2.4
Quality3.2
Difficulty34%
Would Retake210
Reviews34%
Would Retake
210
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
210 total ratings5
15
4
49
3
25
2
43
1
78
What Students Say
“You can understand his accent and he makes you feel like youre doing well in the class”
ECON101 - 2.0 rating“Going to class is actually physically painful”
ECON101 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
27%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.29 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON101102
4.0
(1)282
3.0
(1)ECO281
3.0
(2)ECON102
2.8
(6)ECON323
2.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
ECON
4.5
ECONOMICS
4.5
101
3.9
ECON281
3.8
ECON101
3.0
Reviews (209)
A little hard to understand at times and is rather boring to listen to in class.
Boring, but explains concepts very well.
excruciatingly boring... totally biased toward people in the classroom. Won't answer some students questions. Hard to understand, very unclear... basically just reads the book in his lectures and does not explain very well.
Biased towards certain members of the class. Reads straight from the textbook. Hard to understand as well.
He's soo boring!!! Doesn't cover any other material than a textbook. Mr.Fong "teaches"/reads all the material word for word out of textbook..He doesn't care about students and does not bother answering questions most of the time...DO NOT take hi
I thought I was going to die when I had to sit in that classroom for an hour and a half.
numbers say it all
Tells you everything you need to know
Can't speak English very well and relies heavily on the textbook as his lecture notes. Not recommended.
Has a thick accent, goes WAY to fast when explaining concepts. Does not make economics very interesting...no sense of humor...very cut and dry. Avg marks on class exams around 60%. need I say anything else?
Very poor professor. Has zero imagination or love for teaching, and it is apparent. His explanations are poor, and he does not, ever, provide clear answers to questions from the class. Where a good prof makes tough subjects easy, he makes easy subjects tough. Not Reccommended.
a dork stupid hard to understand
Not that bad to listen too, although his quizzes have no correlation to any mid-terms. Does follow the text book very closely.
Very difficult to understand, does not answer questions from students, all examples are straight out of the text, gets upset very easily when students don't understand his explanations, constantly mispronounces words such as "ranger" instead of "rancher". Horrible instructor!!!!
Wow, the first class he was talking about Kraft Dinner and how many boxes a student could buy. I thought he said Kaff Dinah and basically i sat with my eyes glazed that whole class until someone whispered, he is talking about Kraft Dinner.
He's unreasonable and strict about little kid things like eating in class etc. But, he teaches you what you must know, and it's all in the book, so I had no problem doing well. His accent is more amusing than unintelligible so those complaints are not valid.
I had to drop this sorry excuse of a class. He teaches right out of the text. Uses crap examples like "Kraf Dinah," "beea," and "rancher," which actually sounds like ranger. He's no good. I can't believe he's still "teaching" here.
This guy is the greatest professor ever! You will never have a prof this easy ever again. Pay attention whole classes go by in 10 minutes, and don't eat or talk or you'll miss valuable information. If you enroll in this class expect easy exams with problems straight outta the text. If you haven't got that I've been sarcastic then kill yourself!!!!!
seems liek a nice guy but his tests my god it seems like 3questions max, and unreasonable with marks, a question like "is this inelastic demand" you say yes, but explain it wrong, there are no part marks, and with the weighting high per question, that can kill your mark also very very slow at teaching only finish maybe 2/3 of the text
the comments about understanding him are completely valid. its hard to pay attention and learn when you can't understand what is being said. to this day i still laugh and think "ranger" when i see the word rancher
Im not a **** but the language barrier here is ridiculous, y'know that and the cruddy teaching
He is impossible to understand. His notes are complete junk as they are taken straight from the textbook. Therefore, he is impossible to learn from. His quizes are all written responses, as are the exams.
This guy cant even speak english!!! All he does is go through slides, and talk about "PESEEE and COOK" (pepsi/coke)
This guy can't even put what coherent sentence together. he has no teaching skills at all.. you basically pay him to read the text book to you, as he teaches straight out of the book. HORRIBLE teacher.
worst teacher of alltime. drop his class if you get him. cannot speak english. cannot teach.
Terrible! Even if I could understand him, I wouldn't wan to. His lessons are very boring and tests are confusing. Don't take this class! If you think you might like economics, you definitely won't after this class. If you are one of those people who never attend class and only read the text, you may want to consider this, but all in-class is boring
he is rude,midterms are out of like 12 marks, does not give any sample problems so when you get to an exam you have never seen the problem b4,always has little twists in every exam that makes a hard question ridiculous.Treats students like they are stupid.Is incapable of answering a questionDO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH FONG! Get rid of him macewan!!
Dropping this class was the smartest thing i've ever done. this guy is horrible. he can't speak english, and i really think he just came off the street and started teaching. he doesn't know anything. what a loser.
this guy is my father and i couldnt even bribe him for a better mark! stay away! and 1+1=4 IS NOT GOOD TEACHING!!!
