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Not an easy course, but he is an unbelievably good professor. Worth any pain yo

Excellent prof. imparts his enthusiasm to the class. Known as Mr. Vivacious

Fabulous! Take anything with him!

Amazing prof but hard course. Be prepared to write really fast & read lots

Unbelievably brilliant, insane man--the course is difficult, but worth the work.

Best prof I've ever had. Truly inspiring.

John's course is by far the most interesting, informative course I've taken!

He is a rock star to the max! The best teacher I have had in university yo.

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Bad-review people probably just did bad in the course. John is amazing!!! =)

Best Prof Ever!

John was the best prof I've ever had.

Good course. Good prof.

smart dude, but explanations usually come way over my head. projects very hard.

THIS TEACHER KICKS ASS! ask him bout his Chi stuff its pretty kool.

AWESOME!

Easily the best prof I've ever had. Re: comments that you have to agree with him to get good marks, or that he belittles people who ask questions, that's simply false. He expects you to back up what you say, and if you don't, he lets you know.

When I found out I would be sitting in a 3 hour night lecture for JUP250, I anticipated a pretty hellish experience. But Vervaeke is such a good lecturer that I come out feeling happy and energized and engaged in the material. Funny, smart, challenging, highly recommended. He really gets it.

Great presentation and very enthusiastic. Willing to go the extra distance to discuss topics with anyone who wishes to come forward (in some cases to an extreme). TA had a problem returning test 1 on time, making essay and prep for test 2 more challenging. I absolutely recommend J.V. and this class.

By far the best experience and class I have had in university. Take one of his courses if you have the slightest interest in cognitive science, psychology, or philosophy. He makes you smarter, and makes it fun too.

Best class of the year.

Course does not so much have difficult material as it has difficult marking. Two hour tests took three hours -- but, to his credit, V. did give three hours to do them. He is enthusiastic, though his style wore thin by the end. Too much time was spent on digressions from student questions -- that can be good, but V. doesn't know when to quit.

Marking not arbitrary at all - tests feature several paragraphs at the beginning outlining EXACTLY how they will be scored. Prof is available during office hours and will discuss how grade was decided and will accept reasonable and supported arguments for change.

Totally changed my life! One of the best of the best, inspirational and challenging - encourages the best to come out in his students, and follows through with making material both eye-opening and fun!

Hands down, one of the best profs at U of T. Absolutely brilliant.

Excellent professor, excellent material. Very involved in his field - open to new information and ideas from students, always willing to play devil's advocate and make sure you have really thought your ideas through. Makes you think, learn, and be a smarter, better person than you were. Wish he taught more courses - best professor at U of T!

Great Prof. Really gives a lot to the students with 10 hours of office hours a week. Also very clear and humorous while lecturing. Hard class, but well worth the effort.

When you take the time to visit with him and show that you have put some thought into what you have to say, you will walk away with more than you entered. Engaging, challenging, very well-read. Rather prone to migraines and it can affect his teaching. Test grades are very fair and open to discussion. Make sure you can support your claim before

Extremely interesting lecturer. Known by some for mind-blowing, world/perspective-changing lectures. Has turned several people I know onto cognitive science. His courses have been the best I've taken at UofT and he was probably the best prof I've had. Possible complaint is that he teaches 'at a high level' - ie, for the more advanced students.

This is an excellent professor, by far the best prof ive had at UofT

Despite what some have said, Vervaeke is an inspiring, excellent professor. His courses are not easy, or "GPA boosters", but for those who want to challenge themselves and are open to having potentially life-changing insights, this course is for you. I did not get my highest marks in his classes, but I what I learned was far more invaluable.

Best class I took during my time at U of T. Not my major and so I was out of my depth but it was still brilliant.

awesome, totally involved and inlove with his study.

Really engaging prof. He has his teaching flaws but is overall extremely inspiring. He just talks and does not make notes available but is still organized and insightful and if you're good at taking notes it's not a problem. Really funny and makes the subject that much more enjoyable with the real world examples (especially with his kids). A++! :D

AMAZING PROF. extremely inciteful, engaging, and dynamic. not an easy course by far but my favourite in my time at UofT

I didn't have a high interest for the class coming in, but this prof is extremely engaging and insightful and his lectures have been by far superior to other classes i've been in! his exams are like he says fair but challenging but its easy to do well on them if you put effort into the course LOVED his classes (=

Vervaeke is by far the most inspiring professor I've had at U of T. He is passionate and engaging, I feel like I've gained something every time I leave one of his lectures. Vervaeke made me remember why I came to university in the first place.

