I didn't think anyone could make a stats course enjoyable, but he pulls it off.

Great teacher, somehow makes Stats very interesting. Funny guy too, I love his stories about his Graduate Research.

This guy is good. He teaches very well and is funny. He likes to say the same thing over and over though.

an excellent prof--topics are extremely clear and tests are straightforward. very likable guy, too. 75 minutes of stats actually goes by pretty fast!

Very good lecturer, very helpful. He managed to make stats my favourite class this term (I can't believe I just said that).

Every teacher at UVIC should learn a lesson from Ian and take advantage of teaching via the internet. His website allowed me to get ahead and catch up really easily. Well done, it's not easy making a stats class fun.

stats at 8:30 in the morning was WAY easier to face with this guy at the helm. His teaching style is diverse so it works for everyone.

Ian is a great prof,and he knows his stuff! His lectures are straight forward and makes AM classes fun. He tests fair,sort of, but you seriously have to know your stuff. If you understand concepts and know what you're doing you'll be fine, if you don't: STUDY! cause his tests can and will be brutal.

I enjoyed the lectures considering I have little interest in this subject. I thought Ian was funny which makes the classes more interesting. The midterm was not hard but the final was ridiculous and brought my mark down 3 grades and I studied a lot! I'm still bitter!

makes use of reduced class hours.

taken 3 classes with Ian and I think he is great.He gives all students confidence and midterms are a breeze. Finals you must study but if you do and prepare for long answer you will do GREAT in his class. Labs are relatively easy with him too.

He is humourous and makes classes very interesting and fun. Makes good use of Web CT. Fair marker. Tests weren't easy but if you're well prepared you'll be fine. Interjects relevant current events and latest gadgets and is enthustic about Geography. Very enjoyable classes. Great Prof.

He's funny, willing to answer questions, and eager to give students time to work. He brings in amusing geographical developments, and makes the material as understandable as possible (the concepts are not hard). Excellent prof, I will definately try to take another course with him.

If anyone says anything bad about Ian, it's because they're doing****ty in his classes. I failed the midterm, and still think he is a really good prof. - maybe because I'm Irish too!

Well organized in lectures. Clear exam expectations. Fair. Brings a bit of wit to some dry topics.

Ian is an example of a great university professor. He is an expert in geography. During classtime he makes everything crystal clear, and outside classtime he's really helpful as well. Great prof!

Ian is an excellent professor. At the beginning of the semester I was dreading this class and 2 months in and it is my faveorite. He is enthusiastic and clever in each and every lecture as well as being helpful outside of class time and his office hours. His exams are fair but do require quite a bit of preparation.

Ian is an awesome teacher and you can really tell that he loves his field. His enthusiasm is pretty contagious which is awesome since this is an introductory class. He really gets you thinking about continuing on with geography.

Great teacher, awesome guy. Very humorous, easy to talk to, friendly. Explains material well (even the dry stuff), especially for a class for non-geographers. At times I felt like I could just study from the online notes via WebCT but it's a good idea to attend the lectures. Exams are fair and not too hard.

Ian is amusing but he pulls a fast one on you for the final...the midterm is super easy but don't be suprised when your grade drops after writing the final.

Ian's a great prof, some of his tests do seem to be a little unfair but if you really apply yourself and work hard, you will come away with a good grade. He certainly makes the lectures a lot more interesting too. Why can't you teach more of my classes Ian??

Ian's the best prof I've had at Uvic! He knows how to make 8:30 stats as enjoyable as it can be. He explains everything in a way that just makes sense. He's funny and a great guy in and outside of class. I plan on taking every class I can with him!

Ian taught me 222 and back then I thought he was great, but by taking 300-level courses my impression on him has changed. Midterm = easy, but final = quite hard. Vague in some of his instructions. Powerpoint slides look better than in the past but when printed in 6-slides they're impossible to read. He also likes to abuse the word "literally".

makes stats interesting and worth coming to. Stats is brutal, glad to be done, and very glad that I had Ian for a prof.

Ian's lectures were great - the best part of the course. The lab assignments are hard, make sure you set aside a few hours of your own time. If you need help it's better to go see him or a TA in person, as his email responses usually aren't enough. He is approachable and easy to talk to though.

too cool for school

The best geography prof i've had at UVic. Any class I have had with Ian i've done well in since he is very clear in lectures. Exams are fair. I just wish I had him for stats! Peculiar that he has an English accent when he's Irish...

226, 222, 325, Don't complain about hard tests, we are supposed to be out of the spoon-feeding phase. other faculties e.g. science require a lot of work to do well, so why complain when you have to work hard in geo? he's a great prof. can try to reinforce a concept too much sometimes, but there is little he teaches that is unclear.

