3.2
Quality3.2
Difficulty66%
Would Retake113
Reviews66%
Would Retake
113
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
41
4
19
3
11
2
20
1
22
What Students Say
“whiners who sit in the back and text”
CHEM115 - 5.0 rating“Jokes are lame, but he knows his chem”
CHEM112 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
23%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.46 avg changeRatings by Course
CHM112
5.0
(1)CHEM114
5.0
(3)CHEM250
5.0
(1)CHEM 112
5.0
(1)CHEM243
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM
5.0
CHEM115112
5.0
CHEM112115
4.0
CHEM112
3.3
CHEM242
3.2
Reviews (113)
No Comments
Goes slow and makes it fairly simple. His attempts at jokes are funny!
No Comments
arrogant! annoying personality, seemed to have distain for lower level classes.
This guy is hardly a teacher. He is just one of those guys working on the Synchrotron who is here to teach a class that he doesn't know everything about. He is a nerd and it is hard to hear him speak. It is a waste of time to attend his class!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was by far the worst prof i have ever had. For any student who is not very strong in chemistry DO NOT TAKE IT FROM HIM! He is terrible boring, has lame jokes, doesn't actually know what he is talking about, and doesn't give a damn if you pass or not.
will take every question seriously
Seems to like spending lots of time on the easy parts of the class and skim through the tough ones!!
Does NOT know what he is talking about at all, comes off as just simply a person taking notes from a textbook and reading it to a class, rather than actually teaching it. Voice is kind of annoying too.
Tries his best to make the class understand, uses corny jokes to lighten the atmosphere, good tutorials. Many students disliked his teaching but if you put the work in and go to tutorials it's all good.
Seems like a smart guy but does not know how to simplify the information so that students can understand. I wouldn't recommend taking class from him. He doesn't like to explain examples or answer questions in class. Hard to pick out what is important but still not impossible to do decent.
No Comments
I don't know what to say. I'm sure his class average was 15% lower than all the other teachers and considering it is standardized tests he must be doing something wrong.
Not overly clear with his notes. Uses far too many REALLY BAD puns. Makes many mistakes in his notes.
He knows his stuff but cannot explain it very good. The notes are pretty much just sentences here and there from the text, but more confusing. When you ask him a question he hardly ever answers it right away.
The worst teacher at the U of S.
It is true that he looses many a groaner on his poor audience. I find his lectures to be good enough to get me through with a good understanding.
Does this man teach? I would say NO. Does this man have a basic understanding of chemistry without class notes to look at? Again, NO. Is there a reason to come to class? Finally, NO.
Greasy! Bad class, worse prof. Clearly v. smart, and knows it, spends too much time telling us what we don't know. Doesn't make sense. Jokes OK, but useless when we don't learn anything else. Notes are bad/useless. Examples usually wrong. Textbook doesn't help much. Ask the OTHER prof questions- Urquhart will spend 20 min. NOT answering yours.
Worst Prof in the World and he's an idiot.
We like to give him a hard time but he's actually a pretty good prof and really tries to get the material across in a clear understandable way. And I'd rather a prof make jokes (even bad ones) than just talk in a dull monotone for an hour.
He obviously know his chemistry, however, he just doesn't know how to teach it. I would not recommend this prof, his lectures were very confusing and unfocused. He seemed very nice but unfortunately NICE is not a reason to take a class!! Do not take this class with this prof if you want to understand anything you are studying!!!!
Pretty decent prof. Does a lot of examples on the board and often makes mistakes but that helps in the learning process - you learn what is right and the common mistakes that can occur. Tests are straight forward and not overly difficult. Also makes a lot of jokes which keeps the class entertaining.
What a bad prof. He must know something about chemistry because he has a Dr. before his name, but you would never know it from this class. I've had this guy twice (not by choice) and both times I would have been better off staying home and reading the text than going to class.
he is absolutely the worst prof on campus. this guy might be a great scientist but he is a horrible prof. he always makes the stupidest mistakes while doin examples with class and his jokes are absolutely pathetic. he will never give a straight answer to any question. the most frustratin prof i had to deal with!
GET OUT NOW switch to the other section asap! Man, Urquhart has got to be the worst prof on campus! He needs to dumb down the material a lot! not all of us have a chem degree!
Worst prof ever!! Very arrogant and won't allow you to talk to him about exams.
I was disappointed with Urquhart's course. I was only able to learn when I took my textbook to class and highlighted WORD FOR WORD what he was saying during the lecture. Another example of research taking precedence over education. Mistakes on the board showed a lack of preparation. Not available for students.
