2.4
Quality3.4
Difficulty18%
Would Retake97
Reviews18%
Would Retake
97
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
17
4
16
3
5
2
18
1
41
What Students Say
“DONT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM”
PSYC385 - 1.0 rating“Here is your warning: get out while you can”
PSYC385 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.41 avg changeRatings by Course
PSYC331
4.5
(2)MOTIV101
4.0
(1)PSYC192
3.5
(13)PSYCH192
3.0
(3)PSYCHOLOGY192
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PSYC493
4.5
PSYCHOLOGY192
4.0
PSYC431G
3.8
PSYC385
3.7
PSYCH385
3.3
Reviews (97)
An excellent prof - makes sure that his lectures are clear and well-understood. His french accent is a little difficult to get used to at first, but after the first few classes there should be no problem. There was a lot of reading (hardcover front to back), but if you attend class and do your readings you should be able to pull off a good grade.
Great teacher! There are tons of little assignments to help boost your mark up. Easy to get an A if you read his notes for the tests and put some effort into the papers. I would definitely take another class with him!
Lots of little assignments to boost your mark...3 midterms and a comprehensive written final.
Unable to understand what he said most of the time. Not very organized. TA's did mostly all of the marking and it was ruthless. Written response questions which were not fairly marked at all. The criteria was ridiculous and not clear. Reduces motivation, ironically. Never taking a class with him again.
the prof has good intentions, but horrible execution. hard to understand and tends to spend way too much time doing course housekeeping.sadly reduced my interest in this class
Dr. Grouzet is a great guy. He is difficult to understand with a bizarre french accent, but still had clear lectures. Assignments were short and easy, tests were moderate. He is very involved in experiential learning. Fantastic course with a above average prof: recommended.
Great class
Fred is an awesome guy. Positive Psychology was a fabulous class and I found it not too difficult. It's easy to apply what you learn to real life so that made understanding the concepts WAY easier. Really great class!
Fred is a great professor. Yes, his accent is heavy but you get used to it after a few lectures you'll see that he really knows his stuff, has a good sense of humour, an really just wants everyone to do well in the course. I would highly recommend this course, both as a GPA booster and just for fun.
Dr Grouzet is very kind and respectful of his students. His marking is fair and there are many opportunities to learn effectively. Students who have English as a second language may reconsider taking his class, as his accent is very strong. I did not find his accent distracting though and apart from that he is very clear. Great teacher.
Good helpful teacher and kept the course interesting. Accent is heavy, but you get used to it. He knows his stuff and has lots of assignments to boost grades if you put lots of effort in. Great funny professor
Dr.Grouzet IS difficult to understand,& his use of words sometimes threw me off.However, his command of the subject matter more than made up for most of his language deficits,& his joviality&dedication to students made up for the rest.I will truly miss his class.It's like getting a manual for life. Just be prepared for the workload.Marking was fair
Good prof.
Positive Psychology was a very interesting class and fairly easy. A lot of the material is common sense so the exams are very simple. There are a fair amount of assignments but they are pretty easy. The marks are fair. You have to keep an online journal and enter in it every week in this class. Sometimes he is hard to understand due to his accent.
Dr. Grouzet is really nice and he makes Positive Psychology interesting! You have to keep up with his online assignments and tests are fairly easy if you have some background in psychology. He does have a hard french accent, but you will get used to it after couple classes.
Never handed things back on time or gave reasonable due dates. Frustrating when trying to get good grades. Nice guy, bad teacher.
Nice prof, material generally interesting except got a little tired of goal setting by the end of term. I would recommend him but wish he would give a little more notice for criteria for assignments, sometimes you had less than a week to prepare. Overall was a good, approachable prof with fairly interesting lectures.
prof grouzet is an awesome professor, be happy if you get him! at first his voice is difficult to understand but after a while you get used to it. he was always happy and passionate about what he was teaching.
Dr. Grouzet really grew on me over the term. At first I was unsure of him, but by the end of term I loved him. He's a very devoted, caring professor. He's a really nice guy, and really just wants his students to learn and to help motivate them. I would take another class with Grouzet, just be prepared for a lot of mini assignments!
Fred was okay. He has quite a think accent which can be hard at times. At first I really liked him but as the course went on I found I liked him less. He was not that approachable and I whenever I talked to him or e-mailed him he was pretty short with his answers. Class had some interesting material but I wouldn't take it again.
This guy was one of my best profs. He has a heavy accent, but he's easy to understand and explains things clearly. I love how he started every class by asking "How are you doing today?" His lecture is really interesting, and the material was great. Some of the work was tricky tricky, but doable. He's just a big, hardy guy who makes you wanna smile.
