....yea, not so great..lol

Sherman's note NOT helpful at all.He tends to show a slide with all steps written,rahter than work thru the reaction mechanism to show the concepts.Lectures are deceivingly easy, which fools you into thinking you get the concepts,while you actually don't!Skip a LOT of basic concepts needed to understand the whole picture.

crappy notes and not helpful too many mistakes in notes

His lectures were all over the place, and he can be very dismissive of student questions (an attitude of "i can't believe you don't understand this wow"). Tried very hard and his joke breaks were the highlight of class, but ultimately an ineffective teacher for this course.

Sherman didn't know what needed to be taught. He would answer questions with "I don't know" or "I'm not sure if we need to know that". He had trouble explaining topics and his lectures were all over the place. He wouldn't tell us what he was explaining. He was rude in emails, and didn't really care about the class even when we were failing.

Gives really easy quizzes to his sections. Doesn't teach very well - he spends most of his time doing questions from the worksheets. Messy writer, unsure on what is testable on final, condescending. Taking Chem 233 with John Sherman as your prof is equivalent to teaching yourself the whole course. Also, his jokes aren't funny

He is very condescending during office hour and when asked for clarification on problem set questions, he simplied replied with " just draw out the mechanism. " He taught one unit in 2-3 minutes. I invested a lot of effort for this class because lectures were pointless in helping you succeed. I don't think he cares about his students and his class.

I sometimes question whether the prof knows what he's teaching. A lot of class time was wasted. Despite the material being very easy, exams were graded in a non-sensical way. Although the class pretends to be focused on critical thinking, it's really just rote memorization.

One of the toughest classes ever. No one should take this class. Especially, you should not take this class if you're stuck with this professor. Trust me, you're better off watching online chem videos then to show up to even one of the classroom lectures.

If you are going to take CHEM 233, I recommend taking it in the summer. For some reason, the winter profs for this class are not good at teaching the course, very vague at the material needed to study, and overall rude and not engaging. Completely different vibe from taking it in the summer.

Don' t take this class. Waste of precious time. Honestly should not have been this difficult. Makes basic chemistry seem like rocket science.

Horrible!

Makes me laugh! That BAD.

Plain class with boring homework.

Horrible class to take.

You will probably learn more from YouTube videos and from a textbook than from his classes. His explanations are confusing and all over the place. While his exams are fairly difficult, his grading scheme is awful and the grades you get aren't an accurate representation of how well you actually did. Definitely would avoid if I had the choice.

Terrible class, I ended up learning from youtube. Unreasonable harsh grader.

Just do not take any course with this professor, repeat do NOT. Unless you want to receive a really bad grade and learn nothing than you should not take any of this professor's classes.

honestly..... trashiest and meanest human being on planet earth. no better words to describe him also why is there no 0.1 rating? :/

Waste of time and energy, just do not take this class if he is teaching.

Its a shame that he is the only Professor for this course, so we dont have any other option but to take him as the prof. He is a bit all over the place during the lecture, and is awful at explaining stuff. I wish UBC had multiple profs. for this course given that it is mandatory for many programs, then maybe ppl would learn from this course.

Worst prof I've ever had in UBC. He doesn't explain any of the materials, but only reads off his notes, which he mostly gets out of from a different prof. Rest of the class he would only do examples, when the majority of the students don't know what is going on. Again, he doesn't explain his examples unless somebody asks questions.

Avoid this section. In a course like chem 233 it is completely wrong to have a prof like this teaching. There is such a quality difference in instruction between him and the other professors. My marks improved by 2 letter grades when I stopped attending his lectures and read the other professors 50+ page slides on my own time vs his 1 page notes...

Just skip his lectures and go to someone else's. If you don't believe the low rating, go check his section averages versus the other sections for CHEM 233 (guess who has the lowest). Writes his quizzes harder too.

He goes super fast and is not great at explaining the material. I had to stop attending his online lectures and watch other prof's videos because his class only confused the heck out of me.

Went in a different order than the other profs which made the content difficult (covered something that wasn't even on the first midterm). Hard to follow and confusing when answering questions.

