No Comments

No Comments

He's entertaining - I liked the experiments

Very entertaining but exams were m/c but hard. No partial mrks for calculations

Entertaining lectures but difficult exams.

his lectures were entertaining, and his accent was sexy!

No Comments

Very funny. Enjoyed the class but exams were hard.

Hard exam but a good teacher

one of the good profs

Great prof, Great teaching

Good prof but kills you on final/midterms. explosions are spectacular!

Good Demos and talks about soccer and fuel cells

HARDDD final exam! but a great prof

Powerpoint notes posted on web; aren't very useful. English accent, talks about soccer and ballard fuel cells whenever he can. Funny, generally interesting.

He made the course interesting. Although the textbook is the best source of information.

It's too bad he couldn't teach Chem 121 for the whole semester. Out of the 3 profs that taught that course, he was by far the most interesting one. Demos were timed strategically to wake up all the sleeping students. :)

I think he is a good prof. He tried his hardest to keep you interested in the class eventhough chem 121 is the most boaring! If you read the text before class he actually is a very good teacher.

His notes contain everything, but the textbook will treat you just as well. He is a very interesting guy, soccer fanatic (especially Manchester United), works at Ballard as well. Nice English accent.Chem121 is a boring course but he makes it not half bad.

He is very funny in the class...talks about Britain Soccer and explodes balloons....well, but he really need to work on his English speaking skills.

No Comments

he is hilarious, interesting lectures..awesome demos

Duuuuuuuuuuude if he wasn't the BEST teacher ever he'll still kick everybody's ass...made chemistry SOO MUCH FUN of course haven't seen a test yet but just from the demos he does in lectures you can tell he's very enthusiatic about chem...GREAT PROF

awesome proff, wicked demos

His demos are the best!!! It makes students interested in his class. He's a very nice, easy-going person. However, his midterm wasn't nice or easy at all. Class average was 50%!!

Sweetest teacher on earth!

very fun prof with awesomely cool demos! hard midterms, but the class is curved so that should be okay...questions are very hard, but they are "intelligent" questions.

Loves to blow stuff up.. He will actually shoot a tennis ball into the middle of the class just for the fun of it. Tries to make a really difficult course like Chem 121 interesting and fun. You'll enjoy this course if you take it with him, but you gotta put in a lot of work to actually understand it

lecture were fun, lots of experiments, midterm was too much theory though, he's an easy going guy but midterm wasn't fair

Nice guy, funny aswell, and sort of crazy with the blowing stuff up thing, but that's good. :) The midterm was horrible though!!

Very hard to sleep through his class . . . he's always blowing things up. It's actually quite entertaining, and his jokes aren't bad either.

He is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of Jason Clyburne. Need I say more?

very hard midterm, but a very intriguing class overall! especially after CLYBURNE came into place...that course was fun until that point, when everything turned out to be DISASTROUS...after you have clyburne you'll realize that Holdcroft's class is HEAVEN

Holdcroft is a coool prof!! You will never fall asleep or get bored in his class. And am i the only one that thought his midterm wasnt that bad? I thought Clyburnes was worse!

Holdcroft was wild prof, but man his midterms were impossible. Clyburn was not as exciting, but at least he taught us something and was around in his office if you had questions and his tests were easier. Holdcroft is not around.

Awesome Prof. Loves to blow the class with his experiments. At times u feel as if u r in a theatre enjoying the show. But exams are hard. Have to have luck on your side to do really well as u'll have to answer a lot of multiples through guesses coz there will be no time to answer.

best prof ever!! half of the class time is always spent on experiments!! great explosions that attracted security and the fire department!! mind-term/final is not to bad for those who are smart!!

If you took chem courses in high school, you will do well in this course. Otherwise, the course isn't really easy. His notes are subpar...I loved his crazy experiment demonstrations during lecture, though.

best person in the world!!!! great guy!!!

Good speaker. Demos and sense of humour keep the class interesting. Always announces office hours in class. Homework and midterm were fair. If you want to do well read the textbook and do extra practice questions. Notes provided are adequate. I would take a class with him again.

I LOVE HIS COOL EXPERIMENTS.. BUT THE CLASSES COULD BE MORE CLEARER.

Nice guy, did do a lot of experiments and made class interesting. Deffinately didn't walk you through every little thing, and only did brief power point presentations so you do have to do work on your own time.

