awesome prof. goes off topic plenty, but he's a funny guy and he actually helps you learn. Talk to him if you want all the gossip about university politics. makes classes fun.

what a joke...

Excellent class. Professor is very funny and relaxed. Be prepared to learn a lot of stuff. Tests are only difficult if you don't put in the time to study.

Funny as hell. The highlight of my day is attending his class. Goes off topic a lot but that's what makes the class so interesting. I would look for classes taught by him in the future. If you don't like science, JOIN HIS CLASS, he might just change your mind.

SOOO funny, I loved attending the lectures. He picks on students that should be picked on. A lot of material to study but fair tests.

good guy

Absolutely hilarious lectures, even though he goes off on tangets frequently you still learn alot. Lots of material to learn for tests, but fair grading for the amonut of matierial given.

Entertaining guy. If you hate stories, don't take his class. The course covers ALOT which makes it hard, but he does his best to help.

Yeah, what everyone else said...

One of the funniest profs ever, would go on and tell stories about Winnipeg or wha ever...really hard course, really hard tests, hard marker.

this guy's crazy! Class was super entertaining. Hilarious stories. Definitely one of the best prof.'s I've had!

Mike is rather "out there." The key to his tests is to draw pictures and clearly labelled diagrams whenever possible. He loves it. There is a BUNCH of material in his course, so if you're not into memorizing a slew of stuff, I would say take Trudy Kavanagh instead. (And her classes can still be pretty entertaining, just the same.)

Chillax, it's like gr.12 geography all over again

He works the hardest of any prof I've seen. The class notes are sold at the bookstore for 25$ so you really don't have to do to class unless you need further clarification. He really knows his stuff, and his jokes are funny. The class is HARD! There is just so much material to cover over the term! If you need a science, pick EESC instead.

Great humour!!!!! I loved being in this class, even if it was at 8:30am! Be sure to take your text with you to highlight, it really helps. He is so open to input from students, and honest with them. Always there to help you, perhaps online too much (you have a wife & kids, Mike!) but we would be upset if he wasn't there!

Nice prof who works hard for his students, but who also demands the same from his students. My major problem with the course was there was WAY too much to study. The webct discussion board is also swamped with ridiculous banter from students (1100msgs this term) that makes it hard to sift through each and every one EVERY day to find important info.

Nice, funny guy who loves to teach!

I was scared I would fail stats- I communicated this with Mike at the beginning of the semester and he made every effort to ensure I didn't. WebCt- always helpful as we could read the lecture notes in advance and be prepared. His lectures are directly from those notes, so read them! I ended up passing with 78- taking Geo 316 next semester.YAY Mike

Keeps us not only educated in geography, but in current events! =)

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pretty amusing lectures,mike worked hard to make boring material tolerable.

As you know potential geog. majors, you must take stats or cartography as a requirement. Whichever it is, take it with Michael because he'll get you through it (with effort on your part of course) This is a prof which both high school teachers and other profs could learn a thing or two about how to actually TEACH a class. I highly recommend him.

fun prof! interesting lectures, though hard marker on midterms. ACTUALLY cares whether or not you pass his class. Definitely reccommended.

Michael was an awsome teacher! Although tests were hard, if you put the time in and study, you will do well - a list of questions that will be on the exam are provided so you have no excuse not to know them. Multiple choice questions could be made a bit easier but all in all i found the class enjoyable and would take another class with Michael.

very good job

While the class may be very challenging if you don't study hard for it, Mike has amazing lectures. Mike is smart, witty, funny and entertaining, his classes are very exciting and enjoyable. If the exams were easier it would be the perfect class.

He's a good teacher and it's funny how he seems to not know what's going to come up next on his slides.

Nice enough guy and pretty funny, but thinks farmers are the reason for global warming?? umm, okay, i personally wouldn't blame the guys using the earths land to its full potential, but i guess thats just the way I grew up.

smart prof really knows what he is teaching. tests are not hard if you put in the time and go to class and acutally study. he does a good job and keeps a positive cheery attitude while teaching.

