2.8
Quality3.7
Difficulty46%
Would Retake107
Reviews46%
Would Retake
107
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
30
4
13
3
10
2
15
1
39
What Students Say
“She makes you read as if her class is the only one you're taking”
GEOG2UI3 - 2.0 rating“Boring prof that just numbs your brain when she talks”
GEOG1HA3 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
49%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.45 avg changeRatings by Course
GEOH1HA3
5.0
(1)1HAB3
5.0
(1)4US3
5.0
(1)IHB3
4.0
(1)2UI3
3.5
(11)Difficulty by Course
1HB3
5.0
GEO2LE3
4.5
GEOG2UI3
4.3
2LE3
4.1
1HAB3
4.0
Reviews (107)
Dr. Bedore really cares about the success of her students and it is evident that she is passionate about teaching. She an extremely approachable and likeable professor. The content isn't hard but you have to do the readings to get all the course materials.
The content she teaches doesn't seem to correspond with what has been learned in years past and what should be learned. She makes you read as if her class is the only one you're taking. Puts up next to no information online and makes you attend her boring morning lectures just so you do half well in the class.
Boring prof that just numbs your brain when she talks
Melanie seems like a good prof who cares about her students. But her lectures are just awful. She is the kind of prof who talks a lot without actually saying anything . I struggled to take notes in this class because hardly anything she said felt important enough to write down. Do not take this class as an elective, it's boring and too much work.
Melanie is a down to earth woman but I don't think professor is her strong suit. Her lectures were accompanied by a powerpoint that was not accessible unless in lecture, but she would flip through them fast, one click and that's it. I took the class as an elective (bird course) but it was a lot of work for nothing. TA was not helpful at all either.
One of my favourite profs this semester. Melanie always has her lectures planned very well, she speaks very articulately and explains concepts in a way that makes sense. I don't find that her pace is too fast (as others have noted). I can tell Melanie cares about what she is teaching and she uses personal anecdotes to help students make connections
Dr. Bedore is an amazing prof and she genuinely cares about her students. She makes the content super interesting. I definitely recommend her courses. She inspired me to consider geo as my major. Would for sure take her courses again. Also she is actually super kind and does not rush through things. Her students always come first.
A wonderful professor. I really enjoyed her lectures. She is very polite...
Love her. She makes an amazing professor...
What a great person the prof is. I do not understand why people are complaining. If you care, you will enjoy the course. There are no bird courses because you have to be interested in a course you are taking. I definitely recommend Dr. Bedore's courses.
Melanie's course requires lecture attendance. She asks students to take notes of everything she says and to copy the slides as well. She claims the information she talks about in the lectures will be on tests but doesn't allow people who may have been sick or busy to have access to a podcast or the notes online. Don't take this course as elective
I'd give a 0 if I could. The midterms and exams are expected to be regurgitated verbatim definitions or direct qoutes from her lectures. The final exam covered rediculouslly specific things where a general knowledge of a concept didn't help you at all. The review she gave at the end of the term covered maybe 10% of the final exam.
Okay, where to begin. At first, course and prof seemed amazing and easy as per what people had told me at the beginning of the semester. Later on, however, the exams were not reflective of course material and the questions she used were almost laughably unfair. I would not recommend taking this course unless you want to do poorly on every exam.
Going to lectures became more of a nuisance because she expected her students to write everything down on the slides as well as everything that she talks about even though she tends to go on tangents so it's hard to take notes. Tests and exams were ridiculous and hard to prepare for. I would highly recommend NOT taking this course!!!!!!
Honestly Melanie is a real gem. I love her teaching style. I've taken 3 classes with her and have learned so much.
Be prepared to attend every lecture and study well for your midterms cause this isn't a typical Easy-A elective. You need to put in extra work for this course to get an "elective grade". For the amount of work it is, I wouldn't recommend taking it as an elective meant to boost your GPA. The prof cares for her students though and seems very nice!
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, Melanie did not only not give any of her students extra time to complete pending assignments, something all other instructors did. This lady is so focused on overthrowing capitalism that she forgot there is a whole geographical component of her class, which she rarely ever talked about. Textbook obsessed also)
Would not recommend taking this course with her. Lecture Power Points were unorganized and unclear. How can you grade us based on your lectures when they are lacking a cohesive message? Where is the information? She made this course more difficult than it really is. If you have to take this course with her, the textbook will be your bff.
The worst class I have ever taken. Bedore is almost laughable as a prof. She asks for specific quotes and examples from her lectures on midterms and finals. She has crazy unorganized slides and speaks so fast that it's impossible to get everything she says written down. No extra time for anything during COVID 19. Worst prof I've had at Mac, easily.
