Tseng, Marilyn  

BY FAR THE WORST TEACHER AT CALPOLY !!!!

Alright, lets be real this is a general education class not a core class. Of course personal health is important, but do I really need to understand her material to lead a better life? No. She obviously thinks this class is important and the worst part about it is that she can't even teach. A GE is not supposed to be an easy A, she doesn't care what grade you get in the class and that's fine because ultimately it is on you. But when the entire class has an average of a C on the exam of a general education class it is simply unacceptable. This is an underfunded department and the teaching of this class obviously shows why. Don't take this class, your better off getting the GE fulfilled at a community college.

I would not recommend Tseng to anyone. Although she was a sweet woman, she did not know her class material as well as she should have. She was corrected by the class on multiple occasions and had somewhat random assignments. Her midterm and final questions came from common sense but lectures were often boring and difficult to sit through, she tries to make them more engaging and enjoyable but seems to somewhat miss the mark.

Seems like Prof. Tseng is a new professor at Cal Poly because she did not have ratings before I took her class. She was a very sweet professor! The class had one midterm and a final (both scantron). A lot of your points were based off group projects and you had to read one novel. Her lectures were indeed common sense...but the material was very interesting to me. Almost everyday, you had to watch a video. If you have a good group, the group work is really BS-able sometimes. If you do your work and take good notes, this class can be ridiculously easy. The midterms and final were somewhat difficult. Even if the material is common sense, the questions can be really specific...and sometimes you have to know your numbers. Overall, I enjoyed this class. If you need a D4 class, KINE255 with Tseng isn't a bad idea. Good class to have if you have a heavy workload.

Tseng is an alright teacher. Unfortunately, the content of what she teaches can be often perceived as unappealing, and I feel bad that she often faces a room of tired (this class was at 9am), uninterested students. However the course was pretty simple. 3 exams total, none are too hard. The rest of your grade really depends on how much work you put in (read one book, had a couple of class discussions). She's a really nice lady and I suggest it to anyone who has a large workload and needs to fulfill their D4.

Not a very good teacher, many times the facts she presented were not actual facts. She is very quite and is very hard to understand at times. Most of all, this is NOT a Kinesiology class. We spent most of our time discussing racism, nothing about Kinesiology like I thought we would be. Her tests are very subjective and it is hard to figure out the right answer because of this. Her class is very boring and I skipped more classes than I attended. I would highly recommend not taking this class. The only plus side to this class is she gives you the opportunity to get 5% extra credit, which can REALLY help your grade.

SHE IS THE NICEST, SWEETEST PROFESSOR ON THE PLANET. She comes to lectures with a smile on her face and she never seems mad. Other than that...The stuff she teaches isn't KINE related. Nevertheless, it is interesting. Readings aren't bad and it was overall an entertaining class...You should take this class for a GPA booster. Her "what you should know" study guide wasn't very helpful

She is a really nice lady. The class was not one of my favorites this quarter simply because it was late at night and I didnt find the course material particularly interesting. However, she is a lovely person and her lectures were well put together and she put a considerable effort into making the class good. Grade is off 2 midterms and a non cumulative final, 40 mc questions each. We also had small group discussions worth points and participation points you can get from attending seminars she holds or finding newspaper articles or online discussions. She's really nice, but dont expect this to be one of your favorite classes

Easy A GE. I'll start by mostly confirming the other reviews. The class was very boring, but extremely easy. She's a quiet lady, but so nice and really just wishes that the huge lecture hall full of half asleep (8-10pm class) would just pay attention and hopes we take something away from it. Sure she didn't do the greatest job of keeping your attention and organizing the information, but the class is so easy it doesn't really matter. Here is how to succeed in this class- 3 EXAMS: all equal weight multiple choice(non-cumulative). She posts all powerpoints online along with a word document of "what to know" that is literally every topic that could come up on the test. Just find the details of whats listed in there on the ppt and memorize that. It can get a little confusing with some of the graphs, but about 2-3hrs of study each and you should get an A/B depending on your study skills. IN CLASS DISCUSSION: She forms you into groups and randomly near the end of 6 of the classes she has you get together and answer 2/3 questions as a group and turn it in. Very very easy points, just show up to every class because these are not announced prior to the class period, basically an attendance grade. PARTICIPATION: This is an important one that is very easy to slack off on and wait till the end. She offers participation for several different things that add up to 10% of your grade with a potential of 5% extra credit. Comment in the online forum, its only .5% each but so damn easy and the discussions close if you wait until the topic is no longer relevant. You can get most of your points if you keep up on this. She offers seminars that are worth 5%, but only 60 kids total get to participate in these since they're a 15 student at a time discussion so don't count on getting in one since its a lottery selection. The last option is what most people used, the 2% each news articles. Super easy, take about 30mins max each, just google some of the class subjects and write a half page relating it to you or the class, its no problem. Overall very easy class. Needless to say I went to every class high except the 3 exams and got an A, just give it SOME effort and follow these tips and you should be fine. Hope I helped.