When I first started taking this class I wasn't sure how much I liked this professor, but he definately grows on you, I know find him pretty entertaining and fun- definately a challenging class, but all the people who are complaining probably didn't put the max effort into preparation- he tests you for real, its the offical welcome to university!

This class is a tough class and not the most interesting content. Mike tries his best to keep it fun and interesting, cracks jokes and keeps you awake. It is a dense course though, as with any general geography course there is a lot to know and learn. If you understand the main concepts in detail you will do time on tests. Fair, but not easy marker

Recommend this class for first year science if you liked GEOG 12. Not easy so dont expect that no 1st year science is easy. If you do the questions in the study guide you will do well on tests since its the same questions. Go to class, he will give hints about the exam questions.

Such a great professor! He will keep you entertained even through the most boring of topics! He is completley resonable in his testing and marking and if you ever need any help he can be found in his office often to help you any way he can.

Mike was an amazing prof, he is very knowledgeable and can answer almost any question and makes lots of funny jokes, making class enjoyable. While Mike may be a tough prof (Class Average is ALWAYS 65%), he gets you prepared for the next steps of university.

Mike was a very good professor both for intro to Physical Geography and Stats. Mike told lots of jokes and stories which were very funny and made class more interesting. Exams were well outlined and pretty easy if work was put in.

Well organized and clear. Great course option for lab science credit.

Excellent class - very interesting and professor is very funny. Class is also very organized but labs can be boring.

Fun class that was very organized. Professors humor was great. It made the class go by quickly and kept you alert for the whole lecture.

Great Prof! His edutainment approach to class it just what was needed, so you don't stab yourself with a pencil due to the material. Don't think I would have made it through the course without his humor and stories. Knows what he it talking about and knows how to teach! Would definately recommend!!!

Mike is an awesome prof. I've taken two classes with him, and both were very well organized. He is really straightforward when it comes to material, and is super helpful if you talk to him one-on-one. He does go off on random thoughts during lecture, but as he explains, it's his attempt to keep the students interested. His style works for me.

Wow that last post sure is bitter. Must have a bad mark. If you do the work the course is not that hard. Textbook has a few typos but otherwise its Excellent!

Pidwirny uses the textbook a lot but only because he wrote it himself FOR the course. So for those who skip class - getting an A is very doable! You don't really need to memorize as much as people say as long as you understand the concepts. He does kind of rant but its actually entertaining and he genuinely loves his subject. His class was fun!

His class is easy enough as long as you read his textbook and read it well. He wrote it so everything is based off of it, which really makes it easy actually because you know what you need to study. He is a nice guy and makes the class funny and interesting. He is definitely my favorite first year prof

Im currently in Pidwirny's class and it is by far my favourite this semester. I love his humour, he is very knowledgable on what he is teaching, and generally just a great guy, keeps my attention really well and studying is easy cuz he wrote the text book. really no excuses for doin poorly, I'm a B student at best and i got an A+ on the first exam

Great prof! I am in no way a science student, but i am doing very well in his class! He is clear, funny, and uses a great textbook. Yes you can skip his class, but he is entertaining enough that its worth going. His tests are fair so if you study you can easily pull off top grades! Highly recommend him!

He is SOO funny :) you'll really enjoy having him as a professor :)

Excellent course. Can't believe there are negative reviews ... must be from students who weren't doing well in the class. Wasn't hard to get a great mark in this class.

You either love him or hate him but personally I loved pidwirny!! His weird sense of humour always made class enjoyable and if you read the textbook its so easy to do well.

Great Prof and great guy. Personable not a robot like many profs at UBC. Very helpful, will always make time to clear up any confusion. Manages to keep stats as interesting as it can be. Any poor ratings are angry 1st years.

Anyone who doesn't like Michael doesn't have a sense of humour. His classes are interesting and funny. He follows the textbook 100%. His slides are pieces from the textbook, so instead of taking notes I just highlighted what he put in the slides. Attendance was not mandatory but I went anyway because Michael is funny and gives a good lecture.

1)amazing prof! 2)minor "tangents" are humorous & keep his students interested 3)follows textbook to the T but knows what he's talking about & gives you the chance to listen instead of burying your face in your notepad & he's very helpful. Just read each chapter twice, pay attention to his lectures, ask questions & you're guaranteed to do well!