Melanie Bedore is an inspiring professor. She is approachable, knowledgable and kind. If you're looking for a 'bird' course, do not take this, but I promise you you'll learn something.
Terrible instructor
Dr. Bedore is my favorite prof at Mac. She is always accessible and loves to help. She welcomes other opinions, something I can rarely say for profs at Mac. Both 2LE3 and 3TG3 require lots of hard work, but the grade outcome reflects the effort you put in. Overall a great prof. Negative reviews come from those who do not put in effort
Very nice prof. Really cares about what she teaches. If you have a friend in the class to give you the notes you don't need to attend but you should because the lectures are very interesting and engaging. A lot of the mark was attendance and an easy, fun assignment.
Melanie Before is an absolutely wonderful prof. She is so extremely interested in the content she teaches. She made me really enjoy learning about Human Geography. She is by no means an easy A, you work for the mark you deserve! Would recommend any of her courses.
This is the third class I've taken with Mel and she is hands down my favourite prof at Mac. She clearly cares a ton about her students, goes above and beyond to make sure students stay engaged in online learning, and is a great lecturer. Her classes are by no means easy A's, but it's not hard to put the work in to get a good grade.
Literally the worst, does not provide feedback for midterm tests claiming "there are too many tests to provide feedback for" um... is that not your job? The only thing good about this class is the tutorials, they're decent.
some questions in exams are from the small stories in her lectures, very very annoying cause who gonna remember it
her voice is infuriating and for anyone who doesn't like journal assignments, stay away.
The tests barely had any feedback, we had a big assignment near the end of the course and it was a bit confusing. I wouldn't take her class again.
Amazing professor that is clearly passionate. If you are someone looking for an easy A with hardly any work then this course isn't for you. Her grading scheme encompasses several different components in order to do well. Her lectures are content heavy BUT very interesting. If you stay on top of your work and attend tutorials, you can do well.
I've come to accept that no matter how hard I try and no matter how much effort I put in, I'll never do well in Mel's courses (I've taken 4). I don't know why because I always apply the feedback she provides and do everything she suggests but nothing I write is ever good enough for her. Just an overall disheartening and frustrating experience.
Professor Bedore is passionate about her field, but she is a terrible teacher. She lacks the ability to convey information in a way that stays in the student's brain, while going on tangents in lecture about her life that she will manage to rope into tests and exams. Smart woman, terrible at her job and makes students pay for it.
Professor Mel is clearly very passionate about human geography and always brings a sense of excitement to lectures. She tends to go off track with personal stories which I actually enjoy since they are relevant to the course. She is an encouraging lady and the course has been very manageable with multiple marking schemes.
Some words that describe her: unhuman, rude, non-welcoming. She is one of those teachers that likes to make a course more difficult by randomly deducting marks or asking questions that are unreasonably worded. In other words, I DO NOT recommend this professor to anyone.
Not very pleasing. Dr. Bedore always tries to cut through students, copy paste information from class to class. In other words, she doesn't put the expected amount of effort into her students. No feedback on tests, nothing.
I have been offended by some of her lectures and comments.
Uncaring, disrespectful. Underestimates her students and makes the courses feel harder than they really are.
Wouldn't recommend her courses. She makes the course harder than it really is. I would suggest her to attend other classes of other disciplines and learn how other professors teach their courses. It will really help her understand how teaching is done. For example, watch how the math/physics/English courses are taught. Make it more interactive!
Tough Marker
Take this ELECTIVE if you are ACTUALLY interested in learning about relevant stuff in the world. Take virtual tutorials over the weekly written assignments because they're engaging and easy to participate in (grade boost). OPEN BOOK Evaluations/marking schemes are FAIR. Put in the work, stay engaged and you'll succeed. Melanie is lovely.
Did well in this class but had to apply way more effort than needed. The reason why this course was difficult was due to poor communication and ambiguous marking schemes. Asking for feedback from her with regards to your tests and assignments will not yield much benefit, as she will continue to be vague for no reason. Highly suggest avoiding.
Professor Bedore was the best professor I had first year. It shows that she cares about her students and her teachings and she is extremely understand. She did an outstanding job and made me love school again!!
If you find a mistake on your test that was marked incorrectly, don't ask for a regrade. She doesn't like to do extra work and actually reduces your grade if you ask for a regrade. Once I asked her to go over my test since I found a couple points that were missed by the graders and she reduced my test mark by 10%. Beware of this.
She is so helpful in my opinion, and her weekly welcome videos with her dog are so sweet. This class is great online, the lectures are posted so you can watch them when it is convenient for you, and she gives skeletal notes so note-taking isn't too hard. As long as you watch the lectures and do the readings, you can do well. Interesting content.
