Mary Lee Berbee - University of British Columbia

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Mary Lee Berbee - University of British Columbia

Professor: Mary Lee Berbee

Department: Botany

College: University of British Columbia

Rating # 1

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: B+
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Mary killed me with the marking. She'd ask a question with like 9 parts and if you got even 1 part wrong you got 0, despite getting 8/9 answers right. I probably got 20-30% of my midterm grade taken off when I got the answers right. I submitted a regrade request and it just never got regraded... Also she's really sweet but her notes are god awful.

Rating # 2

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Berbee has a very straightforward layout of this course; however, due to the course being moved online abruptly by COVID-19, her lecture notes on their own are not helpful at all. If you tune into her lectures though, she explains the material very well and re-watching the lectures to study for the exams were more than enough for an A.

Rating # 3

Overview:

Course: BIOL323
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

This course is amazing. You get to DNA a mushroom you collected, to understand the life cycles and structures of the major fungi families. Mary and her TAs are very friendly and will answer any questions about fungi. But there isn't enough time in the lab to go through all the materials presented, but you learn the fungi lab techniques!

Rating # 4

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Mary's a wonderful proff, and a very entertaining and energized character to boot. She does a great job of getting students interested in the subject matter, and focusing on/highlighting important parts of the course. Her lectures are very engaging and interesting, but Powerpoint slides(posted online) are minimal so I wouldn't skip class.

Rating # 5

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Mary does a great job of explaining as much as she can to students. She wants to make sure everyone in class understands before she moves on. Her note taking style is weird but you get used to it!

Rating # 6

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Mary herself is a relatively good professor. However, this is a tough course. The average was 68 in my section, which is not bad, however all my other biology courses were in the mid 70's. Unless you really enjoy Fungi, it is very hard to study the material. The labs are uninteresting. I would take a different bio course if I could.

Rating # 7

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Mary is a good prof, just not my style. You need to be in lecture to take notes because her slides have nothing on them, which makes studying hard. The textbook is optional but heavily referenced (and used for 210, so might as well get it). Even if you aren't passionate about fungi, its still fun and helps prepare for 210

Rating # 8

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Only take Bio 209 if you like fungi, algae and bryophytes, really tough to study if your not into it, tests were tough, she is a tough grader too, doesn't post everything online so tough to recover if you miss alot of classes.

Rating # 9

Overview:

Course: BIOL323
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Truly enjoyed BIOL 323 with Mary. She's a good lecturer, but her enthusiasm is what makes the course worthwhile. She clearly puts a lot of effort into preparing the field trips and labs, and into aiding student learning. Also, what we were expected to know for the labs and lectures was very clear, making studying a lot easier.

Rating # 10

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Only take this class if you are interested in fungi, algaeseaweeds, and moss or think you will find it interesting. The exams are very fair if you are thoroughly prepared - which will be easy if you like the subject matter. Lectures are VERY well organized. She is super into what she does which makes lectures really enjoyable. Fav prof so far!

Rating # 11

Overview:

Course: 323
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great prof who is always willing to help! Her lectures are kind of slow paced so its not hard to catch up if you fall behind. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in lab! There's also a field trip which was very cool. This prof makes fungi fun and definitely made the course super interesting.

Rating # 12

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Berbee is very passionate and enthusiastic but her notes leave lots to be desired. It's sometimes unclear, what exactly we should be taking home from them. Still, she's a good communicator and clearly cares about her students.

Rating # 13

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Fun lectures, but impossible exams. When I got a question wrong on the midterm, I brought in a 2006 journal she had published in which she argues for MY answer. I was shocked when she still didnt give me credit, and had the nerve to criticize my lack of studying even though I had just proved that I had gone beyond the course reading req's.

Rating # 14

Overview:

Course: BIOL323
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This course is a lot of work. Mary is very quirky and makes lecture interesting, but her notes are not very clear and her exams are quite tough. In this course, she is an insanely hard marker. And she essentially does not allow re-marking. Little to no compassion for students who care about GPAs.

Rating # 15

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Berbee was really into the subject; I though I'd hate the class, but she made it quite interesting. You definitely need to attend class; she writes out all the notes but doesn't put them online. I found the midterm hard, asking about some things that I didn't even have notes on. Overall though, I really enjoyed her teaching.

Rating # 16

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Terrific prof. No interest in fungi/moss/algae before, but she really passed on her excitement!Exams are a tad tricky but they really emphasizes problem solving rather than memorization. Great notes as well, defs show up for lectures.

Rating # 17

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I really don't know what all these people are talking about who say her exams are hard - as long as you're interested in the material (which you probably will be, seeing as you can choose other courses to fulfill you organismal requirement), you'll do really well on her exams.

Rating # 18

Overview:

Course: BIOL209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

By far the worst science course I have so far taken. Mary is cold, distant, extremely vague and unhelpful. She is a scrooge when it comes to marks. I would strongly recommend anyone thinking of taking this course not to, unless you have a real passion for nonvascular plants i.e fungi. I got 81% in B200 midterm but 59% in B209! Cut-throat prof!

Rating # 19

Overview:

Course: BIOL323
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Awesome prof. I agree her exams can get little tricky but it really tests on full understanding of the course material :) Labs are interesting but microscope makes me dizzy. Projects on identifying fungi using DNA analysis was coolest of all. I would totally recommend other people to take it!!!

Rating # 20

Overview:

Course: BIO209
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 1.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Mary is great, her exams are really easy, and she keeps you interested, very very quirky. The class was entertaining its the lab that is hard

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