him.
Constantly reminds students that he wants good ratings, but his teaching style does not help students learn much about the subject matter. In- class writing exercises are long considering the time provided. I personally would not want to take his course again.
I guess he's improved since last year. I think he's a pretty good prof. lectures are quite clear (though he basically talks the whole time so not everyone is that enthusiastic about it) and the work is interesting. Exams are tough, but fair
There is little emphasis on research papers in his lectures now. Lectures are very interesting and his exams are quite simple if you just attend every class. This was my favourite class and he's an excellent professor who is passionate about what he teaches.
IT IS NECESSARY THAT YOU ATTEND THE CLASS. On his exam, he will only ask you the questions that he emphasized. For example, on our final.. 80% of the questions on it were based on the review questions that he gave us right before the exam. Very enthusiastic and passionate prof. He is from Harvard, too. Funny.. he has a cute infant son lol
Dr. Baron is one of the best psychology professor's I have had. I highly recommend taking PSYC315 with him. He was incredibly organized, very clear about what we would be tested on. We always had practice quiz questions before midterms/exams. His research is very fascinating and he is an excellent person to learn about development from.
One of the best profs in UBC. He truly cares about his students and genuinely wants us all to do well. He also reply to all email questions personally, and is really passionate about his research works. Not to mention him bringing his son to class, just to demonstrate real life examples to us! His class is definitely one that I'll miss!
He is a great prof who cares about his students. Very clear on his material and reviews the important points before exams. Needs a lot of memorizing on his slides but if you contribute your time and effort, it's an easy course.
He goes through slides fairly quickly so you better be fast at taking notes, but most of the slide info is from the textbook. To do well in this class you must read the textbook but focus on what is talking about in lecture. He is good at responding to emails and gives a lot of prep questions for quizzes-not an easy class but doable if you try.
AVOID at all costs! He lectures are super long and confusing and will not answer questions! Heavy reliance on reading and memorizing every little detail from the textbook. Also does not allow laptops so be ready to write everything down, he LOVES testing little details. Doesn't hold office hours so if you are confused you are out of luck.
Course material jumps from chapter to chapter, textbook is a must have.
Anyone that gives Dr. Baron a bad review probably didn't listen or show up to class. Honestly, he is hands down one of the BEST psych profs at UBC. The material is very interesting, as are lectures, and he gives PLENTY of examples and really elaborates on concepts in class. Exams based on class lectures (which is based on textbook). Exams are FAIR.
Currently taking this course and I look forward to attending every class. Andy is a great lecturer and he explains the material clearly and he makes an effort to make it a fun class. He is also very approachable and is always willing to take time to explain and make sure that you understand the concepts. Would 100% recommend to take his class!
Andy is a great prof. He covers concepts well and is very helpful. However, exams can be tricky (especially the fill-in-the-blanks questions). He goes over what to expect on exams and had a few review classes for students to ask questions and he tries to make sure everyone understands the material.
I found this class much harder than expected. Lecture materials were easy but exams were harder. LOTS of memorization. He loves testing articles and giving hard fill in the blank/ short answer questions. He does give quiz questions to help but everything felt so disorganized. Longest exam ever. Time pressured.
If you want to get a good grade, you need to work for it. Going to class is key - he covers extra things in class (i.e., extra article and key points) that are not in text. He does a lot of exam review to make sure students understand material. Exams are hard, grading is hard, but class is also curved so there's scaling. Good prof and he's fair.
Well, first I want to point out- this course is not easy and with a professor like him, makes it even harder! He requires a lot of extra readings and doesn't really use the text book. So, wasting money is expected. Also, he grades students maybe depends on his mood or something... If you can take other courses to get your credit, please stay away.
Andrew is a great lecturer, he's funny and well prepared. He is always ready to asks questions and goes at a nice pace, making sure you understand everything. His tests can be hard, but study really well and attend all lectures and you'll do great, He talks about bonus exam questions in class, so you better go.
This course was incredibly difficult. The tests are hard to prepare for as there is so much material and he tests on very specific details and when he doesn't, the question is so vague it's hard to tell what he is referring to. Bottom line, he doesn't teach the material effectively enough to properly answer his questions.
Great professor. Really funny and engaging with his lectures. He really values class participation. I really appreciated his course for not packing too much content in. Andy takes the time to go into depth with the topics, something all too rare at the university level. He prepared us well for the exams and I found the exams to be fair.