I like the guy on a personal level, he is quite nice and seems passionate about economics, however his teaching style is horrible! His exam formats is like only a few points, so a minor mistake can cause you up to 10 percent off, and he tests on material he doesnt really cover that well, not to mention the questions always has some kind of twist
Obvously many people here did not do the examples in the text. Midterm and final questions are very similar. A decent teacher but exams are more similar to a 300 or 400 level course.
he's pretty good
Seems like a deecent guy... Horrible teacher. Worst test format ever! Run...
He knows what he is talking about. The course is hard though, don't take it if not necessary.
Good teacher. Cares about his work. Wants his students to do well
Notes are organized well. Exam questions are reasonable, similar to in-class examples and reflect the learned material. He tries hard to make sure students understand. He's a good teacher, contrary to many other ratings here. His accent is more amusing than problematic.
I took his class a year ago. He made sure everyone understand his explaination,but not easy to do so because of his accent. Anyway, I did learn things in his class. His exams seemed hard, but if you did the study guide, it's not that hard. Keep reading text book,that helps you much. Either he taught well or Econ 101 is easy,I got a A+ in his class.
Great techer, know his material, exams are reasonable.
Very difficult to understand and often very un-approachable when you need help.
let us con-seeeee-daahhh the fact that many of the students in this class are moron b-comm students looking for an orga class... hard but do-able
His exams are much too short and dont cover nearly enough of the material. He also seems to test on things he either barely covered (or didnt cover at all). Overall, it was a very frustrating experience, and killed the 4.0 i was riding
takes material directly from text, test are not easy, must do readings before class and complete questions assigned in class for better understanding, likes to go over mid-terms right after the class completes it, as long as read the text and come to class, you should do ok.
Worst teacher , impossible to understand and very rude, he even makes a seating plan!!!
You cannot understand word uttered by this man. He has a very thick accent, and he does not teach very well. However, learning out of the textbook and showing up for exams will work for this class, or atleast it worked for me. I would not recommend him as a teacher unless you are able to keep a straight face to thick asian accents.
Honestly the worst teacher i've ever had. He is incredibly hard to understand, diagrams are unclear and treats his students unfairly, or all equally terribly. If I ever get stuck with this man for another econ class, i'm switching my major or school.
I died in this class. The information isn't the issue as much as he is: he doesn't explain his examples and teaches you only theory, but tests you with numbers on tests. Isn't clear about what you're supposed to learn. Tests are too short (19 points for a midterm???). Tests you on stuff you didn't/barely covered. Avoid unless you enjoy frustration!
Sucks how he won't let you eat in class! Helpful but tests are hard if you're not up to the task
This guy is a disgrace to every proffessor who's earned a doctorate degree. Terrible in every aspect of teaching he is also very strict with rediculous policies: a seating plan, no laptops, no food..Wtf? And he makes you write non stop notes from the begining of class to the end. Good luck understanding him too if you take his class... SO DON'T!!
relies on the textbook for the most part - but a good teacher overall, tries his best to clear things for confused students
Worst prof I've ever had. Can barely understand what he says, and is just an absolute aweful teacher all around. Stay Away!!
he's not a bad person. he certainly knows his stuff.. he just doesn't know how to teach it. I never relied on his notes or his lectures,-- i studied strictly from the textbook since he follows it closely. I consider it a good thing that he follows the text since he's very unclear in class. not a good prof, but not a bad person...
If you study hard for this class, you will be just fine, just don't rely on him to teach you everything, you need to study on your own. also, he borders on being rude when his students ask questions, and his midterms are sometimes a little too long to complete in 50 minutes. if you want to teach yourself, take this class!
horrible. i had an A- throughout the term. final exam bombed it. killed the 4.0 GPA i was going for. his final was practically all math problems instead of THEORY he taught us. I had no idea what i was doing even though i studied A LOT!! rely solely on the textbook too, not just him. stay out. i figured i'd give him a try. bad idea.
HORRIBLE!!!! Went from a 3.7 GPA to a 2.7 GPA in this class. Final was ridiculous. STAY way. I saw these ratings and figured maybe I should just try anyway. I attended EVERY class, read EVERYTHING in the text, studied ALL his notes, and still bombed the final. Just avoid him, don't try to give him a chance like I did. Doesn't know how to teach.
Do not take this class unless you are actually going to go. If you go to lectures and read the text and use your study guide it's fairly easy. Mr.Fong definitely knows his stuff and If you're willing to put in the effort it's a great class.
Great Prof, really know's his stuff. If you respect him, he will respect you in return.
