3.1
Quality3.6
Difficulty54%
Would Retake94
Reviews54%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
35
4
10
3
7
2
14
1
28
What Students Say
“I would not take her as a prof again”
PSYC3350 - 2.0 rating“Take the class with another prof”
PSYC3350 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
59%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.68 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY3350
5.0
(1)PSYC4020
4.4
(5)PSYC3480
4.0
(10)PSYC2120
3.2
(31)PSYC3350
3.0
(24)Difficulty by Course
PSCY3350
5.0
PSYC2130
4.0
PSYC3350
3.9
PSYC2120
3.4
PSYC3480
3.2
Reviews (94)
Tests are annoying. 2nd and final are multiple-choice with multiple short answers. The short answer needs to do be done with reference from lectures, and textbooks. The first exam is all multiple choice, however, the questions are based on videos during lecture. Doesn't really test what you know but if you showed and remembered the video's played.
she tries to answer questions to the point it's sometimes detrimental. She listens to student input, or tries to, but I think she's a pretty new prof and hasn't gotten the hang of teaching at all. The tests were bad, and the lectures really heavy, and her explanations lacking. I have another course with her, I hope she improves but not great.
The actual content of the course is not hard but the style of teaching and the way the course is handled in general makes it really tough on students. I could barely understand anything that was said in lectures, the professor was not really helpful and the test questions were kind of difficult to understand. Strongly suggest a diff prof for this
If you have her name on your course, drop it. She doesn't care about you or your grades, when messaged about eclass difficulties will tell you "thanks for sharing", without acknowledgement of the issue. Tests are horrible, so specific you have better have memorized everything covered in textbook and lecture, including specific studies.
Her lectures are just regurgitations of the textbook, and the tests are unnecessarily difficult. Feels like she's trying to trick you with every MC question - wording very confusing and she tests on minutia in the textbook - be prepared to memorize every word of every page. Straight up the worse prof i've had yet at york.
For the first exam Zafar tried to deny those students with accommodations the bonus marks that she was granting to all the other students without accommodations. It took a week of fighting with her before she finally agreed to do what was fair and reasonable. She is illogical, emotional and should not be teaching at this level. Avoid at all costs
Worst prof I had the displeasure of knowing. Her lectures are all over the place and it was obvious she hadn't prepared enough with how she was constantly repeating words mixed up facts she should have not had mixed up since shes the prof. she is supposed to know it off the top of her head if thats what she expects from students. avoid at all costs
Ok so, this prof is a straight-up nightmare. Her lectures are completely unhelpful, she is adversarial with her students, her communication is atrocious, and her exams are NOT fair assessments - go to lecture and do all the readings and you'll still find yourself guessing on every mc question. The upd needed to be involved twice in one semester.
I was fine by only reading the book. I didnt study too much. Tests werent too difficult overall but some questions were worded oddly and had more than one answer that was correct in MC. Our marks were bumped due to this. The professor had conflicts with the class but I had no major issues except for a clerical mistake that was made on my file.
dont take this class!! She never replied to emails, super confusing when explaining concepts, and unfair with her grading. Her exams were so confusing and had bare grammatical errors!! Do yourself a favour and take a different class :-)
Tough grader but good prof overall.
Clear lectures, great use of relevant and fun videos to explain course concepts. Did not study much but attended lectures attentively, will definitely take again
I enjoyed this class, prof is understanding and does her best to help students. Attendance is mandatory, cannot do well without it. I never missed a lecture, were always interesting.
Somewhat of a tough grader but not too bad. Overall good course.
Super interesting course, prof presented interesting real life examples of cultural comparisons because of her experiences in practicing psychology in different cultures. She has a deep understanding of cultural issues in psychology.
loved the course, easy A
This was a terrible course, the prof doesn't know how to administer a fair exam, super confusing, and tests on small details. Also, she's very rude and condescending to her students. I would def avoid if you can help it.
Fun, easy course, she really knows and understands culture. Really glad to have her as my prof.
I was wary of taking 3480 with her after visiting this page. I am so glad I did, a very knowledgable fun professor, works really hard with students. My favourite course at York.
Enjoyed the class and did well without too much effort. Attended classes and paid attention
I am enjoying this course with Professor Zafar. Her understanding of psychology is amazing, helped me look at psychology from a very different perspective.
Great course, super interesting lectures. I learnt so much in this course.
Loved the class, one of the best at York.
Although the material is super interesting, her lectures are very confusing, very heavy and she sometimes has a tough time explaining concepts. I would not take her as a prof again.
