3.0

Robin Insley

Statistics - Simon Fraser University

3.0
Quality
3.4
Difficulty
N/A
Would Retake
84
Reviews
3.0
Quality
3.4
Difficulty
2.8
Helpful
3.2
Clarity

N/A

Would Retake

84

Reviews

Rating Distribution
Official

5

25

4

15

3

13

2

13

1

18

What Students Say

exams r not easy, but he's a good teacher

STAT270 - 5.0 rating

Lousy Prof, friendly but can't teach

STATS270 - 2.0 rating
Class Info

Textbook Required

100%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

A+

53% confidence
Based on 1 grades
Most common grades:
A+ (1)
Grade Distribution
A(1)B(0)C(0)D(0)F(0)A-/B+(0)
Based on 1 reported grades
A+: 1
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.57 avg change
Jan
Apr
Nov
Mar
Apr
May
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

STAT33027

5.0

(1)

STAT302

5.0

(1)

STAT330

4.3

(7)

STAT303

4.0

(1)

SATS203

4.0

(1)
+10 more courses
Difficulty by Course

STATS270

5.0

STAT301

5.0

STAT100

5.0

STATS203

4.5

ACMA210

4.0

Reviews (84)
4.0
2.0
STAT270
Feb 5, 2002

No Comments

3.0
2.0
STAT270
Feb 6, 2002

No Comments

1.0
5.0
STAT270
Mar 15, 2002

No Comments

4.0
4.0
STAT270
Apr 4, 2002

No Comments

2.0
5.0
STAT270
Apr 4, 2002

What an idiot

5.0
3.0
STAT270
Apr 11, 2002

exams r not easy, but he's a good teacher

2.0
5.0
STATS270
Jul 24, 2002

Lousy Prof, friendly but can't teach.

3.0
2.0
STAT101
Jul 27, 2002

No Comments

5.0
2.0
STAT270
Jul 27, 2002

No Comments

4.0
4.0
STAT330
Oct 14, 2002

No Comments

5.0
2.0
STAT203
Oct 22, 2002

Outstanding prof very good at explaining concepts

1.0
5.0
STAT270
Oct 30, 2002

No Comments

5.0
3.0
STAT270
Nov 13, 2002

No Comments

1.0
3.0
STAT270
Nov 28, 2002

cant teach, booooorrring, never take anything with him

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Dec 1, 2002

can't teach, exams are extremely difficult

5.0
3.0
STAT330
Dec 15, 2002

Good teacher

5.0
3.0
STAT330
Dec 18, 2002

Very Good teacher

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Jan 2, 2003

lousy prof

5.0
2.0
STAT330
Jan 5, 2003

excellent prof, really care student's understanding of material, easy course

5.0
3.0
STAT33027
Jan 7, 2003

doesn't seem to like people who dont' speak english... but very clear and direct

4.0
3.0
STAT303
Mar 22, 2003

not bad not bad

5.0
3.0
STAT330
Jul 5, 2003

He Rocks!!!!!

5.0
1.0
STAT330
Aug 30, 2003

Nice....I Got A+

1.0
3.0
STAT270
Feb 18, 2004

No one has ever insulted my intelligence more. I think he thinks the people he's teaching are 5-year-olds.

1.0
5.0
STAT270
Mar 18, 2004

This prof openly laughed at anyone who came in for extra help and on occasion would tell students that if they required his assistance then they did not belong in University. His classes were rushed, his exams didn't correlate well to the homework.

1.0
5.0
STAT270
Apr 5, 2004

Bad teaching attitude. Lower level academic. In his class, you can learn everything in high school textbook. In his exam, you will be burned. EASY lecture, homework, but hard and irrelated exam.

1.0
4.0
STAT330
Apr 5, 2004

He's like a high school teacher.

5.0
2.0
STAT270
Apr 15, 2004

A instructor that give a very clear lecture. His exams might be pretty tough; but as long as you know the concepts; you should have no problem at all.

5.0
1.0
STAT270
Apr 19, 2004

I'm not sure what these other guys are saying about the exams... Dr. Insley teaches the material in a straightforward manner and the exams have no questions that are any harder than his inclass examples.

4.0
2.0
STAT270
May 2, 2004

He's kindof an irritating ****, but overall good.

5.0
1.0
STAT270
May 5, 2004

Lectures are really really slow. In other words, they're as clear as water. As long as you do the questions from the book, the exam isn't hard whatsoever.

5.0
2.0
STAT270
Jul 26, 2004

I wonder why is he teaching in this department instead of the marketing department. His voice sounded like a advertisement. Course is easy, and the final is not that hard. Although I must say that the final is more application involved.