Worst. Instructor. Ever.
very knowledgeable man, few students show any respect for him and continually talk or pack their bags whilst he is speaking. easiest course i've ever taken. STOP blaming the prof for you poor grades, STUDY this is university not grade school.
great teacher, if you pay attention & give him the respect he deserves he gives it back. goes through everything thoroughly and provides you with clear instructions on how to do everything you need for the class
Fong was a pretty good teacher. He went through the material very thoroughly and was always willing to help. I found some o f his remarks very humorous. Some times it is hard to understand him but for the most part pretty good
Explains everything very well, Just have to go to class, pay attention, and go over his slides he gives you to study. Easy A if you put the time in. Boss Fong is AWESOME!
absolutely the best teacher i have come across
I don't know why he has such low rating, when he is a great prof. Yes his lectures can be boring, but his notes are exactly what you get on the exams. I would effeminately recommend him, super easy class !
Had him for 281 and 282. Class had less than 15 people unless there was a test. Waits 2 mins for questions every 5 mins, and on the very rare occasions when there are questions, he doesn't possess the English skills to answer them. I answered more questions for people in class than he did. Posted notes on blackboard, then read them word for word.
The course was pretty easy nothing too challenging but he was very hard to understand because English wasn't his first language. Midterms were not bad but final was awful I feel like he picked the most confusing questions and were hard to follow. I suggest you get out of this class I used rate my prof for this and someone said he was ok not true!!
His online notes are better than his lectures. It was worth attending class just because he would drop hints at what would be on the exams.
Knows his stuff and is a pretty funny guy. His examples are things that he knows his students will relate to. English is not his first language so at first he is not easy to understand but after the first lesson you'll understand him fine.
Joseph knows his stuff in and out without a doubt. Unfortunately many people cannot pass the asian accent barrier because really he is straight to the point with what he is teaching in class. If you go to class every day, practice the m/c questions in the Study, participate with answering his in-class questions you will get a really good mark.
awesome prof
Most boringpainful lecture ive ever sat through. Post's his lectures to Blackboard so class is borderline pointless. Course is pretty straight forward so getting a good grade is not difficult
Makes concepts harder than they should be. Lecture slides are all over the place and are very long and sometimes confusing. Midterm questions include things that were barely touched on or not taught at all. Lecture examples are night and day compared to test questions. My suggestion is to avoid this prof.
Fong definitely seems to know what he's talking about, however he does not always go into depth about certain aspects of the material. Your final grade solely relies on your final exam, 2 midterm marks and 2 quiz marks; if you do bad on one or two of these, you could be in trouble.
great prof!!
He is all over the place, and also very hard to follow.
You won't need the textbook. He post his lecture slides (short and concise) on BB before class so attendance is not mandatory, but in-class exercise answers are not posted so you should attend class (because those will be on the quizzesexams). If you study his slides and practice the examples he posts then an A is attainable.
He is pretty good, first class he'll hint at downloading the textbook from google instead of buying it. Although textbook was never used. He provides review packages of practice questions and the exams are very similar to the in class examples. All in all, predictable exams and an easy A if you show up and review before the exams.
Boring and long lectures punctuated by his awkward humour and hard to understand accent. Reads off the slides. Class isn't mandatory and is actually detrimental to your understanding of the material. Skip, read textbook and slides, do practice questions and you should be fine.
A bit difficult to understand at first but I did not find it an issue. He reads off his slides for each lecture and tries to use examples that everyone can relate to. His tests are pretty easy and he cuts out the non-important stuff.
Professor Fong is a good teacher, but his accent makes it hard to understand him. He's a funny guy, and he always puts the slides on blackboard so attendance isn't mandatory, but it helps.
Has a pretty thick accent. He posts clear and precise notes for his lectures on blackboard. Not amazing but better than the current average rating.
I would't say he is the greatest professor, just because he does have an accent and doesn't articulate very well. However his notes are so precise, straight-forward and useful for the exams and the final that you really don't need him to clarify things any better than he already does. There are class practices that are useful for exams, so show up
love dat class
Fong's lectures are extremely dry and long. He reads right off his power points which makes the class super boring, and turns a simple topic into something confusing. Attendance isn't necessary to passing but he sometimes gives out practice problems in class which help for the exams. The exams are pretty fair, was tested on everything he taught.
Prof has great slides, I hardly opened my book and mostly just studies those, he posts everything on blackboard. Lectures can be boring but he makes some really great examples that helped in my understanding of the material. Guy has a sense of human which is awesome. ECON study guide was also really helpful. Attendance isn't imperative but helps.
Lectures were really confusing. He did examples but they were really hard to follow. The tests were hard and I ended up doing really bad on them. He was always willing to answer questions though.
His accent makes him very difficult to understand and his lectures are confusing and boring. The notes he posts often have Chinese symbols which makes it more confusing.
Joseph is an amazing prof, I had him for my econ 101, and I got a good mark! His exam is basely similar to the study guide, if you study the study guide you will get a good mark! His notes are extremely helpful, there is no need for text books. Joe class don't have any online assignment. I am looking forward to take his class again for econ 281.
Dr. Fong's lectures and notes are very clear and he is there if you need help. Do not skip class, he gives out practice sheets which are on the midterms and finals. The practice workbook helps alot for his multiple choice questions.
