Heath, Rebecca  

She was new to the school (as of Fall 2014), and that was VERY apparent with her conduct for the first half of the quarter. She acted very pretentious, to say the least. However, towards the second half it became more apparent that she cared about her student's success. I do not think she's a bad professor, but she certainly isn't the best. I think she'll be better now that she's acclimated to the school.

At the very beginning of the quarter, it was very clear that she was new to Cal Poly and was extremely unorganized. We were given 5 speeches, lots of reading, a final speech, final essay, a midterm, and a multiple choice final, and little homework assignments throughout the quarter. Very unclear on what she assigns as homework and is a hard grader. She seemed to ease up on her students as the quarter progressed. Not a very good teacher, but as the class goes, I have learned to become a more confident and composed public speaker.

Heath is new to teaching at Poly and is used to the semester system rather than the quarter system. She was very unorganized at first, but pulled through towards the second half of the quarter and became more clear about what was due and gave us a much more reasonable amount of work. She seems like kind of a bitch at times but does care about her students' success. She's a cool teacher when she's in a good mood and definitely taught me to be a better speaker.

Fair. You do have to try. There are 5 speeches in the entire quarter. Just be prepared to speak in front of the class.

Heath is extremely unorganized and unclear on directions. Some days we would get to class and she would ask us how an assignment went and no one in the class knew we had an assignment. She gives much too little time to prepare for a speech assuming this isn't the only class you're enrolled in, which Heath clearly thinks it is. If I could go back I would drop this class and wait until I could take it with another professor.

I am currently about half way through this class and think i have seen enough to report that professor Heath is one of the worst teachers i have ever had. She spends 75% of the class talking about her career and how credible she is about public speaking, yet she has trouble standing in front of the class and presenting material. She constantly talks about the importance of being unbiased, yet will often express her own extremely biased, and usually off topic, opinions to the class. We have only had one serious speech, but from what i can tell she is an extremely strict and random grader. Students who gave well delivered speeches were marked way down simply because she disliked small things about their speeches. I warn anyone who sees openings in her class to greatly reconsider.

Oh Rebecca. As a GE, many students expect this course to be easy. However, Rebecca will make sure it is NOT easy. Although I believe she truly has a student's best interests at heart and does want everyone to become a better public speaker, she does this in ways that make her students discouraged. Her grading is sporadic and speeches are marked down by a lot for small things like not capitalizing an 'a' in your outline. She consistently talks about her time as a professional journalist and I believe she holds all of her students to this professional standard, however, she needs to realize that we are only college freshman. She wants very particular things, and if you do not fit that mold (which most students will not), you can expect a C. However, it is still only her first year teaching, so I'm sure she will get better and more understanding as time goes on. There are worse options for COMS, but just know it is not an easy A.

Do NOT take rebecca heath. she made this class a living hell. first she'd say to use vibrant language, then 30 seconds later she'd say to use simple words. she grades so hard and thinks she's is hot sh*t cause "I was a journalist" in new york blah blah blah. basically just stay as far away from heath as possible

In the beginning of the quarter, I HATED going to coms. She graded everyone harshly the first few speeches because we were all "learning". She deliberately gave everyone Cs on their first two speeches because she wanted to see improvement which was not fair to those who actually did their speeches well from the beginning. However, she started giving everyone Bs and As on the other speeches because there was a lot of "improvement" within a week. I'm not complaining with that but I feel like I never actually improved... She just gave everyone better grades to make it seem like everyone improved..? I mean I guess that's cool but Coms really didn't teach me anything. She was a fun teacher but I didn't learn much about public speaking. Her midterm and final which are multiple choice, SUPER EASY. So overall her class was do-able, annoying, but ok. I ended up with a B+ in my overall grade because she takes a lot of points if you go over the time limit.

Seems like most of my class doesn't like her style of teaching/grading. I think the people who don't care about learning something are the ones that don't like her, and if that's the case, why are you even here? ANYWAYS, I really liked the feedback that she would give to us after speeches. It was basically constructive criticism. (yes, people are gonna criticize you in life stop taking it up the ass and learn from it.) She believes in us, and tries her best to make us more confident in ourselves. The midterm was kinda harder than I thought. Definitely read the book and know the definitions of all the stuff in the book and you'll be fine. The speeches are pretty simple. I think there is about 4-5 throughout the quarter.

RUN AWAYYYYYYY! First I am going to tell you why this class was so terrible, second I am going to tell you about why she should never had been hired in the first place, and last I am going to encourage you to never enroll in this class. The only thing Rebecca taught me was that in order to not fail her class try to sound like your writing your first essay in the third grade. She refuses to admit when she's wrong, she's very moody, doesn't know what she wants, very very full of herself. This woman is the biggest hypocrite ever. She talks about the importance of being unbiased but will demolish your grade if you do a speech on a topic she doesn't agree with. She continuously told us how lucky we were to be in her class and started every lecture or new thought with "when I was a journalist…" "back in journalism school…" or the one shining moment in her career "when I covered the Challenger disaster…" Please do yourself a favor and don't take this class! its my lowest grade, but was supposed to be my easiest class. Run away!

