2.9
Quality2.5
Difficulty24%
Would Retake109
Reviews24%
Would Retake
109
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
32
4
11
3
13
2
23
1
30
What Students Say
“you would lose mark for nothing”
160 - 2.0 rating“Kate does try hard to become likeable amongst students”
HSCI312 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
17%
Textbook Required
24%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.20 avg changeRatings by Course
HSCI101
5.0
(1)HSCI130D
5.0
(1)HSCI160
3.8
(32)HSCI312
2.6
(31)HSCI130
2.6
(32)Difficulty by Course
160
4.0
HSCI199
3.5
HSCI821
3.0
HSCI312
2.8
HSCI130
2.5
Reviews (109)
A very enthusiastic prof who is always willing to help out. She cares about all the students and tries to make each class interesting. The course is excellent-very relevant to the world today and one that i think everyone should take.
160 is a great course to take especially with Kate...she is super nice very approachable her lecture were interesting but we never really managed to get through them all as she would go off topic sometimes but her quizzes and projects were very easy just had to read your notes ..classes were interesting so i always went, overall a good teacher!
Kate is super nice and approachable. This class has so much potential but because of the hours (3 hours straight once a week, no tutorials, no midterm or exam), it's tough to find a reason to pay attention. She has trouble keeping the class because of this but she's really knowledgeable about the subject matter and is really kind to her students
Interesting and easy class. Readings were interesting but the class itself was a waster of time. But shes an easy marker, really nice, experienced and passionate about her field. In summary, the class is easy and she is hot. Take this course for an A.
Very nice prof. Easy course.
A true treasure. A wonderful professor, and a wonderful human being. Dr. Tairyan is one of the most beautiful people I have ever met, I feel blessed to have learned so much from her.
Very nice prof, easy material, very informative, bon class
Kate was awesome! Her goal was to facilitate our understanding of global health, without the unnecessary stress. Fantastic teaching philosophy. I truly learned a lot from Kate. The marking was really quite easy and the group project was enjoyable. Take this class not just because it's a GPA booster, but because you want to grow as a human being.
Course covered many topics regarding general health of other nations, specifically, third-world countries. Minimal work required, just some reading, three quizzes, and an individual and group assignment. No midterm or final. Easy class, but entertaining enough to attend and learn.
She is simply the best. Multiple quizzes and NO final. Overall, she is nice, passionate, and friendly. Study normally and good grade is guaranteed. Very reasonable prof!
she is by far the best. classes consist of videos and all sort of activities which help your Interest level to attend the class. very consistent prof
Sooooo nice
She is simply the BEST and hot.
Possibly the nicest professor I've ever had. You can tell she is very interested in health science and really wants the class to learn. Extremely helpful and down to earth prof! Very recommended!!
She was the best pro I ever met at the very beginning of this semester. But now, I think she is the worst. During the lectures, she repeats all the time. No matter it is important or not. And she is so mean in our group presentation by asking strange questions. She makes students so embarrassed in front of other students. etc..
She is the worst Pro I have ever seen!!!! Kate does not treat kindly her students and talks about the same thing over and over. Pls be aware that it is not an "A" course because She changed her style. Pls, Pls find another pro to take it.
She is the sweetest prof ever! She takes criticism from all her students (like she included more videos, iClicker quizzes and less mini homeworks when we did a HSCI130 survey for her) She is genuinely interested in her field and knows what she's talking about. The material can get a bit dry, but she's really doing her best. (:
I found the classes to be very dry and boring. Played angry birds or tetris most of the time. However, she is very nice and openly accepts criticism from her students. When it comes to students, she wants to help them all the time :) I find her to be easily approachable and kind. Make us meringues for hallowe'en!
The most boring class I have ever been in. Completely pointless to even attend, as she posts the slides. But yes, she is a nice person. The weekly quizzes are freaking hard! The time limit is never enough. I loved tutorials, however. My TA was awesome, and we had some great debates.