If you are looking to maintain a high GPA turn around and go to a different professor. I've got straight A's in my classes but I can already tell with the way he grades, I will be scraping by with a C. You can study and attend class all you want but because there are only 5 tests with terrible wording (by Fong himself), good luck getting marks.
Solid teacher. He has slides that are basically summaries of the text so you don't need to buy it. He makes it super easy to follow along and understand. His slides are on blackboard so you can access them whenever you need for studying purposes or if you miss a class. Quizzes and midterms are fairly easy so long as you understand concepts in class
you have to show up to class to pass. he gives out worksheets that are very similar to what is on the exams, very hard to understand at times so you have to rely on the powerpoint slides.
Honestly, all of the content on his exams are from his lectures so a textbook isn't needed. If you study the worksheets he hands out in class and review the notes taken in class, its an easy A. Just make sure you go to class or you'll struggle.
Very good prof! Majority of people instantly give him a bad rating, or think he's a bad prof due to his harsh accent. If you listen and pay attention you can understand him. All his material on his powerpoints are on the exam! Go to class and you'll get good grades. VERY EASY TESTS
notes are very straight forward and dry at times, hands out usually 1 work sheet per chapter (not nearly enough). extremely test heavy coarse..... fail 1 or 2 and you'll be screwed!!!! would suggest showing up as reading the notes on your own can be tough
CLASS IS SO BORING. HE NEEDS TO LOOSEN UP A BIT
He posts all his pp on blackboard. So it's easy accessible. He only tests on what he teaches, so it's pretty easy to do well in his class. The class is kind of bland but if you're having any troubles, do not feel afraid to ask him. He's super cool with helping you understand.
Thick accent but knows his stuff. Always on time for class and expects you to be as well. His tests are fairly straightforward if you spend your time re re-reading the notes. He posts all power points on blackboard for you to use (sometimes there will be basic info missing intentionally). Overall good course.
Joseph is a great prof, however his teaching style may not be for all. He simply lectures using his powerpoint slides which will be provided on blackboard, meaning lectures can be boring. But that also means you can study all the material outside of class. Marking is difficult but fair, and he provides great examples to help understand material.
He's a decent prof and knows what he's talking about. When it comes to his accent you can make out what he's saying be sometimes can get very annoying. I absolutely hated how the course was mainly based on tests and exams. There was 2 quizzes worth 6% each and then a 2 midterms worth 25% each and a final worth 38%. And they tests were not clear.
Super annoying and not very easy to understand. And he is also rude.
The most boring lectures in the history of post secondary education. Going to class is actually physically painful.
This professor is awesome. Like one of the raters stated, his teaching style is not for everyone. I had 281 & 282 with him in the same semester (both night classes), and I had to force myself to attend. His accent is very clear, and he's actually quite funny. The midterms and final are based on his lecture notes so you don't have to go to class.
Joseph made a subject that is as simple as breathing harder than all my other classes. He is hard to understand, his questions are worded terribly (same with his answers). He relies on 3 tests to grade you. So if you fail any of them, you may as well drop the course and try again. I got sick of him and dropped. Hopefully Andrew Wong is better.
Classes are boring and can be hard to understand at times. He can get frustrated with questions if people don't understand. There is NO homework & only 5 tests (2 quizzes, 2 midterms & Final exam) Reads off his power point slides and provides printed sheets for class work.. This class requires you to choose your amount work you put in.
You can understand his accent and he makes you feel like youre doing well in the class.... then you take a midterm or quiz (which is the only thing youre graded on) and you fail miserably because its completely different than what hes laid out in class.
Worst class ever. Econ 281 is super hard with him. his notes are terrible, he doesn't care about you or your marks, does not explain things well. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. and his lectures are so damn boring
super great guy, average teacher, uhhhhh his accent is sometimes hard to understand but compliments his sense of humour, has very funny facial expression as if he were a cartoon character
Good prof, kept lectures somewhat interesting. No homework throughout the class and the textbook is never used. There are only a few things that you are graded on so make sure you do good on them.
He makes jokes, and tries to break it up-- but the course is still boring, monotonous, and exhausting. Although if you don't want homework, he only does 2 test, 2 midterms, and a final.
Terrible Terrible lectures, doesn't care about you or your mark, very stuck up in his own ways, tries to be funny but he is really boring, notes are terrible. just terrible in general! don't take his class. He is rude.
He is light-hearted and good-humored, but not that great at teaching. Reads of his powerpoints ( which are fairly straightforward but don't reflect the midterm or the quizzes). If you ask a question he'll just repeat the same sentence a few time. P.S. His accent isn't as bad as people portray it to be.
Dr. Fong was an easy grader and his exams were all pretty easy. He also assigns no homework, all grading is based on exams/quizzes. Attending class helps, but isn't necessary as he posts all the slides online. He's just very very boring, I had to do 3 hour lectures on Friday evenings and it was very much a struggle trying to stay attentive.