Unclear guidelines and doesn't know the material well enough to answer questions during class. Mentioned that he wasnt good at test taking in his undergraduate which makes sense. Expect to be tested about unnecessary details, stages, ages versus questions that show you grasp the concept. Many good psych profs out there, steer clear of this one.
Andrew is an awesome prof who has a casual way of lecturing but don't be fooled because a lot of what he says in class is tested on the exam! Definitely not an easy course become of the details that you gotta memorize but concepts are super simple to grasp. He tells you exactly what's gonna be tested on the exams if you pay attention enough.
best online class I've ever taken. He provides in-depth weekly video discussions about what our learning goals are, and sometimes he just assigns scholarly article readings instead of textbook readings. His lecture slides coincide with textbook material and he sometimes includes supplemental videos to help us understand tricky topics. Best prof!
When I took this class it was his first time doing it through distance ed. He typically teaches it at UBC in class, which may be why this class didn't do well. The class average for this was 68. Which is the lowest class average I've ever been a student in. His lectures were not in depth which is needed for an online class.
Took Andrew a few semesters ago. If you go to every class, he basically tells you what's on the exam. He only tested on about 2-3 things from the textbook and told us to focus 95% on lectures. He was hilarious and actually made going to class worth it. Maybe the class has changed since I took it but it was one of my highest grades.
The material in this course is interesting and I found that Professor Baron's weekly lesson plan videos were interesting and useful. However, that being said, I felt that the tests/exams were beyond the scope of difficulty for an online course. His test expectations were not clear and the questions were ambiguous at best.
Took PSYC 315 online and it was absolutely brutal. He states which material is covered for quizzes yet includes questions that weren't even covered in that week. His questions are very vague and his fill-in-blank tests you on the most minor details. Did not enjoy that class at all, could of been graded more fairly and taught better to be honest.
Have to agree with the majority of other reviews, tests are very difficult and questions are vague. The lectures lack details which is not good when being tested on the material. Only really graded on tests/exams, so if you don't do well on very difficult tests where you don't even get to know what the correct answer is, do not take this class.
Andrew Baron is the most inconsiderate and least understanding prof I have ever had the burden of dealing with. He was IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of on his provided email and when I finally caved and desperately contacted him directly through Canvas I was scolded. Exams were difficult and long and questions are misleading.
The class was alright. But his exams are unnecessarily hard. He words questions awkwardly, so it's really hard to understand what he is asking for SPECIALLY IN THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION. He is a really good lecturer but he nitpicks exact phrases from lectures and asks for them on the exam (ridiculous).
By far one of the best profs I have ever had. Andy teaches in a way that makes the content super easy to memorize. Attending class is a MUST - he will literally tell you what you need to know for the exam and he is truthful. Strict no laptop policy but so worth it. Barely used the textbook but studies were important to know/memorize.
People got an A in this class?! Maybe it's better if in person. I'm B+/A average student and I got a C in this class, and was above avg.. Quiz questions worded in a nonsensical way, anything is fair game for exams: numerous journal articles, every section of the textbook, all lectures - which had spelling mistakes, tuition's too high for errors
Andy was an amazing prof, very funny, and is specific in lectures about what material needs to be covered and what aspects you should focus on. If you attend class, listen well, and complete the readings, you will be able to do exceptionally well in his classes. Best psychology course that I have taken and I would highly recommend him.
Honestly, I loved his class! I'm not quite sure where all these bad reviews are coming from because my class average was 75% even with the transition to online classe due to covid. He literally tells you what will be tested (mainly lectures and academic papers). My avg for psych courses are around a B grade yet I got my first A in his class.
Baron is a pretty engaging lecturer. He occasionally gives bonus questions based on things he said in class that aren't found on the slides or the textbook so make sure to pay attention in class. Overall, the exams were very straight forward. Just memorize the textbook and the lecture content and you're good to go.
He gave great lectures and made it easy to study for his quizzes and midterm. The DQs were also quite straightforward and the class overall was super interesting. The only knock on him I will say is that the final was quite different from the midterms and quizzes but he said they would be essentially the same.
