She has nice powerpoint notes and interesting experiments for students to do.

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easy tests.

She's definitely one of the nicest profs. But her tests are just too demanding and it isn't clear what she wants. I feel like I know the material extremely well but my marks don't reflect that at all. And it's true...she's actually proud of averages in the 50s percentile :/

she is one of the nicest and funniest prof ever~ her quizzes arent that bad. her lectures are really funny as she tells stories to make for easy understanding

Ignore any bad comments on this site.Obviously the people who wrote them were too lazy to read the text and expected the prof to spoon feed them;well this is Uni, get over it.Rankin is funny,enthusiastic,and interesting. Her slides are creative & help you learn. Her test are fair if you do the work.

She was great! Fun and interesting. I learned a lot! She brought in lots of good examples and made what we were learning seem important in our lives. Her tests were fair if you read the text and attended class.

she's so nice. i love this lady. she's very clear, and funny, and she tries to be interesting. he tests are fair. her lecutres are out of the text, so you have to know the text, but you can cram like, the night before and still do well.

This course was probably the easiest course I have ever done in my entire life. Bar none. For this 6cred course I spent a total of 12hrs studying. And I'm including the time it took to write the quizes. Forget lectures, just read the textbook and you'll ace the course. Cathy was awesome. The lecture I went to she played a wicked movie about Nazis.

Tries hard to be interesting, and often is somewhat so. Lecture notes are clear and concise, though she goes a bit fast. Doesn't have a webct though, and you'll be waiting ages to get your midterms back, which although it's multiple choice will have pretty random questions from the text, read the case studies and everything too and you'll be fine

Her lectues are quite funny and interesting. But DO THE TEXT READINGS! Seriously, anything in the text could potentially be on the quizes. Her lecture notes aren't posted and she goes quite fast - tape recorders are a must if you don't listen very well.

Her lectures are very intersting and very clear as she provides many examples that relate concepts to everyday situations; however, her exams are very specific and require you to know the text very well.

She is great at explaining things, friendly, helpful, and interesting. Her tests are hard, though.

While a very spirited and amusing woman, Ms. Rankin seems uninterested in the general concept of teaching.She always seemed disinterested in answering the questions of students, as well as listening to what they had to contribute. She is perhaps here to do research while making money at teaching but does not seem to have any interest in the latter.

Come on,suck it up!first year psych is evaluated on the capacity for rote memorization,NOT that much thoughts.The lectures maybe completely unrelated to exams or textbooks but they are very INTERESTING.she brings in a professional perspective from her research and colleagues.Overall, a good prof.

I don't think she's that bad and I actually found her analogies and examples in lectures helpful for understanding the concepts. She does go fast with her slides but her notes aren't necessary in order to do well in this course.

I took this spring of 2009. I did well in the course only because I read the book a lot of times, and did all the study guide questions before the exam. Get a study guide if you can! Some questions were straight from the study guide! Her exams are all multiple choice, but they can be tricky if you don't have a good memory.

Cathy obviously has a passion for her field of study, and wants to share this passion with her students. Good prof. Her tests aren't as hard as others say. Just read the text well!

Rankin was a good prof but her exams I felt were strange. I attended every class, understood everything and read the textbook, and still I did mediocre on the exams. Tries to get everyone involved. Many movie clips, but things got boring. Laptop is highly suggested for passing time/taking down her rapid notes (if you don't take them from nline)

Dr. Rankin is actually a very decent prof. I found her stories very interesting, as were the studies she told us about. She seems very interested in the subject which I find a good thing. As for her tests, yes, there's a lot to memorize, but I think that should be expected for 1st year psychology.

Interesting lectures but exams are very difficult! You must answer 60 multiple choice questions in 45 minutes, giving you barely enough time to read everything. It does reflect whether you understand the material but rather whether you can memorize tiny useless details and read quickly.

SUPER EASY COURSE!! make sure you read and MEMORIZE the textbook and lecture slides and you are gaurenteed an A+ for the course! There is no final which is amazing only 3 midterms and clickers. She doesn't twist concepts, just straight out of the book. She is not very useful, only reason to go to lecture is cause of the clicker marks. RECOMMENDED!

She is pleasant but her lectures are slightly boring. Possibly because you don't really need anyone to teach you the material in this course. This course is easy if you have taken high school psychology. Just read your book and grasp the concepts, and you'll be alright.

This course is pretty straight forward to begin with, and she provided us with all the information that we needed to do well.

Amazing professor

I must admit, when I read these reviews I was worried about Prof. Rankin. But I was pleasantly surprised. If you go to class, read the textbook and understand all the concepts, you will do fine. Lectures are interesting and she uses many real life examples to make her points clear. She's great!