Lectures are very easy, experiments are very exciting (don't sit in the front row!) Gets a little excited and lets off the fire extinguisher by accident. Midterm was VERY hard! Unfortunately only teachers first half of course.

He seemed like a good guy. Good demos. Lectures were a bit boring though.

i think he is a very good prof, the lectures were fun and exciting, i actually looked forward to them

Best prof i've had so far. Very nice. Keeps lectures interesting by doing experiments. I also appreciated his understanding of the first year experience.

he is cool. that is all.

love this guy, so funny!

Best prof youll ever have, very helpful, nice and also makes lectures a treat

Good prof. Super nice guy, would definitely take another class with him.

(1st half); MC exams affect studying methods; looks (& sounds) like Gordon Ramsey

Excellent prof! Great experiments in class to keep us entertained. Knows his stuff really well and able to communicate it to the class. Very helpful outside the class. Tests=fair.

Nice guy, but I felt that he put more energy into blowing stuff up instead of teaching. Lectures weren't all that in depth.

hehee, pyromaniac!

LMAO make us laugh some more holdcroft!!!!

helps create fun intro chem class but lectures not informative and the exams were difficult

This guy loves to blow stuff up and do other cool demonstrations in class. Funny and interesting lectures. There is a lot of material to cover in this course so nothing is really covered in depth in lecture. Exams are MC but tough.

His classes are fun in that he has quite a few experiments, some consisting of lighting balloons flled with oxygen or methane, or using liquid nitrogen. It's one of my more interesting classes.

He is by far the best chem teacher at this facility. He makes university appealing, hes absolutely hillarious, keeps you on your toes, and his experiments are fantastic.

Great prof. Always kept the class interesting. He had a huge amount of material to cover, but he always let us know which equations/material we needed to focus on in order to do well on the exam. Midterm was difficult, but if you stay on top of the curve you'll do very well in the course. Be sure to do all assigned reading. It really does help!

He is the best chem prof ever. His experiments are awesome although I'm not too sure if the midterm will be good though. I worship this man

Holdcroft is a cool dude but I'm not a huge fan of his teaching style. Sure he does wicked explosions but after the midterm I realized that I'd truly rather have him do example questions related to the material. Considering that BEWARE-brutal midterm is designed so practically no one finishes . Attend all lectures and review the material right afte

Holcroft was a really interesting prof to have, with a fun accent. He did a lot of experiments in class too which was pretty cool but outside of that I feel like I didn't learn much. Attendance mandatory to fill in the blanks he leaves on his online notes.

A very good professor. Clear, engaging and interesting. Answers questions in class, provides lecture slide before the class starts to facilitate note-taking. Did a good job imparting a large amount of information. He clearly identified the things we would need to know for the midterm, then tested us on those things.

Very interesting prof but insanely hard midterm. Does at least one demo per class mostly blowing up stuff. But does not do that many examples in class. If you are taking chem for fun its a good class but if its required try to get another one. Prof G.Leach is better.

Taught with Leach. This guy loves to do hands on chem, and when it comes to exams he goes through questions if you want him to. Thing is, I ended up pretty much teaching myself this whole course. As a prof he's decent because he gets you on your toes in a sense but make sure you can really help yourself through the material.

Loved the experiments in class so much that I didn't realize I wasn't really learning the material. Make sure you can teach yourself!

He is a very nice prof. Very open to answer your questions. His classes were the most fun class i had that term. Study hard for his mid-term, his questions seem very easy but usually there is always a twist to it.

Really great professor. He must have taken some of the constructive criticism because he has gone through many problems in class this semester. Concepts are made clear in class, and he is always very open to answering any questions. Makes class interesting with lots of cool chemistry experiments. My favorite prof so far in 3 years of university.

Most entertaining prof ever. Did some very cool demos. And he made the course interesting...just wished he was teaching the entire course...and has the best accent/voice ever

Awesome lecturer, doesn't go too fast or too slow. Demos (maybe avoid front rows) relate to concepts taught, and he rounds out the textbook with real-life contexts every day. Very encouraging and helpful, but, yes, this is university and you do need to read the text and, as he says, develop your own problem solving skills.

