2.5
Quality2.7
Difficulty100%
Would Retake141
Reviews100%
Would Retake
141
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
23
4
21
3
16
2
33
1
48
What Students Say
“Noreen was approachable and friendly, but very unclear and unorganized”
SOCI211 - 3.0 rating“Noreen was very friendly and approachable - and a fair marker”
SOC381 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
202381
5.0
(1)SOCEXPLANATION
5.0
(1)SOC382
5.0
(1)SOC376
4.7
(3)SOC200
4.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
SOC305
5.0
305B
5.0
SOCI308
4.5
SOCI202308
4.0
202
3.5
Reviews (141)
Noreen was approachable and friendly, but very unclear and unorganized.
Noreen was very friendly and approachable - and a fair marker.
She comes to classunready to teach and cancels class without notice
not interesting, not organzied, easy but a WASTE of time
Does the absolute minimum. Noreen, we were even more bored than you.
good teacher
Very easy, VERY boring- lecture style terrible; repeats same point ad nauseum
BORING! Avoid Begoray at all costs. A waste of time and money. Beware!!!!!
No Comments
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Oh my god woman, learn how to teach!
get out while you still can
No Comments
The university is in a sorry state if they keep her on as a teacher. Rediculas
she wanders off topic more than hunter s thompson
Improved much over the semester. Needs to try to 'get to the point' faster
its rare that the books more interesting
Hasn't taught in over a month
Easy, and very nice but extremely UNorganised. makes me want to shoot myself.
She is very nice, but must take a course on how to teach.
No Comments
boooo erns
Contrary to other opinions, I thought she was quite good. Objective teacher.
No Comments
seriously, all i learn is from the text, this woman makes paint drying look good
Boring, total waste of time. I went to 2 classes all year.
terrible! get out asap! doesn't know how to teach and is extremely boring.
Class moves very slowly. Loves examples... but we don't need 80 to get it!!
granted she's a nice prof tho a tad lazy (where did ALL our classes go F02?&
1 term of my life that I will never get back!
man, this llady can't teach work ****!
I think shes nice,, unfortunately, the raters on this page are sooo mean!
this teacher has deterred me from ever taking another sociology course
good lecture notes
horrible horrible, great class horrible professor
the final was KILLER! very nice, lectures are not usually from textbook
cancelled about 4 classes, and to many guest speakers and could not teach!
zzzzzzzzzzzz
a bit on the dry side, find all the lectures are word for word from text..
NOTE:we PAY YOU to be there,come to class for once&teach whats NOT in text
wow, its like she just quit teaching two weeks in...
No Comments
not a great teacher
Nice person, but THE WORST TEACHER EVER. Her tests are ridiculous.
No Comments
No Comments
Really nice person but extremely boring lectures....lucky if 40 out of 200 students show up. Walkover course though.
Unfortunately, it's true - not an inspiring teacher. Very nice though.
I took Soci of Gender with Dr. Begoray and it was amazing. This proff is very understanding, openminded and values students opinions. Seems fairly easy but I learned a lot!
too much personl info is given in class could learn the course materail from home and just be examined at school.
Very good class...clear and very helpful. Great prof!
Best prof ever! Sooo understanding, really cares about students. She extended deadlines and skipped chapters. Very sweet person.
No Comments
Unclear, barely shows to class, always wants to eat, and socialist. easy class but don't be too contentious, and do your reading in the book.
She is the nicest prof ever. She gave us extensions on everything! You want her she's not mean at all. Her TA marks essays tho thats the only prob.
no charisma, self conscious, unable to articulate herself well... its too bad she gets assigned to intro level courses (does the faculty want to downsize?)
Please - stop with the chalk snapping and sputtering of sentence fragments that don't make sense.
Good teacher
No Comments
horrible, absolutely horrible
Noreen is a fair marker and easy if you do what she asks....she's very understanding and I would definately recommend her. But the course is quite dry, unless you love theory.
Very lazy and definitely not the best the department has to offer. Why would you tarnish the reputation of a university with an instructor so terrible?
No Comments
Absolutely gastly!
How is she allowed to teach?
noreen is neat. i really like how shes not stuffy and anal like so many profs. pay attention in her courses and ask questions. if you dont like her its probably because you're too mainstream and anything different from hollywood makes you uncomfortable.