Interesting content and fun tutorials, however Prof. Bedore has a marking scheme that punishes correct answers if they are not found in her lecture. There is no individual feedback on test answers, so you don't actually understand why or how you got something wrong. Would not recommend.
TERRIBLE PROF. no marking scheme, if you say the right answer but its not exactly what she is looking for or found in her lengthy lectures, she will give you 0. Questions are not clear nor is what she looks for when you are writing. The worst prof I have ever had. Second worst course I've taken apart from Managerial Accounting.
dont take her if you have a chance. evidently self absorbed and you can tell theres extreme passive aggressiveness. probably the worst prof I've had
You will lose marks on tests and assignments if you don't quote directly from the slides. This class is definitely lecture heavy and doesn't really provide applicable knowledge outside of the lectures. Not my fav lol
I would only take this course if you like the content. The midterm content is straight out of the textbook and lectures, so I 100% recommend taking notes (also get the textbook e-book if you can). She marks kinda weird on the long answer questions and doesn't always give you straight feedback, but if you use her exact examples, its not too bad.
While I think Melanie herself is a nice prof, the way she structures her lectures is terrible. In order to get 90% on a test, you have to use examples from her lectures verbatim. You could write the most poignant and well-explained answer and get a 0 if you don't use an example from one of her 45-minute (or more) lectures.
Even though Melanie taught through prerecorded lectures, you can tell she's excited about what she's teaching and she seems super nice. The class is an easy A (on the McMaster scale) as long as you watch the lectures and read the textbook. I also found the content to be interesting and will very likely take another course of hers in the future!
I really enjoyed her class! She warned us at the beginning that it would be difficult and she was right, but if you work hard enough and really put in the effort, her marking is very fair. I would definitely recommend her as a prof.
Amazing Prof that really cares about the subject material and makes you care too.
Great professor! She really loves her field and loves to teach it! Very lecture heavy but as long as you pay attention and really retain the information given, you will get a good grade.
I took her course last semester and was surprised to see she had such a low rating. All her lectures are recorded and asynchronous so you can watch them when you can. I did well and enjoyed the content. You just have to take notes on all the lectures, go over the textbook a bit and be specific during midterms and the exam and you should do well.
I liked Bedore's class because a lot of what we learned was not what I expected from a geography course. If you pay attention you'll do well. Her teaching I will say is a little problematic. The wording she uses is unnecessary (calling an indigenous mexican tribe exotic), and her understanding of important social issues feels surface-level.
Taken several of Bedore's classes in the past and by far the easiest to digest. She is very thorough in organizing her content and provides examples in an interactive way. I will say, that COVID made things hard with online stuff but as long as you pay attention and follow feedback you'll do great (this goes for all her classes)
Tutorials in this course are participation heavy but the content is interesting enough that engaging in tutorials is pretty straightforward. Best course in first year probs.
Although I only began succeeding toward the end of the course, Professor Bedore was extremely helpful and kind throughout my journey in her class. It is definitely NOT a bird course. She is one of the kindest professors I have ever had. She really wants all her students to succeed, so don't be afraid to send her an email if you need some guidance.
There was tons of problems with this class, all things from making sure you use EXACT words from lectures which I don't think is fair specially if you have all the correct and valid reasons as to why an answer is correct. Not fair when it comes to regrading or when absent due to covid, no help or advice given what so ever. You are on your own.
Overall the course was good and it was interesting. It requires hard work, and the professor/TAs are hard markers. Melanie is a good professor and her lectures are engaging. The lectures are a bit long and cover a lot of content. She does not give as helpful feedback on work and better detailed rubrics are required to understand expectations.
Overall, I really enjoy having Dr. Bedore as a prof. Lectures are engaging and she is very enthusiastic about what she teaches. Midterm was very fair and there is very minimal coursework. Only thing is that if someone asks a question about the course, she will tell them to check avenue/courseware instead of just answering their question.
Mel was a good professor and you can tell she really loves what she teaches. I liked that she made her lectures accessible by recording and posting them. She was a good prof and a fair grader, I just didn't find the course interesting.
She is super nice and you will get a good grade if you put the work in. With that being said it was not overly hard and there were many opportunities to improve your grade.
Good lecturer but incredibly obnoxious when it comes to assignments, tests, and marking. Honestly, you can do well in the class but just beware she can be very nitpick. She should try loosening up when marking.
