Helmbrecht, Brenda  

Brenda is a great teacher for freshman especially. She allows you to re-submit your essays as many times as needed, until you get the grade you want. Which is good considering that is mainly all your grade is based on. The 2-hour class can get very boring, but then again most do. She loves in class discussions and she also loves when you have an opinion about something. Although, she does have strong thoughts of her own and don't think she won't tell you what she thinks. Overall she is a fair grader. As long as you speak up in class you will be on her good side.

Most unhelpful person I have come across at Cal Poly. She has a snobby attitude and a terrible personality. I wouldn't recommend her.

Where do I start with Brenda Helmbrecht... She seems nice at first, but don't let her fake smile and false empathy fool you. She claims to do her best to "help" you, but when her help isn't actually helping she changes her attitude for the worse. Oh and her ego needs a reality check. When I went to her for help, she simply told me things I already knew and snapped at me when I questioned her any further. She just doesn't really listen to her students because she is already set in her own opinions. She leaves little room for diversity of ideas. If you kiss her ass and agree with everything she says... or in other words, if you worrhsip the ground she walks on, she should like you. If you don't, she will treat you like crap.

This was no doubt the worst class I took my first quarter of college. This professor has the largest ego, and it's very clear that she thinks she's the best teacher at Cal Poly(she isn't). Only two people in our 134 class had an A and the rest of us were struggling with our C's. For our second to last essay, I worked hard and put valiant effort in. I went to the writing and rhetoric center three different times after constantly revising my paper. I received a D on that paper, and when I confronted her about going to the writing and rhetoric center all she said was that they weren't in our class. She claimed that the center didn't know what she was requiring, but she was the one who recommended the resource. I don't think she should be recommending that resource, if she obviously does not believe it is effective. If you're not willing to kiss her ass then don't take this class. Honestly, I would HIGHLY recommend not taking this class with her unless you want to go to office hours everyday, and still barely pass with a C.

This class was a lot of work for a GE and Brenda is a hard grader, however she knows what she's talking about and you will walk out of this class as a better writer. There are 4 essays total and a final project and she does allow for resubmissions of essays (except the first one). I would recommend her if you really want to get better at writing but if you are looking for an easy A, look for a different professor.

I don't know if this website is even working anymore, or if people check this, but for those who come here still... For the love of god, don't take anything other than English classes with this professor. She's an English professor. Her English classes are probably better. Women's studies? Not so much. Sure we had some intelligent discussion and stuff, but the work involved is disproportionate to any other non-English class I have ever taken. Prepare to spend most of your time discussing format and writing style. In fact, maybe you can substitute this class for an English class, and get rid of the USCP. The prompt for this response says "you know, stuff you'd wish you'd known before signing up for the class." It's an English class in disguise. Run.

This class was definitely worth it. Although the Blackboard posts tend to pile up, they serve a purpose and contribute to the subject matter. The class incorporates everything relative to women's studies in a manner that is interactive and compelling. Sure, the workload — and reading — is considerable, but again, it's worth it. The professor is understanding of students' needs, and is very down to earth and easy to deal with. Take this class!

Dr. Helmbrecht is a friendly and competent instructor, who obviously loves the subjects she teaches. For winter quarter Engl 371, we studied the genre of documentaries which were all very interesting. She definitely opened our eyes to a new way of viewing and interpreting films (although i must admit i think i enjoyed watching films just to become more knowledgeable about the topic, rather than figuring out why the director shot that scene at a low angle, long-shot, tracking with cross-cuts...). Some of the techniques studied were interesting and will stay with me, but not to the extent during the course. Be warned though, this class is highly subjective (which was different for me, coming from a mostly objective engineering background). However, if you provide enough back-up information to support your claims, Brenda is very understanding and will give you credit. I would probably take Brenda again if the choice came up.

Expect college level work, she takes the class seriously. She will read every word of what you write, and not skim, if you slack she'll grade you appropriately. That being said, shes the best teacher I've had at Cal Poly, her dedication and hard work proved to really involve the students in the material and keep them up to date on assignments. If you're disorganized, she'll organize you... if you're lazy, she'll know.

I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!

Taking her right now for Women's Rhetoric. We had 4 papers, but small papers and only a midterm, NO FINAL. We do have a final project, but she allows for so much creativity in the final and in the papers, that it actually can be fun. So far I've gotten a 'B' on everything I've turned in and I think she grades fair. Just make sure to stay off your cellphone and when on your laptop, make sure you are on the class page or whatever because she checks sometimes!

I question this professor's ethics and fairness. I turned in my first four papers, all with varying degrees of quality, length, different subjects, etc., yet recieved EXACTLY the same score for all four. My next two papers had identical scores as well--all JUST BELOW below the required A- needed to become a TA. Although my grades were thus far below the required score, they weren't far off, yet towards the middle of the quarter--before the assignments that held the majority of points were even started, Helmbrecht informed me that I was not going to make a good enough grade to TA. Aparently she can see into the future. Do the math, then draw your own conclusions.

This was among the most challenging classes I've taken, but worth the struggle. Not only did I learn the content well, I learned my own abilities as a student which will carry over into the professional world. While overwhelming at times, this class does a great job of preparing one to teach through its emphasis on pedagogy and the time management skills it requires. By the end of the course I felt I had a good grasp on the different theorists and schools of thought.