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chem is hard to make interesting, but he tries. slow, but not bad!

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he's pretty monotone but besides that he's not bad at all

He tries soooo hard, you can't ask for anything more.

Wonderful teacher.

Chem is boring to begin with....i loved the ****s joke

very friendly, helpful and knowledgable

Good guy, clear teacher, fair tester, helpful. What else do u want?

as monotone as he can be, good-enough presentation, blah, average

Cute and tries to make chem funny, to many examples, not enough explanations

monotone yes, but also funny and explains well and very helpful

a little boring, but very clear and gives excellent notes

Makes sure you get the point. Oh and he always says funny little things.

Monotone. He cracks jokes that you only get if you're paying attention.

the best...thinks about life...not only chem

Avoid temptation to skip/nap b/c notes are thorough, tests fair. very nice guy

very nice, fair tests, helpful, easy to understand

Great professor. Helpful and cares about students.

Very nice, caring person. Text is key for understanding this course

Boring, but not too hard to listen to. My friend thinks he's hot, but I do not.

His dry humor makes it bearable. You can tell he's bored teaching low level chem but tries anyway.

My gf saw him working out at the gym and was impressed. Oh yea, he's a goodlyish prof, kinda boring though. Textbook > class.

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Great teacher, his class is very clear. He goes at the perfect pace and leads one thought right into the next. Perfect teacher for this class

Very helpful when you go see him but his notes are a little sloppy.

he was a pretty good teacher

Nice guy. Notes a little incomplete and somewhat unorganized. But GOOD LORD IS HE A BORING LECTURER!!! His voice is the most monotonous voice I've ever heard in my life and the only way I managed to stay awake was coffee: lots of it.

Sure, chem 102 was incredibly boring with him, but you have to at least partially blame the material. He was great for 232, and never tested you on anything that wasn't in the notes. Very fair tests, and a nice guy who tries with humour.

A little boring, yes. Difficult at times, and not the best notes, but I did enjoy his lectures. He is helpful, and tries to help out!

good proff

A great man, but God is this class boring. Bring a pillow for your pillow and set your alarm for the end of class.

Dr.Briggs is probably my favourite professor. His tests are straight forward, and his lectures aren't as bad as others have stated. It might get alittle boring at times, but name a course where the material doesn't! Check out his personal website, definatly got some cool stuff on there.

Mr. Briggs seems like such a nice guy, i always felt like crying when everyone would get up near the end of class and leave before he was done talking. His jokes are cute(groan)! i found the tests fair and the lectures comprehensive, except for the organic chemistry which didn't seem very organized.

I feel for Dr. Briggs in this class...It's really dry and he just doesn't seem suited to lecturing to 150 bored first years. But he tries, and if you attempt to engage him and keep up with the material, that will help. Otherwise, you will fall asleep, guaranteed.

The quizzes were generally tricky, the labs were super easy but very long and the final seemed easier than 231. Briggs is a great prof, can get fairly boring, but its chemistry!

Thank you Dr. Briggs! He taught this course super well. After feeling 231 was completely over my head he showed me that a good instructor makes all the difference. Notes were awesome, and tutorial before the final was invaluble. Tests are really fair. He does a great job with this course!

He knows his stuff, but you have to be awake and see beyond the lack of lecture stimulation. His sense of humor comes out every now and then. Great smile. Great guy. The course is tough... stay ontop of EVERYTHING!! And buy the old finals to study!! Memorization is the key!

Yes, his voice is monotone, but you just have to accept that fact and get over it. He knows his stuff and has pretty decent notes, and if you're willing to put in the effort and stay awake in class, it's not hard to be successful in his classes. PS, look out for his hidden sense of humour (eg "****s in a field" lecture...)!! :-)

Really awesome guy, he has the coolest shoes ever, although the class was kinda boring. Awesome guy though. Apparently he hiked to the north pole. Anybody who does that is awesome in my books.

This course was boring, but Dr. Briggs made it much less hellish than it could have been. Old exams are easily available, and he tends to use the same questions.

Many find Dr Briggs boring, but if you pay close attention, he throws little jokes into his lectures. Pretty amusing. Really good. I would take his class again.

He does have a way of making things sound like they're not important, then you see it on the midterm. But if you don't fall for that, he's a really nice, easygoing guy - I think that secretly he's kind of a hippie - I like him. Just read the text and go to class - he does tend to follow the text fairly closely.

Briggs is an awesome prof! He really cares about teaching, and is very available to help out his students. He had some pretty cool tidbits about orgo that he shared in class. Great guy! And, how cool is that that he's a climber and treks in the Arctic!

