The worst teacher - makes things as hard as possible

mumbles quickly every class, hard to follow+understand, da worst prof of all!

the worst prof even...he ruined my life...ht jsut mumbles to himself everyclass

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Use digital camera to take notes!

DON'T TAKE HIS CLASS!!!!!!!

just sucks...

to survive the class: bring tape recorder, digital camera, or simply videocamera

He does not explain the material at all, instead he just recites the notes at a very fast pace.

BORING!

Drop his class, he shouldn't be allowed to teach this course.

The only thing worth looking forward to in his class are the demo explosions.

Worst prof ever!

Should of been fired a long time ago

This is the worst professor/teacher I have ever had. It's not like this is an easy course either.

he talks in monotone for an hour and a half, uses words i don't understand and then gives us a hard midterm which he may not scale..(average 53%)

THIS PROF SUCKS! Midterms are hard and he doesn't scale. You will not learn anything in his class becuz he only talks, not teach. No use going to his class! USELESS PROF! I basically learned everything by myself.

He uses powerpoint slides, monotonously reading off the material. AMAZING. Only go to his class to see the explosion demos by Jim the chem dude :D

he was by far my worst prof. not only does he speak with a monotone voice but half the time it seems like he's just mumbling to himself. He has no control over the class and won't repeat questions for the class to hear so they know what he's talking about

This chem prof sucks. Yes. After the midterm in October I realized I hadn't learned anything in this class. I managed to study the entire Chem121 text book in 5 days before the exam. I figure if I can learn a text book with the syllabus.

worst teacher i ever had

He is the kinda prof that makes u do the learning urself. Don't bother going to his lectures unless u want to waste ur time and listen to his monotone voice.

really bad prof. Goes too fast, not enthusiastic, hard to contact (doesn't answer emails or something), hard tests, the powerpoint lectures go by so fast it's impossible to take notes but he does post them online, but notes weren't very helpful to me

miserable prof. gives chem profs a bad name. monotone voice, goes too quickley with the notes and doesn't post them. i went to every lecture but fell asleep everytime, just to wake up to jim making explosions. thank god for jim!

Uhkkkh, I just don't understand him. He just doesn't explain. It is as if you are sitting in a class, and you porf is speaking in Chinese or some other language you don't understand. He is confusing.

He mumbles in lectures and goes WAY TOO FAST! You can't possibly follow his notes and be able to copy them down in time! A very boring prof! His notes are mostly pictures. I can't learn anything out of it! Better to read the text and learn instead!

I am confused like a lot of ppl and I find his lectures are practically useless since u can d/l his notes on webct. The only reason i even go to his class is becuz of clicker question and the solution to it which isn't posted on webct.

if u get this guy? i only have two words for you "good luck"

all i can do is sit there and laugh all class... hes a complete joke, he doesnt teach, he just stands there and mumbles things basically taken out of the textbook...

Oh dear...this guy is actually the most unclear, unhelpful and boring prof. you could possibly ever get. He really doesn't care whether or not anybody understands anything he says (which is difficult to do), and goes through his stupid powerpoint presentations way too quickly.

SOMEONE PLEASE FIRE THIS GUY!! i can't stand him anymore, he's gonna fail all the students in his class!! i'm tellin u he has FULL potential in failing the 150 people that are in his class! he can't teach, expects us to know everything that HE KNOWS, not mentioning he doesn't teach us anything..****

MacFarlane = powerpoint(useless notes and always forgets to upload them on)+ mumbles + monotone + unclear + confusing + rude + little office hours = GET OUT of his class. The only good thing about his class is that you get on-line notes and you fall asleep easily.

really, ...the way he teaches, confuses everyone. Just like everyone's comments, the only good thing about taking his class is that you get online line notes which doesn't even help you at all.Go sit in Dr Wolf's(great teacher)class and just compare!!

Well, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he does seem like a nice guy. However, he is by far the worst prof I have! He has no idea how to break down chemistry to a first year level and expects us to understand everything. He uses phrases like "clearly" and "obviously". No, it is not easy!

Nice person but a terrible, quiet and mumbly teacher. Unless you already know everything already or love to do everything on your own, don't take his class. He will make chemistry boring even if you were very interested on the topic.

if you are taking this class and hope to pass the midterm or final, give up now. There is no hope, switch or just start attending another class if anything.

How can he still be teaching?

horrible

Why did he become a chem prof?

Going to his class was POINTLESS this term. As the term progresses, you can see that the number of students attending the class has gone done by half! I went to all of his classes, but I found that it wasted my time since I ended up learning everything on my own.

He should be fired!He has no interest in the subject.He is unclear.Lecture notes suck!He needs some teaching training.Horrible!Switch to a different sec if u can!Not recommended at all.He doesn't know what the heck is going on in the course.Why is he teaching? Doesn't are at all about his students.

A very bad chem prof, should not even be teaching at all. His notre are unclear and do not make sense. Very monotoned and boring. Overall horrible.

The worst chem prof ever! Switch or go to another section. He is very smart, but a terrible, terrible teacher. Unless you're willing to learn absolutely everything on your own, switch sections.