Good class, attendance is mandatory
lectures are interesting and fun, works hard with her students but can be strict with deadlines and exams
Our final exam for this class was only completed by about 10 percent of the class because the website crashed. Instead of fairly compensating the students for something they did not have control over she decides to add a major assignment thats due THE NEXT SEMESTER in order for students to improve their grades. Take the class with another prof.
Great course, enjoyed the lectures and assessment. Not her fault eclass crashed during final exam. She gave the option to get final grade based on current grade or do an assignment if you want. I think it is very fair.
Dr. Zafar was a fair professor throughout the course. It was sometimes difficult to keep up with her during lectures as she spoke very fast but other than that it was ok. She did provide really great examples though which made it easier to understand things! Tests are fair but the guidelines for the two assignments in this class were vague.
Lectures are long and tedious with content that appears heavily on exams. The second assignment is a slog requiring you to analyze multiple texts within the most busy period of a semester. Final exam tech issues were not prepared for and instead dealt with retroactively, wasting students' time over the holiday break. Avoid this prof at all costs.
Great teacher, accessible and helpful. However, take her class only if you want to learn, makes you work for your grade.
Professor is knowledgable and always give real life examples in class. She is sweet but strict with exams and assignments. I actually liked that, made me work hard and learn.
This professor was completely uncooperative during the pandemic, refusing to upload lectures online and despite making the exam majorly lecture-based. She is a pleasant person, but isn't a very good teacher and bases the ENTIRE grade off of three tests- which I find quite arbitrary and ineffective for actual learning.
Professor Zafar was not accomodating of students during the pandemic and if you did not attend the in-person classes you wouldn't have any other chances. The exams included a lot of studies done by others. She had some technical difficulties during zoom and in-person classes which made it so hard to understand what she was saying.
This was an in-person course and attendance was expected. I do not see any reason for lectures to be posted online. I attended all classes and loved it. Lectures were fun and interesting. It was great to be back to campus
Stop whining, if you don't want to learn, work somewhere. Lectures stimulated thoughtful discussion. It's unfortunate that most of the class can't think. I don't know how they got this far, but it is great for me because my marks are exceptional.
Outstanding lectures - I recommend her courses to all Psychology students.
Although I got a low grade, I truly enjoyed the lectures. She is very knowledgable and works hard on her lectures. It was a great learning experience for me. If I had worked harder, I would have received a better grade.
Make sure to attend her lectures, they're helpful but you also got to put in the time to study but you'll definitely learn and it'll pay off
There were precisely 4 evaluations, 3 tests, 1 essay. No feedback was given, just grades. No grading criteria were given for the essay, and tests were marked really hard. Said she had a duty to return grades quickly, but took longer than any other prof. Arrogantly taught some opinions that are objectively wrong. Lectures were textbook+case studies.
Great class, attendance is a must to do well. Knows her material and is super nice
She is awesome, demanding course but worth it. I learnt so much about social psychology and its application. It is a full year marathon, show up for classes and you will learn and do well.
i had professor zafar for both PSYC4020 & PSYC3350, she is the best psyc prof at York. She cares about her students and wants them to succeed, she is also very accomodating and understands that her students have lives outside of school. Neither of these courses were easy (being upper level) but if you show up and put in the effort, you'll be fine.
This course was okay, I got bored at times. We were graded on 2 midterms and one final exam, I found them a little hard despite studying.
Late to write the review but took Psychology of Women with her during COVID and it was one of the worst experiences with online classes. Super harsh, uncaring of circumstances that plagued us all during COVID.
I am so glad I completed this course with her. She works hard on her lectures and expects the students to do the same.Attended lectures regularly, made notes, developed good understanding of social psychology and breezed through the course.
A very knowledgable prof, attending lectures is a must to do well. Class is fun and you learn so much, one of my favourite course at York.
Class is textbook/case studies. Test questions were hard to understand due to incorrect grammar. Class has 3 tests which is unfair, there should be an assignment to help students get a good mark. TA's were as confused as the students, were on their phones during tests. Lectures were vague and unclear, doesn't even record a 3 hour long lectures.
whoever said shes bad just didnt put in work. Sadia is a great lecturer! The topics r so interesting n shes engaging. to succeed, you need to read the txtbook (which i rly like) and write notes for lectures. theres spelling errors in the slide shows but the exams are easy. mainly txtbook based. literally just try n youll do good. only 3 exams.
I do not recommend it. 3 exams-50 mc/ 3 long answer questions-out of 80. No assignments, no participation marks, not enough information on the slides, no lecture record, No exam review session, no share preparation sheets. Explanations of the lecture is not understandable at all. Everything is so careless.