Prof Sherman makes the content very confusing, and doesn't answer questions clearly. His worksheets are meant to be overly difficult and we end up having to look up answers. Between midterm 1&2 I followed another lecturer and my mark went up by 35%. He also teaches the course in a different order which makes it hard to get help from anyone but him.

took this course last term with him online. very disorganized with lectures and does not adequately explain over collaborate. quizzes are difficult compared to other sections- for one quiz our average was 40% while the other class' was 80%. do not recommend

Test some materials that are irrelevant to the lecture. Very difficult exams that rely on heavy scaling. Waste 10-20 mins every class to do joke breaks (not funny) and Q&A. Messy notes with errors (or skipped mechanisms). Doesn't know how to pace his lectures after all these years. Do not schedule midterms dates until later with no accommodation.

Well, I can say this is the worst prof I have met at the campus, it is quite horrible that someone can teach that bad, no lecture slide, the whole class is like a Q&A courses for worksheet. Strongly recommend DO NOT take this course with Prof. Sherman, it will ruined ur confidence and let you start questioning why I dont understand

I am currently taking it with Sherman and struggling in every aspect of this class. I don't think I will pass this course. Horrible instructor, horrible lecture notes. I would recommend everyone to not take this course rather than taking it with him Please. I wish I can pass this course and everyone else too.

knowledgeable about OChem but a very poor teacher. handwritten "slides" are cluttered and unintelligible. His quiz averages are often much lower (i.e. quiz 2 58% vs 75% for Jay). superficially blows through all the testable material at the speed of light, then kills time by writing out non-testable mechanisms. I only went to class for the quizzes.

Incredible how a single professor can have such a huge impact on a student. Taking this course has killed my want to continue with my dream career because of how incompetent it made me feel. Professor doesn't care about the students, does not teach any content and makes his students feel stupid, even the students often being very confident in chem.

I have to preface this by saying I do not go to most lectures, but based on the ones I have: his notes are unclear (no slides btw) and his lectures have next to no organization, he goes through worksheets as 'teaching'. Some people shouldn't be teachers. I hope you have access to other profs lectures, they will save you (and youtube ofc!).

Horrible horrible horrible. Im sorry but he doesnt even explain the material properly he just solves worksheets instead. Finishes material super fast so even when I felt like I understood the material from other profs, i would still do extremely bad on his quizzes. Was so sad to drop and lose my promotion to third year.

Go with literally any other prof for CHEM 233. Hardest quizzes out of the all of the profs available (as quizzes are section dependent). All they do is drag your overall class grade down. Lectures and lecture materials are absolutely horrendous for learning chemistry. Great guy but avoid his sections at all costs.

I am someone who sees the good in most professors. Everyone has their own teaching style. Dr. Sherman is an exception to this. Does not explain basic concepts (important in OChem) and expects you to have divined it all from his illegible 'handouts'. His quizzes don't offer meaningful assessment. Treat his class like a glorified problem session.

hes really bad. being in his section for chemistry is so unfair for the students. the quizzes are harder and you dont have access to slides like the other sections have. his notes are not useful at all and do not help you learn. go to the other sections lectures instead. you wont learn anything from him. doesnt seem to care about students at all.

Understanding Sherman's teaching and notes are the hardest thing in the entire world. He goes on pointless tangents and 5 min jokes, his notes and lectures are confusing and detached from the material, and his quizzes are brutal and have no relation to the things you learned. Avoid him at all costs! Transfer or go to other lectures if you get him.

Im sorry but just absolutely NO. I think Sherman is definitely a nice guy but just not a good chem lecturer at all, most people had no clue what was going on in his class. Quiz averages were consistently around 50% and at the end my section had an average more than 10% below Jay's so thats saying something...

I have a friend in 3rd-year o-chem and we found out that some of the quiz questions are from the 3rd-year o-chem worksheet. No wonder why our section has the lowest average. Also, learning on your own or watching recordings from jay is wayyyy better than going to lectures because Sherman explains the concepts in a very complex and confusing way.

He is a genuinely good guy, but has some backwards ideas about how teaching should be done. He teaches the class with the assumption that everyone already knows all the material, and we are attending to further our interest in the subject. I had to learn by listening to another professor, so I essentially did 6 credits of class each week.