5.0
2.0
STAT302
Sep 9, 2004

Everyone fell asleep in his class~ he explained things too clearly~ But if you pay attention in class... you don't have to touch the boring textbook... except when you write stuff inside before you bring the textbook to his open book exam~~

4.0
3.0
STAT270
Sep 9, 2004

TAke him if he is teaching any of the stat class. He is probably the easiest prof in the stat department. He is as good as you can get if you wanna get good grades.

2.0
4.0
STAT201
Nov 25, 2004

Robyn's class was completely confusion, if you are an arts major, take the easier stats course, don't try and be an allstar!

5.0
3.0
STAT270
Apr 20, 2005

He is a very good and experienced prof. His notes are clear and organized. Exams are fair if you take your time to do all the assignment.

5.0
2.0
STAT270
Apr 22, 2005

Explains things to the death. Very clear and helpful. Give hints to proofs, which is what every math prof should do. Assigns quite a bit of hw, but exams are straight forward and very fair.

3.0
3.0
STATS201
Jul 21, 2005

MOST boring man you will ever encounter!

1.0
3.0
STAT201
Aug 9, 2005

No Comments

3.0
3.0
STAT201
Aug 9, 2005

Classes were very boring, but how exciting can someone make statistics? Exams were easy but I agree with others that he includes things he mentions in lecture briefly but are not included in the text or even the notes. Is helpful if you ask him questions.

4.0
3.0
STAT270
Aug 12, 2005

Notes r neat n organized. HE SHOULD LEARN TO MAKE A COURSE SITE n post stuff online instd of makng us borrw sample exams frm the workshp and phtocpying thm ourselves. I did VERY well on my assigns, but bmbed the final fr sme reason...hav yet to c my marked final. Contrry to sme cmments here, the avges for his exams this year were NEAR FAIL.

4.0
2.0
STAT201
Aug 12, 2005

Monotone, put me to sleep most of the time..... but the content wasn't too difficult though

3.0
2.0
STAT201
Aug 21, 2005

well, because he put all his notes in e-mail, noone goes to lecture at all =) monotone, borning, but pretty easy. It is a easy credit. (Most of the stuff has been taught in high school Math 12 for first 1/3 of the course, and the 2/3 is all using the same equation for different application)

5.0
2.0
STAT201
Aug 24, 2005

Rumour has it that chi-square is the only useful thing learned in ths class. Insley was very emphatic in lectures, but could not overcome the boredom that is statistics. Many students fell asleep. I did not appreciate the many e-mails of updated .doc notes. Why didn't we use WebCT? Exams were alright, assignments were long and tedious but easy.

5.0
2.0
STAT203
Oct 14, 2005

Hey, the guy TRIED! Insley was very kind, and he sent out notes with emails. Sure he didn't use webct and didn't know how to make emailed documents less annoying, but u sorta can't expect a guy from his generation to do a lot of techie stuff. Tests r super fair (& EASY) if u do the homework and read the book over. Assignments though, were tedious!

3.0
3.0
STAT203
Nov 18, 2005

It is hard to pay attention is this course. If you are fresh off Math 12, you should have no problem with the first half of the course. However, pay attention to the 2nd half as it gets a lot trickier. Doing the exercises in the book is a must.

2.0
4.0
STAT203
Grade: A+
Nov 27, 2005

He was so boring and seemed to always make fun of arts students. THe class was so easy at the beginning and then got really confusing. The second midterm was a bust, there was not enough time to finish it and he had to add 14% to everyone's midterm to be on the normal scale. Assignments were VERY time consuming and counted for less than 2% each.

3.0
1.0
STAT203
Dec 6, 2005

bad prof, sometimes he answers students questions like they were the stupidist things he heard, which is very discoraging for others to ask questions. the stuff is super easy though, thought the lec was not neccesary, the book is good eough (although he kept critizing the book, dont know why he even used this book.anyways, easy stats to take

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Dec 11, 2005

condescending, stubborn, high-and-mighty professor. thinks all arts students are idiots ("you guys know what dice are, right?"), thinks he is always right. seriously criticised text, yet relied heavily on it & made exams open-book. assignments took about a week to complete (very hard) and were only worth 2% of overall grade each.

2.0
4.0
STAT203
Dec 17, 2005

The first half of the class I slept through - thats how easy it was. Then the second half was the exact opposite. His second midterm and final exam were ridiculously long and threw some screwy questions in. His lectures sucked too.

3.0
3.0
STAT203
Dec 17, 2005

final was unbelievably hard.