Interesting lectures but the slides were a bit messy. Also made us buy a package but then gave us PDF chapters of the ones he forgot to include in the package. Quizzes and the midterm were very straight forward but the final was a bit harder - the short answers mainly focused on the extra readings he assigned. Overall great prof!
Andrew Baron is a real gem, not in a good way. He was stiff and unaccommodating. His lecture isn't really clear, the only good part of the lecture was the discussion. Also if you don't like Proctorio, stay away from him. He is a huge advocate for that spyware, feels like the CEO of Proctorio paid him to endorse that program.
Baron's lecture slides barely contain anything helpful for the exam. It's very vague, and hard to do well if you don't study what he wants you to (oh wait there's no clear way of knowing what he wants). The class overall feels very loose and unorganized. If you want to drop your GPA, look no further, this one is guaranteed to make that happen.
Literally the worst class I've ever taken. Quizzes not proctored but midterm / exam is heavily. Does not word questions in a way that makes sense, very specific and will call on textbook, lecture and reading information. Fill in the blanks and written on tests, but the T/F and multiple choice are no better. I am a psych major and fully regret this
Midterm and quizzes tested what I expected. The final was terrible. Tested random stuff that wasnt even important. Asked long answer questions on extra videos. I found the final to be super random and tested specific details. Before taking the final I would have taken a class with this prof again. After the final I wouldnt!!!
Andrew Baron completely disregards student's feedback and the test questions are often very broad. Fill in the blank question often don't even make sense.
This class is the easiest psychology class I've ever taken at UBC - probably even the easiest class ever. No lectures or textbook, no weekly assignments. Just a few quizzes based on readings and a final video presentation. Barely any interaction with the prof except in emails - takes long to respond but gives good feedback about the final project
I wish I could have graded him a ZERO if that is the option. TOUGH GRADER for sure!! Tests and exams were incredibly difficult, probably one of the MOST BRUTAL profs and exams I've ever dealt with. Very emotional and grades based on his mood. If you email him through canvas instead of his posted email on the syllabus, you'll be yelled at.
He's nice enough but the whole weight of your grade is based on exams. He says he doesn't aim to trick us but a lot of his questions are underhanded and unless you devote yourself to this course you'll miss the subtleties. This course relies on rote learning and memorization of specifics so unfortunately I won't take anything with me past the final
just don't take his class ;)
Class is entirely dependent on quiz/exam grades. Quizzes arent bad, although his fill in the blanks are extremely nit picky and ask for specific working from the textbook (who remembers that?) However his final was unreasonably difficult; referencing specific tables from the textbook (again, who remembers that?) and wording questions unclearly
Did not enjoy this class in the slightest. Content is interesting enough, but grade only relies on quizzes, the midterm, and the final. Andrew himself is a very stiff and unpleasant professor. Very passive aggressive when you email him and not willing to accommodate.
Don't know what all these negative comments are about. People should not be complaining about his exams, as if you study then you would understand what he is asking quite easily. The person referencing how he assigned a specific table is also leaving out the fact that that was a bonus question, of course it is going to be very specific and hard!
Wish I could give a 0. lost all respect for him after the final. was a complete mess, and half the fill in the blanks were unclear/broad. I shouldve regarded all the negative reviews more carefully bc after corresponding with him via email, he is very rude and passive aggressive.
Course was based on two midterms and a final. Readings were supplementary articles and 50+ pages from the textbook. Unclear about what to focus on in the textbook, as he stated that the exams would cover material that wasn't overlapped with the lectures. Need to remember the exact words for the fill in the blanks or he won't give you points
He's really nice but not good at teaching. Your whole grade is two midterms and a final which are very difficult. He basically tests on random specific details instead of comprehension of big ideas. Test questions are just awful. He also assigned lengthy readings from which there will be a single question on exams. Very hard to study for exams.
His lecture is messy and most disorganized I've ever seen, and communication is also difficult. Clearly, he doesn't have much time for his students.
avoid!!!
AVOID HIM. Worst Prof I've ever met in my Psych major courses. Course content unorganized and abstract, with poor explanations given in lecture recordings. Tough grader and very hard to reason with
The course itself is online, but dissimilar to my other online courses, this course is very isolated, has no discussion board for questions, more like a full self-study course, you don't get in touch with anyone. The audio recording quality was not clear, his tone was bored...
