2.5
Quality4.1
Difficulty25%
Would Retake253
Reviews25%
Would Retake
253
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
253 total ratings5
41
4
40
3
32
2
47
1
93
What Students Say
“Avoid him if possible”
CHEM121 - 1.0 rating“Friendly, but terrible”
CHEM121 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
27%
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Predicted Grade
B+
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CHEM2816
4.0
(1)CHEM250
4.0
(1)CHEM2826
4.0
(1)CHEM281282
4.0
(1)282286
3.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
CHEM250
5.0
CHEM2
5.0
CHEM281LAB282
5.0
CHEM281282286
5.0
281
4.9
Reviews (251)
Don't screw up with him around! He has a scarry stare for dumb students and he's nice for the smart ones. Funny German accent.
Prepare to be grilled with questions. If you dont understand what youre doing, you wont be able to answer. Scary at first, but he's really harmless.
He's not bad at all. Helpful if you go to him, but make sure you've tried the question to the fullest extent that you can. Else you're not gonna get much help because he likes to make students think...
Dr. Kreis is a very interesting character. He's a good lab prof, and definitely won't just sit there and answer your questions for you. You have to work for the grade.
One of THE BEST profs i ever had and i had quite a few. If u ask "smart" questions u will do well. He stayed with me at 6 pm and made sure i understood everything. I got home tired but READY for the test. He is FUNNY, SMART, COOL AND KIND.
Dr. Kreis makes the organic chemistry labs a lot of fun. He makes the effort of visiting with all the students during the experiments and is very helpful in clearly explaining the material.
Great guy. Don't screw around with him; he expects you to prepare for every lab you go to. If you ask him, he will give you hints, but it is up to you to catch on afterwards. If you've done the preparation you should be able to answer his questions. =)
dr. kreis is.. well.. a very straight forward kinda guy.. dont mess around with him or you'll get it.. don't miss the first lab day (intro day) either or he kicks you out of the lab.
yes, he answers questions w/questions, but it's only to make you think. come to labs prepared!!! he WILL drill you on what you're doing, and you should know anyway. a very jolly guy. but overall a great prof.
"Hello Everybody - how are you feeling today!"
Kreis expects you to prepare in advance of the labs. He likes to ask the class questions before each lab to test your preparedness. Annoying habit of saying okaaay... Overall, a very good chemistry lab professor. Just beware the Kreis stare! :)
He has poor interpersonal skills and has difficulty relating to students.
Lectures ok SOMETIMES, but extremely poor communication skills. Talking to him in person was extremely intimidating and counter-productive.
scary and intimidating yes. but with a little work and maybe by your second semester with him you will realize that he is a good guy. very helpful if you can get up the confidence to ask.
His chem282 course is very different to others.
Extremely intimadating and mean, deducts marks on tests for wrong answers without telling students in advance. Is unclear and doesn't mind class averages of 38%. Teaches his own interest.If possible avoid and take Classes with Vance William Or Neil Branda
He makes chem282 a nightmare. In fact, he makes organic/chem a nightmare too. We have to memorize lots of "classis" rxn amoung with basic princples of rxn. In the exam, he will give you a starting materials and lots of arrows, everything else is
He expects alot from students. His exams are hard. He uses powerpoint notes. He RARELY goes over the mechanisms. The average of midterm and quizzes were below 50%. He rather spent time on studying strategies than on mechanisms! Worst prof I ever had!
He is the best prof to talk to and ask questions from.I learned so much in his class because I worked insanely hard and asked him lots of questions. He exams are interesting and challenging.
makes class a horrible, lacks any empathy, has a very suspicious and cynical attitude, extremely scary, fake, intimidating and supercilious, heard his exams are impossible
Kreis is Kreepy. And what is up with the super long fingernails, and his bizarre stare? Organic chem is weird enough...Kreis just adds major creep factor to it.
For 286, it seems like he hates teaching and hates all students. He gets angry at students for everything including asking questions, and not just dumb ones! He deviates substantially from the lab manual, Catalyst, and he doesn't notify students of the changes. His labs are always disorganized.
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Ive read everything ppl said and it is NOT true. HE IS THE BEST prof EVER. If u want his to go over mechanism ASK HIM in class or stop by his office. NO NEED TO MEMORIZE ANYTHING. All u have to do is UNDERSTAND. (if u memo-freak he is not 4 u) The only prof is this f..ken university who gave me A+ !
I agree. Kries is one of the best profs I have ever had. He took an hour to explain something to me, and missed his lunch for it! I don't know of any other professors who would do that. He challenges his students, but he is totally willing to help you. He will never refuse to answer questions.
He may seem nice at first, but.. He's grouchy and not sincere at all. He will scold you hard if he catches you doing something wrong. He talks too fast as well.
I hate chemistry, but this is one of the only chem classes I did well in. He is extremely helpful, and always encourages students to do their best
He is a good professor in general. But he is not open to complaines. He accuse me for copying just because I have a similar report with my friend. He send in the academic dishonesty report and severely ruined my life forever.
He's a jerk. He says I'm cheating for working on an assignment with a friend, we don't even have the same answers! We work beside each other in the lab, it's ridiculous. He is not responding at all. Does he not know the consequences of what he's doing? I see his point but he's going too far.
Kreis seems to be one of those "love em or hate em profs. I found him to be helpful and interested in the subject. Always wandering around the lab and checking on students. I never had a bad encounter with him
You HAVE to see him in office hours if you want help and want to do well in this course! The lab quizzes were tricky but totally fair. This prof is highly recommended.
The only time that he gets angry is when you go to see him in the office hours to ask him a question without even attempting to figure it out. But he will sit with you until you have got it and understand it.....it learned so much from this class it wasn't even funny
A nice teacher. Always walks around the room during lab time to check that all the students are doing ok. Will get a bit angry though if you're doing something dumb (eg. accidentally burning a hole in the rubber tubing when using the hot plate since you're not being careful).