Ppl are in university and complaining about how a lecture isn't recorded. Love this course. Exams are really easy. Super light amount of info for exam 2 and 3. Urges ppl to ask questions especially on heavy topics and will even resay them just to make sure. #slay
Honestly, the content is very interesting. However, the exams can be very difficult to do even if you think you have studied. I tried very hard in this course and I am not sure if it is my TA or what but my grades never reflected that.
Your mark is based on 3 exams, that seems scary however I found the exams not too challenging. Everything is straight forward. However, her lectures can be kind of boring from time to time. It feels like she drags on a topic for way too long. I would take this course again tho.
Dr. Zafar has a great selection of interesting content for students interested in social psychology. Her lectures can be somewhat plain, but she is very interested in the content she discusses. The second semester of the course is entirely dedicated to student presentations and it became very monotonous. Great if you're interested in social psych.
Worst experience.The professor was rude and unaccommodating.I had student accomodations for a learning disorder and multiple letters from my family doctor which she DENIES all accommodations or medical notes without any discussion. Broken english which makes learning the content harder to understand her before the content. Save your money.
Lecture content was extremely unfulfilling. Slides contained extremely vague bullet points, and are not thoroughly explained during lectures. Speaking speed and tone was very lack luster. I found it difficult to follow along with the logical flow of information that was attempted to be provided. I basically had to study like it was asynchronous.
The professor does not do a good job of clearly explaining concepts. The lecture slides are too vague, the lectures not recorded, speaks fast bc she is behind on content and it is hard to understand through her accent. I have to research all that is taught bc it is not clear enough. No test guides, a lot of content to study(all), disorganized.
Topics are interesting, but a lot are very debatable and sometimes hard to understand in the way she explains it. Students often argue for different answers, some topics seem out of date and sexist and it is hard to understand her accent. Textbook helps a lot, and tests are basically covering everything (let, text, what she says). Just read lots.
Sadia Zafar is the worst. Avoid her class if you have other option to select other professors.
if your taking this class as a prereq for third year psych classes, try taking it with another prof because its very test heavy; you only have 3 exams worth 24%; shes very difficult to understand during lecture and her slides are unorganized and she always seems unsure of what she is teaching. i basically taught this class myself from the textbook
This class is extremely painful to take with Sadia. Her teaching style is confusing and her lecture slides are extremely vague, thus making it important to pay attention for the full 3 hours of each class. This is hard to do because its difficult to understand her at times and it seems like she isn't sure of what shes even teaching half of the time
Sadia Zafar has been the least effective psychology professor I have encountered at York. Her lectures primarily involved her reading from slides, which appeared to cause her confusion despite her role as our instructor. There were multiple occasions where she disseminated inaccurate information. I find it astonishing that she has a PhD.
This professor is one of the most frustrating and vexing professors as it feels like she isn't event trying in any of her lectures as her lectures are simply word vomit off of a slide and her tests and midterms are based off of topics she seems to have no competence in only being carried by her TA's. DO NOT TAKE
Easy and straightforward course if you opened up a book and read. Lectures were super clear. Disappointing that very few students show up but they can definitely complain -- no fault but to themselves.
I loved the course and learnt so much. Attendance is mandatory not for grading but to do well. I attended all classes, took notes and did very well. Students need to do their part to succeed, I was surprised at lack of student attendance, do not complain if you did not attend.
I loved the class and the professor, simply the best at York
One of my favourite course, amazing lectures and stimulating discussions
everyone saying when she teaches even SHE sounds confused is correct. refers a lot back to other ppls studies in the text, refuses to upload lectures, or even give out test guides even though your mark is dependent on 3 exams. seems like a fine person but just not good at teaching, I taught myself the entire semester. only take it for pre-reqs
I basically agree with all of the other reviews from PSYC 2120. It's very hard to understand what she is saying half the time because of her accent and lack of preparation in knowing the concepts clearly. Also, I found the tests fair. But, you just need to spend time studying the textbook and making sure you know all important study findings.
Simply the best, I am surprised at whiners, this is university, you are suppose to study and learn not depend on review sheets. Sadia inspired us to think during the course and I loved her lectures.
My favourite course, also registered for a curse with her next term. Easy straight forward lectures and exams, looking forward to next term
I found the course to be very interesting, well organized and structured. You need to show up to lectures to do well. I aced the midterms and am confident will do the same for final. Her teaching skills and understanding of the material is phenomenal.