Professors need teaching degrees. Sherman taught nothing through the course of the semester. I discovered another section's professor's lectures too late to bring up my mark significantly but it it obvious that Sherman was incomparable to Jay Wickenden. Take any prof instead of Sherman. After the first few weeks the lecture hall with him was empty

Please, avoid him at all costs. He is THE worst prof that I've had yet. His teaching style is horrible, he expects us to understand everything before we come to class, and spends more time making (bad) jokes than actually explaining concepts. He's racist, and is so unhelpful when you ask for help. Also, unwilling to take the blame for his messes.

Terrible. I would suggest avoiding but you can't because he's the coordinator. One of our exams had numerous poorly written questions, and when large groups of students were understandably confused and reached out to the department he responds with a snarky, passive aggressive email blaming the students for the faults of the course. Unprofessional.

John Sherman's teaching style makes little sense on the best of days. However what I struggle with the most is his attitude towards students and towards taking ownership for his own mistakes. I have never met a professor who addresses students with such utter disdain, every communication I received was rude and lacked any sort of professionalism.

Does not understand that students cannot learn from having a man read off a projected PDF for two hours straight with little connection-making or in-depth, understandable explanations. Obviously knows what he's talking about (most of the time), but his teaching ability is appalling. Doesn't help that he's bewilderingly unapproachable either.

RUDE he is so mean. His phone rang 4 times during a midterm. Does he not know how to silence his phone. Even better, HE PICKED UP AND HAD THE CONVERSATION. This has happened multiple times. Always passive-aggressive and hinting that all students are wrong and stubborn af. He doesn't use slides so his lectures are disorganized.

Just awful

Does not teach well. Reads off pdf.

the exam was so hard that no one could ever enjoy studying organic chem again.

Just doesn't show any care in regards to students and the fact that it is our education on the line. Practice for exams is inadequate and contains mostly untestable content, Sherman also loves to send out passive aggressive emails faulting students for everything. The literal head coordinator of the course and does not seem to put in any effort.

sucks at grading tests and gets no hoes

He is so rude and passive-aggressive. He never takes ownership of his mistakes but instead blames everything on students. Why is he course coordinator? His exams are so unfair and not at all reflective of the content taught in class #bringbackjay

Never rate any professors before. But John Sherman? Definitely have to

AVOID AT ALL COST. Our 2nd mt average is ~54 for 1200 people. He think he did nothing wrong and wrote email hinting it was the student fault. He wrote 1.5 pages explaining his marking scheme that basically says students don't run this course, and he takes off more mark if most people got a questionsmt right. I can literally write an essay to this

I have NEVER taken the time to rate a professor poorly. The concepts in this class are not even particularly hard to me, and I have done well on both midterms (80+). However, this does not mean John Sherman is a good professor. He clearly thinks he is better than anyone, and very evidently enjoys watching students struggle. DO NOT TAKE

His tests are very unreasonable and not enough time is given. My mental health has significantly dropped since I have put in so much work to see horrible marks. He blames his students and is very passive aggressive in his emails. Do NOT take the course with him.

This prof doesn't have structure in his lecture. Reads from a pdf and skips over important examinable concepts. Example focused, doesn't cover enough of the concepts. Wastes time telling jokes during lecture. Don't take his course, if you do be ready for lots of self learning.

This prof is easily the worst prof at UBC. Man was investigated by UBC last term only to come back as chem 233's course head? That's a joke. He also explained how if many people got an answer right on the midterm, he would change the answer key to make it difficult to get full marks. Reads off a pdf during lectures too without explaining topics

He makes it explicitly clear that he doesn't care about students. He's only here to collect his 6-figure salary and fuel his superiority complex. Sherman to a student on Piazza: "Sometimes I wonder if people like you even consider the possibility that I am a decent teacher... Are you really in a good position to make that judgement?". Uncalled for.

Notes are impossible to follow, he literally scrolls through a messy pdf file during lecture while every other prof uses organized slides. The only good thing out his lecture is the example problems he sometimes goes through, but he expects you to come to class having already known the material. He's also very passive agressive when answering Qs

Provides no feedback to students, blames students for not understanding but doesn't explain concepts in lectures. Refuses to record lectures and goes incredibly fast through content. Ignores raised hand questions in lectures. The only way to pass is to either get a private tutor or teach yourself from youtube.