Awful awful professor. I've had him twice, once for 112 and the other for 115 and was brutal both times. Terrible jokes and can't teach worth a damn. Copying down powerpoint slides is useless, you pretty much have to learn on your own from the text, since he doesn't explain or answer your questions...what an idiot.
not as bad as everyone here thinks. makes terrible jokes (so terrible theyre good). proud of his moped. hates organic chem. hates the sheef. his tests are pretty easy. as long as you write alot and have the correct answer he probably wont even read the work and just give ya full marks.
AVOID AT ALL COSTs, seriolsy I would advise transfering to the UofR rather than taking his class. A retarded chimp would make a better teacher. I think i got an ulcer from the frustration of his class (the only reason any one attends his class is they have 250 next door right after) TERRIBLE PROF!!!!! I would advise you stay home and read the text.
Honest to God I think I've gotten dumber from attending his class you have no idea how close I came to throwing my chair at him or stabbing him in the next with my pen 4 his retarded jokes and failure to teach anything. -> Uquhart teachings not for you, next time you tell a retarded joke duck b/c theres a chair flying towards the back of your head!
What can i say except my friends even warned me not to have him as a prof but i never listened and i wish i would have. He doesn't do enough examples and just writes down random equations on the board.
avoid avoid avoid
I suck at chem and still managed to get a decent mark. I thought he was pretty awesome! posts all his notes plus he does podcasts. I reccomend him
Not helpful at all...very vague when it comes to test outlines as he won't say whats important or not. His notes are pretty useless and you're better off using the text. His examples are very easy and you think you know what you're doing...but his test questions can be very complex. Condescending and thinks chem is easy and 'you can figure it out'.
Good prof, and has a sense of humor even if everyone is laughing at him and not with him
He can't teach. The lectures and assignments are very simple then he completely changes the wording/structure for exams, increasing difficulty 10 fold. Marking for labs is hit or miss. I've lost many marks for not including stuff that wasn't even asked for.
Just a horrible professor. Extremely ambiguous in terms of keys to pay attention to. Not helpful at all, I found this course challenging. I found that us students where questioning a lot of his errors on the board. His tutorials were absolutely useless and for the most part, he sat on his ass and did little effort to write problems on the board.
He tries way too hard with his pointless jokes and spends too much time being repetitive, which wasted a lot of our class time. As well, he makes simple concepts extremely confusing. Overall, poor prof.
I don't understand all the bad ratings. His notes were fairly well prepared. I really appreciated his attempts at humor. Yeah. sometimes they were a little lame, but at least it was entertaining. He makes an effort. I found the midterm really easy. Haven't written the final yet.
Good prof, classes went by quickly due to his enthusiasm/lame jokes. Tended to make mistakes on the board (probably just to see if we were paying attention). Class does require work- follow the textbook closely as well as the syllabus and you'll do fine. Exams were fair. Class had the highest avg. for the midterm- must be doing something right.
At the start of the year in all the 'review' stuff from high school he assumed you knew it and sometimes skipped steps or overcomplicated it so if chem isn't your thing maybe ask a friend for help at the beginning. By the end of the year he was great! Made some lame jokes. i wouldn't take another one of his classes but i still enjoyed him as a prof
Skipped through a large amount of high school content and labeled it as "assumed". Overcomplicated a large amount of the early curriculum. however, did teach quantum mechanics well.
His lectures are alright, the 50 min class goes by pretty quick but when you email him with a question, he takes his time. Your emailed questions or requests are definitely not a priority, which can be frustrating. Midterm was pretty easy, but thats not him thats the whole Chem 112 profs making the test together
He is very unclear in his examples, and doesnt have very many of them to begin with. Goes through slides way to fast so you cant even process what hes doing.
Great instructor. Jokes are corny, though.
I don't understand the negative reviews on Urq, he was a great teacher, very clear, and was the only prof who actually followed the schedule outlined in the syllabus to a dime. I thought he was a fantastic lecturer. The class is a breeze as well, I recommend it. Only negative is he's next to useless outside of the classroom (email, extra help).
Overall good prof
Great guy! I'm in love!
Well organized! Great class!
Great instructor. Will take his senior classes!
Good overall. Enthusiastic, corny jokes. Difficult material but fair exams.
He's a very nice guy, although he does make a few pretty lame jokes. He goes through his slides and examples very fast in class and it was hard to keep up when writing down notes.
Great prof! Real cutie!