This man is awesome. He's so boring he's hilarious. Constant monotone during every lecture, but despite this, is clearly intelligent. Goes out of his way to help students. Class midterms are brutal hard.

excellent proff - easy to understand and very willing to help students

VERY smart. People say hes boring, but you have to listen to what hes saying, and youll find hes one of the most interesting profs at uvic. Makes chemistry as easy as possible, and is more than happy to see students out of class. He has chem 101+102 set up with the most support at uvic: help center, lots of TAs, exam tutorials, old exam copys etc.

Hes not very conceptual kind of guy seems to have difficulties explaining them. However he should have been a math teacher because when it comes to stoichiometry and the physics of chemistry he could not be better.

Gives a lot of practice quizzes, which are almost exactly like the test. Just do them and the suggested probs and his course is easy. Such a cool prof, I dont know what some people are talking about. Check out national geographic oct 1996!!! He owns Uvic!

Great teacher. I was really scared to take chemistry because I dropped it in high school. However, I found his course and the 102 that I am in right now much much easier to follow than the high school material. Great prof who tries his best to make a fairly dry subject interesting. He's even better in Chem 231.

Good lectures. The textbook is excellent! Do all of the suggested homework problems and you will do fine. As for Dr. Briggs, he's really nice, and throws in a few pretty funny jokes.

Sandy Briggs is the master. Anyone who says otherwise isn't interested in chem. He's a little quiet, but if you listen to him, hes incredibly smart, and will teach you way more than you need to know. To the whiners, sorry if he doesn't baby you through the course. Turns out in university you have to actually work at it! An amazing prof.

Doctor Briggs is a great proffesor. Students simply think they can go to class, listen to a lecture and do well on the tests. Chem 231 takes a lot of effort and time of your own. If you study hard, you will do well regardless of the prof. Dr. Briggs is very helpful if you approach him and if you read the text before class, lectures make sense

Briggs is awesome, but that might just be for who he is outside of the classroom; it's this character for whom I grew a solid sense of respect for his openness, vast knowledge of chemistry, and grew to love his (subtle but freaking hilarious) sense of humour. Give him some credit regardless, he bagged many first ascents of the Island's mountains!

His classes are very boring sadly, and he does not teach you what you need to know, especially techniques for the calculations... Teach yourself from the textbook, it sucks but if you actually read it you will learn what you need to know.

Yes, Briggsy is monotone, and yes, organic sucks. However, just study the text, prepare for the quizzes, and this class isn't bad at all. Briggs has a great, but very subtle sense of humour. Listen for it! The guy is hilarious. Also, very kind and helpful in office hours.

Briggs is extremely clear when he explains complicated problems. You have to listen in class because your notes come entirely from what you hear. He's fine as a prof, just make sure read your textbook and not just your notes.

great sense of humour, really knows his subject. seems unenthusiastic in class, but I would be too if I had to talk over idiot first years. i have found it necessary to read the textbook well to supplement his notes, although he has great slides to help you visualize concepts.

I had Briggs for 102 and thought he was awful, uninterested and horribly monotonal. For 232 though he was great! Funny jokes, improved clarity, and tries to teach you things that may be relevant to your interests. Yes he is a bit mumbly, but just sit close and you really appreciate his knowledge and enthusiasm!

Although he has a boring voice, I found Dr.Briggs was a great teacher, didnt teach you anything that you didnt need to know, and told you everything that would be required of you on the test, do the practice quizzes and exams and you are GOLDEN! easy A! Organic Chem (232) is supposed to be really hard but if you keep up with readings your fine!

Had him in 101 and decided to take him 102. He might have a monotonic voice but he's really good at explaining and tells u what exactly to expect on a test. Really helpful; ask him anything and if its irrelevant he'll say so. Just try to listen to him and u'll get everything. His quality of notes have increased too.

People say he is boring and while he may be a bit dry at times he truly is an awesome chem teacher. He gives great practice problems and teaches well. Maybe not a class for first thing in the morning but worth taking

An excellent prof despite initial impression. Really a wealth of knowledge and willing to help, even so in office hours. Also has a wicked sense of humor if you care to listen carefully.

Briggs is a solid prof. He knows his stuff, and teaches it clearly. Granted, his lectures can be quite monotonous, but if you listen closely you get a hint of his sarcasm. Not an incredibly riveting professor, but definitely knows what he's talking about.

Dr. Briggs is awesome. He is hard to listen to at 830 in the morning because he is monotonous but he's a great teacher. Super helpful if you see him outside of class too. Tests are very fair. Go to class, do the work, you'll do well.

Good prof. Very monotone, but he enjoys his subject and is very knowledgable. I found myself teaching myself some material via Youtube because he either didn't teach it in class or it was gone over quickly.

Has some crazy stories about exploring the arctic. Made chem relatively pain-free.

