Kalin, Ruth  

I loved this class! Professor Kalin was really nice and made class fun. We did a lot of fun activities that let the whole class get to know each other. She knew everyone by name and made sure we had an environment we were comfortable speaking in. There wasn't too much work, just speeches and 2 tests. I would definitely recommend taking Kalin if you can.

Kalin is awesome! She understands that public speaking is a major fear of most kids, and that pretty much no one actually wants to do it. She makes the environment very comfortable, and constantly tries to boost everyone's confidence after every speaking activity. I thought of this class more of a way to help kids get over there fear of public speaking, rather than actually being graded on a college curriculum. Which makes sense, since it was a 101 class.

Kalin is so fantastic. I got Bs/B-s on must all my speeches and even did one on the make up day (Day of your final for a full grade deduction) and got away with an A-. Probably the funnest class I've had so far. The 2 midterms was common sense gleaned from the reading. Speeches are fine as long as you don't start them the night before... and some people who did ended up just fine.

This was my favorite class! She did a good job of making public speaking fun (FUN?? yeah, she makes it way less bad than you think it is). She's a really great teacher and her class is really fun to be in- it was the highlight of my whole schedule!

Kalin is a good teacher and tells you right from day one what she expects from you in her class. It's not too difficult to manage an A in her class, and if I just participated a little more I would have wound up with an A. She's extremely nice and she's fair in her grading.

LOVED THIS CLASS. I really suck at public speaking and I've always been so scared of it...but Kalin made it really comfortable for us to get up and speak. She grades very fairly (often recognizing that most of us are very afraid of public speaking) and she makes the class really enjoyable and relaxing! There are 3 big speeches...and the class isn't hard to ace as long as you get your participation credit! Best class ever!

I personally always liked public speaking, but never really learned the exact format of it or did it in a professional manner. However, after this class, I learned how to properly organize my speeches and make them look more impacting and professional. Professor Kalin understands all aspects of a student. Never criticizes anyone, and in fact always cheers them up if anything is done poorly. She is not an "easy" grader, but a decent grader who completely understands and recognizes that public speaking is not a favorable thing to many people. So even if you have flaws in your speech, it will not kill you. So if you never had public speaking experience and have stage fright, then you should definitely take her. She will change your thoughts on public speaking. Her activities are fun, and her workshops are always helpful. TAKE HER IF YOU CAN! P.S. You should try speaking for the intramural speech competition, she will definitely prepare you for it, and you will not regret such a great experience.

Professor Kalin was a really fun teacher. In her class there were 1000 points. Students give an anecdote speech, a process speech, an informative speech, a persuasive speech, and finally an impromptu speech. These speeches are worth 50, 100, 150, 200, and 75 points respectively. There are 4 quizzes in the class, but the last two were fun activities such as a group essay and debating against your friend on a given topic. There is no midterm and the final is the impromptu speech and you cannot get below a C- on the final. Participation points can be earned by volunteering in class or by bringing in outside speaking opportunities or news articles. Lastly, you have to attend those speaking opportunities and write analysis of them. These are referred to as labs in her class and they are really easy to complete. She tends to give full credit on all labs as long as it is written coherently and structured well. However, make sure you follow the two page requirement otherwise it is a 5 point grade deduction, even if it is 1/8 of a page short. Kalin was extremely helpful during office hours and she understands that public speaking is not a favorite among most students, but she tries her best to make this a fun class. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing to take her class.

Nice teacher but she has a particular way of grading things. Make sure you do as many particpation points as you can because she doesn't tell you how many you have until the end of the quarter. For the group essay, my partner and I wrote a pretty good essay-- but we did not realize she only cared about how many concepts we mentioned. Therefore, because we ONLY mentioned 24 concepts and the most was 74, we got a C... Thankfully I kept on top of everything else to keep my grade up.

Professor Kalin is amazing! She is funny and kind, she's sarcastic with her students, but not in a negative way. At the beginning of the quarter we kind of just chilled with classmates and did really fun activities. She requires 5 lab assignments (public speaker evaluations) and you have about 5 speeches, the longest is 6-8 minutes. Very do able. If you have the opportunity to take this class be sure to get her!

I was dreading taking public speaking, but this class ended up being my favorite last quarter. Professor Kalin is very understanding of these fears and creates a comfortable environment. She helps you get to know your classmates and teaches you skills for speech success. The best part was that she really never lectured. Every class was doing a fun activity that increased your speaking comfort. Most things weren't graded. You have to write five two page essays for this class but they aren't difficult at all. I spent less than an hour on each paper and got a perfect score on all of them. A little over half your grade is speeches and there is a participation component. You are guaranteed at least a C on the final if you show up. I got high Bs/low As on all my speeches, participated regularly, and got a solid A in this class. I would definitely take Kalin again and recommend her to anyone who wants to have fun in public speaking.

