3.2
Quality3.6
Difficulty30%
Would Retake110
Reviews30%
Would Retake
110
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
110 total ratings5
43
4
9
3
17
2
17
1
24
What Students Say
“And this, my friends, is the worst professor I have ever had”
302 - 1.0 rating“He is condescending and arrogant, and his notes are a terrible”
BIOCH302 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.53 avg changeRatings by Course
MEDPBL
5.0
(1)BIO300
5.0
(4)BIOCHEM300
5.0
(1)BIOL
5.0
(1)BIOC302S
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
302
5.0
BIOCH302
5.0
BIO
4.0
BIOCHEM302
4.0
BIOC203
4.0
Reviews (108)
No Comments
Zero tolerance for varsity athletics. Missing a test? Tough, SOL.
very passionate about teaching but still need more experience with teaching
Demanding but helpful
No Comments
bad notes and skims through questions asked in class or through email. We know he understands the material but he doesn't explain it well to students.
GoodLectures. Everything is online. Fair exams. Lots of office hours.
huge class but i liked it.
fun class, easy to understand, midterm was difficult , but he does like to be helpful and enjoys class discussions, Just a nice guy who cares about students (you don't get too many of these profs)
great lectures, exams stiff challenge, very helpful, always available, know your basic chemistry!
Nice guy, enjoys teaching, cares about students, mumbly voice in speakers b/c of accent so best to sit at front, exams difficult, notes online but skims through them briefly in class, notes sometimes not explained in detail-may need textbook sometimes
extremely helpful. gotta do your work. not for whiners!
No Comments
been a while - Ddefinately one of the best profs I had at ubc. not easy but very responsive and helpful and lets you know what you need to do in his course. makes the best out of the subject. can only recommend
Interesting lectures
not much to say - good teacher - actually one of the better ones at ubc.
There are some questions in his midterm exam this year that he didn't even cover in class (or that he may have talked about for 5 mins in lecture). He doesn't answer emails during certain times of the day. He takes joy in having a low average for his class and is the most rudest, egocentric prof.
Great and interesting lectures. Talks fast at times. Very well organized. Exams are straight forward.
Fun lectures. Good medical relevance. A few exam questions are a complete give away - if you can count to ten. Cares about students. Easily accessible.
one of the best profs here at ubc. great notes. explains a lot. easy tests.
He comes off as being very arrogant, but he's pretty helpful and friendly if you visit him during office hours. He talks really fast and doesn't really repeat anything he says unless someone asks him. The MT was kinda tough.
good course - helpful if you ask - ok exam
A very helpful and friendly professor. Has a considerate attitude towards his students.. Make sure to write down all his in class notes, and sturdy from his online and class notes.
I consider myself an average student. Not a keener but I do work hard. And I will say, the exam was tough. Dr. Maurus tested on topics that he talked about slightly and left many major concepts untested. 67 % average for a midterm is low.
The notes were pretty good. And he's organized. The midterm was tough, not enough time. On-line tutorial helps apparently.
Very nice fellow, answers any question to the best of his ability. He gives hard midterms but at he warns the class. IF one does not listen.....Well now I know!
His exam is brutal... I mean brutal. He throws terrible questions on the test that do not reflect his notes. Good luck with this course!!! However, he is a nice approachable person.
Very hard...goes too fast in class...doesnt give any practice questions or problem sets and the exams questions are just brutal!!
good prof : clear, nice, prepared, knows the stuff so well, helpful(answer student's every question ). exams are easy if ya think - not for folks that work on reflexes.
Clear. brings some fun into lectures
garbage!!! Get Rid of Him UBC.
organized lectures, fast but allows for Q's in class and after. asks for understanding. lo lo averages. not an easy one. 2nd part makes up
organized. good pace. sort of easy exams but low averages. people really like or hate. lots of office hours and takes time for students. can't ask more
he's organized, and notes were pretty good. The exams were thinking type, clear q's but need to know stuff - some lo some hi marks. very helpful. answers q's during class, not many do that in a class with 300. go and see many office hours.