Tough midterms
AVOID AT ALL COSTS will accuse you of academic misconduct, is impossible to reason with and extremely hostile to students
Dr. Baron is incredibly nice, but I would advise against his course. He's very paranoid about cheating on exams even though canvas activity can't truly tell if a student is cheating, and it's very stressful. If he's that concerned about cheating, he should design his exams around that and ask better questions that require critical thinking.
As mentioned by a few others, very paranoid about cheating to the point of making the course incredibly stressful for everyone. You're also only graded by a few tests, which contain hyper-specific lecture details that don't really test your learning but rather memorization skills. Don't take the class with him unless you absolutely have to :(
Don't be fooled by the volume of readings. In order to do well in this class you have to really know the concepts. Midterms were much harder than any of my other psyc classes. Found the prof to be a very stubborn and conceited guy tbh.
You might be thinking "I wonder how bad it could be?"ITS BAD. The tests are very complicated and confusing to a point where it feels like he genuinely doesn't WANT the students to get a good mark. Says the tests are only on lecture material but they're not? Read the slides and wrote down every word he said but ended up with a C. very disheartening.
this class is entirely dependent on midterm exams & a final. his exams questions are INCREDIBLY difficult and he tests you on material outside of the slides (which aren't very helpful to begin) so you would need to memorize a lot of material from the textbook
If you are someone who doesn't really rely on ratemyprof comments, I can guarantee you this page tells a lot of truth about Prof. Baron. He's nice though stubborn at the same time. There is no clear direction as to what we should focus on when studying despite how he assigns an insane amount of readings. His lectures are content-heavy as well.
Easily the worst psych class and professor I've ever had. The content isn't the issue, it's a) the disorganization in lectures, b) the unclear guidelines for exams, 3) the prof himself. This class has the potential to be so interesting & fun, but Andrew has ruined it. Too bad he's the only prof that teachers it.
Not sure what all the bad reviews are about, his slides are messy but if you just study the slides along with the assigned articles it is very easy to get a decent mark. We had a textbook but it is not needed as his exams are mostly based off lecture.
Messy slides but if you attend his exam review sessions he literally tells you what to study/focus on and if you study based off the lecture slides you can get a decent mark.
If I could use one word to describe the prof, it would be TOUGH. Andrew is a nice prof, and he is patient with students when it comes to questions. But the way he teaches is pretty dull. A lot of readings, and the exams are pretty hard. If you want to boost your grades with class participation and assignments, this class is not for you.
absolutely the worst prof i have ever had in my years at ubc.
His teaching was okay but the course content and midterm didnt match in difficulty. Found the midterms extremely confusing and difficult because of how abstract questions are. I wouldnt recommend taking this course and would avoid it. Most ratings are true and I would trust it as I didnt initially before taking the course and regret it deeply.
Make sure to pay attention in class and take good notes, tests on some small details, but mostly questions are fair. Gives good review sessions, those are helpful to guide studying. barely tested from textbook, he said it will be optional in the future, but you need to know the articles
He is easily the worst profs I have ever had at UBC. Does not even try to provide a good quality lecture and is indifferent and borderline dismissive of students' learning. .
Listen, Dr. Baron isn't terrible but be prepared to stay up going over content by yourself. My problem with this dude is that he's so condescending towards his students that it's not motivating. He hates on you for getting 'easy' questions wrong and accuses you of cheating. He also keeps using his son for examples which is ethically questionable.
AVOID IF YOU CAN!! one of the WORST profs at UBC. I really wish there were other distance courses that he did not teach. test heavy and very lecture specific. Final worth 50% and tough questions. You would think he would re consider based on his low averages within the class but I guess not
one of the most unpleasant professors I've had at UBC. Not only are his lectures extremely unengaging but his exams are ridiculously complicated. Reached out to him as I was struggling a bit in his class and wanted feedback on how to improve, and he condescendingly told me that I should just "study harder"/"apply myself".
I enjoyed the content in this course. If you listen to the prof carefully he tells you which topics to focus on. You can get a good mark by studying his lecture slides as most of the exam content is from there with some material from research articles you have to read and he tells you exactly what you need to know from the research articles.
Not a bad Prof but tends to be very disorganized when it comes to online classes which at times makes due dates & information that needs to be known hard to find.
I'm honestly surprised by Dr. Baron's average ratings because my experience of the course was pleasant. Baron made the course highly accessible and easily self-paced, which I loved in the summer. There weren't any lectures but instead he provided lecture notes, and he clearly wanted us to develop critical thinking skills in research.