She is making efforts to improve so thats good. Her teaching is very slow-paced and chill, so it requires you to read the book and teach urself. The books great though---so shut up. She talks to you like a person.
I like Noreen and her TA is really HOT~~
she's a nice lady and she makees the effort to improve her teaching, unfortunatly it remains boring and resembles ranting. she's passionate about social problems, but really needs to make her classes more interesting.
Noreen does not know how to teach and how did she ever get her degree I do not know. She is awful and should be fired no joke.
No Comments
very helpful and very nice! Easy exams, fair marker.
This class was terrible- so boring, tests are random and paper topic is stupid. She is passionate about the topic but does not present it in an effective way- smaller class size would help.
No Comments
Every day that I sat in her class I wanted to stick a rusty fork in my eye.
Worst soci prof ever - or prof in general. Unprofessional, and lacks any social grace or drive necessary to be a proper teacher. Terrible.
Take about affirmative action folks.
Noreen is my favourite teacher at uvic. she is a "real" person, helpful, and funny. i would reccommend her classes over any other classes anyday
No Comments
No Comments
Noreen is the worst. She is completely unorganized and unhelpful. What a waste, I had to learn the course on my own. If you're in her course DROP IT NOW. oh, and don't bother seeing her during office hours -very rude!
Ok, so any theory class is boring. But Noreen means well and tries her best. She loves gender so take that class with her. If you are a type of person that gets easily annoyed, don't take her. If you are easy going, you'll like her all over the place style.
tried very hard and is simpathetic to all her students. if u go to her with and problems like handing in ur papers late she'll be very helpful. also she allows differnt methods of doing papers like on video instead of written, but she is a feminist, but had interesting things to say about it as well
Noreen was a nightmare in my life. I could not wait until I finish the course. She is TERRIBLE and RUDE. Drop your course if you are registered with her. I sympathize with you if you can not!
oh god....
Probablet they single worst professor I've ever seen. She is ALWAYS unorganized, and lacks any lecturing skill what so ever. I would discourage anyone form EVER taking one of her classes, it was a waste of my time, money, and effort.
She does not lecture that well, but tries her best to keep things moving smoothly, she is easy going, understanding and nice- if you arent rude to her- and you will probably get a good mark by simply reading the text
No Comments
Lacks cadence and clarity during lectures. Talks in circles about her dogs. reveals way too many personal details. Often tests on material she THINKS she lectured about but really she just made a passing comment about it. Although she seems nice I would not reccomend taking a class with her.
This teacher lacks organizational skills, clarity, lecturing skills and overall teaching skills. Regurgitates from the text but neglects to include what she expects on exams. I would not recommend this teacher to anyone.
Noreen is the last of the political and socially non-conforming vanguards. She will help expand your mind and challenge authority. If you are a square with no imagination then don't take the class- for everyone's sake. Dogs in class are a problem though.
She makes you feel sorry for her. Her teaching style is to use her life examples that have caused her pain and reveals much of her lack of self esteem. **** comments can be expected and harsh comments to students are common. Her tests are fairly straight forword; she never covers all the material and cancels class for random reasons
Worst sociology prof I have had in my 3 years of university thus far! She is a nice woman but her expectations and lectures are so unclear and scrambled. A total waste of both time and money! I am not trying to be cruel, mean or wine, I have a soci average of A-. Just telling it how it is. Take soci from good profs like PM Baker, Kobayashi, Gadacz
I liked her.
Worst teacher ever, seems she wants bad reviews so she can be put out of her misery and go hang out with her dogs. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HER!
Min. 4 classes "sick"/sem, 3-4 classes are movies, remaining lectures utterly useless, great text but fairly one-sided & lacks male content, TA does all the work, untrustworthy, horrible attitude toward students, zero effort, major study time needed for style of tests, waste of tuition, should be fired, dept. does not care, NEVER TAKE THIS PROF!
Wow, terrible. I agree with the last three comments. She is the worst teacher I've ever had. I went to every class, too bad she didn't... missing 2 weeks total, i wish you could get money back for cancelled classes. Class was kind of easy, but it took forever to get marks back, our final was on the 5th and I've still yet to receive any. It's Jan 3r
She was a great teacher. NO ONE is giving her a chance. If people expect to get spoon fed than do not take her class. That last few comments are from LAZY students. Her classes are amazing. I have had her for Soci 100, 202, 305A and she has been great for all those classes. As a bonus, her cheesy jokes are funny:)
Begoray has been slow to return assignments. She cancelled something like 4 classes with no notice. This class is a waste of time for anyone wishing to challenge themselves and learn something.