He is the best prof ever.
can be very intimidating.. only go to him as a last resort. If you dont know what you are doing he will yell and is very strict about cheating. quizzes were HARD but poster project boosts up grade significantly
Take it with him. He is simply THE best. (if you work hard and understand the material you will walk out with an A)
He dislike people who ask question. Expect us to be self-efficient. Can get a good scold from him.
Kreis makes an excellent lab prof b/c he challenges students to think for themselves. I give him huge credit in preparing me for my coop job b/c he drove me to be a self-sufficient problem-solving laboratory student. Don't let is gruff arrogance throw you off, scary as he may be!
i think he should be teaching lab only. he's really unclear of explaning things. he spent 20 mins of lecture to answer questions while no one knows what he's talking about.
SIMPLY THE WORST. TAKE THE LECTURE WITH HIM IF YOU WISH TO STUDY A LONG DISTANCE COURSE.
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He's quite the intimidator sometimes...he starts making intimidating comments to you when you do something wrong in any part of the lab procedures. But I guess that's his style...
Worst teacher in the world! Do not take a class with him. Doesn't assign a txt book, explains vague concepts in lecture and then expects you to know small details. Unapproachable and will yell at you if you don't know something that he thinks you should. TA said she would have a tough time taking his test.
Makes exams hard by withholding knowledge as opposed to making things logically difficult. Difficult to approach. Loves powerpoint - but doesn't lecture with it well (very passive teaching style). Has no logical progression of difficulty in tutorial questions - you just get hard stuff immediately.
i really had high expectation for this course since i really enjoyed chem 281 with Dr.Brenda. but he has taught me 3 things so far. 1)chemistry is hard 2)chemistry is all aobut memorization 3)chemistry is not fun :)
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this guy is useless. he expects you to be a chemistry genius and doesn't seem to get why his midterm averages are so bloody low.
Useless. You come out of lecture knowing less than you did going in. Material gets harder, but teaching doesn't get any better. To the person who said all negative comments are untrue - take a look at your colleagues in class, and see how they feel.
He must be given a teaching award. I am learning alot in his class. He is amazing,helpful,and gives excellent lectures.There are too many stupid people in this class, so just ignore the comments below. If you work really hard in this course, you will enjoy organic chemistry.He is the best of best at SFU.
Was the last comment be written by Uwe? Horribly difficult class! Many of us lack prior knowledge (thanks Branda) but they need to put their rivalries aside & get their**** together or they'll keep loosing students to other faculties. He seems to enjoy watching us suffer. Exams & tutorials hideously difficult. Makes you hate organic chem. How sad.
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he's not tat bad, but a lot of memorizing, n he does put stuff u nvr learn on da exams to test ur skills, n of coz no one gets them tats y da avg is low. i laugh at wat ladybug's friend says how he wants us to die, a prof doesnt want their students to fail! just work hard. but he does waste time on teaching us how to learn..useless
It is a HARD class!!!!!!!! toooo much work for a 2 credit course.
Hard!!!
If u like ur exam avg's to b around 7% this is the prof uve been waiting for!!! U must take it with him
this class is HORRIBLE!! U really have to learn the course at home with ur text book, his lecture notes are completely useless...its like USELESS! anyways, the average is a 45%..so u decide!
he's been teaching this class so bad branda takes all the blame. but teaching organic has to b based on understanding not memorizing everything. u have to b a real chemist to get thru this course cuz a textbook is the only source u have and reading lists won't b provided.
it's amazing how he spends half of the class to answer ppl's questions cuz his explanation is really unclear. His notes are really disorganized. if u really want to take hard organic course, take with him.
give the eziest example first ok??????
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Final was ok but overall it is very very very HARD!!!!!!
The option of the final being 85% of the total mark was a gpa saver for me. In general, exams are tough and he isn't the most approachable prof. If you want to learn chem, take it with him. If you want an easy organic chem course (are there any?) find another prof.
He doesn't give out reading lists or which textbook to use. His midterms are tricky. He put things on them that we never see before. He makes you memorize the IR values and the chemical shifts. Even though the course is only 2 credits it is actually like a 4 credit course.
He is unlike any of the prof I've ever met.He has the natural ability to make exams ridiculously tricky and torture his students. We had to memorize alot of extra stuff like IR values. He's very difficult to approach and when you actually do approach him, you will be greeted by the infamous fake smile which makes me shudder to talk about, even now.
It takes time to get used to his method of teaching. He is a hard teacher but you have to consider the fact the organic chemistry is a hard course. He is always there to help if you ask for it. Good luck!
he's not tat bad..he just wants us to think..n the course is curved, so even if he puts questions tat no one can answer..it wont really affect our grades...but there is just too much to cover for a 2 credit course...
omg the worst prof ive ever had. he is unclear about what he wants and gets frustrated when people ask too many questions. im sorry but a prof should NOT ask his students to ask questions and then complain that the overhead projector is too bright. the only thing i found useful were his mechanisms. avoid him if possible.
I hated organic chem after his classes. Take the 80% final option...it is the only way to get through this crazy 2 credit course. Definately one of the harder teacher I've ever had and he answers your questions with questions. Exams are extremely hard, class averages for midterms are under 50%. The amount of work of a 4 credit course.
Best prof I've had so far,but extremely hard. Do not fall behind! Seems unapproachable at first but he's actually very helpful 1on1 and his lectures make a lot of sence if you preread the material. very open minded and thorough when answering questions.Recommended for people who actually want to learn the stuff not just get an easy credit.
terribly confusing and unfair.....thinks he's the best teacher ever, but is the total opposite....."I want to make a difference"...all he did was make everybody frustrated and angry, and he made organic chem a very painful experience. See what "DIFFERENCE" YOU MADE?? don't waste our time to tell us how to learn - give that lesson to your own mirror
Organic Chemistry is already a hard class. This guy makes it 100 times worse. Avoid, if you can. Such a terrible prof. The worst class I have ever taken in my life. This guy is responsible for my hatred in Chemistry. Study his practice finals! 286 is hell, make sure u memorize your procedures, he'll grill you during your presentations in lab
Have fun!