Professor Baron while explaining things mixed several ideas all in one big sentence, and those big sentences often were very disorganized. It took me time to reorganize, after which I found that he was just expressing some simple ideas that were much less complicated as they were expressed. A clear logic line + simple sentences are what I need.
His exam questions literally make no sense, and they are very very ambiguous. Avoid if possible.
IDK what all the bad reviews are about. Professor Baron is *very clear* as to what is tested on each exam. He literally tells the class the exact type of questions that will be on the exam. So, if you study the concepts that he explicitly states will be on the exam, you will do great. His test questions are also very clear if you simply study.
Not sure why there are so many bad reviews when Dr. Baron is a pretty awesome prof. He's super knowledgeable about his content, provides lots of examples in lectures, and asks fair questions on exams. Also super flexible about in-person and online options for attending class and exams.
Prof Baron was awesome, knowledgeable, and passionate for childhood and adolescence! I was shocked at all the negative reviews as it didn't reflect my experience of taking 315. The content was great and it made me appreciate learning a thorough understanding of human development. Exams were fair, review the core concepts and theories - good to go!
My favourite class/professor this semester. All his lectures were interesting and you can tell he has a passion for what he teaches. Two midterms and one final which were all straightforward as long as you study and attend/watch his lectures. He goes over practice questions that appear on the exam.
Interesting course content, but found Professor Baron an extremely dry lecturer. When I spoke with him during office hours, I found him very curt and unfriendly. If you're ok with rote memorization, you'll probably do fine in this course. But I personally felt as though his exams didn't give students the chance to apply knowledge.
Enjoyed that the class was very self-paced, and while the quizzes are worth a good portion of the grade, once you've done one or two, you generally know what to look for when reading the assigned research papers. TA responded to questions very actively, and were very helpful when planning for final assignment (no final exam in this course).
The material is interesting, and I loved the units when we read research papers rather than learned theories. BUT I did feel that Dr. Baron's lecture style is a bit wordy and some test questions were ambiguous. If you take this, definitely come to class for the practice questions bc they will appear on the test.
Awful professor. In fact this is the worst course ive ever taken at UBC in the past 5 years. Exams are completely unrelated to his lectures. And im pretty sure he paid for people to give him a 5 star rating on here. He's really bad trust me.
A bunch of podcasts that you need to listen to. A WHOLEE lot of articles to read (if you don't like reading boring 10+ pages of article, don't take this class), basically you are on your own. would need to do mcq style quiz and write summary about these articles, vague info for how to do them and grade good in them!!
The assignment instructions are basically useless! They don't explain what you will be graded on! Even the examples provided are not useful! (the best final example provided has received A, so imagine how the others would be graded)
Decent lecturer but prerecorded lectures are given in drawn-out vocal fry and sound like they were recorded in a tin can. Mode of testing is all memorization with weirdly weighted questions. Course weighting is awful - 52% final. Really paranoid about cheating. Content is interesting but a lot of room for improvement in teaching/testing. Tenured.
I havent taken the final yet so maybe its different but midterms are easy IF you study. Are people expecting good grades if you study three weeks worth of content in two days?? he literally does a review session where he basically tells you exactly whats on the exam and during exams he will try to basically hand you the answer if you ask questions
Prof Baron is a great professor and his midterms are very fair, if you study and show up to class. He also has recordings and the audio quality seems fine to me; maybe the other reviewers need to check on their laptop audio system.
You essentially 'learn' how to read empirical articles in this class. The quizzes used tricky wording. No final, but there's a final project where you plan your own study, incorporating journal articles and a 10min video presentation. Chill class, but can be pretty hard if you're bad at reading/explaining journal articles. Lectures were useless imo
Not sure why everyone is giving Baron such poor ratings. Yes lecture audio is eh, but he transcribes everything so if you have eyes you can read that. Exams are super fair coming from someone who isnt a fan of m/c. He breaks up the quizzes and midterm so by the time you've reached the final you're already familiar with most units!
Took the 315 final today and it was so hard for no reason? I studied a fair amount and that even did not suffice. So specific and his questions actually took so long for a 2 hr window. Do not take this course if you have the option!!!