This prof was the worst ever! He is quite absent minded and unaware of what the hell he is saying. He rambles on and on about things that are sometimes irrelevant to the course. Every now and then he tries to crack a joke which just like his teachings fail miserably. Moral of this comment: He su

horrid. notes didn't follow the notes you buy so you're constantly flipping back and forth. textbook provided has SERIOUS typos/mistakes that could cost you lots of marks if you dunno your material. has horrible english when writing the exam. can't phrase questions properly, multiple "right" answers

warning: if you are in his class, switch out! He is a very nice guy who obviously loves chemistry, but he is a very bad professor. He makes no sense half the time, and speaks in monotone the other half of the time. Most people learn more from the textbook, and if you're not one of those people, you're in trouble.

he is so unclear! impossible to follow his notes.

Very difficult to understand. Taught many details you didnt need to know, and very few things that were actually helpful to the course. He seems well organized and tries hard but it is a horrible prof. If you get a chance transfer to another section!

Almost as bad as Commisarow...ALMOST!!

I'm done fourth year now but I still think back to the trauma that was Chem 121 and MacFarlane. He was awful. He spoke in monotone, didn't leave notes up long enough to actually write down, wouldn't post notes online (so we'd be forced to go to class and fall asleep), he would say I'm not answering anymore stupid questions and he seemed spiteful.

most horrible prof i've ever, ever, ever had, even now when i'm in 4th year, i look back and he is STILL the worst.

I found him extremely hard to approach. The only time I asked him a question he didn't even answer it for me, was pretty rude, and made me feel like a complete moron. After the midterm, I just stopped going to class... it was pointless, his notes are pointless. Just use the textbook and the problem sets.

Uninteresting and a terrible teacher. I hope he never teaches again.

He literally doesn't teach, like his voice is so monotone that you want to fall asleep in his class. The textbook is your best friend and he gives out no clickers so don't expect free marks. Also, his quizzes are deadass miniature midterms so you have to study for them or you will not pass those quizzes.

Very monotonous tone, really boring, you will have to put MAXIMAL effort into understanding what he is saying. To be honest, just use the textbook and use supplementary resources or see recordings from other professors. Avoid like Omicron!!

lectures were incredibly boring. We spent weeks on the easy chapters and sped by the hard ones in a day or two. I quickly realized I learnt the material infinitely better without his lectures than with. Hardest class I've ever taken. If you get him, USE THE TEXTBOOK! LEARN ON YOUR OWN and USE THE PRACTICE QUESTIONS!

12.5% of our grade was decided by 3 in-person extremely difficult quizzes. Instead of actually teaching lectures, he taught us things not in the textbook and sped by difficult concepts. Lectures were extremely disengaging and the only way to pass was to learn from the textbook and other professors' lectures. Was not accessible for asking questions.

Don't even bother going to his lectures. He talks about so many irrelevant topics that aren't related to our course content and he is so pretentious. Also, he is terrible at explaining every concept and is so unlikable. Use the CHIRP and other resources. Going to his lectures is a waste of time and the class is not an easy A.

His ratings are the way they are for a reason. He spent a lot of time doing irrelevant content and he is SO boring you'll snooze in class. If you can find another lecture that fits your timetable either transfer or attend those lectures instead, alternatively just go through the CHIRP on your own.

I think that if you have a chance to transfer out of this section for many reasons: 1) His lectures are very bland, boring, and monotone which makes it very difficult to stay engaged. 2) The distribution of the 12.5% is 3 quizzes that are like mini midterms. 3) Poorly paced- we rushed through 3 of the most complicated chapters in 2 weeks

I got 90s on both midterms and, if my calculations are correct, a 97 on the final exam. However, I did not finish this class with a high 90 due to the level of difficulty of his quizzes. The time limit was impossible, the grading scheme was vague and inconsistent and the lectures were no help. This man single handedly dropped my average by 4%

Boring prof, reads off slides in a monotone voice. Lectures were useless; just reading the textbook and attending office hours was sufficient to get a good grade. His quizzes were difficult, and he marks a bit hard. He was kind prof though.

The lectures are incredibly boring and his in class quizzes are very difficult. Swap out if you can

If you can help it, find a different professor for this class. CHEM121 is needed for many Science majors and covers basic concepts you will continue to see in upper years. Professor MacFarlane is short tempered, reads directly from the textbook, and bases too much of your grade on the midterm and final, giving minimal space for making mistakes.

Unless you are really good at chemistry and it comes easily to you, do NOT take his class. He doesn't teach the content, doesn't explain anything he does, and adds extraneous details to his lectures. I had to go to other lecture sections to learn the course. His quizzes are BEYOND difficult and will sink your average. Would not recommend his class.

DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. You are better off taking a class with a chemistry professor who will actively help you understand an already difficult class. You will be teaching yourself the content and be at a disadvantage. SWITCH IF YOU CAN HELP IT! Save yourself and take a prof who will help you succeed.

My condolences to whoever loses the professor lottery in chemistry. Can't switch out? attend or watch someone else's lectures, worst case scenario read the CHIRP yourself. My guy goes at the speed of light, it's also not uncommon for your class to be 3 chapters ahead of everyone else...

I did not like my experience with Prof. Macfarlane at all. I used to love chemistry until taking his class. My friends in the same course but with different profs loved it though, so it's really just him the issue. He is not very nice and does not care about his students or accommodations they might need. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS!

awful, just awful.

He is good at chemistry but overall not good at engaging students and teaching. He goes very fast and does not answer questions directly, and expects you to know and understand from the beginning of the unit even when you are not familiar.