His class is HARD. but if you pay attention to what he said in class, and read the notes, you should have no problem. He is a great prof.
I've taken chem281 lab with Kreis. He leaves everything to the TAs. He himself does nothing but walk around the lab once every hour and look for the slightest mistakes you make with your lab setups. And god forbid if you ever ask him about anything, he talks down to you as if you're supposed to know that stuff already. Worst professor I've had ever
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Hello everybody.... well Dr. Kreis really isn't as bad as most people think he is. He does hate stupid questions, but who doesn't? In the lecture his pace is very slow, but he tends to go on tangents at times, so it's best to read the material ahead of time. Overall, his exams are fair, they require some outside of the box thinking.DO PROBLEM SETS
He goes over concepts thoroughly. He's great at explaining things and his answers give you a better understanding of chemistry. If you add good notes to his slides, you'll find the notes a very good studying resource. However, he tends to sort of jump back and forth through the material, so it can be a little hard to follow his train of thought.
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lots of mechanisms that you need to know and his notes aren't the most detailed on some of them. his midterm and final are super hard, he expects you to know a good chunk of the course and have as good as an understanding as he does. tough course but interesting.
By the end of this course you will feel as if you were nailed by the hands and feet to a giant test-tube clamp wearing a crown of broken pipettes, and a fithy lab coat tied round your waist...we call it kreisification.
very arrogant and unhelpful. Makes undergrads feel like they are stupid and is almost insulting. Unfortunately he was the only organic chem lab prof if not I would have waited for another professor...anyone is better than him.
i waited 2 semesters just to avoid this prof , but it seems like he is the only one to teach. As I expected , none of my friends get a clue what he had explained in his lectures because he expects us to know EVERYTHING from previous lecturers and chem 281
This guy is an a$$. Not helpful. Will go out of his way to make people cry.
Mechanisms, Mechanisms, Mechanisms. Keep up (or ahead) on text readings, or you will be screwed. Doesn't care if you havn't learned prerequisite material for what he teaches. Midterms are hard but you can redeem yourself on the final if you study hard. Let's see how ze molecule looks like, ya? Lol, what a German. LERNEN SIE CHEMIE!!
This guy is the man! GO SFU SURREY!
what the heck u pple talking abt..Kries is the best chem prof and he doesn't make u cry..are u insane?? His notes on merchanisms are pretty good..the textbook i used sucked though (Jones Chemistry) overall he's a good prof..he explains the mechanisms and draws them out for u, just pay attention and work hard for this class =D and u'll be fine :D
I had him for 282 and 286 in Summer '04. Kreis Powerpoints everything and it doesn't work well for org-chem. In addition, in lab, if he thinks you're not doing the work, he WILL give you a hard time about it. Unlike Hanlan, he'll treat you like an idiot if you don't know the answer, but he WILL give you the answer straight out eventually.
he is a smart guy and i have to admit he does teach well. His notes are simple but you have to take notes from what he says too which is what he will likely to test on.
deadly exams but awesome prof
Labs are very disorganized and no one ever knows what we're doing because he always deviates from the procedure in the book in the prelab lecture and its really hard to catch all the changes that he makes (and the procedure in the book isn't all that great either).
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His exams are deadly.
He's an OK prof, he powerpoints lectures, this isn't too bad of a course to do well in. Just memorize!!!!!!!!! he's had a few lectures on goals and integrity, i thought htat was kinda .. useless, lol imo. exams are quite deadly tho
He is the best chemistry proffesor at SFU. I took chem 282 and 286 with him and I got an A and A- without doing lots of work. His class average is high (around 70%) compared to that of the village idiot Merbouh. He is nice, easy, encouraging, approachable, loves teaching instead of just lecturing. I totaly recommend him.
He is a really nice guy, but as a prof, was unable to effectively convey material. You can tell he's really into organic chem, but can't seem to really explain material.
Can be intimidating at first but as you get to know him you will realize that he's very approachable. Lab midterm was very hard so make sure you actually study each lab thoroughly and you will do fine!
Does poor job of explaining the lab before starting.. doesn't follow the lab entirely. Does not encourage questions at all! Will pick on students for "not being prepare" when there is nothing the student can do expcet just read the txtbook and lab handout and just pray that he wont' ask you questions. Don't expect to learn anything in this class
Good professor overall
Hey I took this course in the semester summer 2010 and I think Kreis is the best professor I've ever had for organic chemistry. He explains the concepts with startling clarity and reasonable level of helpfulness, but he can be a bit hard to take in all at once which is why it was useful for me to listen to his audio lectures over and over.
excellent prof,exams are very fair, unlike merbouh's, recommended
Kreis teaches well, his notes are very clear and his lectures are very straight forward. Exams are not difficult at all. He is somewhat lazy though, but I think that's because he's already so damn good at his job he does not need much effort to do it well. Overall a recommendable prof to just about anyone.
Found him extremely condescending. Didn't feel like asking questions, because it wasn't worth the tone of voice.
Awesome teacher and mentor. Is German so we all know he's good. Midterms are long and hard (thats what she said) usually not possible to finish in 50min. He gave me two A+ hella boosted my gpa. His most important lecture is the one with the red dot. Office hours is where I learned the most.
If you do something wrong, he assumes you weren't listening during his lab lecture, even though he changes a lot of the steps from the print-out! Some instructor, he's never in the lab. He comes around routinely once or twice and asks everyone "Are you okay"? Other than that, he is never to be found in the lab... found that a little disappointing
I thought being a prof meant actually being present. And the one time he was present for more than 10 minutes he was yelling at everyone. The marking scheme is outrageous.