I loved Psych192 with Dr Grouzet. He is super friendly and funny. Very fair marker and classes are interesting. I definitely recommend taking a class with him!
I definitely have mixed feelings about the material and his teaching style, but he clearly loves what he does and wants students to do well. Show up, pay attention, do the assignments, and you will get an awesome grade.
I was nervous at the beginning of the first lecture because of his accent. By the end my fears were gone. Fred is an excellent professor. His written answer test qs were difficult to grasp at first. Most profs want def'ns. He wants application. Which is great but requires adjusting. Enthusiastic and intersting lectures. The class flew by for me.
Amazing teacher! All of his lectures are organized, concepts flow, and despite his accent the information is crystal clear. And if it's a particularly difficult concept, he provides analogies and examples to clarify. He wants you to succeed and is in tune with his students. Come to class & take solid notes, saves you some reading.
Very knowledgeable about course. Picked and chose what e-mails he answered, most went unanswered when asking questions or concerns. Not approachable at all and unwilling to give help, even when he states he is there to help you understand so you succeed.
Didn't learn anything useful in this course. Took forever for exams and assignments to be marked. Would not recommend.
Don't take this class unless you enjoy doing numerous pointless assignments that do not have any clear grading system what so ever. I was dissapointed by this class, thought it would have been enjoyable. The textbook is not helpful, but nice guy with good intentions.
Grouzet has a strong french accent but is very smart and nice, and kind to students but the course itself is useless. You do a million online assignments with no clear grading system, exams are a mess of wild scenarios with a "BEST" answer. Time consuming and overall terribly uninteresting as he just reads off the slides.
A fun course but prepared to read and work. Lectures flew by and were primarily filled with student conversation. A lot of reading initially as the concepts laid the foundation for the rest of the course. It was a lot of work, but rewarding. I like the structured approach and find him to be a fantastic professor. He was available for feedback.
Rambles a lot. Course content was pointless. No clear grading system and the way he organizes assignments and journals and exams are a mess. He insists on students using a website he set up to do online assignments but his website doesn't work half the time and is super annoying. He's nice and enthusiastic but not a good prof or good course.
He makes you do online journals entries once a week that are very time consuming during a busy semester. His assignments are hard to clarify and the marking is unclear. Nice guy and can make the class laugh, but the course wasn't great
Worst prof I've had in 6 years of post-secondary education. Don't bother asking him a question, in person or by email, he won't answer. It really feels like he's taking pleasure at not being helpful. His lectures are interesting and he is well organized, but his refusal to post his lecture notes and his condescending attitude makes him unlikable.
did the online journals help? probably did i like them? frick, no. read the textbook, go to lectures to see what he emphasizes from the readings, & get an A+. dont do the online journals the night before like i did, way to much stress for a mindless activity. also, dont actually expect help even if you ask. he gives vague, cryptic answers.
I really enjoyed his class. My friend warned me that his class was a lot of work; however, I found the workload to be about average. I thought the class was interesting and fun!!! I think Psyc 385 would be in my top 5 classes in undergrad. I read the textbook, went to class, and ended up getting an A in the course.
WORSE PROF EVER!!!!! I am an A student who received 30% on his first exam. Wouldn't even meet with me to go over my exam. Unclear criteria. Simple concepts for the course but trying to prove it's hard by giving out horrible grades. Never taking him again.
Hes a horrible prof and rude man
Must go to lectures because he doesn't post slides. There is an online homework almost every week, and they end up taking a long time, especially if you don't understand the material or do the reading or go to class. The TA and the prof have conflicting opinions on how your homework should be answered and the TA grades it and she is tough.
Terrible communication of how he is going to mark your assignments until after you get your first grade back and see where he has dinged you for all your marks
DONT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM. Im an A student and received a failing grade on my first assignment, because he was so unclear about his marking. Everyone I talked to got around 50%. Not helpful, vague tests, extremely vague assignments. I Dropped this class before it hurts my gpa too much and will retake with someone worth my time.
PSYC 385 can change your perspective on life, if you let it. Dr Grouzet is passionate about his subject, really cares about quality education, and goes above and beyond to make sure we're actually learning something worthwhile, not just memorizing chapter notes for a test. An extraordinary course.
Here is your warning: get out while you can. Drop the class now.
Really nice, caring prof. However I found the course unusually difficult. In general I find Psyc relatively easy, however I found his tests to be very difficult. This certainly will drop my average. Word of advice: make sure to study hard for long answer questions.