Very interesting and charismatic prof whose voice alone will hold your attention. Class is riddled with fun/relevant experiments. He does not really prepare you that well for the midterm, (class avg ~55%) so it's up to you to read the textbook and work on your own. Highly recommend doing many practice problems before midterm. Overall, definitely an

Enthusiastic, can be dry, has plenty of interesting demonstrations, fair marker. Though attendance not mandatory, helpful for homework and midterm as he goes over questions, so strongly encouraged. Midterm was fair, study hard. He only taught half of the course, so don't know what his finals are like.

definitely enjoys his job but he's not that great of a prof. he makes things explode in class which is cool. but he's not very good at explaining things and is very confusing with the harder information. his midterm is not that easy.only had him for the first half of the semester so i don't know about his final

Enjoyed him as a prof. Very nice guy. Offered me encouragement when I struggled with the first midterm.

Very charismatic and easy going. British rugby-player type. Explodes a lot of things in class, keeps jokes rolling and teaches very well. Sad that he was only teaching for half the course.

He may not be the best in teacher, but i the questions and mid term examples he reviewed in class and the process he showed in picking answers was really helpful. he is also entertaining and blows things up and has a nice humor. attending classes was pretty fun, but this is chemistry so... as far as chem 121 goes, holdcroft rules!!

His class is very interesting, he does a lot of fun experiments in class. However, he does not explain everything really clear, I get pretty bad on the first midterm. Also, he does not give a lot of examples, no help with the lecture.

Though teaching the harder half of CHEM 121, he with his amazing experiments and strong sense of humor successfully academically excited almost every students. One could tell that everyone was concentrated. Despite on slightly intensive lectures, with the help of his example questions I managed to get 31/33 in midterm. My best professor this term.

this guy has a great accent, his lectures are clear and informative, and he explodes something every single lecture overall great prof

His lectures were surely fun and interesting, but his assignments and exams were absurdly hard..

Great prof, very engaging with his demonstrations in lectures. Available for help during office hours, which he keeps. Responsive to emails. Homework and tests are more difficult than average.

A interesting guy with English accent. He knows how to teach and performs lots of experiment. Easy midterm, not sure his final because he left during second term.

Made class fun, great accent, but I didn't always have the easiest time with assignments... Still nothing horrible, especially for first year

He does teach the tougher part of course first off. Too many experiments not enough examples, his midterm was beyond fair. The CAPA was wa tougher and at least 7/33 questions were on practice midterm or questions posted online so if you did bad thats kind of on you....

LOVE his accent, and his demonstrations in class kept people more or less focused on his lectures. He does not do many examples in class however, so definitely study and look at textbook examples for an easier time on the midterm.

Steven tries to make the class interesting with his demos and has a great accent and always there to help. Must attend lectures for fill in the blank notes. Make sure to do lon capa, it's hard but sets you up for exam. Exams are hard but easier than Capa. He doesn't do many examples which is a downside.

Was a mediocre professor but rarely provided examples in class and rushed certain sections. I'd recommend reading the textbook and really putting extra effort!

Holdcroft is amazing. His accent is beautiful and he really is funny. He explains very well and his notes are helpful. He dresses well and reminds me of somebody that should be in a James Bond movie. I recommend his class.

realyyyyyy funny prof

Great Professor, his lectures are very in depth and he's passionate about his subject. He performs interesting experiments usually in his lectures which help keep the class engaging. His Lon Capa's are TOUGH which i guess is good for mid term preparation.

Good instructor. Fair marker. Lon Capa is a bit annoying, but manageable. Only bad thing was he made us memorize a bunch of useless formulas. Kind of old fashioned that way.

Holdcroft usually has a funny, entertaining demonstration lined up for his lectures. He's a jokester and can make the class laugh. He speaks slowly with many pauses so I never felt rushed to copy down notes. Even though he was less wordy than most profs, Holdcroft explains concepts clearly and tells you exactly about the equations/material on exams

Engaging lectures and interesting demos, doesn't go through problems in lecture, which is fine with me. Very nice if you come to his office hours. Midterm was pretty challenging.

Genuinely nice, engaging guy. Often did a fun demo in class and is a good lecturer. The LON CAPA is difficult, but it prepares you for the midterm. Fairly difficult midterm. The lecture slides are available on Canvas, but they have fill in the blanks you need to be in lecture to write down.

Great lecturer, with concise notes relative to the stuff on the exams. LON Capa is super hard, but really sets you up to do well on exams, which is weighted higher anyways. Awesome Lectures, especially with boring chemistry.

