Andrew MacMillan - University of Alberta

Professor: Andrew MacMillan
Department: Science
College: University of Alberta
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
He's actually a great prof! Just watch his lectures really carefully and slowly and you'll realize everything he says actually makes sense. Attending the live classes, I would be confused but once I re-watched them, it's fine. He's really accessible so if you have questions, ask.
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH430
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
So difficult to follow and so disorganized. It's so ridiculously frustrating listening to him ramble on about random topics in a random order. It's so clear that he doesn't prepare enough for his lectures, he literally gets surprised by what slide is next since his slides are in such a disjointed order. Terrible.
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH430
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
I suffered in his 330 to be very honest, but I do think that the smaller class size and classroom in 430 really helped. I can understand his material and he was also very helpful should you have a question. Do go to every class, since a lot of what he will test will be covered in class on white board, orally, but may not be on his notes.
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
He goes on lots of tangents and his notes don't give any background or very clear information. Lectures are a lot of him giving a long explanation of an image or study and then never emphasizing what the point or takeaway was of what he just said. It was very hard to figure out what we needed to know. I only passed because of covid and home final.
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Andrew Macmillan is a classic example of a scatterbrained prof. His notes and lectures are disorganized, and it can be difficult to tell what material he's going to test you on. I also found that when I asked him questions for clarification, his explanations left me even more confused. But he is genuinely interested in the topics he teaches.
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Slides are terribly disorganized, he rambles about stuff not in the notes and then expects you to remember what he said, will not give clear answers to questions. Avoid at all costs. Thank god our finals are cancelled because of this virus or I would have failed.
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH430
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
MacMillan teaches the ribozyme section and refuses to put any effort into his notes or lecture plans. His lectures are all over the place and he often misspeaks and does not correct himself. Comparing MacMillans lecture quality to the other excellent profs in this course (Dr. Mok / Dr. Shultz) is embarrassing. Worst prof I've had in my IMIN deg.
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: A-
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Dr. MacMillan was not as bad as the reviews made him seem however I can see why people disliked his teaching style (especially if you are taking the course because you HAVE to and not because you want to). A little bit scattered but if you listen you should do well in the course. Would recommend recording the notes and rewriting them your way.
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Previous commenters pretty much already described his horrible lecture style. For the exams, less focus is going to be on the translation and DNA technology part of the course, and more on splicing as well as spliceosome complexes. Memorize each stage of the spliceosome formation and all experiments regarding splicing and you will survive.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Here's the deal with Dr. Macmillan in a nutshell: RECORD THE LECTURES!! The info on the slides is sparse, which he's very up front about, so you need to stay on what he's saying LIKE GLUE. If you do, you'll be fine. DO NOT SKIP, OR YOU WILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO STUDY.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: A-
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
MacMillan was an amazing prof, great lecture style that gave you the background and research process behind all the material rather than just throwing information at you. If you listen in class and understand the logic behind the research, then learning the material is easy. Final exam was very straightforward, literally pay attention.
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Andrew splits his notes between a slideshow, a word document, and a set of messy marker drawings. There is a slew of unnecessary information, such as biographies of nobel prize winners. He relies on oral teaching amd testable content is unclear. Recording lectures is almost mandatory. His speech is stilted and deliberately confusing. He's useless.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Yes he goes off on tangents, gives details about different experiments that you are sometimes not really sure if relevant. But honestly this makes the class interesting and gives you an idea of how research is done at that level of a nobel prize worthy. Don't expect a set of slides to memorize off of n skip class, record lectures if english bad
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Nice guy, horrible prof. Instead of discussing concepts, goes into complex experiments of how they were discovered (of which you'll need to know, and good luck finding that in his notes). Tests on highly specific material that was barely touched on in class. Voice recordings are recommended. Avoid if you can.
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Dr. MacMillan's teaching is pure garbage. Man seems nice enough, but should not be a lecturer. Never have I sat through a lecture and not understood wtf is going on. His final was irrelevant to most of the lectures and he honed in on very specific topics, which he DID NOT detail that specifically in class. Avoid this man at all costs.
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
I see there has been visitors to this site as we attempt to find some solace while studying for our 330 final. Lectures were nonsense - I do not believe MacMillan read the syllabus or informed himself of the typical student. Usually with additional readings I have managed a class like this but this has been ridiculous. Worst prof of degree.
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
The first part of this course (taught by Dr. Milner) was awesome whereas the second part taught by Dr. MacMillan is totally awful. Pretty vague notes which are usually just some pictures. Almost no explanations/texts in notes. Sometimes his speaking is very fast and unclear. In-Class writings/drawings are also vague and are not posted online.
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH330
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
awful. Avoid at all costs. Never have I sat in a class and didn't understand a word the prof was saying.
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCHEM450
  • Grade Received: B+
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Definitely the worst prof I have so far. Extremely unorganized notes and did a poor job on explaining the notes. Exam covered materials not taught in class.
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: BIOCH430
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.5
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Not a great prof. Goes off on tangents and doesn't explain things at all. His notes are difficult to follow. I used Wikipedia to learn most of the material.
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