Great if you enjoy cognitive psych, but he shouldn't be teaching INTRO to development. Cognition is a part of developmental psych, but it isn't the WHOLE thing. He teaches well, and the tests seem fair, but I feel like I've learned nothing about children (why I took the course in the first place)

A leader in his field as well as a leader in the practice of teaching. Prof Vervaeke is an immensely valuable resource to cognitive science and the student population.

The best professor at UofT, hands down. Extremely knowledgeable and approachable. His greatest strength is his amazing talent at connecting seemingly unrelated concepts-he really shows you and wants you to learn how to think analytically and interdisciplinary. I also found him very supportive and encouraging-his critical feedback was invaluable!

Most memorable and enlightening professor!

Prof. Vervaeke is one of the best professors I've ever had at U of T. His classes are a model for what university ought to be like.

I've taken PSY312 and 370 with Prof Vervaeke. Definitely the best professor at UofT. He teaches you how to think. Very rewarding class. His approach to teaching is different, but once you get used to it, you'll be ok.

I've taken two of Vervaeke's NEW courses & taking 2PSY classes this upcoming year. AMAZING PROF, BEST at UofT by FAR, clear & structured lectures (must attend-no use of blackboard), truly cares about students, animated and interested in his lectures, happy to answer q's and take time to clarify. TAKE HIS CLASS!!

He's brilliant, better than that though he's kind and willing to make time for his students when they show a willingness to learn, and that makes him a good teacher. He can seem intimidating because hes so brilliant but he's just so nice, and so cool, you just want to spend all your time learning from him.

Unquestionably the best professor I've ever had. He is the most brilliant professor who not only completely understands what he's talking about, but also knows how to articulate what he knows. In addition, he genuinely cares for his students; even in a class size of more than 70 people, he will try to address people by their name.

One of the hardest, yet best professors I ever had. His way of teaching is very different from other profs; it's more challenging, but it teaches you more than text book knowledge. Very caring/understanding professor; funny; energetic. I would recommend his class for the 'full' university experience. Very nice professor.

Definitely one of the most brilliant professors I've ever had in U of T. I've never had someone who can dissect each articles the the way he can. Just listen closely to what he has to say in class, take very good notes (or get a recorder). I didn't read any of the readings and yet I got 85 average by just listening to what he said in class.

THIS MAN IS GOD!! Seriously, he is an amazing professor! Definitely a rare gem. I'm a notorious class skipper and had no interest going into his classes, but his charisma and dedication just kept me coming back each week. I got an 85 in his course because he made me interested in the material, it was my first A in my university career.

Very good prof. Important to attend lectures and many of the readings are helpful and beneficial when used on exams and in papers. Easy to talk to and loves to get to know his students. His teaching style may not be for everyone, but I find it a lot better than most profs at this university.

Very good professor, very interesting lectures but A LOT of material is covered and testable.

Funny, passionate, and dead-serious

He lectures the whole three hours with no slides. I loved it - he makes it super interesting; like listening to a documentary rather than listing off definitions and examples. But that might not be your thing. Depends on your style of learning.

He was the best Prof. of my first year. He's understanding and very intelligent. Go to LECTURES!! That is the key. Enjoy.

John made me passionate about my major (Cognitive Science) and his own passion for the science shows. He is challenging, but fair, and is extremely accomodating if you have any problems or emergencies. He's a man of sound mind and sound heart. He may come off a bit intense, but it's simply his way of showing love for the topics he teaches. :)

He is absolutely amazing! That being said, he is the type of professor who can only teach those who are actually interested in learning. If you're idea of university is memorizing textbook definitions then don't bother. He presents a linear argument throughout the entire course so go to every class. He's very helpful and accommodating with work.

Amazing prof. Simply amazing. Make sure you go to lectures.

Wonderful professor, best I've ever had! A bit difficult to follow because he goes through the material very quickly, but really catches your attention!! Also, very funny.

Great prof! He's extremely passionate about the material, and he goes out of his way to ensure the class understands it.

Inspirational! I feel that he really helped to facilitate the intellectual growth of his students.

A great prof. He cares about his student, and will explain himself again if asked. Super nice even though he seems intimadating sometimes. The textbook was a was of money. You just NEED to attend lecture. He basically summarizes the readings and goes in depth with his material. Emphasizing critical thinking. Make sure you understand the material.

Great Prof! Really interesting, helpful, cares about his students..

Vervaeke is awesome. Brilliant. Witty. Hillarious. Very engaging. I love his lectures so much! He moves at a really fast pace, and that's something I enjoy, but he's really clear even when the material is difficult to grasp. I wish all my profs were more like him. Chill, on the ground, and freaking smart.

This is one of the most valuable course I've ever taken.