TLDR; Ludicrous participation system from a condescending nimrod who grades based on how much she likes you. Learning is tossed by the wayside in exchange for mindless tasks. Kalin, with her laugh and smile, will trick you into liking her in the first few weeks of class. She will woo you with an automatic 100% on the first anecdote speech, and give false hope with fun class activities, putting you in a suspended reality of hope and joy. However, the dark wizard works with deftness and secrecy, as she cranks the gears of her machine of sorrow. What I am talking about is her participation system, which requires students to get 100 points to achieve an A grade. Each action you do gets you 5 points, the actions being 1. present a current event to the class 2. be a timer on speech day 3. give a speech warmup 4. bring in a flyer for a speech. Kalin casually mentions this at the start of the quarter in a class that meets 20 times, and while the students are still under her spell of feigned friendliness nobody thinks much of it. It is only a few intrepid souls who slowly start to see her dark powers taking shape. Basically she didn't even introduce the current events until halfway through the quarter, and being selected as a timer or speech warm up comes down to drawing names out of a hat on the few days we actually had speeches. Where does that leave you? You better bring in a million fucking flyers. Most people in my class ended up with F's in participation that blindsided them and rendered all their hard work (there was a LOT of work in this class, the most of any of mine freshman year) null and void. She would also throw out arbitrarily low grades on lab write ups with no explanation. This year can be described as such: Kalin gazed down from her ivory tower of public speaking "knowledge" (made up terms for a made up science all to sell textbooks) at all us peasants, offering nothing but snarky comments to any inquiries for help. She thinks very highly of herself and does not have much of a concern for improving her class at all. I can picture her now looking at all of our grades and giving herself a pat on the back for "holding us to a high standard." Her system is the epitome of what is wrong with education, and imagining her being pleased with her teaching style honestly makes me sick. Don't let her fool you. The dark lord works in mysterious ways. Keep a critical mind and join the resistance. Remember remember the 5th of November.

This class is AWFUL!!! I spent more time in this class than all of my other classes combined, and it brought down my GPA! Do not take Professor Kalin! She seems nice at first, then she becomes condescending and rude, and picks her favorites! I am decent at public speaking and she tore my speeches apart. Also, she assigns 5 laboratory assignments that are a complete waste of time and require outside speeches to go to. If she is your only option for COMS 101, wait to take it a different quarter with a good professor! It's really not worth the stress and time!

Like most other classes here, you need to really follow the syllabus and know when things are due. As long as you stay on top of your work and assignments, then you should be fine. And yes, I did learn some techniques to help with my public speaking and I have to say it did help me. But by the end of the quarter, everyone was comfortable with each other and anxiety really went away. The speeches were fair when compared to other COMS101 professors although she is a little harsh on grading. Homework consists of textbook reading and writing speeches when necessary. I didn't like the type of work given, but it was reasonable.

Too much work for very little information. She uses a grading system heavily influenced by participation. I got an A on almost all my speeches. I got a C because I neglected two big lab papers because I simply didn't have the time and I screwed around a lot. But even some of the best students who worked hard got Bs instead of As in the class because of the shady participation system. Don't waste your time with Kalin because she'll make you work too hard and give condescending remarks to anyone who isn't a Coms major. She's also heavily feminist and liberal if that sort of thing bothers you.

As an engineering student, Professor Kalin's COMS 101 class was a blessing in disguise. My public speaking improved a lot thanks to her. Although it was my most work-heavy class, all the work I put in was made worthwhile because she made me a better speaker. Also make sure to start on your written papers before week 5 so you aren't pressed for time. Love Kalin's sarcasm.

Professor Ruth is one of those teachers that you will dread. She assigns about 50-75 pages of reading very often, and gives a ridiculous quiz on the readings, where it is just a few questions on all of this BS material and she either gives you full credit or no credit on free response questions with multiple parts. She assigns lab assignments where you have to go to 5 outside public speakers (no other teacher for COMS 101 does this, as far as I know), and you have to write on it. I did the most detailed write up, using everything perfectly, and I got a B- on this because of what??? paragraph structure. Content was not even regarded in my grade. This is consistent with the rest of her class, where everything great is given a harsh grade for no apparent reason. This class will waste your time. You waste a lot of time doing high-school like things, such as getting to know each other and all that, when professor Kalin should be actually teaching something (which she always fails to do). I had a very professional public speaking class in high school. We did not waste time like we do in Kalin's class and I learned so much more. This class is a joke. It is her way or the high way, she is very one-sided to things. I wish I got to enjoy my public speaking class like all my other freshman peers, but because of Professor Kalin, I will say I truly dread every second of that class because I put so much time in and get so little out of it. Avoid this teacher.