Super nice!
I usually do not rate teachers, but I had post a review for Prof. Tairyan because she was definitely one of the nicest, most inspiring professors I've taken classes from. She is very interested in the topic and incorporates student feedback into improving the class. I thought her lectures did a great job of teaching the basics of public health.
Unbelievable! One of the kindest human beings I have ever met. Cares about her students, accepts criticism, is funny and very knowledgeable. She makes the class fun, and you can really take a lot from her class. I wish I could take all my classes with her.
Her seminar on Global Health: Capacity for Global Health Workforce was simply one of the best courses and seminars I have taken throughout my undergraduate career. She is really friendly to approach and cares about the students as well as her course objectives.
During the beginning of the term, we all loved her. As the semester went by, she began to get more and more disorganized. She did not put as much time and thought structuring the projects and quizzes. She spent most of class time talking about her project & using the students for her project. I along with the entire class were very disappointed.
she is nice and has hat stories that make us feel empowered
Dr. Tairyan was simply one of the best profs I've ever had. She was inspiration, dedicated, and truly cared about us as students! I would recommend this class to anyone who is eager to learn about global health, as Kate is the best. The class is what you make it. GET INVOLVED! SAY HI! Kate will do nothing but help you along the way.
She is the nicest prof I've ever had. She is easy and is always willing to help. she is passionate about her work and gives easy marks. just attend class and do the assignments then you'll get an A
Kate might be the kindest, most beautiful soul I have ever met on this planet. Her goal is to make you succeed. Lectures were 3 hours long, but she did her best to make them as bearable and enjoyable as possible. I don't understand how anyone could not absolutely love this woman.
One of the most kindest and loveable lecturers and really, i mean really cares about her students. Though 3 hour lectures are long she does try to make them bearable. I would rather prefer a 2 hour and 1 hour lecture split. Nevertheless, I'm glad I took this course with Kate, shes the best and i hope to take more classes with her in the future.
The nicest teacher I have had. Easy and interesting class to take. She is really passionate and makes a lot of effort to share her enthusiasm.
Kate does try hard to become likeable amongst students. This class tends to be all about Kate and she expects us to participatedonate (worth 10%) to her campaigns which she plans without our help. Difficult to reach via email, prefers meeting at coffee shop (discourages office hours). Lectures tend to be useless, very immaturehigh school energy.
Kate is absolutely TERRIBLE. She makes the lectures all about herself and spends more time trying to make stupid jokes and talking about herself and gets genuinely angry when attention has shifted from her onto something else. The Faculty would be better off without this distasteful professor.
Kate is an amazing person, prof, and friend to everyone. 312 tries to be a "practical" course, to teach you a skill that you would use in real life (like in co-op). Easy course, useful outside academia, and friendly prof. You'll think its a waste of time during class though, material is boring. She tries to make it interesting.
Passionate about the course. HOWEVER. It is clear that she has other more important commitments outside of teaching. Expects too much for the group project which is worth a huge chunk of your grade. Rambles too much in lecture.
BIG TALKER!!! She can talk all day long nonstop, even before exam!!
emotional, long exams, and more really don't like her.
She is nice and tries to be helpful but is very confusing when giving instructions. Her answers to your questions can be long winded and subsequently may be unclear and unhelpful. Don't be fooled; the "quizzes" are more like exams, so study! The group project has many components and is worth a lot so make sure you find a good group too!
This was definitely a GPA booster class. She was really passionate about the subject, unfortunately attending class was pointless because she just rambled & added no value to the grade. You can skip class, take the quizzes, and do the group project (you really don't need to go to class for this - only for her instructions on the group project).
you would lose mark for nothing
Kate's a very kind person who wants the best for her students. With that being said, the marking scheme for anything is MIA and marked solely by a grading ta, who in my case only accepted one method of presenting something. When asked to look over graded projects, an ultimatum of a remark was given without seeing small errors the ta could've made
Kate is so nice and very passionate, but I have never experienced a more disorganized and technology challenged professor. Kate also expects you to read her mind, she doesn't give any clear grading scheme for assignments or any formatting but then takes marks off for not following format.