As a result of having to take multiple courses with her, Mel is incredibly ideologically driven in how she marks. Despite putting in hours of work into assignments, if they don't align with her belief systems they will not receive even close to the mark they deserved
What an obnoxiously hard marker. I don't even know what to say, I went to the writing center, looked my work over 10 times, and submitted it. Got my paper back and did bad. I literally have an A/A+ in every single class this semester and last semester except this one. Is that a reflection of me or her? I guess we'll never know...
She's awful and gives terrible grades for no reason. She has favourites and if you do not act like her pet she'll mark you down. Do NOT take her classes.
Great class in terms of content and the professor! She is super nice and if you put in the work and time you will have no difficulty doing well. Attending or watching lecture recordings is important. Second time taking one of her classes- she is great; just don't slack off, she sets you up to succeed.
Her classes are interesting and engaging, but she is very harsh with grades, especially in 2LE3 where you need 80% and above or you receive 0% on assignments.
Mel is the best!! Really tough grader but still my absolute second favourite prof!! I loved how accessible she was and how she made everything accessible to students too.
Mel is an amazing prof! She is so kind and her classes provide lots of room for improving your grades. If you put in the work, you will do very well! I also loved ENVSOCTY 2UI3, both great courses!
Professor Melanie is an amazing prof! Always super excited about lectures and answers every question you have!! If you have an elective space, definitely take this class!!!
The hardest marker I've ever had. She acts so nice but doesn't care about your work. If you miss 1 thing mentioned in class on an assignment then you're getting a 0. Absolutely crazy for a second year course, do not take this class. If you're not going to be her pet your not passing. You can't win
Professor Bedore is a very tough grader and seems to have a very weird marking scheme compared to other professors I have had so far in first year. She appears to punish the correct answers on midterms if they are not written exactly the same way in the textbook or her lectures, which I feel is unfair. I would avoid this course if possible.
I emailed her about a simple definition question before the midterm, but she refused to answer the question and told me to read the textbook instead.
Wonderful and engaging professor. The folks on this forum need to wind down the negativity and learn how to study properly.
This is the best teacher out there. She will always help others before herself. Her teaching style is fun and creative while she can also be caring when need be. She doubtlessly puts dozen of hours into her courses and helps all her students succeed. Her courses are fun and engaging. And for this she forever be my favorite Teacher.
shes fine (6/10), clear lectures, easy content, can be boring
I'm surprised she has so many bad reviews. Thought she was fine, can choose marking stream (exams only, tutorials or assignment) gives you opts, found the exams fairly easy considering you can bring a cheat sheet. (Only thing is wish choose just exams as assignment brought mark down a bit), overall was fairly easy course, lots of overlap w/1HB3
Mel was very passionate about the content in her lectures and she is a very nice person. Make sure to take notes in class and read the textbook because they will show up on the exam. Bringing the cheat sheet copied from the presentation won't get you far. I recommend the tutorial stream, as I heard others struggled with her projects.
She definitely knows her stuff and is passionate about it, she is extremely nice and wants to see good work out of her students..... That said, so not go into a course with her expecting not to try. You have to know the readings, attend class (classes ain't recorded) and put in effort. Assignments/exams require you to know the content very well.
Dr. Bedore is an amazing prof who genuinely cares about her students. Her lectures are always engaging and she is super passionate about the subject. I've taken three courses with Mel and they have all been great! She can be a tough grader at times but there are plenty of opportunities to improve your grade using the feedback she gives you.
The prof was nice and very passionate about the topic. Class content was pointless definitions to memorize about general trends in population etc. The tests were awful since they were strictly memorization of in class examples. No opportunity to show learning just regurgitating bc "ppl could stumble on to the right answer". Would not recommend.
Bedore is a good lecturer, but EVERYTHING is testable. At that point, it becomes a draw of luck that you happened to put the right specific information on your crib sheet. It has nothing to do with science, definitely not a bird course, and I truly don't understand the point of knowing random facts about political statistics than concepts.
Took the class a few years ago, but feel I can make a contribution. Very meaningful content that's important to discuss. Very convincing lecturer that makes the concepts very easy to understand. But very tough marker. "If you put in the work" is doesn't fit. Skip if you want to just have less stress. Take if you have flexibility.
she's a good prof and is very passionate about the content she teaches. very easy to do well in this course. you're also given the opportunity to choose from different streams, which was nice. i would recommend doing the testing-only stream - her tests are very straightforward, and you're also allowed a crib sheet.
What people say about the arbitrary testing is true. Anything is fair game, so an actually good crib sheet is almost impossible to create. I honestly did better on tests without it than with. You'll be fine without the textbook she pushes. Engaging prof, straightforward content but can be hit or miss. DO TUTORIAL STREAM EASIEST FREE MARKS.