Really liked the lectures that he gave, super engaging despite me hating chemistry. His notes are super clear and easy to see what is important. Lon-capa was really difficult, but not impossible to figure out. However his midterm was awful, nothing like the rest of the course and didn't test on much we learned. Great prof, awful exam.

His lectures were fun and informative. The homework given with the class is hard and long, which also includes a lab and homework for the lab too. Midterm was super hard. Otherwise seems like a really cool guy, really enjoyed listening to him and he made chemistry interesting to learn about. Also super HOT and has a British accent. Enjoy it!

good prof with concise notes. almost every lecture he does an interesting experiment. he's engaging in class and you can really tell that he loves what he does. however, the midterm was a tad bit tricky

Holdcroft is one of the funniest profs I've had. He is very thorough when he does examples, although sometimes he goes a bit fast. A lot of the course is repeating chem 11 stuff. He does a lot of fun experiments and gives good hints for exams.

Midterm was hard but if you studied practice exams and online work, you'll do fine. His experiments relate to concepts learned in class and are exciting to watch but won't help you for exams. Makes you come to class since online notes are fill-in-the-blanks. Goes fast at times since a lot of content to learn and memorize but he's easy to follow.

He has a lot of demos in his lectures which are fun. He gives good explanations of each concept but to succeed in his exams, you need to make sure you go to tutorials and do lots of practice questions.

His exams were tough but fair. His lectures were engaging and thought-provoking; he not only goes over useful practice questions, but also shows their application in the real world. I would not recommend his classes as GPA-boosters; however given the amount of material covered, he explained the concepts very well.

Good prof; clearly explained all concepts, midterm was very fair (similar to examples he went over in class & the practice midterm he posted). Experiments during class were entertaining (although they didn't really contribute much to learning), and his notes were very straightforward and clear.

He's cool

Great prof, hard class! Keeps you entertained with experiments and then goes over examples and does a practice midterm to help. Really knows his stuff. You have to put in the effort to do well. Review, attend lecture, do the examples and you will succeed. Given the course difficulty he's great at explaining that much material. Prepare to work hard!

Funny guy especially with the British accent. Lots of material in class so it's hard to stay focused. Went to his office hours and he was super helpful, explained everything perfectly.

Passionate, knowledgeable and clear. That being said it is a very difficult course you really have to work and utilize everything, especially the practice questions and his office hours time. For a content-heavy class he explains it well

It's been a little while since I took 1st year chem with him. But now that I reflect back he really sets you up for success. News flash, grades don't come easy. You have to work HARD if you want that A. 1st test gave me a taste of reality and I learned to pull it together after. Really helped my future study habits. Do your practice problems kids

The prof is one of the best that i have had so far, he is good at explaining and makes chem fun (never thought i would say that). the material gets harder by the week and there is a LON CAPA due every Saturday and there is a lab which is mandatory which also has another LON CAPA that is need to be completed before each lab.

A great prof for first year chemistry, light hearted, funny, and incredibly nice. There is quite a bit of homework for the course but that is constant whether Holdcroft or Warren is teaching the course. His explanations are clear, he is passionate about chemistry and focused on making sure his students succeed.

Holdcroft is a good professor with an nice accent and the topics covered in the course are complex so I'll give him credit for explaining things well. My biggest issue was how hard the midterm was. The practice exam was said to be the same level of difficulty but that was HUGE a lie. If the class average is 50%, the students aren't the problem.

Prof Holdcrofts lectures are nice because he explains things very clearly and orderly, and on top of it all his English accent makes it all sound like a peaceful therapy session and not a hard General Chem course. Midterm is agreeably hard, but some of the hardest question I know has a similar style to the txtbook questions, so pay attention.

A good teacher who knows how to explain concepts. Lectures contain many example questions to illustrate concepts. Lectures also contain some live demonstrations which are always fascinating. The lab is long and sometimes tiresome but does make sense and ties in with the rest of the material. Exams and marking are straightforward and fair.

Steven is a great prof and is amazing to have as a lecturer. The only problem with this course (Polymeric Materials Chemistry) was that we were marked only on two midterms and a final which were incredibly difficult to do. Most of the class suffered, but our grades were curved drastically. I was going into the final almost failing and got a B- lol.

polymer chemistry was a very hard class, I found the lectures to be heavy but somewhat very fun. Steven is very caring and understanding, his exams were really long and very conceptual but if you study the notes, you will be fine. He is an amazing professor and explain the concepts extremely well. I feel lucky for having a class with him.