Ian is a great guy. He is hilarious and makes the ridiculously dull material fun and interesting. I learned a lot in this class and did really well on the lab exam (study the first four labs religiously). The midterm and Final were hard but just memorize his slides and you should do fine. TAKE A CLASS WITH O'CONNELL you will not regret it.

226,325,323 ians classes are the best, he is easy to understand and follow, he has great stories and is really easy to talk to. his tests arent hard if you listen to him in class he tells you exactly whats on the test, there are a few tricky questions but you have to expect that you arent in highschool anymore.

He Rocks! Take a class with him! Fair tests, and great stories.

Get over yourself Ian. Your good but not THAT good. Organized, and clear expectations. Fair exams.

Ian is the best! I had absolutely ZERO interest in anything math-like, and tried to avoid it at all costs. I congratulate him on making Stats easy and relatively painless for me.

Good guy. Tough finals, but gives you all the stuff you need to know to do well on them. He teaches university level science, and he tests you like university level science! Midterm is generally easy, as a warmup to see what you do and you don't know for the final. Ask questions, as he is super approachable and you will get through just fine.

good prof. lots of energy. uses powerpower. labs and midterm was considered easy... FINAL.. WAS BRUTAL.. but if u're going into final with an "A" average (which u can do with labs/midterm marks)... expect 2 letter grade drop with average studying time.

His midterms are fairly straightforward but his final will blast you right out of your chair! No matter what class you take with him, his final will always hit you like a ton of bricks. Other than that, he is a pretty good prof.

All you people complaining about Ians testing should not be in university. You could not go to any of his classes, write the exam with 20min study from each of his slides and get an A. But he's funny and engaging in class, and if you are at all interested in your courses, he'll be one of the best you ever see.

Ian is a great guy with a sense of humour that keeps the lectures interesting. The course material is boring within itself, and i don't think that the prof is to blame

Probably my favourite Prof at UVic. Good sense of humour, and tries to make class fun, though some of the material can be dull (see all the comments hatin' on Geog 101a/b). His final exams can be difficult, but they are easy to do well on if you know your stuff. Ian describes them as "fair" which I think is pretty accurate.

After several years at UVic and several Profs, Ian is the best I have had. If you are struggling he goes out of his way to make sure you understand or are able to do the task properly. I have taken every possible course of his and have not been disappointed. Highly recommended

I had Ian for a total of 5 classes in my undergrad and couldn't have been happier with each of them. Sure, his courses are not a cake-walk, but he gives you all the tools to prepare yourself. He's helpful, he makes his slides available, as well as his own time. Best prof i've had to date.

Excellent prof !!! Passionate about otherwise boring material and somehow makes it interesting with a bizzaar use of english humour (often lost on most students...) and extremely thorough knowledge of all facetes of his subject.

O'Connell was a great teacher. Considering the class was at 8:30 in the morning -- he was ethusiastic, humourous and very easy going, making the early mornings a whole lot more enjoyable. Any questions you have or any help you need he is very welcoming and ready to help.

I loved O'Connell, he was hilarious, and made an extremely dry course entertaining to go to. I would hate to have taken GIS with a boring professor. I hope I can get him in a future class. His tests were fair and if you prepared you would do well. My only complaint is the labs kind of sucked....

:) ian o'connell rules

Ian is a fairly straightforward teacher, he tells you what you need to know throughout his lectures in a direct manner. Definitely has hard tests though, they aren't impossible, but they do require a lot of preparation and studying.

good prof, good lectures; he's very witty. the course itself is pretty dull, especially compared to 101A. but his good humour makes the course doable. tests are very hard though.

Ian made a course full of dense, incomprehensible material fun, engaging and applicable to my life (I'm a women's studies major and can see applications of GIS in this field!). The material is hard, but Ian makes it enjoyable. Now I am GIS obsessed and looking to take other courses in it.

Dr. O'Connell is a geography nerd to the core, proud of it, and really enjoys his subject. Its a survey course, so there's a lot of boring material, but he manages to make it fun. He's super helpful, too, easy labs, and he's a really fair marker for exams.

Ian is a really nice guy and keeps you interested during class. He's always willing to help and very easy to approach. The labs were pretty dull though and his tests were frustratingly hard.

First of all, first year evaluations should not be considered for Ian. Ian excels at upper level courses where his knowledge about geomatics is invaluable. This has been my 3rd upper level geomatics course with Ian and I have had nothing but positive experiences. He goes out of his way to help students with labs and is always willing to chat.

This was my first semester in uni and I felt O'Connell was a great professor. He always kept us laughing and gave tons of examples to help you understand concepts. His labs were hard for me and the lab instructors were told to mark hard. However, I enjoyed Human Geography way more than I thought I would because of O'Connell's teaching.