FINAL TODAY WAS SO HARD- DO NOT TAKE WITH THIS PROF. YOU ARE WARNED!!!
The final exam was ridiculous! I studied hard, but it turned out super tough. The professor said no long essays, but guess what? 30% of it was long essays! And there was this graph question on something he barely covered in class. Plus, the sample exam? Totally different from the real deal. I AM FEELING AWEFUL NOW. If he doesnt scale the grades...
great prof and communicator, lectures are fun because he adds a lot of stories that help with remembering concepts. his slides have important things highlighted so you know what to focus on, and gives practice questions that are very very helpful. if you attend lectures and take notes you'll be fine from my exp. fun and interesting class!
Prof. Baron is nice & funny (if you like the Boston Bruins), attendance is NOT mandatory but highly recommended because he discusses possible exam Qs (helpful). Overall, the course is cumulative and dense with terms, lists, and age groups that need to be memorized which was doable for the non-cumulative midterms but very challenging for the final.
Make a quizlet w/ info directly from his powerpoint slides (all of the content) + your own notes from listening to his explanations- if you can fully memorize it, it's extremely easy to do well. Don't study textbook for exams. Found it easier + got a much higher grade than my 4, 200 level courses this sem. He is clear, passionate + funny. Loved it!
The exams are difficult, but he never curve the grades. We got a low average.
Leture is interesting and clear, but the exam really just testing your memory, and he definitely would not curve the grade. If your memory is not really great, then run, don't register this course.
I really liked Andy's class. I found exams fair but challenging in the sense that you really had to memorize a lot of content. It is possible to do well. His lectures were always great, and he ties in a lot of stories from his perspective as a parent, which really helped my learning. Would take another course with him.
Andrew's course contains lots of things need to remember, including his own research articles. I need to spend much more time to prepare the exams compared to other course, but I still got a low grade.
hes a very good and clear prof, his lectures make total sense and he gives good feedback and hints about exams (he uses questions from class in exams). hated how the course was based off 3 exams, the final was pretty difficult (midterms were fine), so many articles and details to memorize. average was 66% bcz he doesnt curve grades
I was afraid to take Dr Baron's course because of rate my prof, but he is one of my favourite professors. He very clearly states what is to be expected on exams. Not only did we have review sessions before and after each exam, he also did weekly reviews with multiple practice questions. Imo his exams are very fair and he prepares you for success!
Terrible testing methods, avoid if possible. Heavily based on journal articles. The WORST psyc course I've ever taken. He also clearly uses lecture recording from 3 years ago, which have horrible audio. Half the test is memorizing APA citations
I honestly disagree with so many bad reviews. Yes he is a tough grader and you need to work hard, but I really liked the classes and how he teached.
He made expectations and learning outcomes clear. Testing seemed to be heavily based on small details, readings, and specific facts rather than concept understanding as a whole. Reallllyyyy have to study well to do good on his tests and make sure you remember the readings. Audio on lectures is not good but there are text boxes that help.
I was surprised by the rating he has here. Prof definitely requires student to put insane amount of time into this class with all the readings. As long as you study hard and actually listen to him during class it is doable. His lecture are entertaining and it is easy to focus.
I think Dr Baron is a very good professor, he is extremely clear in what is expected from us in exams. He explains things very clearly, and there are readings but not more so than any other PSYCH 300 class level at UBC. I think his exams are very fair and if you attend lecture, and do the readings you will be more than fine.
I think he is so clear in his lectures and explains exactly what he expects from you on exams, so it is fully within your power to do well + you don't really need to do readings! Def does not deserve bad ratings, I feel like he's one of the fairest profs I've ever had. The only thing I dislike is that your grade is based only on 3 exams.
Very nice guy, very clear on expectations. Lab readings are crucial but those are the only readings required. Dont trust the bad reviews he's very sweet and cares about his student's success.
Very nice and entertaining prof, with engaging lectures and fair exams. Grading scheme is very forgiving, with free points given if short answer questions are left blank in exams (for the sake of saving time rather than writing random bs if you really don't know what you are writing). Readings are not required, but empirical articles are tested.
PSYC 315 is the hardest class to do well in, which is sad because I truly wanted to like the class. Dr. Baron has very engaging lectures, but his exams are impossible. It's 2 midterms and a final, only graded by that. He nit picks very small parts of the lecture content. He tests you on all lecture content plus in depth on every reading and study.