So here is the thing about Econ 101. The course is so easy, just don't overthink anything. The lectures are very boring and difficult to stay there the whole time, especially if its a 6PM Friday class like mine. However, if you stay Dr. Fong will explain it in a way that will make it easy and make sense.
I j-walk on the way to this class because getting taken out by a bus would be more enjoyable than sitting through another lecture . tests are easy though
Mr Fong is awesome. I can totally understand people's roadblocks with him; his accent is thick, & he isn't always the best at re-explaining examples. But these minor things aside, he is amazing. The broken English (I felt) can actually be used to your advantage, since the tests usually are more 'basic' and easy to understand. Easy class all in all.
Literally the biggest waste of time going to class since i learn nothing and when students asks questions he answers back basically saying your dumb. Worst professor I've seen and i don't know how people spend so much money for university and we are taught by people like him. Theres no homework, assignments, or practice questions. It is all tests.
criticizes you for asking questions. belittles his students, his class is painfully boring.
there is prob worse profs you can have but there are for sure better ones. No assignments which is nice, but some more practice questions would have been good. Class is completely useless unless you are doing a practice sheet . Can be rude to students who ask valid questions.
I think he is a good professor, his ppt was really clear, read it and re-do the practice question you will get a great mark! Easy exam, but a little bit boring lecture. Overall I will choose him again.
So lets start with this, i taught myself this course. But Fong made that really easy! His notes are no BS, as well as super straight foward and after every chapter there are activities that match the exams. Lasty the exam are SUPER sample.
His lectures are straight forward, nothing crazy. All his slides are available online, so technically you don't HAVE to show up, but you should. His tests are standard, no surprises, I suggest using the study guide and read over the textbook for extra coverage.
Joseph is just not a good prof. He does understand economics well but he cannot teach it. When asked a question in class, he actually gets mad and refuses to answer the question. He belittles you when you ask questions and expects you to know the answer regardless of the situation. I'm usually not abrupt like this, but Joseph is not a good prof.
Despite there being no assignments, I thought Fong was pretty decent. He teaches the material well and does plenty of in-class exercises to practice the material. He also comes around the classroom if anybody has questions or needs help. His slides on blackboard are pretty good as well, and if you study decently for his tests you'll do fine.
Very easy prof and didn't even need to show up. The lectures are word for word what he puts on his slides. All you have to do is read his slides and you'll pass. When I did show up for his lectures it was entertaining to watch. He really knows his stuff.
Your final is worth almost 40%, and the rest is off of two quizzes and the midterms. And don't expect any homework to help you understand the concepts taught. He reads off of PowerPoint slides, and will belittle you if you don't understand anything. Stay clear of him. 0/5 would not recommend.
Fong's lectures are very straighforward (I also understood him with his accent). His exams reflect what he teaches in class. Fong also makes the effort to go around class and help students out. Overall, Fong is an alright prof (I personally did not find him as bad as other students did).
Understands the content but, does not foster a learning environment in class, or when asking for help at his office, which is a mess. He likes it when you ask a question, but rarely does he let you finish asking it, and doesn't actually answer it correctly, as a result. Cross-talk results. Nothing personal, but big mistake taking his class.
I honestly don't know why people didn't like him, I thought he was fantastic, and never rate professors but thought he deserved a good one. Don't listen to all of the negative reviews. He grades mostly on exams - this is fantastic as you don't have to waste your time on group activities and projects.
Fong was great and way easier to understand than other students make him out to be. I loved this course, very straight forward and intuitive. Fong was super understanding and if you took a second after class just to go up and ask him for clarification he was totally present and helpful. His humor is a little awk. but adorable. Would take again.
Great prof! Very understanding of circumstances and really tries to make the student grasp the concept. His examples are great too! Classes are straightforward and to the point.
I am undergrad 1st year, by far he is the worst prof. I had. The chapters examples are online but without solution. To have notes/solutions you MUST attend his classes. His accent makes it really hard to understand the lesson. I self-studied 95% of this Econ 101 to barely pass. He tries his best to make sure you understand the lesson tho. Avoid.
Final exam was hard but his quizzes and midterms were easy -- manageable as long as you read the textbook and do the study guide (which helped tremendously). Gives handouts and helps you with them. Doesn't tolerate phones and talking during lectures. His explanations were direct to the point and summarize every chapter in his powerpoints.
Definitely worried about taking his class before because of the reviews. I think he is a pretty good prof. He his an accent but I could understand what he was saying 99% of the time. His notes are written in simple English making it really easy to understand. Just SHOW UP to class and you will be fine.
He's a great guy, but an average teacher. His accent is pretty thick making it hard to understand online lectures so I stopped going because it was pointless for me to. Fair grader, but the notes he gives us are very basic and his there's nothing interesting about his classes because he's a very textbook prof.
not a great professor, lectures were kinda boring so it wasn't very interesting. wouldn't take again.
