Steele, Jodie  

Steele has very clear expectations of what she wants out of her students. She follows her syllabus well and grades fairly. As long as you show improvement in your speaking abilities, your grade will reflect that. Her tests and quizzes are based on both her lecture and the reading, so you actually have to do the reading for her class. Even though I don't really like public speaking, I liked Steele as a professor.

I was totally dreading this class. Public speaking terrifies me (or at least it used to). Dr. Steele was great! She knows her stuff, gave good advice, and genuinely cared about her students. I definitely improved my public speaking skills and while I'm still not the greatest, I feel much more comfortable getting up in front of a group of people to speak.

Steele made COMS really fun and I learned a lot. There were only two tests and they were pretty easy as long as you were in class and looked through the book. She's really clear about what she expects and how she grades.

Professor Steele is pretty great so far as COMS professors go. She gives a lot of speeches, but she's really just looking for improvement, not perfection. She also gives 7 pop-quizzes throughout the quarter. They're about 10 questions, multiple-choice. Honestly, just pay attention in lecture, skim the reading as soon as it's assigned, and use common sense--you'll get good scores. IMPORTANT: look for a PDF book. Just Google it. Should come up as one of the first few hits. Please don't spend $100+ on a COMS book of all things. This class is totally doable.

Take her class! I was really dreading this class at the beginning of the quarter, but as the quarter progressed I started like public speaking more and started to feel more comfortable speaking in front of an audience. Dr. Steele grades a little harshly but provides really good feedback that helps you improve on your speeches. The only thing that probably screwed me up from getting an A is the fact that I didn't study for the first midterm, but overall this class is doable.

Dr. Steele is a very kind and approachable professor. However, she grades a bit harshly on speeches which is interesting since she is not a very strong public speaker herself. Expect to speak in front of the class at least once a week either through activities or actual speeches. None of the speeches were longer than 6 minutes, and the last speech is a group persuasive speech. She gives 7 pop quizzes throughout the quarter which are extremely easy if you keep up with the assigned reading. She does take attendance, and if you miss class on the day of a quiz, then you get a 0 on the quiz. There is one midterm and one final which again are pretty straightforward if you pay attention in class and read the book. Overall, I recommend taking coms 102 with Dr. Steele.

Dr. Steele is an excellent professor. She was very encouraging, tells you exactly what you did wrong, and gives good advice on how to improve. Her grading is no mystery (she tells you exactly what she's looking for) and she's very approachable and understanding. Do know that your grade ultimately depends on your speeches, but even if you're a poor speaker, Steele looks primarily for improvement. Overall I would say I'm a better public speaker because of taking this class.

Professor Steele is really approachable and really cares about her students--which is great for a speech professor since a lot of us get nervous about public speaking. She gives a couple more speeches than some of the other COMS professors, but you get to pick all of your topics yourself. The midterm and final were multiple-choice scantron questions from the reading and lectures, take notes and skim the readings and you'll be set. Also read/skim when reading is assigned. Multiple-choice pop quizzes are given on the readings, and they're basically free points so long as you read.

Professor Steele is extremely nice/understanding, above average lecturer, harsh grader. Let me emphasize: SHE'S REALLY NICE. If YOU want to succeed in this class, and ask her for help, you will succeed. She's willing to go to any lengths to help you through this class. She understands that public speaking is hard for people, and as long as you be honest with her, she'll hep you practice/speak. In terms of her teaching, they're pretty boring... but then again its cuz of the content, not the teacher. There's nothing you can really do to make the material in this class more exciting. In terms of grading for her speeches/assignments, she's pretty hard, but definitely fair. If you're willing to spend time to talk with her and practice your speeches alot, she's perfect. If you want and easy A, I'd recommend another teacher.

Professor Steele is a fantastically nice and understanding person. She is definitely one of those professors who is so nice that you feel like putting effort into doing well. Personally, I didn't do enough and I felt absolutely terrible, but she was still a very nice person throughout. She is strict about a few things and is definitely a harsh grader on speeches only. There's a textbook that, if you read it, will make her quizzes, midterm, and final soo easy -- so I really recommend putting time into that. Also, the last speech is a group speech so if you take that class really make sure that your group has a solid speech and presentation going, or you will regret it. Definitely take Professor Steele if you can!

Professor Steele was overall an average professor. She only taught information from the book and didn't provide very many helpful comments other than what she wrote on the evaluation papers she gave back after a speech. A poor public speaker herself, I feel that I didn't learn as much as I could have from this course. She's a nice person who will probably help and respond if asked, but didn't come off as someone who knew the topic well enough to really help anyone speak well, other than just getting them up there and helping cope with nerves, but that's only because you get used to the class over time. Harsh grader, don't take if you want an easy A and/or want to improve your public speaking skills.

Compared to my friends who got blocked into coms with other professors for their first quarter at Cal Poly, I feel like I lucked out getting Steele. She is a pretty picky grader on speeches (but seemed pretty lax on papers) but everything I got marked down for made sense so it wasn't really unfair. I like that she values and grades on both content and delivery because both are important and that also probably saved me in this class. I can do content but struggle with delivery. I would say for people taking this class, she gives a lot of pointers and advice that are helpful if you make the effort to use them and also practice them. Also a lesson learned: I practiced my last speech many many times more than my others and that's when I saw improvements in all of the skills I had been trying to include. You could tell who the people were who didn't practice.