Kate is an extremely kind and passionate prof, would definitely recommend her when taking this course. The course was pretty easy, but the lectures were long and boring. Textbooks are not required for this course, everything on the quizzes are on the lecture slides.
The worst professor I've had in my entire undergrad at SFU. Regarding previous comments, "nice" and "kind" doesn't mean she's a good at her job. Disorganized, patronizing at times (even had the audacity to throw a TA under the bus), I would not recommend taking ANY courses with her.
Very disorganized prof. Does not specify what she wants on her assignments and does not explain thoroughly. Talks about random things that are not important to the lecture. Does not give time for groups to get together and work on group project, which is worth a lot.
The worst professor I've had in my entire undergrad at SFU. Always late to class and unorganized. Hard on marking and very detailed prof. Her lectures are useless.
The most boring 3 hour lectures and she rarely gives 2 breaks, avoid taking it with her
Very nice, but not a great prof. She's consistently late for classes and reads her notes straight off the lecture slides, so theres really no point coming to class. Is very disorganized and seems kind of frantic at times. Wouldn't recommend, but she's usually the only one teaching this course.
She has a nice welcoming personality however, she is a very disorganized prof who came to class late at least half of the semester.. makes you wonder if she takes the course seriously enough. She talks a lot about her personal life. Class is based on THEORIES and grading criteria is unclear. I would not recommend this class as an UD HSCI elective.
Her lectures are sometimes useless since you can just review from the lecture's slides. It is good that she does not take attendance. Her quiz and midterm are fairly easy, you will need to know the theories clearly (The points). Proposal contributes the most, it is long but it is worth doing but it requires some times. Overall, very caring.
She is very sweet and encouraging but SO boring. She came to class late a lot and as a result our class started showing up later and later which felt like a waste of time when I was always there early. The exams were WAY harder than expected and I don't feel that she prepared us for them. The group project was a lot of work and quite a hassle.
She's a good prof, but takes her sweet time marking things. We were graded on an individual paper, group project , online discussions , a presentation (10%) and completion of online courses . We did nothing for pre much the whole semester and the last two weeks were just deadlines on deadlines.
You lose marks over nothing. Her assignments are hard and most students failed it or was close to failing it, there are 2 hard online quizzes and each are 30 multiple choice questions and you only get 30 mins to finish it which is not enough time, especially for people who can't speak English properly. Unreasonable expectations for first year.
Her group project assignment is unreasonable and is worth 40%, I rather have an exam. Two online quizzes and not enough time to finish. Her lectures are really boring. She even said no one really gets an A in this class. She's not a very good prof. All she does is come to class and read off the slides. Maybe that's the reason why no one gets A's.
Sweetest prof, really cares about her students and is willing to listen to concerns and feedback. Easy class with two quizzes, a paper, and a group project.
This class is taught like an online class. There's zero need to show up. Prof asks students cheeky questions and then doesn't actually listen or attempt to understand their answers. Grading takes FOREVER. Breaks are infrequent or nonexistent. Lectures frequently go over time. Prof very enamoured with herself. Group project was a nightmare.
Prof Tairyan started the term with a wonderful intro to what we shall expect in the term. She always emails and reminds us of projects or quizzes. Her lectures are easy to follow through. You can really see that she has a passion for this topic and for the students.
Tries very hard to be likeable but comes off as arrogant and self-interested. A finicky group project with a video component is the majority of your grade. Online quizzes were relatively easy and were predominantly based on the textbook. Kept adding extra participation assignments on Canvas with no notifications during the exam week.
I have mixed feelings about Kate. She seems very kind at first but it's not alwasy the case. She's very irritable and a bit condescending when people answer questions in class. She is understanding and gives second chances if you prove your case for assingnments. Tends to get angry at the people who DID show up because of those who skipped, odd!