For teaching motivation I was not motivated by his lectures at all. The learning activity expectations were not clear and therefore grades reflected that. Would not take again
Don't take his class! His lectures suck, he insists that all assignments be completed in PDF form, which is really frustrating because I find Word way easier to format, and I spent way more time that I should have just trying to format my assignments properly. Also, there is an assignment due almost every week, so this class was really hard.
Very disorganized. All assignments were very unclear- there was never any grading criteria or instruction what so ever but assignments were still marked harshly. Online assignments were actually interesting but took way too long on top of everything else and were always toughly graded for no reason (also very unclear). overall a frustrating class
I wouldn't recommend. The course was too disorganized and unclear for my liking. He was a very hard marker and I do not feel like I got the marks I deserved. He did not have a clear explanation of grading criteria either, so one assignment I'd do super well, the next really poorly, without understanding why. I was very dissatisfied.
His one exam format was a huge mess - we had no idea what we would be graded like and the questions were super vague. I studied a tremendous amount for this course and hardly passed the final... now its a stain on my GPA. The weekly activities were equivalent to 1500 word papers. Never available by email.
Dr. Grouzet teaches like an elementary school teacher. He was passionate but demanded participation and did not let us arrive late or leave to use the washroom. He is also quite disorganized and gave extremely unclear instructions. He also made attendance a huge portion of our mark and had us discuss content and share with the class almost daily
The prof is a very gentle and empathetic man (something of a rarity nowadays), who will make accommodations for his students. In return, he expects you to show up to class and not have your face in your smartphone, which is reasonable. There's gems in this course that will have a profound effect if you use them. Its true hes a bit disorganized.
Can barely understand what hes saying through his french accent and the entire online element to his course is just allllllll over the place. His instructions are ambiguous and lack any clarity. Would avoid like the plague
At first I did not enjoy his class as it requires no lecture material, we only learn from the textbook or group projects and he has a hard to understand accent. However after being in this class for three months I can honestly say I've never learned more in a course at university. He also is very accommodating to students and very open to feedback.
i didnt learn anything. lectures were useless, we were given a weekly guideline which we then discussed in learning groups. Dr. G never gives any solid answers to any questions, focuses too hard on the textbook, grades too hard and inconsistent, and the class was presented horribly. i feel bad for people who had to actually go to this class irl.
Had him a couple years ago, but just remembered how he was super against using highlighters. Very condescending and stubborn. Got an A by reading the textbook.
I WISH I had looked up reviews for him because I WOULD NOT have taken this class. He doesn't lecture, only gives readings and expects students to discuss material with peers. Course load is huge, taking up all my time. He provided unclear expectations, and unhelpful feedback, not giving advice nearly just saying "you did it wrong, please resubmit"
Ironic for a course about motivation and well-being, this course destroyed mine because of Dr.G. Course structure was not inclusive to all learners. His expectations were unclear and feedback was disheartening. Of all my 4 years at Uvic, this is the worst prof I have ever had. Please do yourself a favour and don't take his class.
Dr.G was extremely unhelpful and unclear. He has very specific grading expectations with unclear criteria and no examples. There were also no lectures, students are required to learn on their own. This course also took up huge time chunks in my week between all the reading and assignments. Do not take a class with him, avoid at all costs.
Dr. G is a total joke. We spent the first 2 & 1/2 weeks (no lie) reading the syllabus only for him to spam emails nearly everyday throughout the term changing things from said syllabus. IMO he makes a really simple class as complicated as possible. No clear objective, yet very spotty grading. Also incredibly rude over email. Avoid like COVID.
TERRIBLE PROFESSOR! Avoid taking this course with Prof. Grouzet at all costs. He doesn't provide any information in class. He is passive aggressive and difficult to approach. He grades EXTREMELY harsh and has high expectations although he provides no examples for what he is looking for. I repeat, DO NOT TAKE A COURSE WITH PROF. GROUZET!
If you want a class that has boring lectures and stressful exams, this is NOT the professor for you. I can easily say this is the best class I've taken at UVIC(4yrs). All you have to do is show up and talk to the people around you. You even have the option to hand in paintings instead of papers. AMAZING PROF. Wish I could take it all over again!
Very passive aggressive, and unapproachable. Spends a good chunk of class hand picking peoples groups for the discussion each day and moving specific people around. Will not show you examples for projects, or help guide you. Very unaccommodating over email, typically does not respond. Grades ridiculously hard and gives no feedback.
Grades harshly, does not respond to emails, incredibly vague assignments but refuses to provide examples
Doesn't care about your experience. Impossibly vague instructions. He will always find some reason to dock you marks. Never responds to emails. Dates were wrong on everything. Very confusing. Always assigns work at the end of week due on the Monday so you have to work over the weekend. Massive assignments. The least motivating class I've taken.
