Historical instructor

KEN FERRIER

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.48/5 from 23 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Ferrier was very passionate about the material, but lectures could be very boring some days. Weekly labs in discussion were easy, and TAs were helpful, but a poor grade on one lab could ruin an otherwise good grade. He was a joy to talk to outside of class, and clearly a very caring person.
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ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor was passionate about topics discussed in class. Quizzes utilize textbook terms and vocabulary that was mentioned but not just the slides. TA's are great resources for labs, but only for that. Can be hard to balance for a new student.
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GEOSCI/GLE 350
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Took this class as an engineering elective (cross-listed as GLE350). One homework assignment a week and one group project at the end of the year with plenty of time to work on it. The lectures can be a little heavy, but Ken occasionally integrates some fun experiments to make it more engaging. He is very nice and accessible outside of class.
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ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Took this for my physical science credit. I liked Professor Ferrier a lot and really enjoyed his lecture, and my TA was amazing/gave helpful hints for lab. The quizzes are a sizable portion of your grade, though, and never seemed to be super related to what was emphasized in lecture/were very strangely worded. The video project was a blast, though!
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ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Good lecturer and I personally really enjoyed lectures, but weekly quizzes seemed to be only tangentially related and unnecessarily complicated. However, weekly "labs" - discussion sections- were mostly decent. Content was extremely interesting and a good intro to geoscience, and despite the frustrating quizzes, it's not a hard course overall.
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ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Good class to take to fulfill physical sci credit. Ken is super lovely and really cares about his work. Weekly quizzes are tough and don't always align with lecture material, labs aren't too bad and aren't graded super harshly. Optional exam at end of sem which is nice. Lectures can feel long but content is super interesting, his voice is golden.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with KEN FERRIER

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026GEOSCI 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2026GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2026GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2025ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2025GEOSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2025GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2025GEOSCI 376Topics in Geology
Spring 2025GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2025GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2024ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2024GEOSCI 701Quantitative Geomorphology
Fall 2024GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2024GEOSCI 100Introductory Geology: How the Earth Works
Spring 2024GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2024GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2024GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2023ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2023GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2023GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2023GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2022ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2022GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2022GEOSCI 701Quantitative Geomorphology
Fall 2022GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2022GEOG/GEOSCI 320Geomorphology
Spring 2022GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2022GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2021ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2021GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2020ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2020GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2020GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2020GEOSCI 701Quantitative Geomorphology
Spring 2020GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2020GEOSCI/GLE 350Introduction to Geophysics: the Dynamic Earth
Fall 2019ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2019GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2019ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Spring 2019GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2019GEOSCI 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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