He is a fair marker and an approachable person. His midterm was hard. It requires long hours of studying and knowing the concepts. My advice would be to take the time to know the concept before remembering the details.
just talks and talks... reads right off his overheads, and his overheads are powerpoint......... all information from the textbook!!
terrible. Totally uncomprehendible. Thinks that putting a figure in his powerpoint=explaining.I honestly wonder why some people rated him well.
has an arrogant tone of voice that just gets irritating after a few weeks, totally talks down to you in person, doesn't explain things clearly and expects to to excel at the same time.
he gives good notes and seems organized. class could be a little more interesting at times, couple fun highlights, but it is biochem, but other than that, overall good prof that speaks freely, answers q's in huge class.
very approachable, funny, helpful and nice, one of the better profs at ubc. quite refreshing to have his lecture in the morning. only flaw is that he goes through his powerpoint quite fast and sometimes with the speed of light, but then they're posted on his website as well. smokin final - makes you think but plenty of time to think in exam! people
Thought the class went okay. Studied hard for the final, knew all the details, but NOTHING I studied was on the final. Very hard test, I don't think it really reflected everything I learned at all. Enjoyed the class and the learning, but I wish my mark reflected that. :(
Great prof...final very difficult. MC very tricky!! Overall very clear notes and lectures, and extremely knowledgeable! Don't like chem or biochem? don't take! Huge class. Tutorials not organized.
Poor lecturer. Impatient, claims that asking for clarification in his awful handwriting is an illegitimate question. Very dry material and makes no effort to make it interesting. Terrible final, vaguely related to class material.
even though getting good marks is easy, i hated the class because the exams were harder than they needed to be. he comes off as quite arrogant but can be helpful at times. overall, i just didn't like him, even though we were learning DNA.
spent long on the easy stuff at the start of the term, whipped through the later harder stuff. hard exam. boring material but he makes the best out of it.
No Comments
Goes over things too quickly and his exam does not even test material gone over in the class instead testing very obscure readings in the text
Thought the class went okay. Lectures are organized -tutorials were not nor helpful. Do his problems. Helpful after class. Studied hard for the final, some hard questions. Enjoyed the class and the learning, but I wish my mark reflected that at the end but Ok class average. Maybe it is just me and the subject but I wanted to do better.
Goes through the end fast but none of his material is too difficult. For the final you have to memorize and read his questions carefully, he loves to trick you with words. All in all a really good prof
No Comments
GREAT prof!! easy mt!! I wish i will be his student again!!
Good proff. Explained all concepts in class and all information necessary for mid-term could be found in the notes and in his practice questions. Still do recommend reading the text as it gave me a bit more of an understanding of material. EXAMS ARE NOT HARD IF YOU STUDY WELL! *note: comment from Oct. 12/06 is ridiculous: exam was on oct 13!!
Barely responds to emails and hard to understand what he says in class(most of the class, he just spends time REPEATING what he'd already said at the begining of the class.) I hate him how he just ignores your email even when you are requesting to book an appointment with him.
He's a nice person but just difficult to understand with his accent and all (when sitting at the back). Midterm was ok, good mt avg but final was hard. HARD! His questions are very tricky and do not reflect on what you've learned. Tutorial Qs help you understand the lecture material but by no means help you prepare for question given by Maurus
Reading the textbook is essentially mandatory. Buy the darn thing, for chrissake! Ignore at your own risk (of death). The only way you could ignore the text is if you can write down everything that comes out of his mouth, EVERYTHING. It's hard, GL.
Great teacher, funny and interesting.
Easy midterm. Final a bit harder but ok. Attend classes and work on the problem sets. Pretty funny for a biochem type.
great prof, very organized, every minute seems all planned, very helpful in office hours, notes were clear but recommend doing textbook readings for sure. make sure u attend the tutorials and do his questions! no answers to the questions. makes u think about them hard.
A very good prof who is extremely organized; I would highly suggest the text book as his lectures are linked with it very well. Easy MT and decent FT. Tutorial was very useful. Concepts aren't hard at all.
He is very intelligent and expects you to be knowledgeable in what he teaches. Overall, he's a nice guy. BUT.. his final was pretty difficult so study hard or do well on the midterm section first...
His exams are just stupid. In the time allowed, some of his questions are just pure stupid. Taught effectively, but did not test smart. There is no way my mark reflected the effort I put in.
The guy has a sense of arrogance about him- almost a God syndrome. He doesn't care for people who ask to many questions (glad I wasn't one of them), and you can easily tell he plays a bit of the favorites game. In bioc 300 he is the worst. exams are tough, hard to prepare for. Just get through it.
not the nicest prof there is out there. very condescending, and almost seems like he enjoys torturing us with very unfair and difficult exams!! made me hate biochem more than ever (i didn't hate it when i took biol 201). his notes are pretty useless too, the textbook is a MUST in this course..and don't even bother reading his notes!
His notes are very clear and easy to learn off. Very organized. Great sense of humour too which is very helpful for those 8am lectures! I've also found him to be extremely helpful when I'm having difficulties, and he's also able to explain things in such a way that I understand instantly. Has many office hours and is easy to talk to.