She's really sweet but hated her way of teaching the course. Not enough time for the quizzes and I know there are lots of group projects in university but for this class it was such a pain. The group project involved a 10 page essay and also a video, worth 40%. The video was unnecessary and a drag especially if you're stuck with a bad group.
Kate is one of the talented individuals I have ever met. She is really talented and qualified. She welcomes students from all faculty. Her Armenian accent makes the lecture great! Her 2 QUIZZES are really tough, you have to surely stress about it. 30 mins for 30 MCQs and it is really hard. But to be honest, if you attend the class u learn sth.
Kate is very nice when you first meet her but the class itself is the opposite. She was very unorganized and gave little to no useful feedback. The whole class was taught by students which is okay, but she always seemed to be distracted on her computer and would not add much to our limited knowledge. Very disappointing class.
Kate is a nice person but this class is poorly designed. The requirement is very vague. The second midterm is somewhat intense, but all you need is to prepare a template based on the example from the textbook for the written response. It is not a safe choice for GPA booster, whereas it is a course you can get B/B+ with a minimal amount of effort.
If your looking for a nice prof then she is good but if you want an engaging learning experience DONT TAKE THIS CLASS. An easy class just very very boring and no support from her in terms of lecture second half of the semester.
As a human, she is nice and that's it. As a university professor, 100% not OK. After the second half of the semester, she just disappeared and does not provide any support to the students. NO lectures video and all are articles readings. She is turning an easy class into hell. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HER!!!!
The way this class was run remotely was very bad, in person might be better but that class was not great. Dont recommend taking it if you dont have to.
Take it during the COVID time. She did post lecture videos for the first few topics only. she just assign readings but not posting any lecture video for the second part of the course. The lecture video is really long and boring. The reading she assigned is long too and you may need to spend hours reading. The group project is fun and final is fine.
Dr. Kate Tairyan is one of the more passionate teachers I have ever met, not only for her work but for health, the environment and her students. She truly wants everyone to succeed and do their best.
She has no intonation in her voice, causing others and I to doze off. 4 of the lectures were cancelled (2 of them valid reasons), yet midterm schedule does not change and no notes were given to study for the weeks missed. Goes over 1 slide for 20 mins and then skips the last 25 slides because of her time management. #loveislove #waterislife
Extremely boring lectures, and makes us submit assignments on sundays.
Most partisan prof ever. I agree with her politics, but protesting a pipeline for extra credit should not be allowed. 3 lectures were cancelled (on a 1 lec/week schedule), some for a valid reason - she posted lecture slides and left us to figure things out. Lectures spent a majority of time on a few slides and the last 90 slides she skimmed.
Nice person but not a great professor. Her lectures are often very long and redundant. The quizzes are sometimes unreasonably difficult and there are oftentimes too many assigned readings.
Took during the Pandemic. This class is not a good first impression of HSCI, pretty boring. Boring lectures, long readings and boring content. I enjoyed the weekly tutorial video projects. The exams were okay, final was pretty easy. The class made me consider dropping my major, but HSCI gets MUCH better and more interesting. Definitely Passionate.
Kate is a nice person, but the way she teaches the course is awful. Her lectures are boring and poorly structured. Often simply doing the readings will get you your marks on your weekly assignments with no need to go to lecture. The exams were a walk in the park. 15% of the grade is a group final project that was easy but annoying to do.
Extremely boring class, but if you put in the work you'll do great. Lectures are useless, just skim the readings to do the weekly homework. The exams are easy since its open book. She also gave bonus 1% for joining a pipeline protest. The students hiked down the mountain in pouring rain and walked for 2 hours... don't know how this was allowed XD
Not an engaging course whatsoever. The three hour lecture is far too long and the material is very dry. As the semester progressed I just stopped listening and used the three hours as a study block to complete other course material. Kate seems like a nice and genuine person but HSCI 130 left a sour taste in mouth, tryna transfer to kin lmao.