Very good class and prof. The course itself was quite easy. If you don't do well its not due to the prof, its due to being a terrible student. Super easy to get an A+. Follows Text quite well. Overly easy tests.

Attendance isn't necessary because the material follows the textbook exactly & studying is very easy since he wrote the textbook. However, the lecture was very entertaining since he knows his stuff, is comfortable teaching it and is constantly making jokes. 3 midterms & he takes the best 2 marks. Final covers 5 easiest chapters. Labs were decent

He tells jokes to make the class more interesting (Personally, I really love "The Excited States of America" lol), and willing to answer questions during the lecture. Very helpful if you see him in private. Labs and lab exams are easy peasy; however you have to memorize many details for the midterms and the final. Very good prof overall ;)

Michael is a really nice prof. His lectures are very clear and on point, he also has a good sense of humor. The text book completely follows the lecture materials, since he wrote it. Labs, lab exams, and mindterms are very easy.

Best professor! Great for help in office hours or after class and answers all questions in class too. Great tester, deletes your worst mark. No cumulative test. He is funny and keeps it fresh and interesting by telling stories and jokes most of the time they relate to the material. Very great, I would take every class he teaches. :)

goofy guy, has all learning resources available and updated, wants students to succeed, lectures not mandatory to do well in class,

Pidwirny is a comedian. Absolutely hilarious, almost directly tells you whats on the tests and really makes class time enjoyable. About as easy as it gets. Definetly take this course. His TA is amazing too.

Excellent. No complaints, pretty sure he reads these so, Geog 108 was pretty funny, thanks for making your jokes clear so we aren't confused! Exams were chill if you read the text.

Second time taking a geog course with michael. Funny prof, clear lectures. Assignments are fairly easy with examples. The labs can sometimes take a longer time to finish, but he will guide you through. Exams are fairly easy too. Definately recommend taking a class with him.

I found him entertaining for GEOG 108 but in the smaller classes he is next level. Listen to him and his ideas, he is a bit stubborn with his opinions about the world but his ideas are incredibly insightful. One of the few courses in university that made me realize why the heck I was doing all of it....

Amazing class, easy if you need the GPA. Pidwirny is an excellent lecturer and got us engaged very easily by relating to us in the lectures. Thoroughly enjoyed my semester because of him.

Great professor, I loved my GEO 108 class with him. Hilarious dude, plus easy enough tests, plus no cumulative exam! He was essential to me choosing to major in Geography.

Pidwirny is a breath of fresh air in the life-sucking walls of the university. He jokes around but you will actually learn a lot from him as opposed to some of the more serious professors who can't organize a lecture or give relevant examples if their life depended on it. We engaged in great discussion and i almost peed laughing at his jokes.

Pidwirny is a gem! Some how he hasn't allowed the world of Academia and the soul sucking nature of UBCO to dampen his love of science or teaching, I gained a lot of knowledge from his lectures, and I truly believe his comedic relief allows me to retain information during lecture, otherwise I wouldn't listen, I look forward to his classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Pidwirny's lecture style. Kept me engaged and interested. His teaching and excitement or passion of his subject helped me to solidify my decision to what I wanted to further my studies in.

Really funny guy, loves to go off on tangents. Goes through the lectures pretty quick so it is a bit difficult to take notes. If you attend class and get a good sense of the ideas and read the book you'll do fine. The lab portion was also pretty easy.

Pidwirny wrote his own textbook, and it is mandatory that you read it if you are hoping to pass the class. His lectures explain the content well, but they are not required. He is always available for extra help, and his jokes throughout the class make him come across as very approachable.

Tests are hard but fair. He wrote the textbook so he just lectures about the textbook. Very long chapters and must know it inside and out. But a great grade is attainable you just have to work for it! He is hilarious and labs are easy. Lab exam easy. Midterms MC. Final exam MC and very long essay questions but he gives you the possible questions.

He definitely is able to make dry material funny, kind of reminds you of an uncle who cracks corny jokes. The material really is not interesting, but if you go to enough lectures and read the books the tests should be easy enough.