Simply the best
Great lectures, easy straight forward exams, easy A as long as you attend classes
Her accent made it 10 times harder to understand (not judging just saying), I basically read another version of the book for free and still did good, so don't bother getting the book. REACH OUT TO TA's they are great, helped me so much throughout this course. Go to the lectures, she will ask questions that were only in the class, not the book.
reads off the slides, with her accent and her tone i could not understand anything, when i addressed the problem she said to sit in the front and ask questions. asked for resources and she said my lecture notes and the book. im gonna leave it to you guys to judge. also tough grader. is not accommodating during exams with questions at all.
there were three exams in this course although I found each exam was very well written and fair. she bases most of the information from the textbook and from attending the lectures. the lectures are not recorded so make sure you attend them and are taking notes. overall, a very enjoyable course to take and very kind professor.
I fought for my life for an A. Lectures were boring and the PowerPoints were unclear. Exams were graded very toughly. Make sure you are aware of important studies/concepts that are mentioned in detail during class because you'll be asked to explain them on exams. She is nice, but her lectures are not that good. Wouldn't really recommend.
By far the worst professor. If i could change classes I would. the class is based on 3 exams and thats it. her lecture slides are horrible and the exams are much more detailed than what she actually gives you. her accent is too hard to understand and she just drags in the lectures. Do not take her class if you can avoid it.
terrible. terrible. terrible. terrible. TERRIBLE. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOU WANT TO GET A GOOD GRADE. Her lectures ARE TERRIBLE. She reads off slides that are disorganized and unclear. She also emphasizes a lot of really peculiar, weird studies like the Freudian theory?? Her class is making me want to rip my hair out.
This was one of the most frustrating classes I've taken. The professor's lecture slides were unorganized and lacked depth, making it extremely difficult to follow along. Exams were way more detailed than what was actually taught, leaving students to teach themselves most of the materials. only 3 tests, which is TERRIBLE.
Terrible! Do not recommend at all!
If you struggle with attention problems do not take this prof. The lectures are awful, prof will drag on for things that seem simple and be quick about things that are complicated. On top of that the slides are horrendous and her accent makes lectures 5 times worse (in the most non-offensive way possible).
Pros: The slides highlight everything that is likely on the test, she records lecture, explains concepts decently. Cautions/Cons: Slides are vague, lecture recordings are up for a week before deletion Overall, pretty decent professor.
Lecture notes did not have a lot of relevant information. Most of the test content was pulled from the textbook, most of which was not mentioned in the lecture. Get ready for surprises in the tests. Lectures were boring tbh, I'd definitely take this course with Fortune. Nonetheless, an A is achievable.
Anyone saying they can't understand her is kind of weird, she speaks fine, she's really kind and caring. Just go to lecture and pay attention, she also is very interactive with her students in class. The textbook readings are actually interesting for this class too. I liked her a lot and she doesn't deserve the bad ratings in my opinion.
Her lectures were so boring that I genuinely wanted to rip my hair out. Your grade is only based on three tests, making it incredibly hard to succeed considering that she doesn't teach anything of relevance within her three hour lectures, instead forcing students to read through the textbook fully and teach themselves. Do NOT recommend.
run! I have never been so academically discouraged until I took her course. She tries but is not a good professor.
I had this prof for a second year class and I did so bad. Finding out I had her again I was frustrated. BUT it made me realize I was the problem lol. I actually attended her lectures this time and my grades have been really good. Tests are hard but based mainly on lecture material, so if you attend, you will be fine. Very kind and engaging prof!
I did not perform well in this course. Prior to taking this course I had an 8.0. I found Dr. Zafar to be a bit difficult to listen to- in that I couldn't follow along with the concepts she was explaining. The specific textbook chosen was awkward to read too. She made some mistakes on the final too. Be prepared to pay attention in class! She's nice
Runnnnnn! If you want to get a good grade dont take with this prof!!
You can do well but it is an immense time sink. LOTS of memorization, your grade comes from 3 tests (including long "short" answers). I like test-heavy courses, if you don't, avoid this prof. Lectures are dry and you have to memorize tons of studies. Take it if you're good at memorization/tests and don't mind a lot of reading. Not for everyone!
worst professor in my life
She is extremely kind and understanding when it comes to any questions about the course material. She gives 100% clear guidelines on exam content and format, and makes the course content interesting with her own examples and experience. I would definitely take her classes again.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
59%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.68 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY3350
5.0
(1)PSYC4020
4.4
(5)PSYC3480
4.0
(10)PSYC2120
3.2
(31)PSYC3350
3.0
(24)Difficulty by Course
PSCY3350
5.0
PSYC2130
4.0
PSYC3350
3.9
PSYC2120
3.4
PSYC3480
3.2