Kate seems like a genuinely nice person but this class is an extremely poor introduction to the health science program... I'm actually in the midst of transferring to another program. Some topics sounded really interesting, but the material, readings and lectures destroyed any ounce of hope I had for an interesting class
Very unorganized, did not seem very helpful outside of class. Basically a self taught class. Powerpoints never matched up to readings and made it more confusing to learn.
Her lectures were insanely boring, it was really hard to stay awake in her class. You could've skipped every single lecture and still have done well in her class. She assigns an insane amount of reading each week. Also had students show up to a pipeline protest for extra credit. TL;DR avoid taking this class with her!!
She is very kind and welcoming, but not great at teaching. Before each lecture, you have to do A LOT of reading for the content then sit through a long lecture where she just regurgitates the readings and doesn't boil it down so it's easier to digest. The lectures and content themselves are pretty dry.
Very nice prof that allows conversation in class. Lots of negative replies from first year students in intro to health science but that course has always been heavy, even before she taught it. Not sure what they were expecting. If you have her as a prof, youll have a good semester.
Kate was an incredibly well-informed professor when I took the graduate level global health class with her. Seems like most of the neg reviews are from whiny first years - university is difficult and especially so for public health. She assigns a lot of readings but thats just how global/public health is LOL. Id defs take another course with her!
Although Kate is very nice and helpful, the way the course was run was very irritating. It was kept online even though rest of campus was in person, which made working on the group project very hard (we had no say in this) so I wouldnt recommend taking this until everything is back to normal. Content is quite boring but easy
Terrible class. Students taught half of each class, regurgitating the assigned readings. Kate lectured for ~hour, re-summarizing or rambling. Assignments felt like make-work; unconnected to class teachings and either beyond our knowledge or useless. Kate was unwilling to engage in anti-capitalist critiques or self-reflection about her privilege.
most wack prof ever. she is nice and super caring in general but does not know how to teach. avoid at all costs, if your trying to save your GPA.
HSCI 130 was by no means a difficult class. The readings could be dry/long, but easy to understand. She never made it through all her slides, but it was always clear what we needed to know. She cares a lot about her students and tries her best to make boring topics exciting. Ignore the first years who are shocked they have to read for school :)
I feel like she rambles and goes on too many tangents during class. You could honestly just read all the required readings and not go to class and you will be just fine. The exams were really straight forward and easy if you did the readings.
Professor Tairyan is kind and very passionate about what she teaches. She is accessible outside class and the readings she assigns are fairly short and easy to understand. Sometimes she goes on tangents but she is clear when explaining the actual material.
Yikes. Spends the entire 3 hour lecture rambling about her political beliefs and mocking those who disagree. Very strange and inappropriate. Assigns hundreds of pages of readings a week instead of teaching the material in class. Group project is worth 20%. Difficult quizzes every week. Does not answer emails and ghosted me when I needed help.
Kate is a standard professor, not amazing and not bad. She is very caring and very open about her political beliefs, personally, I find it unprofessional. Nonetheless, her class was boring, I stopped attending after the first week, just make sure you do the readings. Very low effort, 2 tests and one huge group work.
Kate is a very passionate prof, however, her lectures are extremely boring and makes me want to fall asleep. Luckily, the class was pretty easy overall.
Course was pretty easy & straightforward. Boring at times, a lot of readings, but manageable. Easy A if you put in the effort. Offered a 1% bonus to anyone who attended a "nature walk" which was more like a protest against TMX workers. Went on tangents a lot in class, but she was nice, caring, and kind. Just very passionate about her views.
Kate is very caring and nice. However, like one or two of the review say, the lectures are dry. They are so boring, I usually only end up going to the first hour and then leaving. Paper rubric could have been clearer. Grading criteria is nice: 2 online tests, 1 small paper, online weekly participation, and a big group project.