Nice woman, but very disorganized. She did not show up to 4 classes. She dumped most of the work/marking on the TA. Very slow at handing work/assignments/tests back. Lectured straight from the text. The actual course material could've been very interesting if it was presented in a more effective manner. Would suggest taking soc with another prof.
Grades for an exam written Dec 5,'05 still not posted! Unhelpful,disorganized,unclear prof & lack-luster presentation of material made this course a waste of $ and time! This is not personal, this is an accurate discription of the coure and the material presented. Come on U Vic Soc. department! This is terrible!
Very unstructured and off topic constantly. Should be fired from the department due to lack of motivation.
noreen is one of the best teachers for sociology at uvic. i am not sure why there are negative comments. she creates a really good learning atmosphere and you can always ask questions. and her jokes ARE funny...
DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING WITH THIS PROF!! I don't understand why she is teaching or how she keeps her job. Missed more classes than most students. Took forever to hand things back. Didn't mark anything herself. Spent more time talking about her dog and tv shows than actual soci. Avoid her at all costs.
i am about to graduate and am commenting on a few of the best & few of worst profs. Begoray falls in the 'worst' category. she missed a ton of classes, had useless lectures and gave me zero feedback on my assignments. she is the second worst prof. in my university career. good luck :/
Every bad comment is 100% true. Unbelievably terrible prof.
A wicked prof. Exam criteria was clear and directly from class/assigned readings. Conversational style lectures were light hearted, humorous, receptive to student feedback and supplemented with extensive theoretical background. Purported 'tangents' were testable. Don't like honesty or personal opinions? Don't take her class.
AWFUL!! class was a gigantic waste of time in that she spent all of her time talking about the EXACT same thing that she talked about the day before, and the day before that, and so on. class material very interesting, UNTIL she taught it! simply has no passion for soci.
One word: TERRIBLE!!!! Avoid her if all possible! She was one of the worse profs I ever had. All she talked about was sex and her f-ing dogs! She is a big fan of 'circle jerks'. Sure she is honest---but I learned absolutely nothing from her! Also--extremely LAZY!
People aren't kidding when they say don't take her class. We are at 6 and counting cancelled classes. Her TA works harder than she does, and I could teach the class better than she has! Half the class has gone to the department head. If you value your education and tuition money DO NOT TAKE A CLASS with this lazy beast!
Four years at uvic and she is BY FAR the WORST prof I have ever had. I have no idea why she is allowed to teach. She misses classes, leactures (if you can even call it that) straight from the textbook, and is completely useless if you try and ask for clarification. She also spends as much time talking about her personal life as the material.
What a joke. I truly wonder why anyone would have to pay for a class this awful! My ass could do a better job teaching than this monster. Showing up for class makes learing harder than if you teach yourself. Blah blah blah blah blah would be considered an interesting topic in this class. What a joke.
She is rude. Lacks the social skills and teaching skills to make cl**** interesting. You simply can not approach her with a concern because she will attack you. Avoid her, waste of time and money.
Worst prof at UVic. Do not take a class from her. She is disgusting and rude. If you MUST take her class, teach yourself from the textbook and avoid going to class. You'll still get a decent mark, since she basically lectures straight from the text. AWFUL!!
Her lectures are pretty much right from the text, but does manage to bring relevant and interesting material outside of the text into her lectures. She isn't rivoting by any means, but she is not terrible either. Joan Harkness is by far a worse sociology professor.
Nice prof. Not afraid to broach awkward topics. Relaxed teaching style. Do your readings and you'll do fine.
Not having to buy a textbook was nice, except that all the readings she posts online are in different formats, sometimes unavailable entirely, and usually look like they were photocopied by a kangaroo on acid. She is totally disorganized, not to mention annoying. Save yourself the frustration!
Noreen is the worst prof I have had in four years of University. Her decision to not use a text book and upload articles to Blackboard completely failed as she is completely disorganized and does not know how to use the technology. I regret taking this class and think that it was a complete waste of money specifically due to her inability to teach
Warning!Begoray is incomprehensible, unorganized, and extremely hard to follow. A text book is essential for understanding the critical aspects of this course, and she refuses to use one. The exams and essay are critically analyzed by some imagined scale which she cooks up after the scale that she says she will use for marking has been sent out.