Terrible, he did not use time wisely, and overall did not cover examples properly. He took more of a lazy or figure it out yourself approach. For people taking this class right out of high school it's not a good choice of prof. You better like reading the text to find out how to do things.
Excellent! Of course, you need to do your work and keep up!
Great prof - love the bowties!
I ended up skipping his lectures and learn from textbook
Great prof! Great course!
I really enjoyed this class. Dr. Urqhart is funny (well, he tries) and really cute.
Hard prof but a good prof. You definitely need to do your work, but a.) that's what we come to university for and b.) it's worth it
No one describes a grignard reaction like Urquhart! Wonderful!
Great prof - I had fun and enjoyed his sharp wit. Would take classes from him again!
Wonderful teacher! I enjoyed his jokes and his examples.
Jokes are corning and bowties are a bit scary, but he's a great prof!
great prof - terrible (in a good way) sense of humour.
OK, maybe not hilarious. Corny. Enjoyed his class.
Fantastic prof! So nerdy.
Fantastic! Thermodynamics is hard, but this guy tries to make it make sense.
Awkward but tries really hard. I really love how he covers quantum mechanics.
Would definitely take a class from him again!
Some people complain about Urquhart, but they're also the ones that never show up to class. I would definitely take another class from him!
Amazing! Great prof. His jokes are pretty pathetic, and he blows the odd proof, but he's worth listening to.
Corny! Jokes are lame, but he knows his chem.
Just generally not a good professor. Frequently gets examples wrong during class and asks the class for help on how to fix his mistake. Skips important examples/topics. Power points don't follow the textbook and he doesn't post notes. Coming to class will not help, you'll leave more confused than before. Also just very irritating.
He spends waaaay too much time telling stories. He skips over important questions and rarely ever finishes questions, just says, "you can finish it at home, it's easy." He doesn't post his notes and does not give enough time to write down notes from his powerpoints. Makes a lot of mistakes in class. Does not properly prepare you for exams.
Honestly his writing is not legible and he makes a billion mistakes. Bring your eraser
Fantastic! Ignore the haters ... whiners who sit in the back and text ... Urquhart is great!
Every time I show up to a lecture I regret going. He makes way too many mistakes in class and tends to get off topic a lot. He is very bad at responding to emails even when they are well-written and contain important questions. Definitely do not recommend.
Hard, but good! Would take another course from him!
This man is BRILLIANT! Love him, and his bowties.
not helping
Such a great prof, easily one of my favourites! He makes really witty jokes that he thinks are so funny, and you often find yourself laughing at him laughing at his own jokes. Really bad penmanship, which makes his examples a little hard to follow at times! Definitely recommend!
Really wants his class to understand the material. Good environment.
Doesn't post his slides, hard to follow and hard to listen to. Makes the occasional joke but doesn't quite understand the best way to teach the concepts yet. Class and lab were very tricky and it doesn't help that he speeds through difficult topics.
Dr. Urquhart is one of the best professors I've encountered. He cares about his students, and knows his stuff. He really cares about people being able to understand the why behind what he teaches, and not just be able to recite facts for a test. Great guy!
He would be a really good prof if he actually used a real calculator instead of his phone and didn't get most of the calculations wrong. He was funny and you could tell that he was passionate about chemistry. Would have been good if he also stopped wasting so much time trying to sell the class on other chem classes and actually stayed on topic.
Urquhart is a great prof! I would definitely take another class with him. He explains things clearly and really teaches the subject matter. He also likes to make jokes and tell stories so class is never dull. Although he does go off subject at times, everything was covered in depth.
Course was split between 2 profs and the 3 weeks he taught were awesome. Very clear explanations and well-organized slides, handwriting is iffy though so pay attention when he's giving examples. Likes to throw in random, semi-relevant, jokes. Don't always get many laughs but make lecture a lot more enjoyable. Would definitely recommend.
Dr. Urquhart is very knowledgeable in his field, but at times his lectures can be difficult to follow and his chapters covered can be difficult to understand. Be prepared to read lots.
Funniest prof ive had, terrible puns but so good. He has a very clear understanding of chemistry and his passion shows through his lectures. He makes lots of mistakes but catches them 95% of the time and explains them. Get ready to read the text book, he lectures assuming youve read ahead but if you do its a fairly easy class. 9/10 would take again
He's a really funny guy and tries to keep his lectures entertaining all the while teaching in depth. He does lots of examples on the board, which helps a ton. I skipped a lot of the classes and am definitely trying to make up for it in studying for the final.