Kate is a great professor and she really cares about her students. She tries to provide as much support as she can and she really wants you to be successful in this class. The only downside is the lecture content is quite long and dry. But other than that, everything is great. Highly recommend taking her class!!!
Kate was genuinely passionate about teaching this course, although I found the lectures to be dry and boring as I wasn't interested in the topics covered in the class. However, she is willing to help you out if you are confused with anything related to the class. No need to attend lectures as long as you keep up with the assigned readings.
Like the others mentioned her lectures are dry and boring, but I will add that she is not exactly clear with instructions regarding assignments or anything. She automatically assumes that we know what to do and how to do it, which sucks. It's difficult to follow lectures as she switches from a topic to another and talks about one slide for 20 mins.
She didn't really teach the course. Journal articles and random website links did. Her email response time was extremely slow as well.
I took HSCI 199 with Kate, and there was no communication, no structure, and it was incredibly confusing. You lose marks for following the rubric and randomly lose 10% of your grade at the end of the semester. Thoroughly disappointing and a total regret.
Kate is a good person, but not a good prof. Took weeks to upload the syllabus yet changes it throughout the semester. Unclear guidelines. Hasn't marked a single thing this whole semester so i dont even know what grade i'm getting, and takes forever to reply to emails. Goes on tangents during class and her lectures are long and not very engaging.
Doesn't grade anything all semester, which is really frustrating, and often goes on about personal beliefs instead of class material in the seminars. I'd recommend only taking this class if it's necessary.
Most boring lectures ever. If you have taken any sort of global politics/ human geography in Highschool, you will already know most of the material. Lectures are slow moving, difficult to take notes for, and put me to sleep. There is no final, only online quizzes that can be passed using common sense.
Overall pretty good professor; she was very available to help students and very approachable. Lectures were just very dry. Some group project work involved. Tests this semester were open-book and online, and very straightforward.
Although Kate is a very kind and sweet person, the class itself is very bland and the lectures feel as if they do not need to be over 3 hours long. Her lecturing style was not for me personally as she often rambles and goes off on tangents the final project was also odd and chaotic. She's a very nice person but I avoid a class with her again.
class is a snooze fest, group project is tedious and weighted way too much.
Kate is nice! However, her lectures are painfully boring, I find that she often reads off the slides or goes off topic for 30 minutes. The course itself is straightforward, with some online quizzes and a group project, which was tedious at times. I wouldn't take a course with her again, but I would like to reiterate that she is nice and caring.
Kate is extremely nice and means very well but her lectures are BRUTAL. They are dense and informative but you're better off skipping lecture and reviewing her slides + readings as she often gets side tracked and lectures about unexaminable/unassessed materials. Grading is very generous and feedback is excellent, making it difficult to not succeed.
The class has no lectures, just long readings and random videos that are very boring and abstract, the concepts are in no way connected together. There's insanely difficult weekly quizzes that ask about specific details in readings which you couldn't possibly remember. Most the grade is based on group assignments and half my group didn't respond.
Avoid this prof. Just not rational enough in terms of the work she assigns each week. More than 20 days after the course finished, but still haven't received half the grades. AWFUL! Just don't agree to teach a course if you can't allocate enough time to it. All talks no real work.
hasn't returned marks for a month... had no idea how i was actually doing in the class until grades got posted (today). the whole course is reading hours worth of material and group discussions/projects. there is no actual contribution from her at all. marked discussions harshly. boring class overall.
At all costs, avoid her.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
17%
Textbook Required
24%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.20 avg changeRatings by Course
HSCI101
5.0
(1)HSCI130D
5.0
(1)HSCI160
3.8
(32)HSCI312
2.6
(31)HSCI130
2.6
(32)Difficulty by Course
160
4.0
HSCI199
3.5
HSCI821
3.0
HSCI312
2.8
HSCI130
2.5