He's a good scientist, but a really bad professor. I think that if possible, he should just stick to research instead of being a source of despair for students. Thank you for nothing.

Short Man Syndrome ~ enough said

I do not usually take the time to leave a negative review but literally save yourself the agony. This man clearly has a profs vs students mentality and will send out long winded emails antagonizing students. Literally left every lecture or finished reading every email feeling more confused and frustrated than before.

Every lecture made me question my existence after I left the room.

I have never felt the need to rate a professor poorly, because I know they try their best. But John Sherman, OH MY LORD. Truly the utmost worst professor I have ever witnessed. I think he should sit in on other professors to take some notes. I can't even tell you to avoid him because many people need 233 as a pre req. But embrace for this mans hell

said he would scale to previous years average, lowest class average in years. just a testament to his terrible teaching, grading and test making abilities. glad to be done with him and his course.

He wants us to develop a sense of intuition (that took years for him to develop) in three months. He used his notes instead of slides which is not helpful at all since most of them are pretty messy. The grading for all exams is a mess. I honestly had to learn the content from other sources since that classes and notes were not enough

Do not take CHEM 233 with this man. He made me form a primary carbocation once.

While the material in this class itself is not necessarily difficult, I had to self learn the entire course because of how disengaging and poor lectures are. While I think Sherman did not facilitate a healthy learning environment, I also think there were times when students would complain for the sake of complaining. Still, avoid if possible.

Really sad to see this site removing honest reviews warning students of his racism/disgusting mistreatement of all his students. It's common knowledge with video evidence all over reddit of what he did. I can't say how bad he actually is i guess, but HYPOTHETICALLY, if someone were to act and teach like him, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Dr. Sherman made me hate chemistry. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Extremely low class averages should not be blamed on students.

Like all the reviews before this, this man should not be allowed to teach under any circumstances. I could write an essay on this, but I digress. Please keep in mind if you are considering him, the random glowing 5 star review admist a sea of reviews denoting him the worst professor of all time, are written by him.

John Sherman is BY FAR the worst professor I have had in my 3 years at UBC. He is condescending and unwilling to accept even an iota of responsibility for how awful this semester was. Horrible lectures, useless notes, and 5-7 minutes of dad jokes followed by awkward silence because nobody understands the material; BUT OF COURSE, the 58 avg is ON US

Sherman treats his students with the minimum respect possible, often says unnecessary, passive aggressive, even sometimes mean statements either directed towards the students in general, or directly replying to students on piazza. Does not understand that we want to do well in the course, as he consistently aims for the historical 60 average.

Sherman was on a whole other level of a bad prof. He would go into so many tangents, which would cause him to skip some testable material in order to finish in time. His quizzes are very hard, so beware, our section had an average of 58% while the other sections of 66% and 73%. If you are gonna ask questions, be prepared to feel judged.

Taking 233 with Dr. Sherman means having to put in hours on hours of out of class work to learn, practice, and test yourself. Though this is true of most classes the effort you need is astronomical in comparison. Exams are written in very confusing ways and lectures are not a positive nor welcoming environment. Be prepared to teach yourself.

ChatGPT could randomly generate problem sets with clearer questions and answer keys with fewer errors

Youtube taught me everything I needed to learn for this course. I don't doubt the man's a genius but not a very good prof. Taking it in summer was easier in a sense it went by so fast and tests were heavily scaled but the material were dropped like bombs. Again, I paid $600 for this course only for youtube to teach me.

If you genuinely want to learn organic chem- take another prof. He was clearly indifferent and held a callous attitude to the lack of attendance in his section.

bad i taught myself everything

I love chem but his teaching of it made it a nightmare for me. He was accessible for private office hours outside of class but they were practically no help because he would go off on tangents. The material in class was hard to understand because his notes were disorganized, and I taught myself almost everything we learned in second term.

Very rude, made me feel uncomfortable, scrolls on a PDF the whole class... overall made Science One worst.

Chem 100. His canvas page is unhelpful, his answers to students posts in Piazza are rude and dismissive. When he lectures, half of the notes on the chalkboard are difficult to follow and there have been many times where a student asks a question and he - with an extremely condescending tone- repeats exactly what he said the first time or scoffs.