Great learning experience, he makes the effort to get to know you personally

Passionate about his subject matter and thoughtful.

He has been teaching course for 10+ years and yet it is completely lacking in any sort of documentation that would be accessible and useful to students. The man is self indulgent.

Amazing man, and plan on taking all of his classes!

I took his course 3 years ago and I always keep coming back to what I learned in his lectures. Besides very interesting topics you can learn how to think/argue/teach. It's not an easy course but it lays foundation for future work.

Vervaeke is truly one of the best professors that I had at the University of Toronto. His lectures were very engaging. He doesn't try to trick you with assignments or tests. Everything is straight forward and explained clearly.

Inspired me to care.

A truly brilliant man, in my mind he has once and for all settled the mind body problem. His proof of Cartesian dualism is amazing beyond all reproach and doubt and has transformed my whole view on life!

His lectures are him talking for 3 hrs, but he's presenting other peoples' work (if you find the lectures confusing, do the assigned readings before class). Exams are based pretty much solely on lectures. He talks fast, if you can't keep up, he's always available to clarify issues during breaks and office hours. I recommend using a recording device

Def. not used to this lecture style. 3 hours long, no notes, incredibly fast paced and very dense material (including philosophy, psych. & cogsci - all of the top of his head). Brilliant man, though, and very generous and involved with his students & their learning experience. The real pedagogical experience (rare at UofT!)

Amazing Prof!

Amazing class, amazing prof. It's been said before, but Vervaeke knows, loves, lives, and breathes this material. He wants you to understand it, and does his very best to present things in a clear and highly relevant way. If you struggle with anything or have ideas above and beyond the material go to his office hour. #1 most valuable course/prof

Incredible lectures, inspirational ideas, innovative, encourages students to think in a new way. No lecture slides or posts on portal, listening to lectures is necessary. Requires students to not pay attention to insignificant lecture material as he gives long winded and multiple explanations for the same concept to allow deeper understanding

The best professor I've ever had. He changed my life. If you are willing to get into the material with him, ask questions even when you feel stupid and show him that YOU will do the work and not expect him to hand it to you on a platter (welcome to University) you will love his courses - I've taken them all. Hilarious, caring & engaging!

Not you're average 2nd year psych prof. There's no textbook or multiple choice questions. Just essays and term tests. And for each, you can actually pick which topic you'd rather focus on. If you're passionate about the mind, and willing to do a little extracurricular research- you will do very well.

He's adding a lot of his own research in the course. The powerpoint is not very organized but overall he teaches well. very clear presentation. very approachable if you go to his office hour. as long as you study hard enough and read textbook you can do fine.

Professor Vervaeke is an excellent lecturer. As a philosophy major with a strong interest in the philosophy of mind this course was both well within my ability to do well in and was extremely interesting.

Incredible prof - this course reminded me why I went to uni in the first place. Tough, to be sure, but a real breath of fresh air.

One of the best profs I have ever had. Challenging but fair. Don't skip class.

Incredibly well-presented lecture. Very well planned out. Does not use slides and writes very little written down purposefully as figuring out how everything connects is the point of the course and also the best way to really learn the material. Hard class But life changing Lecture

Vervaeke is the best prof I've had during my time at UofT. Fair warning: his background is in philosophy, and so the way he structures/teaches the course is highly informed by this. If you don't want to think too hard about the material, and prefer memorizing facts and findings, this is not the course or prof for you.

He is an amazing professor! Very engaging, you will not fall asleep in his class. However, he is very lecture heavy when it comes to tests so make sure your okay with that. His tests are weighed about 90% lecture content and 10% textbook content. His tests are fair but you must go to class to pass this course. I recommend recording all his lecture

Dr. Vervaeke is a great professor who makes his classes engaging and enjoyable. He is very wise as his knowledge is very broad and really makes you think. His lectures, however, are without slides and therefore all verbal. Difficult for some, so keep this in mind.

Smart guy with well planned lectures. Makes an effort to put something meaningful into his course content. If you pay attention and keep an open mind, you'll actually learn something from him. If you're just there to sleep through lectures and cram the exam, stay home.

The material is exceptionally interesting (which will get one researching outside of class time), and very dense and dispersed (but there is no other way around it!). Must listen to lectures 2x and work hard. Really wants one to learn (succeed) by problem solving for oneself, really. Truly cares about learning. Intense in class; chill outside

Lectures are mind blowingly brain numbing but he really pushes you to understand the material critically and inspires you to be an avid learner. Always very willing to take questions in class and answer to the depth that is needed for you to understand. Take this course if you want to LEARN! Lectures are a must, if you skip one you'll be very lost.