Rarely in the lab. I'm sure he knows his stuff, but difficult to approach. Got an A+ in the class, by when I asked lab questions during his office hours, he pretty much blew me off. I had a good TA and that made the difference.
He has an interesting way of teaching. You gotta be proactive in lectures and ask what you don't know. He won't make you feel stupid if you ask a question, he will just make you think before giving you an answer. Midterms are really fair, just make sure you go to class and understand the material. Good prof!
I do not find his lectures are useful as his teaching really really bad... his notes are useless, do not explain the material in detail...Mts are fair.. overall i do not recommend him,and please avoid him
You have to be a GREAT listener to get anything out of him. He's kinda moody too, and he doesnt like u if u're not smart. our class avg is ard 55%.his lecture is ALL over the place compare to the book (bruice 5th).clearly, u gotta do extra research n his sample tests if u wanna survive. If u're not a chem genius LOOK ALIVE
He isn't as bad as everybody says. Gives you marks for attendance of tutorials and a group presentation + group assignment which are just free marks. Exams are hard but it is organic chem so you shouldn't expect it to be easy anyways. He split final into 3 midterms you didn't even have to learn the last 1/3 of the class to get an ok grade.
Kries is actually a very interesting prof.He is honestly not like how people have described him to be.282 is a hard course and he tries his best to make it easy for the students to understand. His exams are very fair, may be the final was a bit hard but again as long as you keep up with the material you'll be fine. He made me love CHEM. =)
Anyone who is complaining about the class being hard is probably a biology major and can't keep up with a quantitative class. Dr. Kreis will not only teach you organic chemistry but how to learn properly. One of the greatest professors, i could easily say he changed the way i approach school.
terrible!
His notes are horrible and his lectures are not informative. He does not follow the textbook at all. Don't take the class with him, seriously!
Refused to provide a course outline. You're expected to tease out the important topics from his notes and research them on your own. Rarely wrote out rxn mechanisms. Finished the material almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule (in condensed course!). Didn't post tutorial problems or lecture notes in reasonable time frame. Class avg for final was 35%. Wow
DON'T TAKE OCHEM WITH HIM! Unless you're naturally gifted in organic chemistry or have loads of time to try to understand everything he expects you to know, take it with someone else. His notes have no detail, exams are way too hard and he isn't very approachable. The final exam avg was 35% !!!!
Avoid taking OChem with Kreis!! Not very helpful and makes you feel stupid when you ask for clarification. Rarely draws out the mechanisms and horrible notes. Class avg for the final was 35%!
One of my favourite profs ever. He has a hard, no nonsense approach but you can tell he really cares about the quality of learning for the students. Sometimes he makes you feel embarrassed but he just wants you to be aware so you don't make stupid mistakes more than once. He clearly enjoys teaching and values real-world applicable lab learning.
I think He is one of the profs who actually cares about his students. He seems cold and even hostile towards students but you will see him gradually showing his warm side and his care for students over time. But grading is picky;;
Can be condescending and seem rude at first, but if you actually take the time to get to know him, he can be EXTREMELY helpful, and often gives advice in regards to studying and memory that will help in all areas of learning. Grades fairly, and gives points if you show you sort of know what you are doing, even if you mess up on occasion.
way too uptight about lab reports being handed in at 5:25SHARP. Forgets to tell us that reagents were changed half way through experiments so basically everyone was screwed and had to restart. Also leaves the lab instead of looking after the students. TA's could have probably taught the course better than him
Hands down the worst prof I've ever had. He'll make his rounds to see how everyone is doing, but heaven forbid you ask him a question. If you don't understand his explanation, he will berate you in the most condescending manner humanly possible. This class gave me so much anxiety. Kreis dos NOT create an environment conducive to learning.
Scary, but scary smart. You don't have to be a chemistry buff but you DO have to know what you're doing in this lab. It makes sense, but I've seen him tear into students for not knowing the theory or the practical procedure well enough.
One of the worst profs I have ever had! I would not recommend taking this class with him unless you are extremely gifted at ochem. He has terrible notes, does not engage the class and is very bad at explaining concepts. Avoid taking this class with him if you can.
Dr Kreis may seem hard to approach at first, but he's acutally a great prof. He explains concepts very well and encourages questions every class. As long as you don't fall behind on the material and keep up on the material you will do fine. Asking questions will help greatly with understanding the material!
He's a really jolly prof during lecture. He'll always ask questions so you should be prepared with some to take advantage. And his exams are straight forward, you can literally go through the practice exam and pass.
Dr. Kreis has definitely impacted the way that I learn and approach my education. Ca be serious, but also very friendly and engaging. He asks key leading questions to help you make connections yourself. Always cares about student needs. Be ready to participate actively. Don't be scared away by bad reviews, I almost did.
having a great time in his lab this fall and he even let me register late after classes started although its hard to get out of lab even if you're sick his good looks make up for that although can be distracting too but very easy on the eyes folks
very condescending to students. theory exam average was less than 50%, dont say you were not warned
Scary if youre about to blow something up or have no idea whats happening, very friendly if you know what youre doing or show you want to understand. Just understand the experiment (ie. follow procedure correctly) or he will obviously call you out on it. Theory exam was challenging but probably due to not enough info on types of questions given.
If you show that you are interested and you somewhat understand the material, he is very helpful and friendly. Otherwise, he can come across as very condescending and won't be very helpful. He was great to me, but I definitely saw his bad side towards other students, so only take him if you are genuinely interested in what he's teaching.
He's very very good at pointing out what you're doing wrong, but not very good at being helpful.
Report sheets are toughly graded, complex IR and HNMR spectra are the basis of this course, do not expect demos are the start of each lab, do research online yourself before hand because the profs explanation is not very helpful, group project was time consuming and he always makes you feel worthless for everything you do - theory exam was death!!!