I dont know why these ratings are so low. Prof is VERY clear about how he's going to test lectures. I watched all the lecture recordings for the midterms and aced them. His lectures are also entertaining and he's very clear about how to do well in class. Tests are fairly easy, a little specific but that's fine if you study what he tells you to.
Dr. Baron was one of the best teacher, he is genuine and kind and he wants you to do well on your exams. Honestly the tests are not that bad i'm more of a bio psych major and I found his criteria to be super clear and his lectures are very focused and engaging. There is quite a bit of reading but he goes over most tested articles with you in class.
Dr. Baron was alright, however, his lectures were insanely dry. His slides have a black background with white writing and no pictures, diagrams, etc... I can't knock any of the content, it was all very interesting but there were a lot of readings from Harvard (where he went) which were unnecessarily hard to read despite being conceptually simple.
DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH THIS PROF IF YOU DON'T WANT IT TO TANK YOUR AVERAGE!!! Lecture style is extremely monochrome, his slides are probably the worst I've seen in terms of appeal and organization. Exams are impossible, you'll study 6 days for it to realize nth u studied is being tested. He's literally praying on everyone's downfall.
Professor Baron's course is challenging, but engaging. While the exams heavily focus on details and memorization, his clear lectures and review sessions help prepare you for success. Utilizing tools like unstuckstudy alongside the course materials can make studying more efficient.
just don't take this class with this prof if u value your sanity... actually the most horrible experience i've ever had with a UBC psychology professor. completely exam based and exams are impossible, even if you study super hard because he chooses to test the tiniest things in lectures and assigns 10000 articles that are tested on the exams too
One of the hardest professors I've ever had! I wouldn't take him if you usually don't do well on exams or struggle with memorization. If you are good at remembering A LOT of information (and small details), or tend to do well on tests then you should be ok - the content is interesting and everything you need to know is in the lectures and textbook.
There is a lot of content to memorize for this class but it is possible to still do well. Focus on lecture and research paper content (textbook is hardly tested) and create quizlets with all of the content on the slides. Assume everything in lecture is testable, no matter how small. The prof is super accessible for office hours
Threatened to fail dozens of students for using AI tools, but never actually made AI tools forbidden on syllabus or on the assignment. When I brought this up over email, I was insulted, dismissed, and shamed for doing so. Probably the most unprofessional and petty professor I've had at UBC. Other than this interaction, was perfectly adequate. Avoid
Exam is hard and question is asked in unnecessary way. It requires you to do 67 questions includes almost 10 short answer within while you only have 2 hours for final. He must paid someone to give him good rate on this website, otherwise his rate should be below one point something. Besides, the slides are ugly, recording have no subtitle.
DO NOT TAKE HIS COURSE, UNLESS YOU WANNA DECREASE YOUR AVG. To be simple, the exam is just too damn hard and questions are asked irrelevant with what's been taught. The final I took have 67 questions include nearly 10 short answer questions while you only have 2 hours for the exam. In terms of learning, records have no subtitles and slides are ugly
IF YOU CAN AVOID HIS COURSES PLEASE DO SO, he never once responded to any of my emails which should already tell you how bad he is. He takes ages to grade assignments, I am talking about couple weeks to a month. He could care less about his students or even just have simple respect towards students. I wasn't the only one who had this issue...
Actually the worst professor i've come across at UBC. slides are horrible, exams are ridiculously difficult (tests on the least significant stuff in lecture), says he doesn't test textbook info but they still appear on exams anyways. seriously doesn't care, makes his exams super hard on purpose just to pray on everyones downfall...
Send an email to all students at the end of the semester threatening to fail those who used AI, just to make you panic for a month before releasing final grades
I'm in disbelief at Dr. Baron's abrasive attitude toward students. He mocked and insulted questions, and yelled at a student during an exam. Grading is based on 2 midterms and a final, which were all incredibly difficult and focused on smaller details of lectures and textbooks, despite him claiming textbooks would never be tested. Best to avoid.
So inaccessible and ignored my emails for months. All the assigned readings are his papers. Hes an impressive researcher but not the greatest teacher
Feedback for assignments was minimal; only received it for 1 out of 3 major projects and the grading for the final project was unfairly skewed towards a 10 minute audio file rather than the 18 page powerpoint that took the most time. Most papers are his for reading. Completely absent in replies to emails. Was ok, but wouldn't take again.