COMS 101 was my 2nd favorite class last quarter (after IME 144, but I'm an engineer), and Kalin was a great professor. Her demeanor is a bit intimidating at first, but don't let that discourage you. She knows that we're mostly engineers and some (like me) are terrified of public speaking so she does her best to make the class as painless as possible and does so rather quite well. She is a no-nonsense professor but is by no means strict; speeches are graded objectively and the lab assignments are by no means difficult. There is a lot of reading to do and there are quizzes over it, but the quizzes easy if you actually read and the reading are more of an ancillary aspect of the class anyway. Speeches are the main focus of the class and they are not as terrifying as you'd expect! Kalin takes advantage of the small class size to get everyone acquainted which does wonders for helping with speech anxiety. Know your material, fulfill the requirements, and practice regularly and they are an easy A. A big aspect of the class that I missed at the start but was (thankfully) able to catch up with is the participation. Bring in & summarize an article and volunteer for speech warm-ups/timing at every opportunity and you'll have yourself a nice free 100pt buffer. Also, the lab assignments. I put off doing them until the last week (and still missed two) because they seemed intimidating at first, but they're not that bad. 3 2-3pg reports and 2 self-critique speech practice videos and you've got another nice buffer. All in all, and excellent class taught by an excellent professor. Put in a little proper effort and an A is well within your reach and you might even have fun in the process!

AVOID THIS CLASS. YOU WILL DREAD GOING, AND THERE IS A TON OF OUTSIDE WORK. YOU CAN PUT IN MUCH EFFORT AND MAYBE COME OUT WITH A B.

This class didn't really help me with public speaking. Prof. Kalin doesn't lecture, but gives large reading assignments and very hard detailed quizzes. Overall I would NOT recommend her for Coms 101

She doesn't teach

Kalin is probably the best COMS professor at Poly, but this comes with some things you need to know. Her class consists of 100 participation points so always bring in articles, or post announcements because people always forget. Labs are one thing that a lot of students forget, and there really is not point to them just don't forget to do them. There are 5 quizzes through out the quarter, no midterm and no final. She is horrible at grades, posting them up takes forever so don't depend on her, calculate them yourself. Speeches are graded on whether or not you are prepared and you have a solid outline.

Professor Kalin is an extremely good professor, but she is at the same time an extremely harsh grader. Prepare to learn and prepare to work, cause this is not an easy class. Kalin is very good at presenting material, but the workload she gives can be overwhelming for some. She is a professor I definitely recommend, but only for those that are willing to work and learn. IF you want an easy A, do not take this class. AND MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR PARTICIPATION POINTS. If you exceed the 100 participation points limit, you'll be given extra credit for whatever that's left.

Professor Kalin was a great and knowledgable professor. I have never been good at public speaking, however, Kalin gave me the information and instructed us extremely well on how write and achieve a solid speech that made me feel much more comfortable with my speaking skills. I actually really enjoyed all her classes and looked forward to going (except when I had to deliver a speech, but that's just because they are kind of stressful). Kalin had a super easy going class, making all of the students actually pretty close by the end of the year. Definitely prepare to do a lot of outside classwork and preparation, but outside the speeches, the other work is not hard at all. Just don't procrastinate on your work (you have lots of time to complete it), and you will find the class very doable. I would definitely recommend Professor Kalin and would take her again if I had the chance!

Like many others, I was terrified of public speaking. Kalin recognized that and did her best to make a comfortable environment to speak in. Every class involved some fun activity to bring the class together, which was super helpful as a Freshman; I'm still good friends with lots of people from COMS. There are a handful of speeches which get more involved over the course of the quarter, weekly reading quizzes, 4 writing assignments due whenever, and in-class participation. Speech expectations were made clear, the reading was easy if dry and half of the quizzes were scrubbed anyway, the writing assignments are a piece of cake, and participation is a no-brainer if you print a bunch of articles at the beginning of the quarter. The only problem I had was that citations, which determine your grade on certain speeches, only count if she hears them. With a little more effort, this class would have been an easy A. Take Kalin and the only regret you can have is not putting in more effort.

At first, I was really scared to be taking COMS with Ruth because I had read the PolyRatings and saw how she was a scary professor. Now, that I've had her for 10 weeks she's not that bad. She's either a professor that you will love or hate (no in betweens). She's pretty clear with what she expects from us and is always organized in class. Before the first day with her, everything that was going to happen in the quarter was posted on PolyLearn. If you do your work for that class, you will get a B, and if you want an A, you do have to work your butt off for that A. She is also very helpful. I've gone to her office hours once in the entire quarter, and she was very helpful. In class, if you have a question, she is going to answer it clearly. Since I am more on the quieter side and keep to myself a lot in that class I usually stayed after class and was always really nice to me. Go for it, gie her a chance, she;s not a bad person or professor! :)

To be honest, Kalin made me cry multiple times toward the beginning of the quarter. There is a heavy workload compared to other coms 101 sections, but in the end I can see that it was worth it. If you are willing to work hard and put the time and effort into it, you can get an A. She is a tough grader-I got C's on my first few speeches and thought I would have a terrible grade in the class. But, she is an excellent Coms professor and I ended the quarter getting A's on speeches. There are many opportunities for extra credit in the class! Even though I was miserable to start the quarter, I ended with a good grade having learned a ton and became a better speaker, and have a lot of respect for Kalin.