She is one of the WORST profs I have ever had. She has no regard for the success of her students, and makes her quizzes overly difficult and incredibly niche. She is also a very tough grader and gives such low grades. She also accuses students of breeching academic integrity with no basis. Don't be fooled, this is not a bird course, DO NOT TAKE IT.
WORST PROF. Don't be fooled—this class is supposed to be an intro course, but she makes it way harder on purpose. The questions are tricky, and she doesn't want you to succeed. The TA, Alyssa, marks unfairly. The prof is also rude when you ask for help. Avoid this course.
Horrible prof. Does not want students to succeed, but rather prove that you memorized every single sentence spoken in lecture. Completely unfair tests. Unfair grading in assignments. Prof is extremely rude when emailing for help. Do not take any courses with her
Great lectures, pretty interesting content. I did the testing stream, cheat sheets allowed on midterms and exam. However, a lot of questions on the exam were about ridiculously specific facts she mentioned once that you wouldn't think to put on the sheets, which was really annoying.
Course was very difficult overall, each quiz required an in-depth reading of the textbook and lectures. First two quizzes went very well but after that, it was downhill, after the 5th quiz, I gave up on the content. Fill-in-the-blank questions were awful.
She rephrased quiz questions to be more "AI-proof," but it just made them difficult to understand for humans, then accused us all of cheating when the quiz average dropped. Quizzes just memorization. You can't even see what you got wrong! How are you supposed to learn? Lectures sloppy, borderline unwatchable. Videos shown had doubled audio.
her tests are very unfairly written and makes u memorise everything rather than understand it
Honestly the best professor I have had in university. She consistently seeks to want the best for her students, as long as they show up and try. If you're expecting to take one of her courses without putting in some work and come out with a good mark, probably don't take the course. She is clearly passionate and wants the best, I enjoy her courses.
Course contents were sloppily designed, key points were not clearly presented but just a bunch of quotes. Also lectures were simply reading out from the powerpoint, I saw students walked out of off classroom in the middle of the class.
Professor Bedore is a committed and kind teacher who helps students succeed. Her study materials and exams, however, frequently don't match, and grading can be harsh. You might want to think about taking a different elective, such a course taught by Michael Mercier, if you are not majoring in ENVS.
I took this class last year and it was absolutely my favourite first year class. Be prepared to have every single statistic and example from lecture on your crib sheet. Also, if she mentions a chapter section in the middle of a lecture, make sure to add those notes or examples into your sheet as well. Content was so interesting- I loved it so much!
Makes a simple course way more complicated than it has to be. Exams are difficult, lengthy. Her grading is very tough. She is passionate as a lecturer, but the lectures are still not engaging due to boring slides that she reads off of. Tutorials are a waste of time but also free marks through attendance. Assignments are poorly described+graded.
Be prepared for the midterm and exam to have every statistic and quotation from the readings and lectures on it. This is beyond the normal amount of memorization required for exams. It is memorization for the point of memorization, not to actually learn the material. It is pure regurgitation. Use your crib sheet space wisely!
even though the content is pretty interesting, her way of testing is super difficult and unfair. prepare to memorize every single statistic and example from the textbook and lectures instead of learning and understanding the concepts. you also arent allowed to use your own examples which really hindered my learning personally
The tests are insanely specific. She expects you to know every little thing as a first year.
Here's an idea... instead of having exams with incredibly obscure questions and allowing a crib sheet, just test comprehension of the material, no crib sheet needed. Mel seems like a well-intentioned person but after years of getting this exact criticism she still tests like this. It is so frustrating because the subject matter is cool.
Gave broad rubrics and unstructured exam questions, expecting very specific answers. When asked about grades, there was no guidance or advice. Constant discouragement. It says enough that I received a 67% on one assignment and a 95% on another. No consistency.
A passionate lecturer, though I found the content to be very boring and more social science based rather than geography. Her tests are very specific, but if you have unusually good memory, then you'd probably get away with minimal studying. Put lots of statistics on your cirb sheet, since she likes to test them for some reason.
Pros: recordings are online Cons: asks incredibly specific questions; you just have to hope it's on one of your crib sheets. It sometimes feels like she's not even testing your knowledge on the course material, but on random facts about geography. Tip: memorize general definitions and ideas, put examples, facts, and other niche things on your crib.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
49%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.45 avg changeRatings by Course
GEOH1HA3
5.0
(1)1HAB3
5.0
(1)4US3
5.0
(1)IHB3
4.0
(1)2UI3
3.5
(11)Difficulty by Course
1HB3
5.0
GEO2LE3
4.5
GEOG2UI3
4.3
2LE3
4.1
1HAB3
4.0