2.7
Quality3.7
Difficulty45%
Would Retake83
Reviews45%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
12
3
9
2
16
1
28
What Students Say
“Terrible at explaining, and her writing is chicken scratch”
MATH150 - 1.0 rating“Decently nice person not a good teacher, would be best to avoid her”
MATH150 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
36%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.05 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH240
4.0
(3)MATH190
3.8
(12)MATH100
3.7
(3)MATH151
2.9
(17)MATH150
2.4
(38)Difficulty by Course
FANX99
4.7
MATH150
3.9
MATH100
3.7
MATH240
3.3
MATH190
3.3
Reviews (83)
She is not very good when it comes to explaining concepts. I was expecting her to treat the students as if they have no higher level math background (some dont) but she tends to quickly go over things without properly explaining them or saying how she got the answer It is so frustrating Unnecessarily difficult textbook questions dont match lecture
I came from a different university where I had horrible math experiences, so Sophie is a breath of fresh air. She is younger, more relatable, and keeps up a good energy during lectures which keeps it from getting boring. I personally thinks she does a good job at demonstrating and explaining concepts.
She is one amazing prof. I wish SFU had more teachers like her. Overall she makes your journey an easy pleasant one.
i have never wished to take a course online as much i did this semester takes too long to explain a simple concept and often doesn't get to finish the material so you have to learn on your own do yourself a favour and dont take it with her
Cares about her students, wants you to pass. Just attend workshops as much as you can
she is really sweet... and that's about it. the course itself is hard, and she makes it impossible to to learn anything in the lectures. Takes forever to explain a concept and often runs out of time and you have to study the rest yourself. questions solved in lectures are way easier than the ones on the test. I would NEVER take a class w her again.
This prof made me change my major to math. she is so sweet and caring and really makes a point of connecting with her students and even learning names. as it is in any math course, you must do the homework in order to excel. her exams were very fair and I really wish she taught every math course at SFU. also go to calculus workshop!! so helpful!
Great at explaining calculus concepts. Always cheerful and doesn't put you to sleep. I was easily able to make appointments with her to discuss any issues I had. She also attended math seminars for a more small group style of teaching. Although I switched out of the class because I was bad at math, I would totally take this class again.
She's mediocre. She takes forever to explain a simple concept and usually ends up explaining it poorly and running out of time. The way she explains concepts is very informal such that her explanation would just sound like something she thought off the top of her head. She also deducts marks for the smallest mistakes...
Lectures for Math 150 are essentially pointless, so might as well not show up for classes if you have this prof. For lecture notes, she literally copies off of the person who created the notes wrote. If you wonder "what's wrong with going over similar lecture notes?" Well, nothing; it's just that she can't even explain concepts well
Personable and seems to truly care about her students. Lectures were clear and helpful, worth paying attention in. Tests were reasonable, but did require some extra prep besides only homework completion. Highly recommend Sophie.
Sophie is literally the definition of your stereotypical Math teacher. She cares about the students and encourages help be sought when necessary. Her tests and assignments are also fair in difficulty with respect to the course. If you enjoy what typical math teachers are like you will enjoy Sophie as a prof.
She is so nice, always wants to help and clearly knows a lot about math. However, the online homework she uses was written by a different prof and usually includes things she never taught you. And though she is knowledgeable, she lacks teaching ability.
I took this in person and she was a great prof, she cared about wanting everyone to do well. She welcomed questions during a lecture before moving on. I'm not strong in math and needed this for PDP, I'm glad it was with Sophie. Tests are fair though time given is too short, read the textbook so you understand whats going on in class.
Great prof, she actually wants her students to do well and is always super understanding when stuff happens. Contents are ok but shes really good at explaining and she wont move on until you understand too so thats awesome. One of the best prof to take math with if math isnt your strong subject
Dr. Burrill truly wants you to do well in her class and she will go over things multiple times to ensure her students understand. She is always open to feedback from students and will adapt the course to that feedback. She goes the extra mile to make sure her students do well, definitely recommend her.
She's so passionate about what she does that it makes you excited to learn! She's also big into getting to know her students and help them along the way. Very encouraging!
Unfair marker. That's about the best way to summarize. For FANX99 you'll have at least 3 assignments due each week and unless you go to every workshop you'll never get 10/10 on the assignments. Type of marker to always find something wrong. Makes a supposed "easy" upgrading class hell. It's also 4 credits for no reason (except to charge you more)
Really wasn't a fan of the 10 minute quizzes or the strange word problems. The TA's are insane markers so watch out.
Nice lady but horrible course. Seriously run away as fast as you can. I'm in BUS and just trying to get into my Econ 103. I recommend everyone look into retaking their high school math before taking this course for upgrading.