She was a knowledgeable teacher, however the workload was unnecessarily heavy. Essays on top of speeches on top of other stuff was way too much for a GE class

Ruth Kalin was awesome. She's a very strong woman and teacher, and will not take any bullshit. That being said, her discussions in class were incredibly riveting, despite it only being a GE class. Yes, her work load many be hefty, and her quizzes might be difficult, but if you're willing to put in the work, and actually take something of value away from this course, I can't recommend her enough. You'll have to work for your grade, but she will both assist you and treat you with mutual respect.

Kalin is a beautiful and funny teacher. I loved her. Her class is actually somewhat difficult, but you will learn a ton and love going to class. TAKE KALIN.

Ruth Kalin is a really subpar teacher. She barely lectures, and relies mostly on the readings to teach you the information. She assigns a lot more work than other Coms teachers, and her class is not worth what you put in. She is a meticulous grader for no reason. She takes off points for trivial things that do not relate to your public speaking ability. She assigns 6 speeches throughout the quarter, as well as 3 essay assignments. She was rude and unhelpful during office hours when I asked for a little bit more personalized help on improving my speeches. She rarely actually teaches any type of lessons on speech-giving, and really makes the class a burden and a bore. its easy enough to get a B in her class, but she makes it quite miserable. I would not recommend Ruth Kalin to anyone. I've heard Frisco is pretty good.

Kalin! True talk right here, Kalin is tough. She is not someone to be messed with, but if you have a sense of humor and are willing to put in the work, you can come out learning alot. Personally, I would have never thought I would learn as much as I did in her class. Yes, do the readings. They are not to horrible if you do them in advance. For the midterms, they are group so make sure you pick smart people and not simply your peers. Pick people who are also willing to put in some work. If you put in the work and ask questions and participate, you can get an "a". I had to fight for my "A" because I learned how to put in some serious work with her class. Kalin is witty, kind, and understanding, if you enjoy learning I cannot recommend her enough!

I had Kalin for 101 and I honestly did not like her at all. She doesn't give As and is very picky about how speeches are and will grade you down quite a bit if you make even a very minor mistake. She doesn't really tell you much of what she wants either except for "it's all on the Poly Learn". Overall, she's manageable but you'll have to put a lot of work in for a GE to get an A. I'd avoid her if you can.

I really disliked Kalin for coms 101. She makes you put in so much work for a really basic GE. She is a pretty tough grader and this was easily my hardest class of the quarter for absolutely no reason. She was flat out rude to me in office hours and was the least accommodating/understanding professor I've ever had here at Cal Poly. I ended up getting an A but i honestly worked way too hard for it. More work than 95% of my major classes so far.

i was dreading this class, going into it, but she is actually an amazing teacher. she's put together, funny, and organized. the class is definitely a lot of work and it is intimidating at first because it's a ge class, but it's 100% doable. you actually do improve on your public speaking skills

Kalin was a pretty great coms professor. She made the class all about improving your public speaking skills, which was nice. We did reading from an online textbook and wrote mini-papers (3-5 pages) on it but we didn't have to take any multiple choice tests. We did 5 speeches throughout the quarter (anecdote, process, informative, persuasive, and impromptu). She was harsh on grading the first couple speeches but your grade goes up if she sees you consciously improving and making an effort to do better. Kalin is a pretty understanding professor and will try to clarify if you have questions. Go to outside speeches to rack up your participation points!! Overall really great class. I'd take Kalin again if I had the chance.

I recommend Professor Kalin for COMS 101. At first I thought she was kinda rude and condescending, however she is nicer than she seems. I would also recommend going to her office hours for help on your speech outlines because then it shows her you actually care about your grade. For the 5 writing assignments you don't have to read the text. One thing I will say was annoying was the participation points; DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! I waited until last minute so I was stressed trying to get the points going to speakers. I ended up getting an A- because of participation. Also, PRACTICE your speeches, you don't wanna be that person who reads off flashcards for 10 minutes. That being said TAKE HER!!

I took Kalin Fall Quarter, and I'm finally finding time to write this up. She really worked me hard, but the more I got to know her over the quarter, the more I saw how sincere and no-nonsense she was in helping me get better at speeches. She is a tough grader, but also understandable, and grades higher as the class improves over the quarter. She does assign a lot of extra work. Instead of quizzes, she requires five 4 page papers over the quarter, and we had 5 speeches over the quarter. I spent close to 15 hours preparing for each speech, so there's definitely a lot of work required if you want to do well. In order to acquire the maximum 200 participation points, I had to attend 8-10 outside speeches, and present around 10 news articles at the start of class. If you work hard to rack up participation points, it's definitely possible to get an A- in this class, even if you aren't good at public speaking. The majority ended up with B+ or A-, but it is hard to get an A. I hope I provided some info about her class and workload, and I would really recommend her, as she really pushed me hard to improve on my public speaking ability.