WARNING! noreen negoray is the worst teacher at UVIC. She never prepares for class, is completely disorganized, and to top it off, rude and ignorant. She completely disregards the course outline and creates her lessons as she goes. The readings she assigns has nothing to do with her lectures. Worst prof ever
Taking a class with Noreen is a complete waste of money. She makes Uvic look terrible by keeping a prof with absolutely no skill. My gpa will suffer a total blow due to this classes disorganization. Oh, and provide a text book if you are not going to teach anything Begoray!!!!!
Noreen is an awesome prof. she did go on tangents but who cares! they were interesting and related to the topic. if your shy and immature you won't like this class as it is very open hence human sexuality. noreen's help during office hours was so useful, by far the best i've experienced in four years at uvic. very helpful fun teacher!
Can get off topic during class, but I find this interesting. All you have to do is read and make sure you are clear on main concepts. She is more than willing to help during her office hours if you make time to go. Put in the effort and ask her for help. Very honest, blunt, refreshing person. Will not tip-toe around the awkward...ABOUT TIME.
Didn't like her or this class at all...but at the end of it all I'd say she taught the class in the best way it can be taught. Attendance is mandatory, you probs won't understand anything if you skip class, plus I'd recommend intense use of the textbook. All exams are open-book, just prepare for them in advance and you'll do fine.
horrible professor.
Horrible prof. Because Noreen is a sessional prof she ends up teaching classes that she probably shouldn't be. I hear she is decent for Human Sexuality but I wouldn't recommend her for stats. The class average for the final exam was 60 percent...it was completely unclear and unbalanced for a cumulative exam..consider yourself warned
Noreen is a riot! She is honest, blunt, intelligent, and hilarious. Don't be alarmed if she is crude. She doesn't mean to offend people its just how she operates. She is super helpful if you visit her. Keep up with the readings and her lectures and you'll ace her course. She is SUCH a character!
Unproffessional in every imaginable aspect. Rambling, rude, operates in a cloud of confusion, contradicts herself, makes mistakes, becomes defensive and rude when her marking is questioned. She doesn't understand what she is teaching. It is an attrocity this women is teaching required courses.
I had a really difficult time with her teaching style. It was very unclear to me, and while I understand that people make mistakes, she made far too many for a statistics class. Frustrating.
excellent cares a lot about students
Office hours for this class are necessary since each students project topic is different. Extremely helpful prof if you attend lectures and office hours. She is very personable, energetic and wants her students to succeed.
Lab attendance is necessary to understand projects and homework. Extremely helpful and friendly prof.
POOR TEACHER! She does not provide you with the tools to understand stats. She is unskilled in lecturing and it is difficult to make sense of what she says. Her tests do not represent her lectures. The only positive thing is the lab instructor who is helpful.
Never take a class with this professor. She gets mad at students for asking questions (claiming theyre not listening) and despite low class averages refuses to offer help. Confuses notes on board and is generally rude. If the class you need with her is available with another prof, switch over. Im in fourth year and this is my worst prof to date.
Worst prof I have ever had at UVic. She is rude and condescending, and goes off on tangents on the most unrelated stuff. The class is pretty easy, I got an A+, but stay away from her if you can!
Over all she is a good Prof. Very easy on marks.
Quite honestly the most direspectful, rude, condescending professor I have ever experienced in my 3 years at UVIC. I can't believe she still has a job considering the way she treats her students. Her lack of passion for the subject is quite evident, and her disorganized lectures are a huge obstacle for achieving a decent grade.
Not hard to get good grade from her class
Noreen is very real. Something that appears to be less and less common. You have to be open minded to suit her teaching style. Her style is not structured. If you are a type A person who thrives on predictability then she may not be a good fit for you. If you want to be challenged and are open to non-traditional teaching, she will be perfect!
She was pretty good. There were times where I felt like she was not very clear about her grading criteria but overall I still found her lectures pretty interesting and the class manageable.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
202381
5.0
(1)SOCEXPLANATION
5.0
(1)SOC382
5.0
(1)SOC376
4.7
(3)SOC200
4.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
SOC305
5.0
305B
5.0
SOCI308
4.5
SOCI202308
4.0
202
3.5