Sophie is a nice person, but not such a good prof. Her lectures are always focused on puzzles and does not really teach much, a student is expected to learn all the material themselves. Marking is super tough. Marks get cut off for the tiniest mistake, and she expects at least a paragraph explaining how you got the answer. Hard midterms.
BS class w/ BS word problems. Too vague in marking. An Art history major should not be required to take this class.
Amazing prof. Very engaging. Genuinely cares for her students. Her passion for the material makes the lectures more vivid. I love that she goes through every single step, explains what we're doing, and why we are doing it. LOTS of workload as it is a 4 units course. Exams are identical to lect/HWs quesitons. I wish all math prof was like her.
Sophie really cares about her students, and does her best to help them out. She listened very well to feedback and was super understanding of small algebra mistakes that can happen, doing her best to limit how many marks were lost from those. She went out of her way to make extra videos students requested on stuff like proving. Great teacher
A lovely person but not a great teacher and speaker. In her recorded lectures, she rambles her ass off. Never goes into depth.
This woman doesn't even offer proper lectures, if you wanna pass watch other professors' lectures. Why is this lady even a professor???
Literally does not do lectures, makes us go to class and THEN watch another 1-2 hours of YouTube videos by her (with ads) on top of our own practicing. Acts like this is the only class that any of her students are taking. Terrible at explaining, and her writing is chicken scratch. The hybrid method with zoom and YouTube is trash.
Not a great explainer tends to be too vague, would recommend trying to get another prof if you want to do well or spend hours on YouTube or paying for a tutor. Decently nice person not a good teacher, would be best to avoid her
Tough grader, many hours of YouTube and homework on top of lectures, lectures are very poor quality (especially online w bad audio/connection issues), better to find an alternative professor.
Professor offers a poor education, and makes many errors during her lectures that can cause confusion. Hard grade and makes all assignments due the same day at 10pm which isnt fair considering you have to watch the lecture then 1-3 hours of YouTube to even grasp the content of the homework, find a different professor
One of the worst teachers Ive ever had in my life. She assumes you to know everything. She had to upload videos of a different prof doing the lectures because no one was getting the math. Her midterms are a timed 50 minutes and have about 30 questions in them that take longer than 50 min todo.
Prof doesn't teach at all, will send you a different profs lecture videos because nobody can understand the way she explains, do not take her class unless you want to be confused. Terrible explainer who acts like we have all taken calc before, lots of work on your own time, so be ready to add 4+ hours of your day w/o lectures and homework to calc
the goat at rambling and not teaching
Sophie is very nice, but all her lectures are online + pre-recorded. She often rambles and has very illegible handwriting. Frequently makes small errors in the lecture notes. She even recommends that we do not watch her lectures and instead watch those of another, much more highly rated, professor. Assignments are due almost every day of the week.
I would not recommend anyone to take this class. She expects way too much from her students and expects us to know how to do Calc. There's homework due almost everyday and there's only 40 minutes to do the midterms (plus 10 minutes of uploading). This course is worth 4 credits, but it's definitely not worth the time and effort. Take a another class
Tries to be nice and friendly but don't be fooled, she doesn't teach properly, explanations are vague and unhelpful, she expects this to be your only class. oh and midterms are 40 minutes with 10 minutes to upload in the morning. (40% of your grade depends on 80 minutes and you being up early)
Sophie is really a great prof. Lots of these reviews are from first-year Calc students, (like myself), who aren't used to the uni work load. As someone who is mathematically inclined I found her lectures interesting and really well explained. She is a very caring and kind teacher and definitely puts in the effort to make sure her students succeed.
This class is 4-credit so expect to work harder than other Calculus 1 classes, dont apply your 3-credit class standard here. Though lots of work, everything is manageable and pretty fun actually. Sophie is not really that great of a lecturer, but all the examples and assignments she gives will provide you with solid understanding of the concepts
Here's the truth people. She acts like you know calculus and for worse she even gives you homework almost daily which isn't that bad. But lets say she teaches you section 3.3 stuff today , but BAD THING IS the homework is on 3.5 which you'll have to teach yourself for some reason. Acts like we only have her class. Tip: do textb qs, youtube, GL!
Run down of class: daily assignments, weekly review assignments, a quiz on Friday and don't forget there's a lecture video to watch even though you just did a quiz. If you submit a quiz before/on the deadline, but the system processes it a second late: too bad, you get a 0. Even if we can see the time stamps, that it's uploaded and submitted before
She made lessons for us that were on youtube and they were confusing. She made mistakes in the videos which were not corrected. The things that were marked were exams, web assignments and quizes. I ended up watching a different professor's videos.