TL;DR: Read the negative reviews. They're accurate. It's as if Umbridge from Harry Potter taught a public speaking class. I took Kalin thinking she would be an average professor, but all I've felt so far is frustration. She's condescending and treats her students like children--for example, if you don't follow her outline requirements to the dot, you'll lose points. It's like 4th grade when if you wrote anything other than a 5 paragraph essay you'd have to do it over again. What really gets me about her is that, for a COMS professor, she's a pretty terrible communicator. She barely uses Polylearn and she isn't clear on what needs to be done outside of class. You'll often find yourself sitting down for class only to see your neighbor pulling out that thing she offhandedly told the class to print before class, and now you've lost participation points for the day. And speaking of her participation point system, you'll spend more time on it than all your speeches combined. No other COMS professor requires students to go to all these speaking events for points, but if you want that 20% of your grade you better stop working on classes relevant to your major because COMS is calling! It's honestly a terrible experience and while she grades fairly--if a bit harshly--her overall demeanor and excessive workload offset any benefits you may get from the class. Take another professor so you can save your GPA and your sanity.

You are lucky to have Kalin as a Coms professor! She promotes a very comfortable classroom environment which made even public speaking somewhat enjoyable. I dreaded this class going into it, but it ended up being one of my favorites. Don't procrastinate with her participation point system. If you take advantage of point opportunities and get full points, it can really help your grade. She gives you grades that you deserve on speeches. If you got an A, you definitely earned it. If I can get an A in coms, so can you. Great Professor, great class!

Kalin was a very understanding and fair professor. PARTICIPATION IS EVERYTHING. I got an A/B on all of my speeches, but got an F in participation even after bringing in current events every day and going to outside speech events and writing about them for extra credit. She makes the final impromptu speech very easy and if you have to take pubic speaking, Kalin is a good and easy GE.

Ok heres the rundown fellas. First of all, take this class. It's not hard. The grade breakdown: 20% participation, 20% essays (5 of them), 60% speeches (5 of them, not evenly weighted). The participation system is annoying, but doable. You need 200 points, and she is constantly giving out opportunities to earn participation. Bringing in an article of anything news related (once a class limit) gives 5 points, so if you bring one every class thats 100 points right there. Fill in the rest by volunteering for shit and printing out the stuff she will give you points for. Next, essays. These are annoying, because they are pretty much weekly until week 6ish. However, they are absurdly easy. I literally just talked about myself and how the reading relates to me and I got 100% on all of them (they are credit/no credit). The speeches are very stressful but she does a good job of easing that stress. However, she is very vocal about her political opinions and such. She is a flaming liberal and a big-time feminist, so treaed carefully. I made sure to avoid any topics that would disagree with her, and I suggest you do the same. I got no lower than an A- on all my speeches but most people around me were getting B- to B+ range. Overall, requires work every once in a while but COMS 101 will suck with any teacher so you might as well take an easy one like Kalin.

In terms of the course, her class is fine and well organized. You shouldnt have trouble getting a good grade on speeches. On the other hand, Professor Kalin is a bonafied b*tch. She constantly expresses her very liberal bias on almost every topic, and even shuts down the opinions of conservative students and anyone else who disagrees with her. On several occasions i had to stand up for myself and other students who simply wanted to give speehes on certain topics that she deemed "already solved" which is actually just code for "i disagree with you". She COMPLETELY FAILS at fostering a University-style environment where dicussion, free speech, and opposing views are fostered. If you are anything BUT a left-wing nut...then stay away from this lady

I hated this woman for a good portion of the year but grew to love her. She will grade your first couple of speeches harshly to seem like a badass/hard grader and to make you work harder, but gave out tons of As later on. You are required to (or should) get 200 participation points through volunteering in class and going to see speakers. GET THESE EARLY. DO IT. Go to as many speeches early on in the quarter as possible, because if you don’t, you will regret it. Good professor- definitely possible to get an A in her class.

Professor Kalin is an AMAZING professor! There are no tests in this class which is different from the other COMS classes. There are writing assignments due every week or so. They are really easy. Just do the reading and you will be fine. She provides the PDF for the textbook which makes her even more amazing. There are 5 speeches which are an anecdote speech, a process speech, an informative speech, a persuasive speech, and an impromptu speech. The impromptu speech is the final, but don't worry about it because she passes everyone on the final. You can't fail the final because she gives an A, B, or C on it. You have to do an outline for all of them except the anecdote and impromptu speech. She explains the outline really well and shows you how it should be done before you have to do each speech. After I completed my outline, I would go to her office hours for her to check it. You should definitely do this because if you get 100% on your outline, you will get a B- or above on your grade for that speech. I worried a lot about the first speech which is the anecdote speech because I get stage fright in front of my peers. After doing it, I realized that you don't need to be worried at all. The anecdote speech consists of you just telling a story about yourself for about 1-2 minutes. The best part about this speech is that you get to do it SITTING DOWN!! The whole class sits in a circle and pretty much just talks about an interesting event that happened to them. There is another part of the class which I liked very much. It's game time. You get to know the people in your class more and it made me more comfortable to talk in front of my classmates. Lastly, she gives you plenty of opportunities to bump up your grade with "extra credit." For example, you could be the timer for the speeches or when it is time to practice for one of the speeches, you are one of the people that do so. For participation, GO TO SPEECHES early in the quarter. DO NOT wait until last minute. You will not be happy at the end. Overall, this class is amazing and was definitely one of my favorite classes of the quarter!