I like his lectures, tho strongly recommend to record his lectures, given that the contents are usually heavy.

He is an amazing lecturer, but you need to really put a lot of time for his class to get a good mark. Heavy lectures and no slides.

Really funny and makes even boring stuff interesting

Interesting course, but I think overall advertised pretty poorly. It's definitely geared towards a more psychology & philosophy take, so if you're coming from neuroscience or computer science the course might not be what you're looking for (especially AI wise). However, John is a very accessible and nice prof! Lectures are intensive but interesting

Very interesting and amazing lecturer!! Definitely my favourite prof so far. Unfortunately the content is a lot to absorb and it's sometimes hard to grasp concepts. You need to take lots of notes and pay attention, tests are fair, he knows what he's talking about, and once again... amazing lecturer.

Amazing. This course has been life-changing. 3 books for the course (small ones though) and you can get away without reading them (they are interesting but they're not totally necessary by any means). Fair grading.

Made a boring 6-9pm class very very enjoyable. Other people complain about his "philosophical rants" but it invites me to think more about the matter hes presenting us in a deeper way. He made me truly interested in psychology!! Great prof (:

difficult tests, but he was one of the best lecturers i've ever had.

He is one of the best Profs at U of T.

John was a really interesting professor. His lecture was enjoyable and I do really like his slides because it is easy to understand. Both Top Hat and his slides are important for the test and it includes a lot to remember. The questions are tricky, which contains a lot of answers like "both A and B" or "No of the above"

John is one of the most knowledgeable, passionate and fascinating lecturers I've ever experienced. He constructed COG250 with a narrative structure, which made the course interesting and easier to remember and study. Be prepared to take lots of notes and study regularly (preferably with a group). I highly recommend taking any course taught by John.

After taking 3 of his courses, I made a clean list of pros vs. cons: Pros: 1. Life-changing lectures 2. Encourages everyone to talk and tries to manage a good atmosphere for discussion 3. Not really approachable (busy with his research& youtube channel) Cons: 1. Atypical criteria for assignments&essay(need merge psy&phl) 2. No slides or notes :(

Most influential professor that I've had at this institution -- he's exactly the kind of professor I wanted to meet here. A mix of wise sage and cognitive science wizard.

Vervaeke's lectures were so much fun. He'll answer any questions and challenge any statements. Vervaeke is wise and presents content especially well for not having any lecture slides, although he would collect lecture notes from students and post them on Quercus which was helpful when reviewing before a test. Overall one the best profs I've had

He is truly passionate about the subject and gives amazing lectures. He makes even the boring stuff quite interesting and really offers incredible insight and explanations. They are quite long but that's the only think you have to do for this class so overall I would say its a pretty low commitment class.

great professor! he makes things interesting, you can tell he's passionate, and he's super straightforward. and funny! easy to get a good grade as long as you take good notes & memorize them before tests lol

Prof Vervaeke was deeply understanding to the difficulties of COVID and made sure that everyone had an opportunity to do well by making lectures the only material of the course. Lectures were long, but were well done and interesting. We only had tests, no papers. The course was very straightforward.

His lectures are pretty dense, but he maintains good discussion with students and is willing to answer questions. This course was one of the more challenging, yet interesting courses I took that year. If you keep up with course work, tests are manageable. They are unusual and greatly focus on your understanding of the material.

Honestly one of the best lecturers I've ever had. Changed the way I view the importance of having a good instructor for a course. Pretty cool dude. But please John, if you are reading this, use slides to teach and not a whiteboard with the messiest writing I've ever seen.

I was worried about the course at first because I realized there were long readings, no lecture slides or recordings, and abstract philosophical content. However, lectures were interesting and gave unique perspectives, and grading was very fair. Readings were more of a supplement than absolutely necessary and class discussion was great.

Vervaeke seems kind and intelligent but the inaccessible, three hour lectures are hard to take notes on as there are no slides, he speaks quickly, doesn't enunciate, and does not use a microphone. Grades are based off of three essay style exams and two long essays, which take forever to return. Very little criteria/outline and feedback is given.

Best professor I have ever had. John is truly so inspirational not just as a prof, but as a person. He is extremely busy but always makes time for his students and really cares about them. If you have the privelage of taking a class with him definitely do so, or at least walk into one of his lectures and just listen. Truly a life-changing man.

You'll either love or hate John, and you'll know right away. I've had the equivalent of 3 full-year courses with him; I'd do more if I could; and I knew it from COG250 lec 1. Love because he gives a lot of good tools for cogsci, reasoning & life. Otherwise, if during your first class, you think "but there's no lecture slides..", drop if you can.