Always encourages questions. Doesn't matter if it's directly related to what he's teaching. He asks if you understand concepts (from previous classes) and if not, he explains them. He wants his students to succeed and if you take the time to go talk to him, he will help you improve your learning. You still have to put in the effort to learn concept
Hes just terrible. Friendly, but terrible.
It is his first time teaching a Chem121 course. He does not have any study material so you would not know what to expect on the Midterm(which very few people did well on btw). Lectures are very dry and boring he does not go over how to do any practice problems in class. Online assignments never relate to lecture material. AVOID CHEM 121 with UWE!!!
Terrible. Cant explain the course material, extremely hard mid term(due to lack of practice problems), lectures are boring and not helpful at all, not worth going. I taught myself this entire course. He encourages questions, but doesnt know how to answer them.
Very difficult to do well in this class. Has not taught 1st year and it shows in his style. Encourages questions but rarely (if at all) answers them clearly. No practice exams or questions. Online assignments and tests are 100x more difficult than the (very few) questions done in lecture. If possible do not take this class with Uwe.
this prof has to be one of the worst. he does not go over examples and expects students to do loncapa assignment questions that are way harder. wants you to ask questions, but he never really explains them properly or he says "haa idk". not going to lectures was same as going
His lectures are very calming. However, they are not necessarily the most helpful. You will have to read through hundreds of slides of lecture notes and pull multiple all nighters just to pass the exam. Even then there is no guarantee. RIP
Terrible, disaster. To be honest I don't know how this man got his job.
Absolute disaster of a prof, extremely condescending and rude to students. He makes you feel stupid for asking any kind of questions. Avoid him if possible!!!
Know what you're doing in lab. If you have questions, go to the office hours, don't wait until you've already started the lab. The lab exam isn't difficult or surprising, just know your procedures VERY well. If you show interest and that you're prepared, he will go out of his way to help you/answer your q's and won't ever turn you away.
I don't even know where to begin describing this professor, he confused me so much during chem and I honestly didn't learn anything from him I just studied myself and taught myself this entire course.
Runaway
He ordered his TA to not give anyone A on their lab journals no matter what. He doesn't give guidelines, does not give proper feedback and does not have clear marking guidelines. I have filed a complain to dean of Chemistry. If he is still around by the time you are taking a class with him, runaway even if it means graduating later, don't take it.
He is quite rude in his email replies
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!! extremely unclear grading criteria and inaccessibility for help leaves for a very difficult lab.
Very friendly and helpful in the lab. I would take another course with him
Really confusing teaching, especially for an intro chemistry course.
Dr. Kreis did a decent job of explaining concepts, but almost decidedly left out important information at times just for the sake of making assignments a pain. He also wasn't clear about where equipment could be found in the lab, and would berate students for making mistakes. Overall, not super helpful and labs weren't a great experience.
Uwe Kreis is not your typical professor. If you know what you are doing in the lab and have done all the pre lab stuff youll be fine. He can be tough with students in order for you to learn quickly, and more importantly he is concerned for your safety more than anything. Pay attention to the pre lecture he gives and youll do great!
Honestly not good at explain concepts, or anything really. You're given very little direction for the labs, so read the textbook. I didn't open the textbook till the end of the term & boy did I regret it. Spectro sheets are marked very hard, and getting a good yield & pure product is crucial. Also expect a 40% avg for the theory exam.
Criminally poor at teaching. Does not facilitate the learning of his students, ridicules students for the questions they do ask, and blames students for their inability to understand his poor explanations. Absolutely horrendous prof, the worse I have ever had.
You know there's something wrong with the prof when nearly 50% of the class fails the first exam. Never take this class with him, it is a nightmare.
made me cry for yelling at me because i didnt know how to answer his question he poised
He's the worst professor at SFU and I would urge you all never to take a class with him. He is extremely rude and will scold you over little things rather than helping you out. He always has this fake smile on his face which becomes irritating during the course of semester. I have never such an unhelpful professor. Avoid him at all costs.
Its not because its an organic chemistry course. That has nothing to do with him being super unnecessarily rude and harsh on students. At times hes very aggressive but yes, he is helpful when you ask REALLY nicely. It wasnt the best experience but at least it wasnt the worst.
He was my lab instructor, so I can't mention anything about his lectures or exams. However, he is not respectful, helpful in ANY WAY. He puts so much pressure on students, be ready to get anxiety while asking a question. He screamed a lot, publicly humiliated students for improper techniques. Wish you luck if you're taking a class with him.
Only willing to help if you understand 99% of material and are only confused over a small detail. Ask for help with key concepts and you will be met with a rude and condescending attitude. The TAs are more helpful than him.
Dr. Kreis is only "helpful" if you know what you are doing already. He is pretty harsh when students ask conceptual questions. He is obviously knowledgeable, but the way he comes across is very condescending towards students. Better to wait until he isn't teaching to take the course.
Honestly he is not the worst prof. He can be pretty harsh and aggressive if he finds out that students messed up something. So make sure you put efforts into the pre-labs, truly understand the procedures and know how to handle lab equipments and he'll leave you alone.
Very condescending and will go out of his way to make you feel bad about yourself, regardless of how prepared you are. Will humiliate students in front of class for small mistakes. Almost impossible to get an answer to any conceptual question you ask him, better off not asking because he will aggressive quiz you about the entire lab.
I think Dr. Kreis gets a lot of undeserved hate. He can be scary at times, especially when you don't know what you're doing. But he also shows a lot of care, this review was during the start of SFU's move to online classes and Dr. Kreis did a lot to accommodate students, he adjusted the format of exams, posters, and ensure fairness in marking.
CHEM286 is not as bad as this site makes it out to be. It is not a requirement for my major so I considered dropping it, but it was actually fun! As long as you weren't being stupid and knew what to do, Kreis left you alone. He was very accommodating when transitioning to an online format and was very accessible for help - replies fast to emails.