I don't know where all these negative comments come from. Sandy is the best. His explanations are well paced, easy to follow, and well planned. He has a lot of teaching experience, and it shows in his classes. His tests are extremely fair; he doesn't try to trick you, nor are the tests time pressured.

Listen closely and you will catch his jokes. Funny, cute man. But, his lectures are dry and hard to pay attention in. Mostly taught myself from the text because of that. Course was very easy the whole time but got surprised while studying for the final, didn't even know we had learnt that many reactions. Study prac tests and you can do very well.

The first half of this course was really easy. It got hard at chapter 6. Briggs covers the parts of the textbook that will be tested, gives examples and answers questions some questions. It helps if students ask good questions. The worst part of this course was the solutions manual. It just presented answers and didn't provide much explanation.

Briggs is a favourite. The course is somewhat difficult but I find he does a good job of explaining certain principles and he knows what he's talking about. Some people complain about him not explaining certain concepts, but if you ask questions that don't pertain to the course, don't expect a full answer! A bit awkward but dry humour is GOLDEN.

Briggs is a fantastic prof. I have had him before and did not appreciate his style, but have learned to really enjoy him. His dry humour is absolutely hilarious if you are paying attention. Very approachable, very helpful outside of class! Follow the questions that are recommended and you will do just fine.

Easily one of the best profs I've had at Uvic. Great slides, super approachable, really clear explanations. I didn't have to touch my textbook because he is so thorough.

He is an amazing teacher! I never ONCE used the textbook because it confused me to no end, but I started to take good lecture notes from class and didn't have to read the text! Quizes are EASY and final exam was easy to study for from the class notes. Just go to class and take good notes!

Has a dry sense of humour. Lecture style was good. Didn't really make good use of the slides/course notes, instead making heavy use of verbal explanations and the whiteboard. Gets worked up about people making noise during class (and rightfully so).

Had for 231 as well, great prof- really helpful if you go to his office hours. Slides are right out of the text, so you can follow along however you chose. Highly recommend him!!!

Clear, concise. Dry humour that you have to listen for, but really great- you usually crack up several hours after class when you finally get it.

Briggs may be boring and very monotone in his delivery, but his tests are very fair and what you would expect. Definitely study the textbook and your notes from class and you'll at least survive. For the final, just study past final exams. He takes his questions directly from there so there aren't surprises.

Briggs is a cool dude. If you sit near the back, you'll miss how much he smiles, laughs, and makes jokes to himself. He is extremely respectful of students and a huge help in office hours. Down to earth outside of class, and a really accomplished mountaineer to boot.

I really like Briggs; he is usually monotone but is so subtly humorous that sometimes you don't even realize how funny he is. The best part is that he just keeps going and doesn't stop or wait after a joke so you're like: what did he say? The notes are easy to understand. Also, Briggs is really good at answering emails and questions right away.

Sandy's monotone voice sometimes almost puts me to sleep and he is not the best at emphasizing important details but he is helpful if you visit him during office hours and his email replies are detailed as well. Use MasteringChemistry, study from the textbook, and buy practice exams and you will ace this course easily.

He was a decent lecturer and he may not appear to be as funny or entertaining as others, but if you pay attention, he does have a pretty great sense of humour! In terms of content, it would be appreciated if he went over the iClicker questions and examples to deepen our understanding. Overall, a good prof and nice guy! :)

Although Sandy doesn't have the most riveting voice to listen to, he is the smartest chem prof I have ever had. He clearly has an extremely good understanding of the material and is super helpful if you go to his office hours. A great mountaineer, intelligent man and genuine person.

Great prof with regards to knowledge and passion of material. Not the most interesting but he has a subtle sense of dry humour that's very easy to miss. Not necessary to attend class if you have the textbook as everything tested is in the text.

His lectures are not interesting and it can be easy to fall asleep during class, but he explains tough ideas and concepts well and has very fair midterms and final exams

Briggs is an interesting guy - monotone and seemingly bored at times (although perhaps due to the fact that his knowledge of org chem vastly exceeds anything taught in 232) yet incredibly receptive to in-class questions and office hour queries. sit near the front of the class so you don't miss his incredibly disparaging and sarcastic jokes!

Goes at a good pace to make it easy to understand what is going on during class, but still quite boring. Has a joke about once a week.

Going into this class, I was scared because I had heard bad things about Briggs. However, I was SO pleasantly surprised. Yes, he is monotone and can be hard to listen to, but he is extremely passionate about the material and really cares about you doing well. His tests are SUPER fair (make sure to study old finals!). Overall, great guy.

If you're a quick learner and pick up on chemisty fairly quick, pick Wan. However, if you are intimidated or if you struggle with chemistry, choose Briggs. Briggs, although incredibly monotone, keeps track of electrons on the board and is very thorough. I had Wan for Chemistry for Chem 231 and found he breezes through so much, Briggs will elaborate