Pretty average calculus professor. Nothing really stood out; lectures were okay (I decided to watch Jamie Mullholand's calculus videos as they were much better) but lots of after-lecture assignments. However, they are useful because they drill the concepts into your head. Responds to emails quickly and offers lots of help outside of class.
Extremely hard class especially if you've never taken calculus before. Four assignments a week and a quiz on Friday where you get a 0 if you submit 1 second late. Her lectures are useless but at least they are optional; just watch Mulholland and Organic Chemistry Tutor videos to learn the content. Not enough time for midterms/final.
Homework via Webassign is trivial if you read the textbook and use google. Quizzes are easy if you put in the work to understand too: beware submission issues since this was an online class; enough with the excuses about not enough time. Midterm 1 was way too hard, 2 was easy, Final was about alright. Her lectures aren't the best - some mistakes.
Not a math person. 4cr course w/ heavy workload. Not her fault. 8/10 for effort. Lecture videos+optional zoom sessions during sched times, relevant practice Q# from textbook, etc. 1/10 for Execution. Frequent mistakes in vids. Also goes off topic SO MUCH. Half of any lectureuhh ahh uh. Writing is hard to read. I used a diff prof's lecs instead.
I find this course with Sophie pretty average. Weekly homework assignments to do and fairly easy weekly quizzes. Exams are of fair difficulty. I personally did not find her lectures very great so I used another profs lectures. Overall not good but also not bad. Average.
Sophie is a decent prof. Sure, the workload is a little heavy, but thats what comes with a 4 credit course. She is calm, caring, and good at explaining concepts and going through relevant examples. Assessments are fair, but the 10 minute weekly quizzes are stressful. Stay on top of your work from day 1 and youll be just fine.
Average. A lot of homework as well as a hard marker!
Shes very nice! But does not teach much. Its a self learning course mostly. I would take this in an another school
Get ready for questions that you've never seen in assignments or quizzes!
Sophie is extremely caring/passionate about what she teaches. Seem like she did not design this course but she taught the concepts extremely well. I do recommend the course with her, however, the coursework itself is rough. There is practically something due every day. Overall, math190 is a heavy course load, but Sophie teaches it very well!
Sophie sucks as a prof. She makes everything about social justice, even though it's a calc class. The material itself is relatively easy, I don't ever go to lectures and just watch prof. Mullholland's YouTube lectures (MUCH BETTER). She doesn't go in depth into any of her lectures, and rarely covers all the planned materials for lectures. 1/10 prof
Sophie judges genuine questions that are asked during class time (and responds condescendingly), and also sometimes judges people's intelligence based on what they look like. She offers lots of extra help outside class though. Homework isn't super challenging. The midterms aren't too bad as long as you study. The final is kind of terrible though.
Sophie is caring and passionate about what she teaches but I don't think 50 min lectures are enough for her. She does tend to get "carried" away and it does confuse people in the class as i have seen from the other ratings. Other than that she is available outside of class and provides many recourses to get help from.
Not as bad as some people say. Lectures are not great but good enough. Read the textbook and watch videos on the stuff she does not cover. Do all the homework. Tests are extremely fair. Do the provided exam practice! Main issue is she doesn't structure lecture time effectively.
Aside from quizzes, there is almost no reason to show up to lectures. Her and Jamie Mulholland's lecture videos are more than enough to learn the content. Quizzes would either be super tough or really easy and the exams weren't too tough. Sophie explained things well but would often go on side tangents so lots of lecture time was lost.
The best math teacher ever .Would highly recommend.
Extremely kind and caring professor. The 1 star reviews are left by NPC's. She teaches in a very human way that you can understand and gives just enough examples to get across the main point without overwhelming. Homework heavy.
Best teacher ever. Sophie literally made me enjoy math. People writing bad reviews are just freshly outta high-school and don't know about tough courses. She's so sweet and organized, and loves what she does. Her lectures are amazing! Yes, there's lots of work in Math190, but since it's a 4 credit class, this is expected.
I can't understand why Sophie has such negative reviews... I have nothing bad to say about her. She is very enthusiastic and upbeat, which makes attending lectures fun! She doesn't deserve the hate she's getting on here. If you have questions, don't hesitate to talk to her! She is so sweet.
Originally I was very scared of this prof due to her rating. But she turned out to be super amazing! Her lecture were available online, she was nice, she tested what she taught, she replied quickly, was easily accessible, and she taught well. The only thing is that she has weekly quizzes and multiple assignments due weekly.
Sophie is a very nice person, but her teaching style can be very frustrating. She does not give priority to key concepts that appear all throughout the course. The quizzes can be relatively easy, but the midterms and final are overly hard. They are nothing like what has been taught or practiced. There are negative reviews here for a reason.
