I had a very difficult time in this class. Please keep in mind that I already took this course under another professor and dropped in halfway through. So it probably shouldn't have been as hard as it was.

I had a lot of problems with this course. The actual content itself was kind of...

Click here to read the entire review

I'm just debating between taking this course or Econ1BB3. I might stick with this then since it seems a lot more interesting .

Hi There,
With Dr. Basik this class is an easy 12. He is a great prof who is genuinely interested in this course and natural disasters and wants his students to be passionate about it as well. He is engaging and tries to get students involved by asking questions and letting them answer. Even if you say a wrong answer, he still encourages you and says something like "not exactly what I am looking for but good guess". I don't need to go to this but I do because he is a great prof and feel bad that not many do.

Grade Breakdown:
5 quizzes: 30%
Midterm :30%
Final: 40%

If you got below 20/30 on the midterm then he let you do an extra assignment that is worth 3% extra on your midterm. Super easy assignment that is 3-4 pages on 3 natural disasters in 2012-2013.

He genuinely nice guy and wants students to do well in his class by posting the notes online, making midterm and final exam study packages and giving extra assignments. He will also joke about how students finish the test within 4 or 5 minutes. It is a bird course but it is one of the best classes I have taken in my 3 years at mac.

I just took this course in the 2013 Winter term, and found the course to extremely easy. If you are looking for an easy elective, I highly recommend taking this course. The course breakdown is the same as the poster above me as said. And the midterms and exams are a joke, you can literally finish the midterm and exam in 10 mins each. Plus, you don't need to go to lecture at all to attain a good mark, I never went after the first week. However, make sure Basik is teaching the course if you plan on taking it.

I think i remember going once to his class and that was the midterm day
Other than that, there's absolutely no need to attend the regular lectures as his lecture notes are self-explanatory (I hear that his lectures were interesting though)
You can finish the midterm in less than 10 minutes unless you decide to troll
As for the final exam, it takes about 10-15 minutes to finish and I kid you not, 2 hours is all you need to study for the final exam

Getting below 12 is really difficult in this course at least was for this academic year

^the final was actually hard for me because i didnt memorize the quizzzes and only studied the review pdf. about 5 questions from the review pdf came on the final. about 55 were from online quizzes.

Originally Posted by Silver

^the final was actually hard for me because i didnt memorize the quizzzes and only studied the review pdf. about 5 questions from the review pdf came on the final. about 55 were from online quizzes.

I'd have to agree with Silver. Reading the package didn't prepare me very well for the final at all.

Dr.Basik is the man.

i think someone who has taken this course recently needs to write a review.....this is now considered a bird course (thats what everyone keeps telling me)

It's a course where people do good in overall. One thing i really like about the course is the prof, hes a really sweet and friendly person. He is a prof who truly cares about his students, so people shouldnt be saying bad things about him. He doesnt have to make the course this easy but he just cares a lot about his students and for them to achieve the best possible mark even if it puts his job at risk.

It says on the timetable that Bernier is teaching the course 2nd term ... would you guys still recommend taking it?

I took Water with Bernier last year and it was good, got an 11. I actually really liked it and now I'm going to be taking disasters with him 2nd term AND environmental issues with him 1st term.

Would you have a lot of trouble if you happen to miss the lectures? Not that I'm gonna purposely skip but I may have to go back home on Friday evening but I can only take this course 2nd term and this course got a core on Friday evening. wondering If it would be a problem to miss his class once in a while.

When I took it with Dr. Basik, it was fine not to show up for lecture. His notes were very complete and he basically told you what to study for regarding midterms/exams. Don't sweat it .

Has anyone taken this course with Dr. Bernier?

Originally Posted by Philipp31

Has anyone taken this course with Dr. Bernier?

nope. first time teaching for him iirc. i would expect many changes since with basik this wasnt even a legit course. easier than stuff i did in elementary school.