Office hours are very helpful however, have questions prepared because he's not just gonna sit with you and review the whole lab , he responds to emails very fast. In the lab itself the TA's were 95% of the time helping and we wouldn't really see Uwe ,however when we did and asked questions he was helpful. Come prepared. Watch out for NMR/IR.
Uwe is nice but can be very intense if mistakes get made. In all fairness, this is at least the second university chemistry lab you take at SFU, and honestly the mistakes that he gets mad/harsh about are mostly silly things that you should know not to do. Good lab technique and precise questions will go a long way in both lab and lecture with Uwe.
Dr. Kreis is an okay professor. However, you better know what you're doing in terms of technique and lab preparation. If not, I'm sending prayers to you. He can be very harsh to you when you don't remember how to do some techniques. If you have any doubts, I say look it up on youtube before coming to lab. Yield is very important!
I get we're in the middle of a pandemic but he did a flipped classroom model which was so difficult for us as students, and when asked for feedback he didn't really change much. His midterm was very difficult with a 47% average, he doesn't explain much and expects us to know how to solve complex problems when he has not even taught the bare min.
I'm a second year chemistry student with a 3.9 CGPA overall and I got 35% on the first midterm. It is THE hardest exam I've ever written plus he literally doesn't teach anything with the "flip classroom model". Not gonna take his online class ever ever ever again. Avoid at all cost.
Hes a nice guy who loves chem but he is not good at teaching. Exam averages always around 30-40% and yet he still doesnt take responsibility for it or change. He barely explains anything and expects us to have the same understanding as him on exams. A really bad experience overall, please dont put yourself through this.
Avoid taking classes with Dr. Kreis if you can. It was an online semester, and we were struggling with his exams. He teaches you only the basics, and the exams are extremely hard to finish. You will need loads of question to practice on. The average for the first was 35% which blew my mind. Please try to take this course with another professor.
I really thought things would go worse. I had to quarantine during the beginning of the semester and he was completely understanding. He's helping me get back on track with the work. Make sure you ask the right questions, and stay on good terms with him. You should be fine. Amazing prof who supports students that actually want to do well.
The material is really hard, but he did a decent job teaching it. He asked for a lot from us and I kept falling behind, but I still understood some concepts. The exams were unfair, especially compared to past exams, and it was very conceptual based and not straightforward. I do respect him as a Lab Professor and I think he excels more in that area.
Was very helpful in lab, answered any questions and give extra tips on lab setups/procedures, and was not too intimidating. Assignments in lab were very reasonable, but a few assignments given online were vague, difficult, and not well connected to lecture material at all. Overall good as a lab instructor.
Extremely rude, impatient, and unhelpful.
Very rude when asked "Wrong" or "Bad" questions- or basically any question at all. Claims that if a student has questions or is setting up labs wrong then they didn't prepare well enough.
Doesn't seem to understand that for a student to know something, the instructor must teach it. Can be quite rude in his in-person feedback, so try not to take it personally. Outside of class he is accessible, and he is helpful in the lab (just not in the kindest way). His online instructions and in-person instructions often contradict each other.
He is not a bad human being. He is nice and helpful sometimes but he can sometimes be a bit judgemental. But his labs are crazy hard as he doesnt give you enough preparation material and his nmr ir are crazy hard. I am not being dramatic either, his NMR IR are seriously extremely complex and he doesnt provide much practice
Quite open and encouraging to questions. In the lab he check with everyone to ensure our progress and safety(With big emphasis). Lab manual however has some grey areas and is not always clear or has last min changes. Theory exam was quite tough and practical exam was simple. He has quite a sense of humor and is quite passionate about chemistry.
Class was manageable, while he's not a terrible person he gets frustrated with students easily and raises his voice when he's unhappy with something in the lab. Random assignments given without notice and has little to do with information learnt in 286, prepare to remember from 283 and still be confused. Final exam was brutal, class average 40%
The most unhelpful lab professor Ive ever had. He is super unapproachable so it was hard for anyone to go up to him for anything. He blames his students for doing poorly on the theory exam which was too long to complete in the given time and was too difficult (we never learned that info). Pls listen to past reviews, avoid him if you can.
Comes around to ask if you have any questions, and if you do ask a question, he replies very condescendingly. IR and NMR's are extremely hard with no practice stuff given. pre-lab quiz questions also come out of nowhere, you're just given pre-lab teaching set to read which doesn't really help. This lab sure is a lot of work for a 2 credit course.
hardest 2 CREDIT class I've taken tbh. I did fine in 281 but this lab was just... awful. NMR's especially are so freaking hard. For one of them, even the TA said it was really hard and was graduate level. theory exam was very unfair with such a time crunch and not enough practice provided. I empathize with whoever takes it with him. good luck
286 is a 2 credit course but it felt like much more. Grading in it is mostly based on complex IR, NMR with very little room to improve. Dr Kreiss does regularly check up on his students during the lab which is appreciated but he often uses this time to be condescending to students. Avoid this prof at all costs
I haven't even finished 286 with him and I can already tell you that he is the worst prof at SFU. Super hard quizzes, and expects too much from students without teaching them anything, especially IR and NMR. Avoid him at all cost or you are going to have a terrible semester. I almost forgot to mention that he is extremely condescending
Dr. Kreis gets quite a bit of hate but he's actually really nice. Quizzes are really hard, but lab overall isn't that bad. I've only seen him get somewhat mad a couple times - that too at people who make really big mistakes on simple lab procedures. He comes 3-4 times each lab to ask if you have questions. I wouldn't say don't take 286 with him.
Dr. Kreis gets a bad rep. He is a caring person & genuinely wants to see students succeed. The ones who say he gets mad & is condescending are the ones who do not prepare for the lab or those who make unacceptable mistakes. Put in the work for your lab prep & follow instructions & you'll be fine. He is a nice guy who calls people out on their BS :)
Not sure why everyone hates him. His lab quizzes are extremely hard but you will do fine on the lab reports as long as you prepare. He gets upset or mad when you mess up the lab pretty bad. For example, if your electrical cord is touching the hotplate he will get mad... but that would completely be your fault.