LOVED KALIN. I've heard COMS was extremely hard and difficult to get an A in the class but Kalin is extremely fair in her grading plus does amazing to actually teach you how to speak well. A lot of points come from easy 3 page (double spaced) papers where you just talk about what the textbook is teaching you, it's a credit/no credit type of deal too. Most speeches where you have a good outline, you will get ATLEAST a B- even if you mess up a lot during your speech AND you can get an A- if you get all your participation points in papers even if you get a B- on all the speeches. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you take her class if you get the chance!

Professor Kalin was an awesome COMS 101 professor. While she isn't the most approachable person, she is always willing to help if you have issues on your speech outlines and she grades extremely fairly. If you put in the time to practice your speeches a couple of times and sound like you know what you're talking about, you'll do well. Participation can be a little annoying since you do have to go see speeches outside of class, but find some interesting ones and it makes it a lot better. Overall, professor Kalin was a good professor and I highly recommend trying to get her for COMS 101.

Her expectations are really unclear until you get your speeches back. She tends to have you speak first, then lecture (if at all) after. It is a very chill class for sure, and I would be curious how she runs her other seminar-based classes. Maybe they'd be fun. Here, speech time is when it gets heavy with work. That said, if she is still doing the same format for the midterm exams, run. Write a letter with your group on how to publicly speak? It would be fine if she didn't grade us all with respect to each other (most accurate = most points, 2nd most accurate = lesser points, etc.). I ended with a B in this class and average grades in others (and on AP) because she didn't make it clear what she wanted in this one!

This class is easy to pass if 1) you ALWAYS follow her way of structuring an essay, 2) you practice your speeches, and 3) you generally improve somewhat between your first and last speech. The class is essentially 5 speeches and 5 major homework assignments. I personally didn't like her very much, but for a GE, she was a good professor to take.

Professor Kalin is THE best professor at Cal Poly. I was absolutely terrified of public speaking before taking her class!! Now I love it! She is kind of a tough grader at first but if you go to office hours and show her that you are putting in effort you will do good. The final is a speech!!! unlike some other coms classes that have to take a written final which must suck. I was very sad when this class ended because it was so much fun. TAKE HER CLASS SHE IS THE BESTT YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!!!!! BEST COMS CLASSSS!!!!

Kalin is awesome! I was so scared of public speaking before this class and by the end I felt very confident and not nearly as nervous as I was going in to it. As for the actual workload it was my easiest class of the quarter. For the first half of the quarter you have to read an online textbook and write essays about them. The essays are credit/no credit so all you have to do is briefly skim the text and write a summary about what you read and how you will apply it to your own speeches. There are 5 total speeches... the first one will be in the second class but it is credit or no credit so as long as you say something you will get the points, and the last one is impromptu (and depending on your grade you might not even have to do it). Participation is a big part of the class so make sure that you don't wait until the end and cram in those 200 points. I only had 70 points during week 8 and somehow managed to pull off getting up to that 200 mark but don't be like me... it's not worth the avoidable stress. If you are the type of person to do your work and actually prepare for your speeches it is an easy A. Written assignments and participation are practically free points so don't blow them off! Overall great class and great professor.

Kalin is extremely helpful and very open. I took WGS 301 with her to fulfill GE area D5, and was not sure what to expect. But the class ended up being great. It was very light on actual lecture and very heavy on seminar style class discussions, which she facilitated in a way that makes participating easy and comfortable. You need to participate in discussions and bring in articles, etc. if you want to do well, but it's pretty easy. Other than that, there are weekly reaction papers, which are very very easy and one larger 4-5 page paper (which is also easy). I was one of only a few guys in the class and I enjoyed it much more thoroughly than I ever could have expected. I highly recommend this class on its own merits and as an easy fulfillment of D5 and USCP.

I loved this class! The class really makes you think deeply and explore issues in society. It was my favorite class I have taken out of my 200+ units here at Cal Poly. Class discussions are not intimidating (coming from someone that doesn't like public speaking) and it is easy to get an A if you just do all of your reflection papers. Very interesting! I didn't want the quarter to end

If you want an easy D5.... take this class! You do a reading reaction paper each week which sounds annoying, but it's only two pages and if you write anything relevant you get full credit. There are no tests, and you choose what to do for the final. Other than that, all points come from participation (bringing in articles, watching videos, etc) and an interview paper you do with a female family member. Super easy class, easy A and you get a D5 out of the way!