Favorite UBC professor... Not sure what these other reviews are saying. Average psyc class difficulty with 2 tests and a final.Tests are m/c and short answer and he holds review sessions. He was so helpful outside of class too and always willing to provide career advice. Really shocked at these reviews and highly recommend taking his class!
I notice a clear discrepancy in ratings, either terrible or excellent. I found Andy to be a very concise and respectable prof. Yes, exams are hard, but he prepares you well for them with rich lectures and literally gives out exam questions with answers during review sessions. I get that he can be savage at times, but he doesn't deserve the hate.
Quality of lectures was inadequate, all grades acquired through quiz or exams, except for discussion
The class consists of poorly recorded mini-lectures and a ton of papers to read (and many are his own). Towards the end of the course, right around final project time, he threatened to fail (and expel, pull funding, etc.) dozens of students for AI use on a minor assignment. Seems like the kind of guy who thinks he can get away with anything. Avoid!
READ THE JOURNAL ARTICLES 😭 and be prepared to rely almost exclusively on memorization. For me, that isn't a bad thing — his course requires you to remember specific names, theories, and stages of those theories down to their exact details, so as long as you review consistently, you'll be okay!!
Make sure to read the assigned readings/ papers. The course is based off the exams, but as long as you do the readings & pay attention in class I think you'll be fine. His practice questions are very helpful as to what's going to be on the exams & his exam review class give away hints of the midterm which are very helpful!
WORST PROFESSOR EVER. If you do not want your GPA to be totally messed up, RUN AWAY. Exams are extremely difficult with unnecessarily detailed and poorly designed questions. If you email the professor with a question, you might get a condescending response, making you feel stupid for even asking.
I found this course very interesting. Exams were difficult but fair—there were weekly practice questions and review sessions before/after each midterm. He always went over journal readings in class. No bonus HSP though, and stressful because grade consisted of two 30% midterms and a 40% final. Very memorization-heavy.
His tests felt out of touch sometimes. They seemed to expect a lot, especially because they're closed book. His lectures were really slow, and his mic quality was bad, so it just was not nice to sit through.
Awesome lectures and a great person!
I am from the section that a lot of these people are complaining about and frankly they are just lying. He is a lovely professor, a clear communicator, passionate about his work, and his class is not that difficult. I know most of the people in my section stopped attending in person and probably didn't read the very reasonable amount of readings.
He's a nice and caring guy but his course is awful! It's poorly structured, with ~4 weeks dedicated to talking about race and gender only (which is ok but this is a CHILD development course, not social psyc!) and poorly designed exams (based on memorization not learning). Feels like I'm just memorizing useless stuff, not actually learning anything.
Anyone who gave him a low rating is lazy. Quizzes & exams are fair. Study the material well & they will come easy. Readings are reasonable. He is organized and expectations are clear. The only downside is the mic/sound quality. It's pretty brutal and made it hard to sit through. Otherwise, he is a great lecturer and the material is easy.
The most demanding class I have ever taken. The content is extremely dense and requires mastering detailed stages, sequences, and examples. The cumulative final makes early grades crucial. I wouldn't recommend this course unless you can think critically and logically under tight timelines.
I have to wonder if some of the negative reviews are from people who didn't pay attention in class. Dr. Baron makes course concepts very digestible, even more complicated ones. At the end of a unit, he goes over practice questions & VERY clearly states what he expects you to know for the exam. He is a super engaging prof & clearly loves teaching.
Really great teacher and very helpful. Go to lecture!! Exams can be hard but are very fair if you go to class. He gave practice q's every friday in class and those were the exact questions that would come on the exams.
extremely tough grader
Memorization is key! Lots of content to know but he breaks it down very well. He's clear on expectations, provides lots of exam question examples, and guides you on what concepts to focus on. Not a difficult course, but a dense one. My only complaint was the mic quality in his lecture videos; it's bad. Put in the work and it's an easy A!
The professors exams are needlessly difficult and test oddly specific details from lecture. If you don't phrase your short responses with the EXACT wording from the slides/readings you won't get any points (even if you correctly explain the underlying concept or use a similar synonym). Not the worst prof I've ever had, but certainly not the best
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Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
26%
Textbook Required
33%
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