Ignore the bad reviews they were extremely misleading. I would definitely take him again.
Dr.Kreis is an amazing prof he genuinely cares about students. Yes, pre-lab quizzes are hard and there's lots of IR + NMR but if you prep for the lab, you will be fine. Dr.Kreis does challenge you but it's so that you learn how to work through problems. Theoretical exam was really fair - as long as you understand why you do everything, you're fine.
Dr.Kreis is great - very nice and approachable, labs were chill but it's hard to get a good mark without proper prep. Lots of the reviews are misleading - rarely did anyone get in trouble - if they did it was because they likely messed up bad - which is on them. Theoretical exam was fair but long. Would definitely take Dr. Kreis again if I could.
i will never take this professor ever again, very intimidating and will scare you, hated this course every single lab, the lab itself was fine just not the prof but my ta was an angel tho
In all my time at SFU I have never met such an unhelpful and disrespectful instructor. Even a 1/5 rating is too generous.
He values the process of problem solving and allows his students to learn in a practical and realistic manner. Feedback can be interpreted as mean or constructive - and you make that choice; he's putting you in that position so you have the chance to figure out for yourself. He probes on questions to guide you to your own eureka moment.
As an intersession course, chem was very fast-paced. Chem 282 requires you to teach yourself most of the material. The exams were very long but doable. Youtube and a good textbook can easily get you a good grade. His lectures told you what reactions u need to know and a couple of examples. The real learning you have to do by yourself. Nice guy tho
282 is a heavy course and the exams were quite long, but if you prepare well they are not too difficult. Uwe is the nicest prof I've had at SFU and he was really open to helping students and feedback. Really kind guy who truly cares about his student's success, unlike a lot of profs.
Hands down one of the best profs at SFU. Take a class with him if you can.
This is the most disrespectful professor I've ever encountered. When you ask him questions, he becomes extremely impatient and responds with many questions of his own. He even publicly berates you in front of the whole class; I ended up in tears.
His prelab prep. is very unorganized, and he's not the most helpful in lab. He will never answer your question, instead he'll ask you questions and get you to figure it out. He's an odd professor and I would want to have him again. If you're taking 286, just hope you get a good TA.
Does not care about students. He'll do pop quizzes online on Canvas in class and if you're somebody who writes out their notes, or don't have an electronic device, wifi not working etc, he literally will not care. Would not recommend.
do not take 286 with this professor. as a student who puts effort into every class, study's hard, no matter what you do you will never be good enough for this class. his post and pre labs dont make sense at all. if you ask questions during the lab he will belittle you, at one point I had to stop responding because I was on the verge of tears AVOID
gave me so much anxiety for lab every week, literally everyone was AFRAID when he came around and asked if we needed help because we knew that just gave him a chance to humiliate you!! hard to approach and tbh just someone who should not be teaching
amazing prof - in fact one of the best at sfu. He is really nice and truly cares about the students' learning. Just don't do dumb (like VERY obviously wrong) stuff in the lab and he's great.
He will throw random pop quizzes and does not communicate when there are quizzes and assignments he just does them whenever he wants. Lectures are not recorded and when you go to lectures it is just him reading slides full of text and no explanation. If you have another option at a different campus switch courses for your own good.
oh my days.... how this man has left a few strands of hair on my head i feel like ripping my hair follicles out every time i see him. he is not approachable, exam was nothing compared to what he said and was 80% calculation based when he said i dont rlly go over calculations not to mention he hovers over you in lab in a creepy way.
His first time teaching this class and he treated us like 4th years, in a first year class. exam was nothing like what he's been teaching. if anything it was more of a chem 1222 and 281 exam. Dodge just wait to do your next class. He says he doesn't believe in calculation that gives us an exam based on calculation of organic structures we've never
I don't know where to begin, the lectures focused more on theory and a lot of ochem stuff and on the final there was a lot of calculations, so make sure you pay attention to calculations in class and diagrams as well. Didn't want to assign textbook chapter as he claimed it's too much work for him.
Avoid. Does not share whats going to be on exams, not even the amount of questions. Talks about random things mid lecture and changes curriculum mid semester. Prof focused on chem 122 topics and ochem topics. Does not help in labs at all pray you get a good ta. Yells at tutorials. Not a very nice prof at all
He can be a bit confusing sometimes but intersession with him is amazing! So many opportunities to boost your grade with exit ticket quizzes+assignments(replaced 1 midterm mark with these), group projects, and bonus points. We had one in-term test and it was mostly fair with a few challenge questions. Definitely recommend, scored an A(he scales).
a lot of information to learn in a very short period of time for the intersession format, but he cares a lot and is very knowledgable. final exam is extremely difficult and does not fully reflect what was learned in lecture and tutorials
I took his Organic Chemistry II course during the summer and I was very scared because of the ratings he has. Surprisingly, I really liked him as a professor. I feel like the course itself is very hard so if you are not good at Organic Chemistry. Tests were long, and you need to practice a lot.
it's lecture heavy and he seemed to get off topic or take a lot longer to explain a chapter causing us to get behind and felt like he rushed other chapters. The midterm was a bit hard but you need to completely understand the practice exams as they are very similar. He is always available after class and encourages you to come and ask for help.
Be prepared to struggle. Lectures focus on theory and ochem rather than the course material. Exams don't align with what's taught. Unstuck study and the textbook may be helpful for study prep.
His labs are extremely confusing and were constantly changing. If you ask any question he either doesn't answer it or is super condescending. In the pre and post lab assignments he asks questions that weren't covered in the lecture and its the same for the lab reports. He basically expects you to have the same level of knowledge as he does.