TAKE THIS CLASS FOR THE GE!!! The first day I considered dropping because it seemed like a lot of work for a GE. You have to do the readings (which are really easy and short) as well as reflection papers but everyone got 100s on all of them. No tests, just projects that are easy and scarce

Kalin is amazing. Her classes are full of participation that get you involved in the subject you're learning about, as well as reflection papers that allow you to express your thoughts about the subjects. The papers are very simple, and everyone gets credit if they just follow her requests. The discussions are eye-opening and allow a broad range of perspectives on matters. You have to go in to her classes with an open mind. If you don't, she and everyone in the class will rub you the wrong way. If you do, her classes will be some of the best you've ever taken at Poly.

There was a three page essay due every monday which was kind of tedious but even though there was a ton of busy work the in class discussions were amazing. You learned so much being in this class. She also had us do an activist experience which was us splitting up doing projects that we all felt passionate about and actually doing something. That was pretty great instead of just learning about the terrible things happening in the world we were able to make a difference. Another huge chunk of your grade is participation but its out of class. She gives you a list of events that are usually worth about 5-10 each and you have to have 100 by the end of the quarter. She does have a few events worth 25 each and so I would pounce on that. Overall this class was amazing and Kalin is a no BS professor but she is still awesome and take her if you can!

Professor Kalin is a very nice lady but she doesn't make her instructions clear which is extremely frustrating. She leaves a lot "open for interpretation" and allows for "creative expressions." Since this was a discussion class, that was helpful. However, it's not fair to give open-ended instruction and then grade harshly. If you don't provide semi-clear instructions, how are we supposed to know what to do? She also leaves you hanging the entire quarter without knowing your grade. The weekly readings papers she passes back might give you an idea of what you have in the class but make sure to do as many outside of class participation assignments as possible. (They're fairly easy.) She's awful at facilitating discussion groups so if you want to say something, you better speak up over your classmates or else you're going to sit there for an hour listening to an academic discussion turn into a personal venting/therapy session for some of your peers. I learned a lot in this class. It's a great subject and very enlightening but there are definitely some kinks (no pun intended) Kalin needs to work out for this class to allow it to reach its full potential.

Professor Kalin rocks! This class is offered as a seminar, not a lecture. This means that every class consists of intellectually stimulating discussions. Kalin probably spent 15 minutes the entire quarter lecturing. It is an extremely interesting class that opens your mind to gender and sexuality issues in our society. Our class had about a 1:5 male to female ratio, which made discussions interesting. You do write one 2-3 page paper a week, but these are on reading that's very doable and fascinating. We also watched Brokeback Mountain in class. Take this class if you can!

Professor Kalin is awesome. I took her to WGS 340 (Sexuality Studies) and it's been one of the most rewarding classes I've taken so far at Cal Poly. It's a seminar class, not a lecture, so if you're not one to speak up in class, this isn't the one for you. Everyday we got into a giant circle and discussed many topics ranging from our sex lives, LGBT movement, to feminism, fetishes, and rape. If you're uncomfortable discussing "provocative"/"risque" topics, again--not for you. She encourages you to step outside of your comfort zone and for open-minded people, I think you'll learn a lot not only about sexuality, but your peers at Cal Poly as well.<br><br>Kalin herself is sarcastic and witty, and though this class is rooted in feminism, she is not a "feminazi" or incredibly radical. Her grading on the midterms is a little particular, but she throws out participation and EC opportunities like candy and the 2 "Sexuality in the News" presentations you have to do can literally be done 5 min before class (it's just printing out a relevant news topic and presenting it)

I took this class based on the ratings other students had left her. To make a long story short, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Take it with another teacher. Her rubric is very unclear with what she expects for students to do and her participation points are nearly impossible to hit. The topics we talk about in class are interesting but the work she expects us to put in is ridiculous. This is by far the most work I have had this quarter and it is not even aligned with my major. The teacher is unorganized and fails to communicate how students are doing in the class.

I am currently taking this class and I must say I really enjoy it. However, according to the Professors rubric, I should have a decent grade in participation. I've gone to 7 outside events, I always participate in class and have turned in several articles. Any chance I have, I do whatever she throws out for participation and despite this I have less than 100 points in participation and we need to reach 200! This is just ridiculous. I am taking 16 units and work part time 20 hours a week 8-5. Therefore going to outside events is a struggle since most of them take place during my classes or when I'm at work. Also, she consistently changed the amount of points she offers. She will offer 10-15 points for an event and then claim she will only give you 5 points because the outside event is only 1 hour even though she had offered 10 for it at first. This class is just incredibly frustrating.