The challenge is....that he says challenge every second word. other than that nice guy and decent teacher

Ian is a really engaging lecturer whose enthusiasm is infectious. I highly recommend taking 329 with Ian if you are interested in the course material...otherwise its far too much work for lab portion.

Ian is a great teacher. He tries really hard to actually teach you and if you are having problems he gives lots of opportunities to see him in his office. Most of the material comes from before the midterm so don't skip.

Awesome professor. Yes he has cheesy jokes but he knows what he is talking about. His classes are not easy but he does what he can to prepare you for the real word and is always willing to chat with you outside of class time even if he really doesn't have the time.

I liked his cheesy dad jokes, and found that his 90 minute lectures went by quickly. Going into the tests I thought I would be OK, but they hit me HARD. DO NOT underestimate them. They were filled with really obscure topics that weren't covered well in class, and the points he stressed in class were left out. Lame. BUT, he's helpful in office hours

Total geography nerd, but who else do you want as a geography professor. Joy to learn from and easy to talk to.

Ian is amazing! He is easy to talk to, always wanting to help, and inspire people to take on Geography.

Love Ian! He's hilarious and so entertaining in his lectures. He posts all his slides (which are SUPER helpful) so you can sit back, listen, laugh, and learn. Geog222 is a pretty easy class so long as you can use a computer well for the lab blocks.

I had O'Connell for 101B and absolutely loved him. He was very funny. Yet, for 222 I found him all over the place and slightly annoying. Never took notes because he just talked irrelevantly. Tests are really hard! Studied all the material in lectures and ended up failing the 222 final. The labs are fairly easy but need extra time to finish.

the midterm is hard but the final is a breeze. study hard for both and know the similarities between the theories and models. honestly, Ian is a great guy and is more than happy to help if you're struggling, but his lectures can stray off topic quite a bit making it difficult to identify the most important sections. the material itself is simple

Ian is a very nice teacher. He tries very had to help you learn and if you don't understand a topic he has office hours. Probably one of my favorite teachers.

This course is much better than his 101B, Ian is passionate about map and GIS. Also, GIS is really interesting and easy to operate. Both lectures and labs are useful. Because there's not much material to learn, the exam mostly tests everything. Great course as elective. Nice pro.

Great Prof, really cares about his work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

such a fun guy, by far my fav prof this semester. he had to stop teaching halfway thru the course due to medical reasons, but the time i got w him was awesome.

Ian helped me so much in both stats and GIS (Geog 222 & 226 I believe) he was always available in his office to help me work through questions as stats did not come easily to me. He is good at explaining things and he really cares for his students!

Professor O'Connell is fantastic! It's true that the midterm and final are worth a LOT, and you need to study for them. However, he does everything he can to get students ready, including explaining the exact breakdown of different kinds of exam questions. Overall I loved this course and am looking forwards to more of Dr. O'Connell's classes.

Ian is my favourite. The reason I came back to university was cartography and he just made the experience fantastic. I would take another class with him in a heartbeat. He was always willing to help and his lectures were not boring. He was very friendly and the whole class felt very open and like a community. He's my favourite professor now

He is my absolute favourite prof! I think a lot of the other people who say that his exams are hard just did not go to lecture. He explains things really well and gives hints as to what is on the exam. Of course you still need to study. He also lets you go see your midterm anytime for the rest of the class and gives feedback to help.

Professor Ian tries to keep things engaging with his easygoing nature and humor, though lectures can feel scattered. The labs are fun, but exams are brutally tough - focus on tiny details from slides. Unstuck ai was a helpful study tool alongside the textbook.

Ian is a great prof! Really passionate about what he's teaching and goes over the basics so you understand the concepts

He keeps everything so interesting, answers questions decently well and makes the whole class laugh. Labs for this class can be overwhelming but he makes sure to make time for you if you need the help. He knows his shit which is why he can be a little speedy when you're trying to learn the content. Good teacher, like he actually want to be here.

Ian is a lovely prof who really does care about his students and wants them to do well. His lecture pace is very quick and does not go in depth on concepts, so I found watching YouTube videos and reading up on topics covered helped me do well on the tests.

He was so so funny and gave good feedback when you saw him outside of class

Ian was a super great prof. Hes funny, cares for the students, midterm and final are easy if you study, labs are interesting and boost your grade for sure. Definitely would take his class again.

Great guy, he knows stats can be intimidating for many and tried his hardest to be approachable and help us to do well. It was quite an unorganized class however which added on to the stress of things. Labs were graded leniently but sometimes the tutorials gave the absolute bare minimum. Take 255 if you can, too much time and stress for this class.

Awesome professor. Get ready to laugh at his silly jokes. Evaluation was fair but labs were pretty long. Spend one session doing the entire tutorial and then have to repeat the entire thing but with your own data. Didn't really help me understand the material; i was too focused on finishing them on time. Good course, but not as exciting as I hoped.