He made econ 101 very challenging. He's hard to understand and doesn't explain anything. If you ask a question he will just read what is written on the slide.
Professor Fong somehow managed to make ECON 101 a difficult course something that many people I have talked to thought was impossible. The reason for this was that although I feel guilty saying this, he only knows enough English to vaguely explain the material when lectures are very important in his class. I would not take one of his classes again.
What a nice gentleman, always makes sure he is being clear and that no one has questions. Does not move along too fast and I feel like I actually learn something from his lectures. Mind you this class has very simple material, I could probably do without the lectures but he is so nice I tend to go to all lectures regardless.
Mr. Fong is an extremely knowledgeable prof. He has a bit of an accent, but it does not impede his teaching abilities in the slightest. He prepares students well for exams, and provides quality feedback. He explains concepts clearly so that they are easily understood. If you show up to this class and study what he tells you, you will suceed!
Professor Fong makes this course more challenging than It should be. He does make sure no one has questions but if there are questions he doesn't explain them very well. He is a textbook-based prof and it's very limiting because he just reads off the slides. I stopped going to his lectures and have taught myself stuff by watching another prof.
I have had to teach myself all of the content through watching Kahn Academy lessons on YouTube. He has no humour or charisma which makes him a boring professor. If I don't study the chapter and understand the concept BEFORE the lecture I am lost with his explanations. He makes a straightforward topic way more complicated than it needs to be.
Everything in this class was horrible. I still don't know how this guys is even a professor in an english-speaking university. You'll learn more from youtube than from this class.
Lots of lecturers and I found that he does not explain things very well.
Has a thick accent making it harder to understand the course and making econ 101 more difficult than it should be. Tests are difficult and barely give you any time for them. Learned most of the material online through youtube videos. Just don't take this class with him or just do it on your own
I will start by saying that I watched Mr. Jacob Cliford on YouTube to learn all materials. The content itself is easy, somehow he made it extremely boring and complicated. There is no emphasis on important content. His accent made the lecture ridiculously hard to understand, I don't mind professors with accent, but this one is something else.
I was hesitant to take his class for the fall semester because of the ratings but it wasn't as bad as others say. If you are diligent in attending lectures then you should be fine. 3 hours of lecture might not work for everybody tho so good luck .
He is not hard to understand, but his classes are very dry and boring. His tests and quizzes were very difficult. He did not really walk through any examples to show how calculations are performed. His worksheets that were supposed to do in class were not shown step by step either instead, he would just ask us what we got and if it was right or not
I'm not too sure why this prof gets all the negative reviews, personally, I thought he was really good. His accent is so easy to understand. The issue is that there is no homework at all, so there is no opportunity for review. You are also marked on only 5 tests, so you have so much pressure to do good, but easy course if you study material.
His accent is hard to understand and complicated things Econ 101. The final was very difficult making me almost fail the class even though I had good grades on the quizzes. Also has tough questions on tests in very little time to complete. Don't take the class with him
Overall, he is a decent prof. He did try to help students understand all the concepts, but I find his lectures not very interesting. The content of this course is not that complicated but his explanations did not really help me much. I recommend using the Study Guide, the textbook was not used much. Grades rely heavily on few tests so be beware.
TAKE A DIFFERENT PROFESSOR i’m about halfway through his course and he is impossible. the way that he over explains everything makes it very difficult to understand. his accent is also incredibly strong. i’m going to start learning on youtube instead of his lectures. be prepared to be your own teacher
He taught simple Econ101 concepts in a very complicated way. He clearly knows his stuff though. He is helpful and easily access by email. 5 tests determine your final mark. The textbook is not used at all but the study guide is VERY helpful. I watched a lot of Jacob Clifford videos to supplement the confusing teaching method.
Overall I think that Prof. Fong did a wonderful job. Grading criteria and assignments were clear and he provided time for additional support for those that needed it. Math is not my strong suit so did well with concepts and grade wise until the final exam. Those that are good/ok at math would do well, just keep up with assignments.
Enrolled into his online class. His slides are worded horribly, I had to consult the textbook several times just to understand the concepts.
I had him online async, and he was pretty good. The posted lectures were pretty boring, but I learned the material from just the slides. The class is only graded on a few tests, the textbook is barely used so just try to look for a free PDF, but the study guide was insanely helpful. His class is pretty easy, but be prepared to do some math!
He is nice and easy to talk to/email, but his lectures are horrible. He emphasizes easy concepts and skips over easy ones. Be prepared to teach yourself everything using his notes/YouTube. Would not recommend.
your grade is determined by 3 quizzes, the midterm and the final. This would be okay if the lectures weren't very hard to understand. The lecture slides and what is on the tests do not correlate therefore it is very hard what to expect. the class averages were always around 60%.
Lectures are a bit hard to understand sometimes, but he answers emails within 24 hours & he's easy to meet with for office hours. He provides worksheets; if you understand those and buy the 23$ study guide from the bookstore, you'll get 85+ on everything.