Kalin is fantastic and so was the class. Really opens your eyes to so many issue that are important to consider that you most likely never have before. However I have to say that the workload for this class was ridiculous. I found myself spending more time on this class than any of my major courses. It seems like she tweaks the class a bit each quarter so hopefully it won't be so bad the next time around but yeah, insane workload for a GE.

This class is seriously awesome. It helps you understand so much about yourself and others. There is weekly readings and a 2 page paper you write once a week. There are 2 exams and they're group exams. She does make you do outside work that you have to put a little effort into but this class is definitely not difficult and an absolute pleasure

Good class to take if you like discussion groups. Kalin is a good mediator for large-group discussions (which dominate the whole course) and you really feel you can express your opinions because the class turns into a safe place. Kalin grades the exams a little oddly -- she takes the group (you take exams in groups) she believes did the best and evaluates everyone else accordingly. But, overall it's a good elective course if you need some units and it is not a demanding workload.

I am a senior and this is the worst professor I have had at Cal Poly. There should be a disclosure in the course description that in order to get an A in participation you have to go to 10+ out of class events. (Impossible for students working and going to school full time). Additionally, tests (Midterm and Final) are all free response/essay and taken in a group format (So it is not as though you can debate MC questions. If someone doesn't want to write their share/put in effort you are screwed because her tests are structured to where "If everyone isn't writing at one time you won't finish"-her words). Additionally, tests aren't graded for correctness but rather all tests are graded against each other- so other groups are rivals rather than peers. Also, unless you are EXTREMELY liberal... if you even SLIGHTLY/maybe disagree with some small nuances of things/policies/ideas... DO NOT take this class. Its a discussion class so if your opinion doesn't fall into the majority norm you are torn to shreds and the professor watches. She doesn't really guide discussions either. Not one lecture and no textbook so preparing for tests was hard.

Professor Kalin is an amazing teacher for this course. You're able to discuss taboo topics and she promotes us to question each other to help strengthen our opinion and also learn more about the topic. I strongly recommend taking this class you won't regret it! It has taught me a lot and I have really enjoyed it as well. The class is graded on weekly papers (as long as you get all the required parts in them you will get full credit), two exams both taken in groups and outside participation that you write a paragraph about, and an analysis paper. Participation is not too hard to get just make sure you do as much as possible at the beginning of the quarter. Overall this class is awesome and extremely informative and fun.

This course had been one of my favorite classes I have taken at Cal Poly. Professor Kalin has structured the class in a way that allows students to freely express themselves through the reaction papers and in class discussions. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed this class, went to every class session, and completed all of the reading and that has to do with having Kalin as a professor. She never judges and allows everyone to speak their opinion which creates an open and safe environment for everyone in the class. I feel like I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. You will never be bored in this class! Don't be afraid of the work load it really isn't that bad and the reading is interesting which makes it easy to write about each week. Plus, if you do the papers correctly you always get full credit. My advice...make sure you pick good group members in the beginning because you will be working with them on the midterm and final!

I enjoyed this class and Professor Kalin is a great person to talk to about WGS topics. There was a lot of reading (between 60-80 pages) that you had to write a weekly paper on. Once I got the hang of the paper it was pretty easy, especially after I realized that she graded them SUPER easy. However, she graded our midterm and final project way more harshly. The midterm was an in-class group essay that you did with your group that you pick in the beginning of the quarter - so choose wisely! These people will also be your small discussion group members in class, so pick people you enjoy talking to. My group ended up being my favorite part about the class so I could see how not liking your group would make the class less enjoyable. In-class participation is also really important. Try to speak up at least once in every large group discussion and do not be afraid to voice an unpopular idea (she specifically looks for both when grading your participation). The class was a little bit more work than I would have liked for a GE, but I learned so much valuable information about lots of social issues that I believe are extremely important for our society.

TAKE THIS CLASS!!! Dr. Kalin was the chillest prof I have ever had and this is the breakdown of why you should take this class: - You get 2 free absences - Your only homework is a super easy opinion based weekly paper on readings (2 page double spaced) - I had classmates who didn't even do the readings and got 100%s on every paper - NO MIDTERM, NO FINAL (except a little creative art presentation) - All you do in class is discuss with your classmates what you read about (topics like BDSM, Queer Media, Sex Toys, etc) - I spent probably a total of 2 hours a week on this class, and its always fun stuff so it doesn't feel like homework. WORTH IT and the only people who didn't get an A were people who didn't do the papers because they just wanted a C.

Kalin was an alright professor, she tends to like the students who are extremely open about their sexualities the most and graded them better. There were essays every week on a book you can pretty much skim, and she gives 100% (at least to me and my friend) every time and sometimes I never read over what I turned in. The final project was pretty bad because I was as creative as I could be and it was all about talking about your personal life, but she gave me a low B which was honestly insulting and really brought down my grade in the class. Overall you just have to be rude to her to get a good grade it seemed.

Fine teacher, but a little dry in the presentation. I wouldnt suggest having her at 8:00 in the morning, might be difficult staying awake.