She is the best!!! Lectures and notes are very simple. Class is not mandatory (she doesn't take attendance) except for discussions that count towards your grade. This class was interesting, fun, and easy. Also, she is so incredibly nice. Absolutely loved her. One time she brought her kids to class and they were so cute.

THIS CLASS IS NOT AN EASY A!!! In my opinion, an easy a is a class where you sail by doing just the minimum...not studying for ever just for a freaking GE. i am retaking the class (with a different teacher) because the tests were actually hard because she doesnt really teach much and because you can't understand anything she says in class. i would suggest not taking it.

A super nice lady with interesting course material. You have to put a little time in but all things considered it's real real easy. Nice GPA Booster

Ehh, she's not great but she isn't horrible. She leads some pretty interesting discussions. The class kind of drags on if you don't pay attention and I would strongly suggest NEVER sitting in the back if you have a short attention span. I'd recommend this class, it was very interesting. She grades pretty easy since it's a 180+ person class. Just sign up for seminars and write the article evals very nicely, she marked me down for those.

This class is the easiest class that i had this Quarter, but Tseng did not present the material in a non bias way. A lot of the information she taught does not have facts behind it, and on multiple occasions i found many studies that contradicted what she taught us. She does not look at all sides of the matter, does not curve tests, is to quiet to hear in lecture, tries to have a discussion based class with 150+ kids, and never returned any work that she collected. We never knew how to improve upon the 60% that she constantly handed out.

This was probably one of the least interesting and worst set up classes I have ever taken to cal poly. The whole dynamic of the class room never worked. First, see has the most quiet voice out of any teacher i have ever had and she tries to teach in a lecture hall of 200 students with out a microphone. The class doesn't have a text book, but it does have two very slow novels that really aren't worth reading because she barley tests you on them. She also tried to set up the class into a majority a small group discussions that were based on homework from the night before. She grades these very tough and seem to be looking for very specific answers when a lot of this class is opinion based or comes from your own background. Honestly, this class isn't hard if you can bare to show up to it, I would recommend a different KINE class to fulfill your GE requirement or at the very least an intriguing teacher.

Professor Tseng is a VERY subjective grader. For write ups and class discussions you have to tell her exactly what she wants to hear and be extremely "deep and thoughtful" in order to get a decent grade on it. The only reason I got an A in this class is because I studied my ass off for the midterms and my group was good at the group discussions. But honestly if you have to take it its not that bad. She offers extra credit and office hours so take advantage of that.

A little bit awkward, and she talks very quietly... but other than that she presented a lot of interesting material. Stay up to date on all the assignments and you'll do okay. But her tests seem a little up to interpretation and go into unnecessary detail. Attend class because she has random days where she does group work for points. Also do the extra credit even when you think you're doing fine in the class.

Professor Tseng didn't seem to know how to handle a large lecture class, she talked very quietly and was very hard to understand. Her course seemed to be biased towards those who are more "culturally experienced" in the class, and gave lower grades to those who weren't. She was a tough grader on things that should have been graded for completion/attendance. Her tests covered tricky, unimportant material (such as names of chapter titles), and office hours were not helpful in preparing for tests.