His notes are very clear and easy to learn off. Very organized. Great sense of humour too which is very helpful for those 8am lectures! I've also found him to be extremely helpful when I'm having difficulties, and he's also able to explain things in such a way that I understand instantly. Has many office hours and is easy to talk to.
Textbook is a must. Go to EVERY SINGLE class. Don't bother to e-mail him. Hard to understand b/c of his accent&awful handwriting. Final was HARD and TRICKY,mostly not related 2 the class material. Spent most time studing for bioc and still got the lowest mark of all my 5 courses. I don't understand how some ppl say he's a great prof,he's not.
dr. maurus is an excellent prof. the best science type i had. he is very concise in his lectures and with hie =s notes and expectations. keeps class interesting. his exams are fair. easy actually as he tells you a lot of the questions that gonna be on the exam. attend all classes. get the leads and hints. you can't miss them.........
OK prof. Weird accent, but nothing brutal. GO TO LECTURES and pay close attention: crucial info added to ppt slides and exam hints given. Exams still hard. Text important.
His lectures are engaging, fast-paced, and punctuated with challenging questions that test material comprehension. Final was for the most part very straightforward and included word-for-word copies of questions gone over in class. Before classes, I recommend reading the text sections but only those pertinent to lecture material.
read the text prior to class for lectures to make sense, then review the slides & assigned questions and you're on your way to an A
Oh god. He was so unclear. And fast-paced. Seems really condescending and probably thought we were idiots. But yea, just get through with it. MEMORIZE ALL THE AMINO ACIDS!
Dr. Maurus was a very organized professor. His lectures are well laid out and he clearly tells the class what you need to know. I took the class over the summer - so the lectures were fast paced but still very interesting - although I personally don't like Bioc that much. Definitely one of the better profs I've had.
What can I say, this prof was great. Really knows his stuff, super clear, professional, funny and so, SO helpful outside of class. I quite honestly enjoyed his classes alot. My background isn't biochem, but study a decent amount daily (I emphasize, DAILY!) and an excellent grade is possible in this course. Most definitely recommended!
Very helpfull, but doesn't always answer your question in a logically direct route. where is his accent from?
Tested material is not reflective of the material taught in class or assigned to learn from the textbook. A strong understanding of all the subject material will NOT guarantee you a good mark in this class.
He just taught the nucleic acid section this term. His exam questions were very reflective of the tutorial questions and practice material as well as the sample questions asked in class, and in some cases, almost identical. Not an easy class by any means but this section is manageable as long as you practice.
Go to the tutorial with Alym and you'll at least pass his section. He has an attitude problem but his section is manageable as long as you do all the practice problems given in CLASS AND TUTORIAL. Can't emphasize enough, the key to doing well in this class is DOING THE TUTORIALS AND GOING OVER THE PROBLEMS HE PRESENTS IN CLASS. Don't skip class!
Hands down, the most terrible professor at UBC. He is not clear at all and does not explain the material effectively, he expects students to learn everything pretty much on their own. He also goes through stuff at a very fast pace.
Very condscending, does not respond to emails.
Easily the worst professor at UBC. Learning objectives are not clear. I would be fine with his accent if he gave coherent notes, but his notes in class are a mess.
He was awful, had zero flow in his notes from one topic to the next, has draconian rules for what kind of questions you may ask him that inhibit learning, and his tests covered material he specifically said we didn't need to know. He is condescending and arrogant, and his notes are a terrible.
Condescending. Seemed like he couldn't wait to get out of class. He took two 20-minute breaks in a 3-hour lecture, and would get annoyed if there were questions before break ("Do you not WANT break??") He restricted questions to the topic at hand (no going back on material for clarification). Exam was vague. Unflexible about exam viewing times.
I have gone to university for 6 years now. And this, my friends, is the worst professor I have ever had. My goodness, I have no idea what is even going on. Good luck if you have to take his class, can't wait until it's over
I was scared for this section but I did the following and succeeded: go to class and TAKE NOTE OF QUESTIONS HE SAYS WILL SHOW UP ON EXAMS. Read the notes, check the textbook for clarification on parts you don't get and THEN do the tutorial. Re-do all tutorials before the final and take RayDork's review session and DO HIS SAMPLE FINAL QUESTIONS
This professor is one of the reasons I am tentative about advocating UBC as an institution. He makes it clear that you are nothing but a number, is obviously not interested in his job, and is extremely unhelpful. I am unsure how he was appointed his position. One of the poorest professors I have interacted with in my four years at UBC.
His lectures are clear, interesting, and easy to understand. He's got a sense of humor and is overall a great prof.
Horrible. Just horrible. Gives incomplete lecture notes, learning objectives are unclear, at least half of what is examined isn't covered in class. His exams are completely unreasonable. Why does UBC keep him in his position it makes the institution look bad.