Incredibly discouraging environment. Gives minimal feedback that is extremely inconsistent and entirely unhelpful. Have to complete Learning Projects that are impossible to do well on and he does not give examples ever to figure out how to improve. Wastes time on group discussions every day that are unhelpful. Never responds to emails. Stay away!!
His grading is very inconsistent, you either got 50 or 100 %. His feedback is very inconsistent and often doesn't match the work you submitted. Never responds to emails and often wants those to participate in class, only to tell you that you're wrong. The content itself was not hard, yet, he seems to overcomplicate the delivery.
Was excited to take this class but he made me hate the material. Tried to do a flipped classroom but didn't execute well. Depends on the students to raise their hands but when they do he doesn't clarify if they are correct or not. WAY TOO MUCH WORK. Expect weekly short essays and 3 projects. He acts like you aren't taking 4 other classes.
Does not communicate well. Acts like being vague helps you learn then has weird hidden marking criteria. If you are off by a little he just doesn't mark your assignment. So much work for nothing in this class. Definitely would not take again. Will avoid at all cost.
I thought I was going to love this class, but ineffective teaching methods and absurdly arbitrary and harsh grading really soured the experience for me. Class discussion and flipped classroom is great in theory, but the execution is poor. I have never worked harder on projects (3!) that have been graded so poorly in my life. Avoid this class.
-Assigned textbook readings were irregular and unreasonable (i.e. 1 week was 10 pages for weekly assignment & 3 chapters next week) -Grading criteria was confusing & unfair (i.e. lost points because he wanted google images not clipart but didn't specify that) -Was interrogated during weekly in-class questions cause behind due to being slow reader
Classes were disorganized, and if you're not caught up you're better off skipping. The grading was harsh and lazy, and the instructions for almost everything were unclear. There was also just an insane amount of work assigned. I truly have never worked so hard for a class and received such poor grades. Disappointing, unmotivating and a GPA tanker
Everything is extremely unclear at all times. I feel so confused and anxious every week. The work load & expectancies are impossible yet the marking is creatively brutal and unfair. Its self directed but there is no time to prepare. I disassociate each class and cry a lot. Run away, seriously.
Honestly, despite really heavy reading for each week the lectures are actually very pleasant. I find if you have good, engaging member in your group it can be a very inspirational class with a unique style of teaching. Definitely see bits of unorganized aspects, but he did specified it's all trial and error with each class. Love him, super sweet!
If you care about your GPA, AVOID. THIS. CLASS. Grading criteria is literally contradictory. Assignments are hyper unclear and your mark will be destroyed on a whim. It's disappointing it has to be this way, as Dr. Grouzet himself is extremely enjoyable and likeable within lectures. Assignment turn around isn't up to par with workload requirements.
The most involved and caring professor. Professor Grouzet works hard to make the class interesting and engaging. His feedback on projects was helpful, specific, and motivational. He has more office hours than any other prof I have had, and he seems to understand how best to encourage learning. Would love to take another class with him!
Fav prof ever. This is a prof that really cares about his students and want to do everything to improve the learning environment so that we get as much out of it as possible. PROTECT HIM. Confusing grading criteria but he takes student feedback VERY seriously and is continuously updating his course. 11/10 would recommend (unless you prefer exams).
This class was super interesting and Grouzet does care about the students. He puts a lot of effort in perfecting the course, so takes in a lot of feedback from students. There is a lot of reading each week but the material is covered in classes so getting a little behind isn't the end. Lots of project options and opportunities to boost grade
Very considerate teacher, relaxed and caring of his students (i think he actually realizes we have other courses besides his own, a lot of profs don't recognize this). Read the textbook and come to class to discuss readings; no exams. 3 projects and can display your knowledge in any way you'd like. Paintings, essays, powerpoints etc. 100% recommend
Amazing professor who allows students to do their projects in different formats and medias. Speaking to him in office hours was a pleasure and he truly is an amazing professor. There is a decent amount of reading and participation for the class but all around a great class.
this class structure is a joke. prof acts like giving different paths for grading is helpful but the grading is unclear and inconsistent AND there are no lectures just poorly worded questions that you discuss in groups. why am i paying for a non-lecture class marked by a TA? good question. i had high hopes and this class is a brain sore.
This is the single worst course I've taken at UVic. No lectures, just poorly structured class discussion where he doesn't actually teach you anything. INSANE workload with very unclear grading and instruction. I was really excited for this course as I'm very interested in the material, but I've hated almost every aspect of this class. Avoid.
