Shea, Christine  

You are all ridiculous and undoubtedly horrible students. Ms. Laidlaw may have rigid guidelines for the speech outlines, but she CLEARLY states all of them prior to you having to ever turn one in that gets graded. Wouldn't you rather have a teacher that has CLEAR but RIGID guidelines rather than what most teachers have; unclear rigid guidelines? Everything she presents during lecture is there to make speech-giving a little easier for those of us that aren't that great at it. If you actually read the books that go with her course you would find that she is largely simplifying the material and giving the students an easier way to approach something that many of us find very frightening. Like many of you have noted, the tests are basically BS; that seems to be because she wants your grade to actually depend on how well you can improve your speech-giving ability. The first couple speeches are worth next to nothing for your overall grade, but she gives you enough feedback for you to improve. Most of the kids in my class that didn't do very well simply weren't taking her advice. They only became more comfortable in front of the class, which isn't the point. All in all you really can't bash Shea for any of what most of you have. She is one of the best teachers I have ever had at my time at poly and I don't think that's going to change any time soon.

This is a lame site. The comments are statistically insignificant. Most comments lack basic grammar and spelling skills.

Dr. Shea was the worst professor i have had so far at cal poly. I normally would never do this but i DO NOT want ANYONE to take her class. I knew it was going to be a hard class when she said on the first day that she only gives 3 A's. I worked my ass off and received it but i hated her class more than anything. She was such a fat bitch and mean to everyone in her class and always picked on certain people. She gives mean stares and is horribly condescending. I mean the book we buy is written by her. DO NOT TAKE HER!

Even though I wasn't super excited to take Public Speaking as a freshman, Dr. Shea is a pretty understanding and easy teacher to learn from. Even though her personality and judgmental attitude bothers me sometimes, her class is easy and nothing to be nervous about. As long as you don't read your entire speech from your notes and practice a little, you'll do great. I got a B and didn't even write most of my speeches until the night before I gave them. If you have to take public speaking as GE, definitely take Dr Shea for an easy, stress free class.

Dr. Shea is an absolutely wonderful professor. She is all about being extemporaneous; therefore, she does not like for students to memorize their speeches. Instead, she expects you to memorize the intro and conclusions. Shea is well-knowledged in COMS, and she cares for her students. I learned so much from her class, not only from my own research for the speeches, but through everyone else's speeches. TAKE HER! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

Dr. Shea is a great professor to take for COMS 101! There are only 4 graded speeches in the quarter: critique, interview, informative, and argument. She highly stresses being "extemporaneous" which is being conversational rather than sounding as if you're reading off notecards. Basically, if you have good eye contact and can speak casually and clearly, you'll do well. Even if you can't, you'll most likely still get a B in the class. Take Shea!!!

Shea's class is pretty much a breeze if you do not mind public speaking. She is a good teacher, but I feel like she tries to slip her beliefs into the lectures too much. That can get a little annoying because she doesn't get that students don't care that it ticks you off that female athletes are being portrayed as "sexy" on billboards and in commercials, what does that have to do with being able to talk in front of people? O yeah, it doesn't.

Shea is an awesome teacher. She provides an environment that you want to speak in. That was the only class I took this quarter that I made friends with almost everyone in it and we all had a great time. She gives you a guidebook pdf so you don't have to buy expensive textbooks. She lectures straight from the guidebook and the final comes STRAIGHT from it. There's no extra dumb reading or writing assignments, only 5 speeches all quarter and an outline per speech. She doesn't want you to memorize speeches. She gives you the exact structure for the outlines she wants you to turn in. She grades easy and I loved her. Just do the minimal work she requires and you'll get an A.

Superrr easy class. Not very helpful if you really wanted to become a good public speaker, but if you went into office hours she was willing to help.

Compared to what I've heard from other students who had COMS 101 this quarter, Dr. Shea's class seemed to be the least work-intensive. For one, she provides each student with an online public speaking guide, which is where she draws her lessons and final questions from. She doesn't make you buy a textbook like the other classes might do. As far as the class goes, do not expect to receive A's on your speeches, as she grades fairly. Be sure to actually practice your speeches ahead of time (like a few days) and try not to read off of a script and learn to use hand motions if you don't already use them when you talk. We only had 4 main speeches, plus a student introductory speech done in the first few weeks that does not count toward the grade. Other than that, we have to write a 4 page essay about our evaluation of ourselves after taking the class. There is a lot of freedom in terms of topics that you can use for the speeches, and Dr. Shea is very friendly and approachable. She's very understanding and will do what she can to help you. Definitely recommended.

coms 101 was a breeze with her. we really only had 4 graded speeches and a final (and some extra fluff points like speech outlines). shes pretty lenient on grading the speeches and her class was not as work intensive as the other coms classes seem to be. she doesnt believe in the plus/minus system so she curves your grade at the end and gives you an A if you get an 89.5 or higher. i would recommend this class! happy i took it with her

I would say she is one of the easiest Public Speaking instructors, so I would reccomend taking her. I just did not like her as a person. She starts off very nice, then she starts being very passive aggressive and kind of bitchy. Other than that I went into the class fearing public speaking, but still managed to get a B+ in her class. I could have gotten an A but I did not really prepare for my last speech. As long as you prepare and practice your speeches before hand, this class should be an easy A.