I struggle with a disability and he was very accommodating to me and clearly cared about my comfort. He's a nice prof and I think he comes off differently than what he intends. He definitely has VERY low tolerance, if you have a question your best off asking a TA. SPECTROSCOPY ASSIGNMENTS ARE HELL, watch the lectures he posts for them.
Chem286 is already very hard + prof is not helpful at all. No clear instruction other than lab manual + need to figure everything out urself. No clear answer given when u ask him question. Workload is insane during 4h lab giving me panic attack every lab. Each step has to be perfect so you have result for lab report otherwise be ready to fail
very difficult class, big time constraints, and be good at nmr and ir labelling
Don't take this class if you dont need to. the grading is VERY unreasonable, if you miss even one small thing here and there you will not do good. the TA's are worse than the prof, as they offer no help. make sure u can CLEARLY and ACCURATELY label an IR and HNMR. only good part about this class is that it's scaled.
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If you have the choice, do not take any course with this professor. He sent almost an entire lab home crying after the lab ended. He is unhelpful and offers no actual support during labs. All he does is walk around every hour or so and look for any little mistake you make so he can take marks away from you.
Sent me home crying that I had to withdraw. Not helpful, did not listen, and lacks teaching quality as he shouts.
So far in lab he's never treated anyone with any respect and only yells. He constantly switches up his instructions and expects us to be on top of it even if its the night before the lab. Doesn't take responsibility at all and just blames the students when everyone does bad. You should 100% avoid him if you want to keep your brain cells.
Worst Prof ever claims to not give us a lab manual due to lack of paper, wasting 4 hours a week for lab prep for no reason, on top of that just generally has a bad lab structure.
Rude and swearing at students, avoid at all costs
Absolutely horrendous. Lacks basic human decency. Students have enough going on outside of school, juggling stress and responsibilities. If he can't teach, the least they can do is show some basic respect.
Honestly needs to go back in time and learn basic respect from his mom
I wish I can rate this prof with a Zero. It's baffling how someone who is an adult does not know how to show respect to others. Yells and swears at students. He CANNOT teach. Needs to go back in time to get smacked by his mom so he can learn some human decency. I'm so sick of his patronizing attitude. Thank god there are only two labs left.
Rough lab. Not given a lab manual so you have to waste alot of time on prelab, TAs mark super hard, and if setup is even a tiny bit wrong boom 1 mark off. Doesnt realize most people have so many other courses to deal with.
Take the lab with anyone else. So much time wasted on writing down our own lab booklets, which are graded too, for a lab that is only worth 25%. Brutal marking aswell. Also due to shorter semester, instead of omitting one of the lab reports, makes you do two very lengthy lab reports on the same day. Take this with sommers if you can
Dont fall for the high reviews, trust the low ones...
Real pain. Brutal lab reports. Full of attitude.
Worst lab I've taken. The prof was disrespectful and made students feel dumb for asking questions, even when his instructions were unclear. We lost marks for not knowing how to use equipment we'd never used before with little to no guidance. Expectations were unrealistic and the environment was discouraging. Wait to take the lab with anyone else.
This prof was by far the worst prof I have ever taken in my 3 years at SFU. Very condescending when you have a question and gets very annoyed when you ask a question in the lab report that you are unsure of. Wanted to cuss that man out but he is our prof at the end of the day. Last lab went around shook every TA hand and just walked past the prof.
mean.... so mean. i dont think ive ever seen him smile
brutal lab jus dont take
avoid taking lab with him if possible. worst experience of my life
While he might seem a little strict and scary, he is very kind and accessible outside of class and is always willing to help you and make sure you understand. Chemistry is not my strongest and he always helped me out whenever I went to office hours and had the patience to answer all my questions. I highly recommend going to office hours when stuck
Uwe is kind & easy to reach outside class, but not a very clear communicator. Canvas site was really convoluted and confusing & he got snippy with us a few times for not knowing/asking what was going on. This class is a LOT of work week by week, but not necessarily hard if you can keep up + group work. Participate in class and he will reward you.
He seems nice and passionate about his subject, but the course was not enjoyable. The canvas was super messy and hard to navigate; most people didn't know what the projects were even about. Final grade is largely based on 3 group projects. 2-3 quizzes per reading every week were unnecessary and expected advanced comprehension. Very time-consuming.
Like J.K Simmons from Whiplash but worse
Not helpful in labs and has a condescending tone when u ask a question. All he did in lab was walk around tryna catch people cheating. Just avoid him in lab and ask the TA if u need help
Uwe's biggest failing as an instructor is his pretentious nature. He's condescending, caustic, and rude to students who demonstrate mild confusion or request for clarification on subject matter, and yet becomes defensive when other students present genuinely reasonable, yet different perspectives. He's simply abhorrent, classless, and distasteful.
This prof uses their backgroud in science to spread misinformation to students. I was absolutely appalled by the anti-vaccine lecture he gave us one day! He begs for students to participate, but does not try to meet us where we are at or inspire us. When we ask questions or try to discuss things, he often shuts us down or deflects.
The worst instructor I've ever had my whole time I've been at SFU Hope you're reading this Uwe.
major group projects that hardly correlated to class work. 3-4 quizzes a week multiple readings AND an online “project” worth 25%. super disorganized, seemed to take offence when the class was confused and I think just likes to hear himself speak. No assignment given in this class taught me anything it was simply regurgitating info for quizzes.
Scary guy, and the patience runs out real fast if you ask bad questions. Don't ask bad questions. The report sheets are tough, and the labs are sometimes too much. Will go around and make sure people know what they're doing. DO THE PRELABS!!!!!!!!!
So glad to be done with this lab.
You are gonna be doing a full course load of work just for 25% of the grade. Requires handwritten lab instructions because he doesn't bother to print them. Don't even bother asking him any questions since he will not give you any good answers, but would rather belittle you since he has a huge ego. AVOID AT ALL COSTS TO SAVE YOUR GRADES AND TIME.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
27%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
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-0.98 avg changeRatings by Course
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