Absolutely terrible. Bad prof, bad person, just bad. Lowers my opinion of UBC standards.
Learning Objectives unclear and insufficient materials to prepare for exam. The worst part is that Maurus believes in giving zeros. Every question on the final is either 1 or zero. No part marks of any kind. So, you don't get any points for having learned something about a topic. You're either perfect, or zero. That's Dr. Maurus' philosophy.
Going to class and writing down what he says is very important since his written notes aren't very detailed. I felt the final for his half of the course was a lot easier than the midterm, and he was actually really nice and patient when I asked him questions about the material, so I don't agree with all the comments about him being condescending.
Not as bad as people making him seem. Understanding his lecture slides are the most important.
Kind personality BUT this class is absolutely frustrating because he cannot teach at all. Of course, it depends, so you'll have to attend his class to judge. In sum, the way he teaches is by asking the class questions 80% the time, then having you answer back. Lecture slides are incomprehensible. You leave with more questions than entering room.
Example of his class: Imagine you are on a treasure hunt. Instead of giving you a map (eg:learning goals, etc. and you follow the map)he will ask you to make one yourself and ask you to describe some topics on how you think you can reach this treasure? Then you are left alone with scattered points on your paper+you still need to find the treasure.
The tutorials are the only reason why you can pass this class. Without them, the average should hover around 30-40%.
Class: 250+ students The first half of the semester was taught by a professor other Dr. Maurus and the midterm average was 70% (reasonable) The second half of semester was taught by Dr. Maurus and the final average was 60% (for a 65% average grade). 1/2 the battle was trying to decipher what was being asked. Worst course I've personally taken
Very caring guy. Do not skip class. Not only does he tell you what will be tested, he also points out all the irrelevant points in his slides. There are many slides where you might only have to know one enzyme for a pathway - if you're not coming to class, you're going to be studying 3 times the material everyone else is. Not as hard as people say.
Definitely need to go to lecture to pass this course. And even then, it can be pretty tough. There's a lot of diagrams/pictures on his slides, but not a lot of explanation, so sometimes it can be tough to identify what you actually need to know for the exam. Textbook isn't really worth using - just go to tutorial and do the problem sets.
His slides are awful, just pictures and pathways no real information, so you pretty much have to write down everything he says. Just pray you get a good TA who can teach you the material in tutorial
He's the worst prof that I've ever had. His philosophy is that if you aren't perfect then you deserve a zero. On the midterm, the short answer questions are out of several marks, and if there is anything that's incorrect on the questions, you get a zero. He never gives out practice questions answers and he never showed up to my appointment.
His questions are tricky and he usually explains very important concepts as quickly as possible. I don't know why he is teaching if he does not want us to do well on the test, but he is funny and approachable during the class.
His teaching style is different from most professors in that his slides are not very informative. So must TAKE GOOD NOTES on what he says and ATTEND TUTORIALS for his section of BIOC302. It would also be helpful if you recorded the lectures to avoid missing important info. Very nice guy and very knowledgeable.
Took him for bioc 203. Does not explain the material well at all Need to self-learn through textbooks
He gave details about what from the slides will or will not be on the exam, so it is important to listen to what he says instead of skipping or copying slides . I found his part of the course more interesting, and I did about 20% better on his exam than on the other profs. I would take another class with him. Didn't use textbook or go to tutorial.
No practice exam posted
Maurus' lectures were very interesting to me, but he's a notoriously difficult grader. He refuses to let his TA's mark the exams because he's afraid they'll "be too lenient." Do ALL the practice questions he gives you; he copies and pastes them onto his midterm. Like others have said before, he doesn't award part marks, so you really have to work.
He's very nice and explains important concepts well, but he is very unresponsive to emails regarding reviewing final or office hour appointments. The teaching team tends to do answer everything and he just completely ghosts students.
Did not respond to emails. Was not accommodating to people in the access and diversity. Can be rude and dismissive in emails he does answer. He's slides were mostly just pictures so you had to attend every class and write down things he was saying.
I don't think I have ever or could ever have a prof more horrible than this one. If you can avoid having him as your prof please do. He was my prof during quarantine with the covid19 situation. He does NOT respond to emails and is super UNCLEAR about what will and will not be tested. If you can avoid taking his class, avoid it. thank me later.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.53 avg changeRatings by Course
MEDPBL
5.0
(1)BIO300
5.0
(4)BIOCHEM300
5.0
(1)BIOL
5.0
(1)BIOC302S
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
302
5.0
BIOCH302
5.0
BIO
4.0
BIOCHEM302
4.0
BIOC203
4.0