Sophie Burrill is a very nice person. The content in homework, quizzes and lectures is not reflective whatsoever of what you are being assessed on for midterms and the final. Advanced concepts are ignored (even in sample finals) and appear in exams, assuming that you magically learnt how to do it. There are negative reviews here for a reason.
Good teacher but tends to explain useless information.
Sophie is a wonderful person. However, advanced concepts were not touched on in class, but ended up on the midterm/final. Pretty much expected to figure it out on your own. Quizzes and homework were fair. Must have very solid Pre-calculus knowledge to succeed.
Sophie is really nice, but I ended up relying on recorded lectures by other professors to get through this course. Not really her fault but the classes were too early and didn't see a point in attending lectures.
I find explanation of solving certain questions a bit lacking but overall good experience with this prof. She streams her lectures which is great for 8:30 am classes. seems to be active outside of class but do all assigned work and practices because the lectures arent enough to get you a good grade
Sophie was super kind and encouraging in class. If you have taken calculus before, math 151 shouldn't be too bad. Stay on top of the homework and quizzes, then you'll be fine. My only complaint is that she can sometimes be a bit disorganized (not finishing lesson on time), and grading can be slow.
Sophie is a nice and understanding prof. If you have taken Calculus previously it should be fine as long as you are organized and do all the work. The 10 min quizzes at the end of class can be overwhelming but know the material well. The final was a bit complicated and different from the practice exams, but doable if confident with your math skills
Calculus 1 with sophie is quite difficult. Make sure you keep on top of the WebAssign/crowdmark homework stuff, it is easy marks and good practice. You won't succeed in this class if you study the night before each test. After every lecture, review the notes and watch Jamie Mulholland's youtube videos for clarification. Midterms and exams are hard.
Nice person but one of the worst professors I have had so far. Exams are nothing like the study material and she gave confusing information on what was to be tested. So many other better Calc I profs.
Sophie is fine, but her ability to teach in this class is lacking. You'll spend the entire 2 hour lecture doing 2 word problems that don't have anything to do with the material. The only reason I put hilarious is because this class is a joke. I recommend taking the online option, as it will save you time/stress that could be easily avoided.
Had her for calc 1, she was decent. A bit of a stuttery talker and notes were kinda messy, but she was super kind and supportive, and I thought the lectures were good. She took the time to get to know students individually too, which I loved
3 quizzes a week (2-3 hours of work each) and 2 assignments a week (4-6 hours each). Crazy work load, no actual teaching done (you're going to love chat gpt!), hope you like word problems! People crying during each midterm, snarky ta's, exams/quizzes don't reflect homework. Horrible horrible experience! Avoid doing this class with her.
Why have I done 20+ hours of homework a week for an upgrading class hahahhahahahahahhahahahahah. This is so silly
currently crying over the final bc what is even this course? a normal person would think about maths which includes numbers while taking a basic maths class but this class is basically solving extremely weird word problems which are over 65% materials of the exam. the word problems being said is a bunch of riddles that u need to figure out.
She was super nice, notes and lectures were sometimes disorganized, but she replied to inquiries quickly and gave fair exams, so I won't complain too much
very heavy in courseload which takes up half your week and nothing we get assigned is on quizzes and exams
Sophie teaches something in the lectures and tests something else on exams. Exam questions are fully based on theory and memorizing theorems. Rarely finishes lectures and ends up posting a video. This is proof based class, but she didn't want to teach the most important aspect in person so posted multiple videos on proving and advice was "Read".
Super nice and understanding prof. Made all her classes energetic and I can tell she likes what she teaches. Course was relatively easy, but I had some troubles in understanding and memorizing prooving stuff. Overall great lectures and fair exams.
been at SFU for 6 years, probably top 3 professors I've had. While the class is a lot of work, does whatever it takes to get students engaged and collectively on the same page, very accessible for help, kind and compassionate.
Sophie is super kind and open to questions and conversation, but sometimes her explanations felt really unclear and unspecified. I felt like she didn't give us enough practice before exams. There are huge group assignments weekly, and depending on your group it can either go really well or not well at all. Be prepared for 4 assignments due a week.
Sophie is very kind and approachable. She is always there to help with questions. The course was technically blended so we had 3 online assignments/quizzes each week, a short reflection and weekly group assignments. It sounds like a lot but it felt very mangeable for me. The tests will also use all course information like the history of math stuff.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
36%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.05 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH240
4.0
(3)MATH190
3.8
(12)MATH100
3.7
(3)MATH151
2.9
(17)MATH150
2.4
(38)Difficulty by Course
FANX99
4.7
MATH150
3.9
MATH100
3.7
MATH240
3.3
MATH190
3.3