Pidwirny is honestly one of my fav profs at UBCO. He truly cares about his students and wants them to do well so go to his office hours and he will genuinely put in the time to help you out. Not to mention he is absolutely HILARIOUS/ borderline offensive but I still found myself clenching my gut at his jokes. Pids courses are definitely an easy A!

Favourite teacher. He is interesting to listen to, real, can see right through you, and has a really frank outlook on life. Really makes you think about the world from a macro perspective. Not a hard course to coast through but worth it if you put the effort in because you actually will learn a LOT. Note down his jokes too, you'll laugh later.

Hs Is great, however the lab part of this class is awful and the separate prof for the labs is a pain. Great class however if you're looking for an interesting prof and easy marks.

What a fantastic prof! He is very funny and has engaging lectures (you may have to suspend some of your politically correctness a bit sometimes)! If you read the textbook and take notes on it the course is easy to do well in even if geography is not really your thing.

Pidwirny is a hilarious teacher. His GEOG108 class is a standard class in terms of difficulty but the labs take FOREVER. Overall, his lectures are just mostly the information from the text book, but they are worth going to because he's really funny. He goes on a lot of tangents so be prepared! Great lecturer overall, and really cares!

Compared to 108, I enjoyed Pidwirny in a small class size much more. I loved going to his class and even made one of my friends sit in to witness his "edutainment". Take this class for a good time and a stats credit. Put in the effort for the labs and assignments and you'll be golden.

This guy is a gem. He is so passionate about Physical Geography and he is extremely engaging. His lectures are so much fun and he has some good stories to tell. It's a relatively easy class if you do the readings and submit your assignments.

The man, the myth, the legend. Michael is one of the funniest people I have ever met and full of wonders. I attended his lectures purely because of the weird stories he told. He's also very intelligent and I would take this course over and over again.

Really funny guy. I took geography to satisfy my science requirement and I didn't have high expectations but Dr. Pidwirny really is awesome! He is so funny! If you pay attention and do the assignments then its pretty hard to do bad in his class. The labs are not that bad and the exams are only multiple choice so if you study you'll do good.

Big Mike is hilarious and very knowledgeable. His little stories and jokes are always a blast. The thing is, you have to have the fastest hands in the west to keep up with the speed at which he goes through lecture slides. Labs are decent and interesting. Exams have a good amount of specific information so reading the textbook/notes is a must

Many would agree with me when I say that Pidwirny a real treasure. He may blast through lectures, but you'll still enjoy it because of his tidal wave of really corny dad jokes. Lots of opportunities to do well as labs are easy and the midterm and final are multiple choice. Don't slack off though! This is a very material-heavy course.

The prof is really humorous and likes to mingle with students. Overall, he creates a relaxing and fun environment for us to study physical geography. He is full of passions to give his lectures and I promise you that you will never feel bored taking his class.

THE FINAL WAS AWFUL, AND I STUDIED FOR WEEKS. All mc questions, completely based on names and numbers. Felt more like a history final than geo. Pidwirny is great though, makes you want to come to class every day, makes super corny dad jokes which I can appreciate. Attendance was mandatory only because of participation marks, you'll still pass.

I recommend this GEOG108 class, it's a fairly simple class where 15% is allotted to attendance, homework, and short in-class quizzes. The midterm and final were all multiple choice and you need to read the textbook to be able to know a lot of the answers. Also, the final was not cumulative and only comprised the last 8 chapters.

Really sarcastic humour which makes class interesting.

Used a thing called tophat which took attendance for 5% which is nice. the tests were hard and there were two but I'm pretty sure they weren't cumulative.

Hilarious guy, keeps the lectures light and fun and entertaining. Cares about students, doesn't bombard you with tons of readings or homework. Lab homework is very reasonable and simple with very clear instructions and extra help online. 100% recommend this prof!

Michael as a professor was very good. He tried to make his lectures engaging and added stupid jokes when he noticed people were losing interest. 15% of the grade is attendance so don't skip. He relies heavily on the textbook. If you don't read it you won't pass since all of the exam questions are straight from the book.

