Magdalena Ugarte

Magdalena is a nice lady but her lectures are very long and dry. She makes attendance mandatory by having “pop up” assignments that honestly aren't worth that much and aren't that deep to begin with. Study the readings before the exam and you should be okay, although it really can be any reading she tests you on, even the ones she barely mentions.

if you focus on case studies, readings, and definitions, you will be okay, shes very kind and come to class because those ICAs will boost your grade! the midterm and exam are easy, focus on themes such as feminism, racialized planning, inclusive planning, and its easy marks, she doesnt assign homework but there are alot of readings (2-5)

Seems like a nice person, but an awful professor. Assigns 3 heavy readings per week and her lectures cover way too much content. Readings and lectures are both included in exams but she doesn't tell you what content or topics to focus on, so its nearly impossible to do well unless you can memorize 250 lecture slides and 15 readings, word-for-word.

While Magdalena seems like a sweet lady, her lectures are incredibly dull. She assigns more readings than humanely possible to complete in a week on top of other courses – not to mention the readings are also incredibly dull! Her exams require you to memorize all the lectures and readings because she gives no indication of what to expect.

First off this was the Windsor field trip, which in my opinion was the biggest waste of time in my entire life. The trip had really nothing to do with planning at all. We went to museums while other field trips went to actual planning departments in their cities. I learned absolutely nothing from her or this course in regards to planning

This was the Windsor field trip focused on Black Urbanism. Fairly even distribution between the pre-trip essay, the final poster presentation, and participation/attendance. Participation is a free 30/30 if you ask questions. The grading is very difficult, so the 90 will still be difficult to achieve. Field excursions are engaging and prof's polite.

had her last semester year two, and she was difficult. exams were hell, expected you to memorize all of the readings. class average was high 60's/low 70s for both midterm and final. if you put in a lot of work, your grade won't be TERRIBLE but this course was not easy whatsoever. at least she had slides though for her lectures...

She would give me 85% on my ICAs, but the feedback would say "Great job!". Why would you take almost 2% off my final grade if I did "great"? She thinks that she's preparing her students for the "real world", but is actually demotivating them. She didn't provide good instructions for the group Briefing Note assignment, so the class average was low.

Knowledgeable, but cutthroat grading. Don't go into this course expecting a 90. Ask for ideas/clarification on the case studies or the policy brief assignment if you don't understand something. Long exams, case study oriented. Bring a pencil/pen to class (yes, even during Week 1), her in-class assignments are done on printed sheets.

Professor Ugarte although clearly knowledgeable on the material of the course makes it difficult to succeed in her class. In-class assignments are easy marks however, mid-term and final exams were extremely difficult. The exams covered way too much material and made it virtually impossible for students to get fair grades.