If i were giving this review while I was taking the course, I'd say she was ok. Now that I've heard about the other COMS professor, I can say without a doubt that Steele must be the best COMS professor on campus. Everyone else seems to hate their professor. Steele was good at teaching and really cared about the students. I slept in during my first midterm and woke up about an hour and a half into it. I rant to class and found out that everyone was done, so I ran back to my dorm and was about to email her when I found out she emailed me! She told me that I could retake it at her later session and I will not be penalized. I highly recommend her.

I totally agree with the person's assessment below me. She is a completely okay/average professor. I will say she is a little too jazzed for her class considering it's a GE for almost everyone. Most teachers recognize this avoid assigning a lot of reading/work. However, COMPARED TO OTHERS, she is one of the best and fairest COMS teachers available. You will have to give a handful of speeches, but all the topics are general so you can always choose something that you're really interested in. Many of the other teachers (so I've heard) assign more specific and harder to work with topics. Take this class.

I ran into Professor Steele a full 5 quarters after I took her class. She remembered my name and asked me questions that showed she actually remembered more about me than just my name. I was surprised, but also not surprised. That's the kind of person/professor she is: cares about her students, genuinely interested in them, wants them to succeed. Its been a while, but I do remember liking her class. She is very enthusiastic and organized and tries really hard to make you a better public speaker. Taking COMS 102 helped me in a lot of my classes since then. I would recommend Professor Steele.

Steele is a wonderful woman. She is light hearted and always has a smile on her face. She keeps it real, the midterm and final are easy-- read the book you'll get an A easy on them, don't read and you'll probably get a B- on the exams. It's a lot of common sense if you have a slight grasp on public speaking. You give a number of speeches, all of which are very do- able. She is a fair grader-- give a kick ass presentation and she will give you a kick ass grade, if you are really nervous, she isn't going to wreck you, you just have to show that you obviously are well prepared and are trying. Compared to what I've heard about other coms 101/102 professors she seems to be the most chill. It was a great class, I made really good friends, and I would definitely recommend her.

Steele was pretty good. She was always concise and clear as to what she wanted from us for our speeches and helped out with choosing topics and finding research for our speeches. Don't expect any magical pixie dust and butterflies, though. She is still a professor and grades according to her rubric. She is fair and honest in feedback, but will not hesitate to tell you that you are wrong.

Mrs. Steele is a solid professor with very reasonable expectations

Steele is amazing. I don't hate public speaking as much as most people do, but I was still dreading this class. However, Steele was energetic, helpful, and understanding, so it made the class infinitely better than I was expecting. The tests are not hard- literally just look through your lecture notes- and as long as she can tell you're putting effort into your speeches, you're going to do great!

Steele makes Coms fun. I never thought I would enjoy this class as much as I did. Her class consists of 4 essays. I will include points in parenthesis. Narrative speech (50), informative speech (80), commemorative speech (80), group persuasive speech (100). Yes there is a group speech but she grades VERY lineally on it. Almost everyone gets A's. Everyone in the group receives the same grade. On top of this, there are 3 self reflection essays (15) which are 2ish pages and took me about 20min to complete. There are also 3 speech outlines (24) and Peer evaluations during class (4). Lastly a midterm which is very fair if not easy if you do the reading and remember the vocabulary (75). There is also a final (75). Total points possible 305, add up all material. I HIGHLY recommend taking Jodie, she is THE BEST Coms professor. I have heard horror storys of other teachers but I looked forward to Jodies class.

Professor Steele understands that most students are taking COMS because they have to. Her speeches are basic and easy to execute. Very easy class.

She is very helpful if you ask her and if you take notes on her lectures, you will get As on the tests. Only two tests and 5 speeches. She grades based on improvement, so if you work on your weak spots, you will get an A. This class is an EASY B, but you have to work for an A.

Such a great professor! She really cares about her students and is very knowledgeable about what she’s teaching. Her class is very well structured and she does a lot of hands on activities instead of just lecturing 24/7. She also really understands her students! I learned a lot. She’s super sweet and easy to talk to!

Professor Steele is awesome! This was the first time she taught this course and was open to student opinion. She was extremely helpful in office hours and was willing to keep clarifying student questions until all was understood. She also ran an item analysis on the final. If you need to take this class, take it with Steele :) She will prepare you well.

Dr. Steele is an excellent professor and truly a wonderful addition to Cal Poly. She was always on time, well-prepared for class, passionate, and enthusiastic (despite the extremely early start time). Though I never considered a career conducting research, after this class, she made me excited about it and has definitely made me reconsider. Moreover, Dr. Steele is compassionate and cares about every student. Not only did she take the time to learn everyone's name, but I felt like she really wanted to get to know every student. I cannot stress enough how awesome Dr. Steele is--she is one of those rare professors that will leave a lasting impact on your college career. In regards to the class itself, her exams were extremely fair and I was never blindsided by any of the material that was on them. Her grading was tough, but very fair, I definitely got the grades that I deserved. A tip for studying for the exams: since she doesn't provide study guides, use the questions at the end of each chapter of the textbook to test how much you know. They were helpful and accurately reflected the information that was tested on!