Midterms and final all MC. Had clicker questions to get attendance marks. Kind of boring and easy to doze off. I'd say her tests were around 60% based on the text, and 40% based on her lectures.

I really liked this class and this prof. She's goofy and fun, knows her stuff, and enjoys teaching the material. 3 x 60 question MC quizzes that are pretty straightforward if you read the text. A few questions on class-only material, and she uses clickers questions to gauge attendance.

Dr. Rankin's lecture notes are very clear, her sense of humour keeps you awake. Cliquer Qs are really easy, but don't underestimate exam's difficulty. If you read the textbook (which you must) and thoroughly review lecture notes, you can get easily get above 75%. The more you study, the better grade you will get.

I liked her passion in the field. The 3 multiple choice quizzes are hard in terms of timing (45 min for 60 MC) and emphasis on details. Need to memorize almost the ENTIRE textbook and the lecture notes since any single sentence may be tested! A very likely A+ if you are willing to devote phenomenal efforts into it. Course is a lot harder than 102

She is a decent lecturer actually cares about her students' general success, although course expectations were extremely unclear.

The grade for this class is, no joke, 93% tests. The tests are not hard, but you have to know your stuff. Her lectures are fun - she teaches mostly by telling stories about everything from psychologists who lived 100 years ago to her partying in college. You have to read a huge textbook and study to get a good grade, but it's all straightforward.

I took this course because I thought it would be an easy A and I was wrong. Course is made up of 3 midterm quizzes with material spanning lectures, stuff Professor Rankin has only said in class, and obscure textbook info. Class avg was 65 but you will do well if you attend lectures and read very textbook carefully.

I liked Dr. Rankin as a prof. She is super passionate about psychology, I thought she made lectures interesting, and I felt like she cared about her students as well. Her tests are definitely difficult though - you MUST study hard and read the whole textbook in order to succeed, as the tests are much more textbook-based than lecture-based.

Catherine is a little bit crazy, and tends to be a love or hate prof. I personally thought she was hilarious and her inability to use technology well a bit endearing. Sometimes frustrating, but she only gives three tests (including the final) and is super chill. Doesn't scale but gives time limits. READ THE TEXTBOOK.

she was a great teacher! very engaging! but class was hard, quizzes every week but no final and 2 papers. WOULD RECOMMEND! (but not if you want an easy course)

Cathy is a great prof, she is very clear on what she want from her students. The course is a lot of work , but there's no midterm or final. If you do exactly what she says for the weekly quiz you will get an A. I feel like most of the bad reviews are from arts students, this is in fact a SCIENCE course, if that's your background it will be easy.

Cathy is a wonderful prof! She is extremely approachable and genuinely cares about her students. Her expectations are very clear and she's always available if you want feedback. This is a science course, so arts students might feel like it's difficult; however, Cathy does an exceptional job with the course material!

Not a class you can leave to cram for midterms. She gives weekly quizzes, but is very clear on what you need to write to do well. If you go to class and make your flashcards the way she says the night before the quizzes you'll do well. Her anecdotes and the course material is fairly interesting and relevant to life.

You can really tell she cares a lot and works hard during lecture to make sure you understand the material. Lots of the content is difficult to grasp the main point and she does a really good job of providing real-world examples and explanations to help. Weekly quizzes really force you to determine what the core information is from the material.

Your grade comes from the midterms and final exam. The tests were based heavily off of the textbook.

The online textbook and practice quizzes ARE VERY HELPFUL. USE THESE RESOURCES!! Her lectures are quite interesting and helpful. Instead of a cumulative final, we had three quizzes spread out evenly throughout the term worth 30% each, all mc. Honestly, the easiest course I've had so far. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.

This class is definitely not a walk in the park, but Dr. Rankin makes it super interesting and if you work hard you'll do well. The grades are spread out across many short quizzes, three long quizzes and two papers. Keep in mind that this is a neuroscience course, so arts students who aren't used to science courses might find it harder.

I really liked Rankin. Her lectures are not the most engaging things in the world, but they are quite clear and the material itself isn't bad. The quizzes are a lot to keep up with sometimes, but if you follow her suggestions of making flashcards based off the note packages, you can do really quite well. The 2 papers are also not too bad either.

Dr. Rankin is a tough grader, this is a challenging course, and she is upfront about that from day 1. The class average is low in the beginning and improves a lot by the end. Dr. Rankin reviews the averages of every weekly quiz and assignment, and she and the TA are available always for support and advice. I've never works so hard in a course!

PSYC363 with Dr. Rankin is a challenging but rewarding course. The weekly quizzes require consistent studying, but using resources like flashcards and Unstuck ai can really help. Stay engaged in lectures and you'll learn a lot, even if they're a bit dry.