Michael is a funny prof but has a tendency to veer off course during lectures. Keep that in mind, you'll need to keep up with readings in the textbook. The textbook itself was very helpful and directly correlated to the exams. As an arts student, I found the labs to be a bit time-consuming (me no have math brain) but fairly easy to do well on.

One of my new favorite professors. He is hilarious and really knows what he is talking about. Made lectures super enjoyable, entertaining and worthwhile. Really knows how to captures student's attention... Would hands down take him again. Labs weren't too bad either - just had to put in the work. 2 midterms, final, attendance and then labs...

Funny guy

Funny guy, crack jokes occasionally, attendance is compulsory for bonus mark. Midterm and finals are all multiple choice question, he will pick 75% of the question from review section on HIS textbook, as long as you go through them before taking the test, you should be fine. There's only lab homework which isnt that hard if you talk to TA about it.

A lot of the multiple choice questions at the end of the textbooks chapters were used on the midterms and final exam. As an art student dreading this science requirement, it really wasn't that bad. Only thing that was a bit annoying was that the labs often covered materials that we had not covered in the lectures as yet. Hope this helped!

As a arts student fulfilling a science requirement, he was so good. He's hilarious and a very fair marker. I recommend him. The labs are hard yes, but he has nothing to do with them. Do the tophat quizes.

Nice professor! Nice course! DON NOT BUY TOPHAT! It wastes my money:(

Was annoyed before about having to buy TOP HAT but he sent out an email apologizing and saying he is trying to get our money back. Also he had a lot going on personally he said in email. Wasn't the greatest class, but tests are super fair and I would take a class with him again if it was in-person.

I enjoyed the course.

The top hat questions are very important.

Make sure to go through the short answer questions and the top hat quizzes.

The material is sooo boring and can be difficult, but the Pidwirn is hilarious in lectures and the labs are so helpful. You gotta have a sense of humour to truly appreciate him :) I felt like the tests were hard, but very fair and had good practice tests/expectations.

Cool person! Keeps the dry contents pretty interesting - would recommend for 1st year electives

Goes off on many tangents which certainly kept lectures entertaining! I definitely wouldn't say attendance is mandatory as he just read off the PowerPoints that are all available on canvas. Definitely a great and inspiring guy though who is clearly passionate about the environment and socialism lol

EESC 101: He goes off topic A LOT. He just reads off of his slides so you don't really need to attend lectures. The only thing is random quizzes (which he does not give enough time for). Exams were alright, don't expect good marks on MCQs as he throws in obscure statistics. Written questions are usually straightforward.

Micheal is one of the best professors I have ever had. Everyone says that the tangents he goes off on are horrible, but that was honestly one of my highlights, I also found that for the most part it helped me understand the material better. He is amazing at answering questions in a way that makes sense to each student.

This professor is one of my favourite professors. He goes over material very clearly and very well and wants you to succeed. I love his side tangents too. It makes the class worth going to. He explains what is important for the course and for tests and provides so much support for helping with homework assignments and labs.

Well-designed course with excellent in-class instruction. It's lots of work but well worth it if you want to learn statistics.

This is a review for EESC101 that I took in Jan 2022. You really need to attend classes and read the textbook to do well in this course. Professor expects students to work hard.

One of those classes you look forward too!

At the start I found Pidwirny's tangents distracting and was keen to learn, but by the end of the semester they were the reason I was able to get myself to class and show up. He is helpful in office hours and quite a funny professor. I took stats with him and although I found the class quite hard he was able to offer guidance and help when needed

always look forward to his courses and lectures!

Pidwirny has been one of my favorite profs since being at UBCO. His lectures are the perfect balance of sarcasm and fun, and detailed info on topics. He knows how to keep a class engaged. 10/10 would recommend his stats course if you can take it instead of stats, same content but a better prof.

Hilarious prof, definitely goes on tangents, some people don't like it but I love it - especially if the material is pretty dry. MUST remember very specific people and numbers/stats to pass any of the tests/exams. Enjoyed this class much more than 101. All the exam questions are based off lecture slides so makes it easy if you miss some lectures