Professor Tseng is a sweet lady but in a sense this sweetness is a little bit deceiving. I expected to be much more prepared for exams than I turned out to be. I was pretty bummed that regardless of how much I paid attention in class, I still got stumped by numerous oddly-worded questions. For whatever reason, a majority of the questions on the final exam were "all are correct EXCEPT" and I felt like that was quite unnecessary. The class is fairly interesting and I enjoyed the lectures and I especially liked how she brought in guest lecturers. I recommend the class but remember it will not be an easy A. Other than that, Professor Tseng is a wonderful lady with a kind heart. P.S. if you take the class, don't pay attention too much to the answers your peers will give during class discussions, Professor Tseng will NEVER say an answer is wrong. Oh, and make sure you pay attention to the slides! She doesn't post them online!

She provides a detailed study guide, but will not point out the information that is extremely relevant. she is very nonchalant and when the midterm comes around she puts questions about specific examples from an article you read at the beginning of the year(which no on remembers) and she also throws in random questions that have to do with the smallest details that are not relevant.

This is a reverse racism, leftist class with the WORST teacher at Cal Poly. If you are white get ready to get guilt tripped. The test are mostly opinionated question but if you don't answer in Marilyn's words your opinion is wrong. It is a huge lecture class that no one ever goes to. Homework load is not that bad at all, well graded hw that is. She assigns readings for everyday but I have yet to meet anyone who has actually done it. Don't get me wrong she isn't a mean person or anything her class just sucks nuts and is not taught well. If you don't show up you're screwed and showing up is pretty damn hard. Bottom line, would not recommend at all.

I switched to this class from KINE 250 (i got blocked into 250), because who wants to learn that vegetables are good for you and fat is bad for you, and I am very glad I did. Dr. Tseng is the sweetest professor ever. She seems like the type of person that couldn't hurt a fly even if it was on her food. She is a bit quiet in lecture but as long as you pay attention you will get everything. Her homework is easy and there is maybe only one homework assignment per month. She also has reading assignments for each class which are generally really easy. A few of them were only like 2 pages long. The material is also really interesting. It is based on health disparities primarily in the US and what creates them. Although it is stretching the definition of kinesiology a bit it is honestly way more interesting then just learning what is healthy for you and what is not. Dr. Tseng is also impressively good at memorizing names so make sure you talk in class because she will remember you. Any way Tseng is really nice and and here class is interesting and mellow.

I loved this class. It's really informative, and really makes you think about the different disparities that exist in the US between different groups of people. Professor Tseng is the sweetest lady ever too. She really makes an effort to show you different material that can impact your understanding in the class, whether it's a movie or a reading. Just make sure you stay on top of the readings and do the study guides, because the tests have multiple choice questions and short answer questions that relate back to the study guides. You have 4 homework assignments throughout the quarter, 2 one-page essays (one of which is based on a service learning project), and 2 exams. I'd recommend this professor to anyone looking to take this class!

Eh. That's really a good word to summarize this class. It wasn't great, it wasn't awful, just eh. I am not a Kines major, but I was blocked into this class. It is a large, 300 person lecture and Tseng really does try to be engaging. The material was interesting, though heavily centered on racism and not so much kinesiology. I felt she struggled to keep her students engaged, and most did not show up. Tseng puts up a study guide each week (based on readings and lecture questions) and she goes through each question during class. Unfortunately, I felt that she failed to answer each question in class as in depth as she wanted the answers to be for the exam, thus resulting in a lot of very low test scores. Also, she never says an answer is wrong, so when taking notes you never really know how correct the answer really is. If you do take this class, I would recommend showing up every day and having the study guide open, and just watch on the slide show for when a study guide question is attempting to be answered. I showed up every day and just online shopped when we weren't really doing anything (which is often). It's not hard to watch out for the study guide questions, and most of the video transcripts can be found online which makes it easy to find the answers online. Try to go to office hours (she is good at remembering your name) and hardly anyone goes so she will be able to clarify the answers to the study guide. I did fine; I think she curved the class because a lot of people were struggling. Only 2, non cumulative midterms, and four reading assignments and two one page papers. If you have to take this class, it's not bad, I just wouldn't recommend it to be your first choice.

By far the worst Professor I've had at Cal Poly. She doesn't know her class material very well and pretty much just reads off her slides during lectures. And her tests are just random info that she just hashed together and called a test. On top of that, at least in KINE 255 (Health: A multicultural approach), the class has nothing to do with health. AND we have to put in 10 HOURS of either community service or cultural club attendance. WHAT THE HECK!? I'm already taking enough classes and your telling me I have to go to 10 extra hours worth of stuff for this class. Nope. DO NOT TAKE KINE 255. It seems fine at first but you will start finding out it is a waste of time and money.