I have mixed feelings about this class. There are 5 speeches: an introduction speech, a process speech, an informative speech, a persuasive speech, and a commemorative speech. Rebecca has a lot of requirements; she has an in depth grading rubric for each speech. She is NOT an easy grader, especially on the first 2 speeches, but she eases up as the class progresses. She does however, provide solid feedback that is actually helpful. The rest of your grade is made up of 2 online quizzes, self reflections, small busy work assignments, a midterm and final exam. The assignments are pointless but act as a grade buffer. The midterm and final are a breeze as long as you skim the book and her power point slides. She also offers 5 points of extra credit for analyzing a speech. On the downside, Rebecca assigns A LOT of work all at once and is very unclear about due dates, she often gets her different sections of coms mixed up. All of her lectures come directly from the textbook, I could have learned public speaking techniques without her. She shares personal stories and her biased opinions and treats certain students unfairly calling them out in front of the class. I got an A in the class because I was on her good side and I spent hours and hours on my speeches, kept my head down, and followed her guidelines. Overall, I felt that my public speaking skills improved. This is however, a challenging coms class, there are MUCH easier coms classes. TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD GRADE: follow ALL her rubric requirements for every speech, practice your speech until you have it mostly memorized, skim every assigned chapter in the textbook and the power points she posts before the exams, stay organized and use a planner-- you will often had a reflection paper due the class after you give a speech, and finally, go to office hours if necessary (I never went and still got an A, but many of my friends found it helpful)

All I see on Rebecca Heath is awful. She is one of the most kind and understanding professors I have ever had. Rebecca only wants the best for her students. I had a fairly small class and she personally got to know each of us and ensured that we succeeded. She is so enthusiastic in lecture (even at 8pm) and loves what she does. I wish all of my professors were like her.

I never write reviews for teachers, but Ms. Heath is the devil. She is a terrible teacher and thinks she knows everything. She is a terrible speaker herself, but thinks she is cool for being a previous journalist. She is so liberal, and if she doesn't agree with you she fails you. Stay far away.

Professor Heath is awesome! From the beginning of the class, she understands that students are uncomfortable and are afraid of public speaking (for the most part anyway). She encourages you all the time, and makes sure to create a safe environment where you won't feel embarrassed and you won't feel like your every move is criticized. She has you take a test at the beginning of the course, which tells you how much anxiety you have before giving a speech. At the end of the course, she has you take the test again to see how much you have improved. And to be completely honest, I have never felt more comfortable giving a speech. My level of anxiety, according to the test, dropped to about half my original amount. She does go over a lot of slides when you aren't giving speeches, and a lot of it seems like common sense. But trust me, take good notes. She has a couple of online quizzes throughout the quarter, which aren't very hard at all, but the final is a different story. She covers material from her slides throughout the quarter, and even some material in weekly reading assignments. The only thing I didn't enjoy about the course was the stuff we were tested on. It didn't really seem relevant to the goal of the course, but it's not bad as long as you take notes on the slides and the readings she assigns. I know some people in my class didn't like her as a professor, but she is very knowledgable about what she is teaching, and she gets to know the class and loves all her students. If you can, I would take her!

RUN AWAY coms is already a pretty annoying class to take let alone having an annoying professor. Every thing she presents is extremely unclear I'm not sure she knows how to even communicate effectively because every single power point, assignment, or lecture was very unorganized. She kind of reminds me of a substitute teacher that just goes through the motions but doesn't really get the full and clear directions herself. She also lets the class control her. When signing up for speeches, she would have a plan of signing up and if someone in the class didn't like it and spoke up, she would just go with a completely new plan. She had no sense of control. Don't do it unless you absolutely have to.

Heath was the bane of my existence for one quarter. She critiques speeches way too harshly. If you itch your nose or move any part of your body while giving a speech, your grade will be penalized and she will make a point to comment online and highlight your short comings. She does not like giving out A's because "grades in college do not matter." Bottom line is don't take her.

This teacher is probably the most illogical and biased teachers I've ever had the pleasure of having. On the first day she kicked out all male students who were either on the waitlist or crashing while allowing 2 people over the class limit, including re-adding a girl who was line dropped, because she wanted a more girl heavy ratio. She is narcissistic about her career and holds herself in very high esteems and is quite the hypocrite, often showing up late to class where she promptly marks down people's grades for not being there on time. You will hear too often about her career and digressing stories of her family life while she lectures about a textbook that you don't need to read. She is also biased in every speech topic you choose. If she likes the topic or agrees with your point of view, you will receive very good grades while if you choose the opposite, she often will lecture you about why she disagrees or why you are wrong. If you want a class that doesn't make sense and will leave you bored, frustrated, and confused, I highly recommend her class. If you want to enjoy COMS 101 whatsoever, avoid Rebecca Heath at all cost.