1.0
5.0
STAT201
Aug 8, 2006

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! He is extremely BORING, NEVER returns emails, basically he flunked me and then disappeared when i was trying to get a hold of him, left so many emails and messages on his voicemail and was basically IGNORED! why he still teaches is beyond my comprehension....by the way, now i'm actually studyin in the US with a 3.5 GPA..

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Aug 11, 2006

The WORST professor in history ! I dunno y he's a prof. He can't teach, and treats arts student like retards. STUBBORN,ARROGANT, EXTREMELY EVIL. Luvs to torture student with assignments which you can't complete and only worth little %. His tests are damn hard. Doesn't noe how 2 teach & LUVS TO FAIL HIS STUDENTS. Class average was 50%. SFU SHOU

2.0
5.0
STATS203
Aug 16, 2006

Assignments do not prepare students for the exams. Exam questions were tricky; he could have made them easier. He stated that people in the "social sciences are not used to their low averages" in his course, which makes me think that he purposely made his course this difficult. It could be simpler.

4.0
3.0
STAT270
Oct 13, 2006

I took 270 and 330 with him. He is totally fair and taught very clear. You think it is hard because you are a social science student.

5.0
3.0
STAT270
Dec 10, 2006

Notes and lectures extremely clear & well organized. Lectures slowly and clear, but may be boring. Hwk have many Q's but MUCH easier compared to other math courses. MTs and Final are very fair, but Q's are more conceptual (Ex. Stat terms), so class avg is not high. MT2 and Final allow cheat sheets. I only don't like that he never responds to email.

4.0
2.0
STAT270
Dec 25, 2006

I was pleasantly surprised when I checked the final result. I was only getting avg. score overall b4 the final. and I ended up getting B+. thogh I messed up other finals, this was what I was expecting. but thanks to him. What I can say abt this class is.. never ever give up. U don't know what you'll end up with. So.. take a challenge and good luck

2.0
4.0
STAT270
Feb 26, 2007

Very well organized. But very boring...... Best try not to missed a class.

5.0
3.0
STAT270
Mar 30, 2007

I have to say that he is good professor, even though I got a F in his class. I took this class again with Tim Swartz, and this guy is even more horrible (don't take it with him). I must warn you, this is an EXTREMELY hard class, and if you slack and get behind you will fail, which is what happened to me. Good luck!@

2.0
5.0
STAT203
Apr 9, 2007

This class was a nightmare for those who have not had math for over 5+ years (or more) I really found that Insley is insensitive and gets frustrated when noone gets what he asks in class. Also, he is retiring, the reign of Robin is OVER!!!!!

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Apr 18, 2007

Terrible Professor. Does not care about his students. Does not give enough time on his midterms, midterms do not reflect the text, and his tests are designed so you can't pass. I hired tutor, attended all classes, stayed in stats lab, and I still received an 'f'. I dont know why he's still teaching. Condescending as well.

4.0
4.0
STAT203
Apr 23, 2007

make sure to attend lectures and pay attention to his notes.

4.0
3.0
STAT203
Apr 25, 2007

Great prof, read his notes, do all the assignments, and be familiar with text book (coz it's open book exam, all 3 of them, even the final exam). He makes the most difficult concepts so easy for you to understand.

2.0
5.0
STAT203
Apr 26, 2007

An average professor at best, Prof. Insley had significant difficulties communicating the most difficulties concepts and problems to us. What is P value again? What is this and that again? The whole classed was confused, and the material so boring that even a cricket match would be preferable.

3.0
4.0
STAT203
May 25, 2007

Class was too difficult. Final Exam was simply too long. Material covered in class was confusing. Professor did not manage to clear the confusion at all. Relied mostly on my study skills.

1.0
3.0
STATS203
Oct 24, 2007

Not recommended! Prof Insley is unwilling to help, lectures are confusing it's better to just study on your own via text book. Exams are unfair due to time constraints, he makes them too long for the time allotted! his teaching style is ineffective, not compelling and extremely boring. I did well in the class but no thanks to him!

4.0
3.0
SATS203
Nov 21, 2007

Course material in itself isn't easy for everyone but Insley does a good job clarifying, if you attend all the lectures and do all the assignments (which are all relevant) you should have no problem getting a good mark.

1.0
5.0
STAT203
Dec 19, 2007

Exams are unfair because of time limit. Teacher was not helpful and lectures were useless.Would not recommend this professor to anyone.