"We are going to be watching a film today" - Marilyn Tseng every frickin day. If you want to spend most of class watching boring films and then taking what seems like 4 hours discussing it, take Tseng. We have probably spent more time watching videos than actually listening to her "teach". She knows her stuff but making us watch videos everyday is something I haven't done since elementary school. That being said, she provides weekly study guides and pulls questions from them and puts them on her 1 midterm and 1 noncumulative final. I just filled out the study guides the night before and got a 95 on the midterm so it is an easy A. There are 5 reading assignments given throughout the quarter and if you spend like 20-30 minutes on them, you should get 100%. All that I learned from this class was that we are all racist and race doesn't exist and apparently seeing a building named after a white heterosexual male is a micro-aggression. Easy A? Yes. Boring as hell? Yes. Is there a better USCP class? If there isn't, Cal Poly should just stop operations immediately.

Marilyn Tseng is the sweetest, most relaxing professor to have for lecture. She's wonderful during office hours, and is very good at raising questions that allow for good discussions in class. If you go to class and do the reading, you should be able to get an A. If you have the opportunity to take her for a GE, please do so.

Do not take Tseng for this gen ed, not worth it in any way. She doesn't even teach, Tseng literally plays videos for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT. and while that could sound like a chill class, IT'S NOT because you have to remember every god damn detail of each video or you will majorly f up the tests. And even if she did talk for some of the lecture, she has the quietest voice and you will guarantee fall asleep. Not to mention the actual material of the course is so boring and will literally never grab your interest. Not worth it, take another general ed...trust me.

Worst professor at Cal Poly. Tests have 0 to do with lecture. All exams have questions from left field. Don't listen in class because it has nothing to do with anything.

All she cares about in diversity and dislikes certain people based on what they cant change.

Awful, does not teach. Grades unfairly.

Waste of time. Class average of the test scores was a 75%, which is worth 60% of your grade. Horrible teacher with only intentions of lecturing on her OWN political/social issues. Would've dropped from the get go if I could go back in time.

I love this woman!! She is so sweet and very understanding with assignments. You need to read the assignments to do well on the midterm, but they are not long (~45 minutes) I found most of them quite interesting. There are reading checks each class which is kind of a bummer but they are pretty easy if you did the reading. I am a Public Health major, so I may have some bias with my interest in the course content but I thought the information was quite interesting. Even if you are not into health I think she is engaging enough for you to get some good information for your life. 10/10 would recommend.

She gives pretty much weekly quizzes on her weekly reading/video homework assignments. They're never super long and her quizzes are really straight forward. For her midterms she gives a study guide, and the midterms is exactly that. Her class is very straight forward and it's easy to get an A if you just show up and do the work. I'll admit it isn't the most fascinating class, but she's sweet and won't tell you if you say something stupid.

I did well in this class but only because I took great notes during lecture and went to office hours. Do. Not. Miss. Class. She does post skeletons of the notes but they will not help you if you weren't present for lecture. She's a very sweet human being and does care about your learning, you just have to get past her awkward shyness. If you show any interest in learning whatsoever, she will respond positively to that. This is a 200 level course but you do need to be very engaged to do well on her quizzes/exams. BEWARE GROUP PROJECTS. She takes your grade for group members into consideration but she still grades the project very critically. If you do not give quality work you will get a terrible score. She is very helpful during office hours.

Tseng is probably the most frustrating professor I’ve had during my time here. Her expectations are unrealistic, and no matter how hard you work it’s all to no avail. The group project is honestly a nightmare, and she will pick on you for the smallest things. Her check-in’s can boost your grade a bit, but make sure you study for the quizzes. They’re not very difficult if you make the time to understand the material. The quizzes are worth more than the final, so it’ll really make or break you. Her grading is pretty specific, and it’s really about whether you’re able to tell her what she wants to hear. She’s some help during office hours, but she’ll still dock you off on things you clarified with her. I worked really hard for the A- I got, but in retrospect, I can’t even say all the work I put in was worth it.