This was a fairly easy course but you will be teaching yourself most of the chapters. I highly recommend getting the textbook and the study guide as this will help you pass the 2 midterms and final. There are no other assignments so your grade is heavily based off 3 exams total.
Went into the class expecting an easy A or A+. Notes were terrible and barely helped. Even in online asynchronous, the class was made harder than it was supposed to be. Avoid and find a better prof or do something like PSYC or SOCI if you need this as a GPA booster.
This class was a great first year class. Joseph Fong is an excellent, straight to the point, instructor. He has relatable examples and keeps terms and concepts simple. Would recommend the textbook and study guide as this course was only graded on a few tests with not as many questions. Overall great professor
Takes forever to respond to emails, and doesn't help with or give clarification when asking for help with challenging questions. Be prepared to teach yourself everything from the textbook, because his lecture slides don't offer much guidance on the course material. Just overall not helpful at all.
be prepared for absolutely zero help when it comes to any sort of prepping for quizzes, midterms, and the final. would release 1 question reviews for test and the final grade was based off of 3 quizzes and 2 mid terms. this class basically had the structure of an online class
Doesn't try help for previous answers to assignments/tests if he already went over answers in class. Tries to get the hardest questions possible on tests that he did not go over or very briefly skimmed over. Very dry and boring lectures that make you want to fall asleep. One of the worsts Econ Profs. at MacEwan. Avoid him if you can.
only passed this class because of the study guide, wouldn't go over quizzes or midterms (just showed "questions the class struggled with as a whole" in a lecture) if you don't understand something, you just have to reread the notes until you figure it out.
Buddy could barely speak english intelligibly and rarely could fully answer a students question.
Took him and had a good time, once you get past his strong accent then the whole class is honestly pretty easy. Informative lectures where things are broken down into easily digestible and understandable pieces. Lecture slides posted ahead if time just in case you miss a class. Just my opinion, don't understand the hate; honestly a great professor.
He's a nice person. but a teacher nah. His accent isnt even that bad as what people are saying. but he's a very nice person and if u ask for help, he would. but as a teacher teaching the subject. i wouldn't say he's the best at it. the graphs he puts on the exams are the worst tho.
This guy seems nice, but his midterm and quiz could is heavy. His final exam is more accessible than the quiz and midterms. He is really fast and does not know what is happening in his class.
A little hard to understand at times and his lecture slides aren't the most organized, but by paying attention in class and doing the examples I was easily able to do his quizzes and midterms which were open book. Final was the most daunting being worth 40%, closed book and cumulative.
Awful professor. Class averages for open-book midterms/quizzes ranged from a C+ to a C-. He is a nice person to speak to at times, but not worth it for the looks of your GPA. I would rather drag my nuts across a splintery piece of wood than ever take him again or go to another lecture.
I found Professor Fong to be incredibly disorganized and not a strong lecturer. He states that the textbook is a supplementary resource, but I found his lecture slides so difficult to follow that the text was the only resource. The final is online but must be written on campus - defeating the purpose of an online course.
Lectures are incredibly dry, and his slides are hard to follow due to spelling errors. I had to check the textbook all the time. I found that the quizzes were much harder and different than what was taught in class. Class averages were around 50-60s for every quiz. Final is closed book and worth 40% which tanked my grade down from a A+ to B+
to put it simply, this professor is terrible, the lectures were dry, the testing questions were open to many interpretations. overall he has no passion for the material and should look at early retirement.
-Informations were present but not cohesive
Lectures can be dry, but using unstuck AI and the free textbook helps a lot. Exams are challenging but manageable with consistent effort.
very lazy, this guy only reads of lecture slides and textbook hard to understand and super dry and hard to pay attention avoid if possible
Organized this online course in a good way, video lectures were very helpful. The tests/quizzes were fair but I think he should give students more time. We got 1 minute 40 seconds for midterms and 1 minute 53 seconds for quizzes. Fine for simple, one time questions but if 5 questions on one scenario its difficult to complete. Prob won't take again
Attendance at lectures is important in this course. He definitely tries to make the course more engaging and understandable. Sometimes can be difficult to understand but otherwise I would definitely recommend him.
I advise you to find a more effective and coherent professor for Econ 101. I had to look up external resources to rely on as his lectures were unhelpful. Most of the exam questions are difficult to interpret and he does not provide sufficient time for us to finish it.
Teacher was unclear in course material, used the textbook but did the opposite on the exam making you even more confused about the content as they did not blend. Had to use other sources just to get by. Would never take another class if he was the teacher.
Lecture slides were difficult to follow as the course proceeded. Didn't seem to want to help students or engage. Would not take again.
isnt cooperated at all , no support and lectures wasn't clear He needs to practice with the students his questions to be aligned in the same page
Not that difficult. Showed up to 1 class outside of the tests, only really studied the day before tests and found it to be an relatively easy course. Im not a gifted student, if you're really worried about the difficulty rating its pretty exaggerated unless ur aiming to do the best. He does have an accent though if that bothers anyone.