2.0
5.0
STATS203
Feb 15, 2008

Unhelpful;exams were difficult to complete due to time constraints.Would not recommend this course to the 'mathematically challenged' due to the fact that the concepts are difficult because his lecture notes differ from the textbook(which he tells you to read). Lectures are quite dull and Insley doesn't explain the course basics in a helpful manner

1.0
5.0
STATS203
Dec 12, 2008

This professor clearly supports those with a science background in his lectures. The time constraints are unfair and the length of assignments are unrealistic.

3.0
3.0
STAT270
Apr 24, 2009

Insley is good prof, but boring after the first couple of weeks. I ended up teaching most of the course to myself thru the text book. You can tell that his notes are from 20 years ago. Test overall I thought were straight forward and relatively easy if you study a little bit. And you get a cheat sheet for course.

5.0
2.0
ACMA210
Dec 22, 2009

Insley is a great prof. He really cares about his students. I like his note setup as well (he sends it out and you only have to fill in the blanks). Hard class but very helpful.

4.0
4.0
ACMA210
Dec 28, 2009

His notes are very structured and have important information in them. Text was complicated and not very useful. The assignments he gives are pretty difficult. The exams are extremely hard, but that is to be expected of people going into this profession. He repeats some questions as a "gift" for people who go back and review previous questions.

3.0
5.0
ACMA210
Feb 17, 2010

He is a tough lecturer even he is patient to answer students' questions. Notes are great, but he barely uses the textbook. Sometimes his lecture can be very confusing.Exams are extremely hard as well as the HWs. If u really want to get into ACMA, plz avoid his courses.

3.0
5.0
STAT301
Mar 27, 2010

took the evening section with this prof ... lots of materials to cover in class ... assignments required more work than other subjects ... you need to watch the clock if you take the test because it is long.

3.0
5.0
ACMA210
Jan 10, 2011

Good lecture notes and HWs are easy but exam is extremely hard, it's very different with HWs you did. If you want to study financial risk, take this course, otherwise, never take it, your GPA will go down

4.0
5.0
STAT203
Apr 17, 2011

Exams were fair if you read the book and paid attention. The math skills needed were very basic. Im very bad at math (failed math 154) and was able to get grasp all the math here as long as you know how to use your calculator. I think bc first exam was so easy people just didnt study for second one and thats y marks were bad. if you work its bad

2.0
5.0
STAT203
Apr 18, 2011

Avoid this class if you can!! Assignments and midterm study guides did not match up with final exam. Prof did not respond to emails or keep regular office hours. TAs were absolutely useless. I was surprised that they had such a difficult time answering questions. They were of no help.

2.0
4.0
STAT203
Apr 26, 2011

Prof is pretty unengaged/unhelpful as are the TA's. Marking is extremely strict and even though the exams are open book, there will be questions that are completely out of his notes (which are not allowed for exams). Saw ppl writing in the back of their book to compensate - not really fair. Exams are far too long for time allotted.

1.0
5.0
STAT100
Nov 23, 2012

horrible...

5.0
2.0
STAT203
Mar 24, 2013

Great prof, he explains everything very clearly and says it over and over again! You need to pay attention in this class from the beginning and everything will start to make sense if you keep on listening even though its dry material. There is nothing wrong w/ him, he cares about his students and is a good lecturer w/ lots of enthusiasm.

5.0
3.0
STAT203
Mar 27, 2013

Robin is very kind and funny. If you pay attention and work hard you will be fine. He only scales upwards, so those who do well are not penalized if the class average is low. He is great at using examples. Recommend for this class.

2.0
4.0
STAT203
Apr 25, 2013

I found class confusing and prof uninvolved. Instructions on assignments were often unclear--due dates not on syllabus but emailed out irregularly, making it hard to organize my time. Exams were too long for time slotted. In-class notes unclear. Overall I found the class poorly organized with little thought given to course load. Beware.

5.0
2.0
STAT203
May 6, 2013

he is a nice prof! if you attend his lectures and read his lecture notes you will do well in this course. TAs are not very helpful...unless you find the right TA who knows what you are asking.

Class Info

Textbook Required

100%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

A+

53% confidence
Based on 1 grades
Most common grades:
A+ (1)
Grade Distribution
A(1)B(0)C(0)D(0)F(0)A-/B+(0)
Based on 1 reported grades
A+: 1
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.57 avg change
Jan
Apr
Nov
Mar
Apr
May
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

STAT33027

5.0

(1)

STAT302

5.0

(1)

STAT330

4.3

(7)

STAT303

4.0

(1)

SATS203

4.0

(1)
+10 more courses
Difficulty by Course

STATS270

5.0

STAT301

5.0

STAT100

5.0

STATS203

4.5

ACMA210

4.0

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