It is a shame that a professor with a lovely personality has an unstructured, difficult to follow, and frustrating class. Grading is unclear, vague and contradictory. Despite Dr. Grouzet being very accessible out of class, that is not enough to supplement for what the class lacks. This is not enough. Needs to be better.
If confusion is the goal, this class gets an A+. Structureless and irritating. Nice guy, but teaching isn't his strength. SDT is the only topic. Hot tip! Read 2 papers and learn it on your own. I'd rather study statistics 100x over than sit through this again. Run, don't walk, away from this prof. You've been warned!
I feel bad saying this because he seems super sweet BUT this is the ABSOLUTE worst class I've ever taken. It seems like it will be an easy class. DO NOT be fooled! Lectures are terrible, confusing, and absolutely useless. Instructions are contradictory. Grading is so hard for no reason. This class makes me want to cry, puke, and rip out my hair.
Prof is very nice and visibly distraught by how "terrible" his students are yet does not make any (useful or relevant) efforts to ameliorate the lectures. Everything is graded extremely harshly/ subjectively and whoever grades assignments seems to not read the actual assignment requirements before grading? Never been so discouraged by a class.
Prof Grouzet seems like a very kind individual but his grading and the way he conducts the class is extremely ambiguous. He gives little to no feedback on assignments and is a very tough grader. The layout of the course is chaotic and everyone in the class is frustrated with the course and the way he teaches. I do not recommend taking this course.
AVOID. Unclear grading criteria. Unhelpful lectures and untimely feedback. I thought this class would get better, but it didn't. It ironic considering the name, but I've never been more stressed or unmotivated for a class. Prof 'uses student feedback' to better the course, but you never feel it
What the heck just happened?
HATED this class. Seems easy but trust me, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Do not fall for his nice personality. Unstructured and does not properly communicate expectations nor instructions for big assignments worth a large portion of your grade. Is an INCREDIBLY hard marker. TAs were so unhelpful and provided little feedback.
AVOID THIS CLASS. So many severe, systemic issues with his class that work miraculously to destroy any and all hope you have. Lethally hard grading with no criteria makes every assignment a monster. Office hours are mandatory to pass the class and expect a lineup every time. Asked for feedback multiple times from students but makes no changes.
I took this course as a program requirement expecting it to enhance my overall wellbeing and motivation. What about this course was motivational? Definitely not the feedback, inconsistent marking, and vague explanations. I can confidently say that my overall wellbeing decreased after taking this course!
Genuinely one of the worst classes I've ever taken. Like everyone else has said, don't be fooled by his kindness! The workload is heavy and requires correct material yet he lacked in actually lecturing on the material itself. Group activities every class and weekly group work counts towards 40% of your grade. Avoid this class!!!
Seminars don't clarify ANY of the concepts but then we're expected to write discussion posts that require solid grasp of the concepts. Many of the readings are inaccessible and there are A LOT OF THEM. Between responding to 16 discussion posts and reading I hate this class. He seems nice but wow I would've taken any other seminar over this one.
NOPE run! I have never disliked a prof more. Don't be fooled by him not giving tests NOTWORTH his harsh grading. Asks for student feedback & then finds reasons why he can't take their advice. I've never had a worse experience with a teacher. Didn't even want to take this course it was the only one with seats available & I found out why the hard way
Dr. Grouzet is not clear in his assignment instructions and rubrics. You follow the rubric exactly, you get a bad grade (he emphasizes that grades don't matter), his feedback is so far out of left field. He has expectations in his head on what he wants our work to look like and then can't verbalize it and gives us bad grades because of it. Avoid.
Does not provide rubrics, yet grades like he did. Unreachable outside of class and is unable to use basic technology for teaching.
if you love unprofessionalism, inconsiderate behavior, unclear instructions/expectations, and wasting time, this teacher is for you. Very dissapointed by his lack of or unclear instructions. Rubrics were rare so assignments are a guessing game. No structure to class whatsoever and does not value students time or questions. Avoid at all costs!
If you care about yourself AT ALL, avoid this man! While he may seem nice, it's not worth it! He doesn't provide any info about the assignments until right before they're due, if then. When he does, they are vague, and sometimes not even for the right class (yes, I'm serious). When he grades things, it is done based on ideas pulled out of thin air.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.41 avg changeRatings by Course
PSYC331
4.5
(2)MOTIV101
4.0
(1)PSYC192
3.5
(13)PSYCH192
3.0
(3)PSYCHOLOGY192
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PSYC493
4.5
PSYCHOLOGY192
4.0
PSYC431G
3.8
PSYC385
3.7
PSYCH385
3.3