This is the hardest class ever but he was the best part about it. Made it easier to pay attention to the class. It is lecture captured but he does lots of helpful examples on the board that you cant see in lecture capture so its probably best to attend. Hated the class, loved the prof, wouldnt take the class with another prof
Lecture capture saved my life in this class
Read the textbook before lectures!! This will help tremendously, as he expects you to already know what he is going over.
While this class was pretty difficult, I think Urquhart did a good job explaining material. He was a good prof and did his best to make to make his material funny.
I have Dr. Urquhart currently for online chem112 during COVID, and he's great. He seems to be a really fun guy, and makes harder material feel easier. My recommendation for this class: read the text! Read every chapter of whatever lesson you are learning, it helps so much with understanding WHY you're using a specific formula, etc.
Awesome sense of humor I think Chemistry people seem to have. I know others didn't find him as engaging, but he was really funny and encouraged us to read the textbook ahead of time. And I overheard him teaching another class and he always went over time, very invested in his teaching. Seemed like a fun guy!
Urquhart's a great prof, he's really funny and cares about teaching. He doesn't include lecture slides though which is an issue.
Dr. U made the transition of what would normally be a strictly in-person class completely seamless. He has a great personality and truly wants his students to succeed. The class is assignment heavy, which are essentially midterm/final practice questions. You will have to teach yourself lots, but Dr. U will be with you every step of the way!
Great lectures, review the textbook and you will do fine on exams.
Def one of my favourite profs so far! He is really knowledgable and passionate about chemistry, obviously chemistry is a tough subject so you definitely have to read the textbook and practice. He posts lectures! He's definitely super helpful if you need and doesn't take long to respond. Not to mention he loves to share his cats which is amazing!!
Professor Stephen was a very nice guy but not a great teacher. He always brought a great attitude to his lectures but when it came to the actual course content, he fell short. He would often get questions wrong while showing them to the class, which would make learning the material quite difficult. Overall, a good guy but should not be teaching.
He does not know how to properly teach chem in a way for the students to understand. Not to mention his printing is TERRIBLE so good luck understanding what numbers are which when doing calculations. Assignment questions were also questions not discussed in class or taught how to do at all which was frustrating.
Urquhart was a very good professor. Unfortunately the information he has to convey is very difficult. He makes sure that there is lecture capture so that you dont have to be physically at class. Good professor. Shows pictures of his cats.
Prof Urquhart is a great guy and teacher. While the Chem 112 course content is inevitably confusing and complex, he puts forward his best effort to convey the concepts to students. He also takes time before each class to check up on students and how they are doing with the class, which is always appreciated (plus shows pictures of his cats!).
Definitely a prof for modern students who want to extend their high-school experience into university. Tries way too hard to be funny but it just comes off as an unprofessional; a quality I really don't want when I'm paying for school. Please teach the material as if I'm an adult. The coarse itself is a joke and basically just a repeat of chem 30.
he makes lots of jokes and pop culture references, which i found fun. not many professors try to make the environment enjoyable like he does. he allowed us to bring a cheat sheet to the final. solves examples in class that are similar to questions on assignments and exams. he does ramble, but still gets the point across. really enjoyed his class!
Professor Urquhart was an absolutely horrible professor. The worst part about this prof is that depsite having a PhD he seemingly knows nothing about chemistry. He often gets in-class examples wrong, for our final exam rather than posting details he told us to wear masks and get vaccinated. class midterm average was a 42% cause he messed up.
got examples wrong during lectures but that was hard to notice as his writing is illegible. Also, the midterm average was like 40%, the practice one was light work then the real one was harder than I could have ever imagined. BIG yapper, often off-topic just rambling about masks or canvas being racist. sometimes very funny.
Cares a bit about his students - tries to make things funny. Does he do his job well? NO! He badly explains complex topics, refuses to upload slides to canvas (despite being asked multiple times) and gets problems wrong as he solves them in class. Our midterm average was 44 and he refused to take responsibility for it. Avoid him if you can.
Professor Urquhart has a unique teaching style - he likes to crack jokes and make pop culture references, which can be hit or miss. While the material is complex, he makes an effort to explain things clearly. unstuck ai and the textbook were helpful supplements for study prep.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
23%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.46 avg changeRatings by Course
CHM112
5.0
(1)CHEM114
5.0
(3)CHEM250
5.0
(1)CHEM 112
5.0
(1)CHEM243
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM
5.0
CHEM115112
5.0
CHEM112115
4.0
CHEM112
3.3
CHEM242
3.2