Rebecca Heath is the most MISERABLE teacher I have ever had to take a class from. She is rude and does not take student's opinions to heart. One time, she LAUGHED at my speech idea that I gave to her. She does not care whether you get the information that she presents and puts so much information on one slide and brushes over it in about three seconds then expects you to know all of it. DO NOT take a class with her, if you are blocked into her drop the class. It will save you so much stress and hardship.

I saw Mrs. Heath's Polyratings before school started so I was expecting the worst at the beginning of the quarter. However she turned out just fine. She can be a little scary at times but she is also pretty funny. Her feedback are extremely helpful and you can tell that she really wants her students to succeed.

Definitely take her class! She is intimidating but she really does care about whether or not her students succeed. She is very clear about what she wants from her students and is always willing to provide helpful advice in her office hours. Her class isn't an easy A but it's not that hard if you put the effort in. If I could go back I would definitely take her class again. She definitely helped me become a better public speaker.

Dr. Heath is a good teacher for COMS 101 and I would recommend her over the other COMS 101 teachers. She can be super fun and make the class fun; however when she's in a bad mood be ready for it. She is a picky grader but it's understandable. She is super nice in office hours.

I don't know why there's so many bad comments on here but Dr. Heath is the most caring professor I've had so far. She really cares about her students and wants each one of them to succeed. There's only five speeches throughout the quarter which aren't even that bad since we get so much time to do them. And plus she takes the time to evaluate every single person's speech which were very helpful because it let us all know how to improve. There's only two quizzes, no midterm, and then a final at the end but other than that there's not much else to it. Don't worry if you're new to public speaking because this class will really help you with that. Her office hours also saved my life so make sure you take advantage of that and don't be afraid to ask!

First off, disregard ALL the other polyratings before fall of 2016! Here's why: She was a new teacher then, brand new to the school, and had little experience with Cal Poly students. She has now become much more accustomed to the school and teaching. So here is the short answer: She is an amazing COMS teacher and take her if you can! Professor Heath is very nice, funny and lighthearted throughout the quarter. We have 5 speeches (4 graded), pretty standard for COMS 101. There is no midterm (yay!) and a final (which is a bit tricky). Her grading of the speeches is VERY fair, and sometimes even generous. Make sure your outline has no flaws and your delivery is solid. She mainly wants to see improvement. Make sure you put in the effort with speeches, and overall you'll get an A or B. If you put in little effort, that's when your speech grades will slip. If there's one thing that I'm not to fond of, it's the assignment and quizzes. They can be worded a bit vague which makes them kind of confusing. All in all, she is an excellent teacher and doesn't deserve the low polyrating. I would 100% take her if you can, she really did make me a better speaker!

Professor Heath is a really awesome lady, as the end of the quarter is getting closer I'm realizing how many students in the class didn't take the time to get to know her or take advantage of how much she really wants to help you. Don't do that. Compared to the other horror stories I've heard about other COMS professors, her class really isn't bad at all. It's a good balance of actually learning and getting something out of the class without being overbearingly hard or being too much work for a GE. Above all, prof. Heath has a really good heart.

Heath may come off as a little dry, but overall she's a good coms professor who is there for you when you need her. Also, props to her for putting EVERYTHING on Polylearn. Not a bad class at all.

I have a pretty high anxiety level, which you actually find out about in Professor Heath's class. She has every student take this anxiety test so she can know who is and who isn't anxious when it comes to public speaking. She grades a bit easier if she knows that you're anxious when giving speeches which was a plus for me. Overall though I really enjoyed her class, she has pretty liberal views (for me that's great because I relate), but if you're not interested in hearing too much political talk, especially liberal talk, I would say maybe don't take her. There were five speeches that I did, one about a classmate, one about a story that defines you, an informative one(can be anything), a persuasive (pro vs con, work with/against someone in the class), and then an impromptu for the final speech. Professor Heath in my opinion is really helpful for writing your speeches, and if you go into office hours she is super helpful and will grade you easier if she sees that you are trying to get help. I guess i'm rambling a bit, but overall I would recommend her, most of the students in my class liked her from what I saw.

This teacher is awesome. She is hilarious and grades very fair. If you work hard and put in an effort, you will succeed in this class. Heath will definitely help you out if you go to her office hours. I came into her class scared because of her polyratings but ended up loving her class and was very pleased with my grade. There are a lot of COMS 101 teachers out there but this one is one of the best and it would be a shame if you did not take her. Sidenote, most people got A's and B's in her class.

You need to care a lot about public speaking and be very very liberal.

Professor Heath's class was not so horrible as everyone always says! Heath can be difficult at times by the way she presents her material, or how she explains a certain assignment. Overall though, her class is extremely easy if you ACTUALLY try. Especially if you like public speaking or you are good at it, you will for sure do well in the class. Heath often grades on how you have improved, not on how well you did. Make sure you attend her office hours and get to know her on a personal level. By doing this and letting her know that you potentially struggle with public speaking, she is less harsh on grading and tries to help you improve on each speech!

he sure does like his women, wet!!