I didn't do really well do the fact that his lectures were really hard to understand. The slides posted were also really hard to put my head around, and very unorganized. HE has a very thick accent, sometimes it was hard to understand him. Final exam was worth 40%
I cannot understand why Joseph has such low ratings. I was initially very worried to take a class with him but found that these were unfounded. Like any class if you participate in lectures and do the work you shouldn't have an issue with the class.
Very thick accent, could not understand. Went through notes super fast, didn't give time to write anything down so all ones had to be taken outside of class.
he seems like a very kind guy, funny at times but he just cant teach in a proper and engaging manner. found it hard to understand him but it was manageable. graded on a few things which can really bring your grade down. save yourself the trouble
The first few chapters of this course were easy but as we progressed, the notes became very vague and unhelpful. I had to consult the textbook and find youtube videos by professors to understand topics better. His worksheets per chapter are a bit unhelpful too.
Sometimes it was hard to understand what he was trying to articulate, and I had to do a lot of figuring stuff out myself. However, his tests were all multiple choice so if you had a general grasp on the information then you're gonna do just fine.
Just straight reads off of the presentation. Lecture itself is not organized well.
I do not think I crashed more than in this class. I took it online, and I literally had to decipher the notes to try and figure out what was being taught. In the end I had to use external sources to learn. I recommend Mr Azevedo on youtube who goes over each chapter and I found to be much more helpful. I lost a peice of my soul in this class.
You can succeed in this class without attending lectures (depends how you learn though). I think that Mr. Fong is a sincere teacher, but sometimes his accent/wording makes it a bit difficult to understand what he's discussing in class. I recommend watching videos on YT to help you, but since his exams are open book, the course is all pretty easy!
The reviews are poor for no reason, besides an accent that can be difficult to understand. His format makes the course easy to understand, only grades are a few tests that are very easy. Go to class and do your notes and youll do fine. No problems at all with joseph as a teacher, he cares a lot about everyones learning.
He does not teach and he does not help you with your problems
Tough grader and hurts gpa.
Want to succeed -read the book, skip the lectures, anyway, it's hard to understand due to his very strong accent. Econ 101 is a fine course, but he makes it harder and boring.. Tough grader, heavy tests, looong time to respond to emails. Learned more from Jacob Clifford's YouTube, very good explanation.
Strong accent, he's hard to understand as a teacher. But he's very caring and definitely a good
Heavy accent makes it extremely difficult to understand, also very lecture heavy and boring, some questions asked on tests were very unfair. No point in showing up to lectures.
please if you have the option to take this guy DONT, his accent is so hard to understand and his lectures are so boring he just reads off the slides. His notes are so bad, all the quizzes and midterms are open book but that doesnt help much
this guys accent is thick you can barely understand what this guy is saying, save yourself don't take this guy i had to teach myself everything.
I don't think Joseph is a horrible prof, but I feel like his lectures can be very dull because he reads off his slides. He only grades 3 quizzes and 2 midterms which are all open book and make up 60% of your total grade. The rest is the final which is 40% closed book. He does want people to succeed but his teaching style is pretty poor.
This isn't a hard class if you just go to class and actually pay attention. The two others I sit with, who actually pay attention, have got 90s, where the class average is in the 60s. More than half the class only comes on test days. If you aren't totally lazy, it is an easy class. Fong can be entertaining. Just actually try.
His accent was difficult to understand. His lectures are difficult and don't always make sense. If you ask a question he doesn't actually answer it he just restates the question you asked. He is test heavy for grading, only 5 tests made whole grade then the final.
Tough accent, has a lot of open-book tests and quizzes with a 40% final
Reads directly off slides, forgot to mention the final or give the class any tips. All the tests except for the final are open book leaving the class In shambles for the final worth 40%
He reads directly off the slides, homework isn't the same as quizzes and quizzes aren't the same as midterms. the final was pretty easy if your understand the basics of economics. my suggestion would be to read the textbook thoroughly. His accent isn't bad. He's a pretty nice guy when you talk to him about your quiz grade and where you went wrong.
Teaching wise he doesn't do much that you can't figure out on your own, all the lectures are posted. Tests and quizzes are all on your computer and open book, he barely ever looks around to see if you're cheating. The final wasn't too hard. If you just want to pass the class with minimal effort he's your guy. Accent isn't too bad.
I honestly loved him. I thought he taught very clearly and he knew what he was talking about. As long as you show up to class, you can generally understand what's happening. His tests weren't too hard, all open book and online (expect the final) and his accent wasn't that hard to understand either. I would definitely recommend him!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
27%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.29 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON101102
4.0
(1)282
3.0
(1)ECO281
3.0
(2)ECON102
2.8
(6)ECON323
2.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
ECON
4.5
ECONOMICS
4.5
101
3.9
ECON281
3.8
ECON101
3.0