TAKE SHEA!! She is an amazing professor. She's very laid-back and understanding and compared to my friends' coms professors I did way less work and enjoyed the class a lot more. She is a fair grader, but she doesn't give many A's. But she lays out how the grading scale works on the very first day, and mostly everyone ends up with a B. You do a lot of speeches, but you get them all over with pretty quickly. She is definitely passionate about teaching this class and she is more than willing to help you with anything you need. All you have to turn in for your speeches is a simple outline that doesn't take much time at all. She's definitely big on being extemporaneous, which can be hard, but it's a small class and as long as you're extemporaneous and put a little effort into picking your topic you'll be fine! She's an amazing professor and a cool person too. 10/10 would recommend taking Shea!!!

Shea was in general a good teacher to have. Her class was a great environment to learn public speaking with minimal stress. She grades so it's so easy to get a B and so hard to get an A though, so don't expect an A in the class unless she loves you.

Dr. Shea is a mediocre COMS 101 professor. As an introductory class, she makes it WAY too hard to get an A. There are only 4 graded speeches and she grades fairly easy. The amount of work required in this class is minimal compared to other COMS 101 classes. However, it is very easy to get a B, but almost impossible to get an A. She takes the speeches too seriously for a GE 101 class. She teaches with a chip on her shoulder because she wrote a book on public speaking and has a doctorate. With this confidence, she treats her students as subordinates, which we technically are, but with an air of pretentiousness. I believe this is why she makes it so hard to get an A in her class. She takes teaching this class WAY too seriously. She tells the class as a whole what they need to work on, but NEVER says how to fix it. Overall, Dr. Shea is a fair-ish grader compared to other COMS 101 teachers, but makes it way too hard to get an A.

it's impossible to get an A in this class. the speeches are okay but she's very difficult on grading. on her finals, she tests on RANDOM terms that are in her little book.

Professor Shea isn't bad. The only way to get an A though is to get lucky and be on her good side. I felt like she played favorites throughout the entire quarter and didn't really provide much positive feedback for us to learn and grow. Mostly, she just ripped on our speeches and said very few things that we did well. She cares an annoying amount about the organization of a speech to the point where you say, MY THREE POINTS ARE:; TRANSITION; POINT A... and if you didn't go by that generic speech type, you get points off-- no matter how good of a speech or speech giver that you are. I feel like speech should be graded off of the reaction of the audience, the topic, and the general presentation and not deducted for details like transitions or topic sentences per paragraphs. She isn't awful, but be prepared to either get a B... or luckily be someone she really likes, like me. Unfortunately, I really wasn't her biggest fan, I was just lucky to get an A.

Christine Shea is a champ. From day one, she makes you buy her self-published Speech textbook that is unhelpful, misleading, and breaks half of the rules for technical writing. She is a sexist pig. If you are a female or a male who wishes to focus their speeches on male deprecation and the rightful rule of women, then you'll probably get an A. Otherwise, expect a B. She doesn't hand out many C's or D's--but that's about the only plus for Shea. She is retardedly unable to recognize talent. Forget what you learned in your high school speech class. You will go back to middle school speech format: Slap the audience in the face with what you're going to talk about, slap the audience in the face with every transition, slap the audience in the face with conclusion. I had to unlearn how to use a naturally-flowing transition in exchange for her required choppy speech format. On occasion, she lost her temper with students. She refuses to briefly review MLA or APA format, despite it being required for half of the speeches. Good luck finding citation information in her poorly-written textbook. You'll get good at writing essays in this class, since she emphasizes delivering "extemporaneous speeches" but grades you down if you don't look at your notes. Nearly everyone in the class typed their speech word-for-word and read it at the podium. The multiple-choice final and reflection paper were the only easy parts in this class.

Interesting professor to have. She assigns a lot less work than the other speech teachers it seems, but she grades a bit harder on the speeches. It's hard to get an A, but pretty easy to get around a B on all the assignments. The final is an absolute joke, consisting of random terms from her book that you use for the class. The first couple weeks of class are useless, she just reads word for word out of the book that you could have read on your own, and defines stupid terms that don't need to be defined. The best way to do well in the class is to A) Be on her good side, B) Pick topics for speeches that she doesn't know about (computers mainly, she's technologically illiterate), and C) Follow the advice she gives you on your speech evaluations, because they actually will make you a better speaker.

Dr. Shea is very kind and informative. Despite the fact many view her as a frigid b*tch I really liked her. She was fun to talk to and wrote her own book. During class she comes across as favoring females (she does have a Ph.D in Women's Studies) but I think she is more than fair. I took her during summer quarter in a program called JumpStart so it was condensed into 5 weeks. Needless to say the pace was faster and supposedly more rigorous. I REALLY liked her and think anyone shallow enough to put down Dr. Shea needs to think things over. She impressed me with her knowledge but graded on the difficult side. MY ADVICE: Study for the test, there is only one, do well on the final, and don't use visual aids-- they are both unnecessary and a distraction to the captive audience.

I enjoyed Dr. Shea's class and she made public speaking fun and not frightening. I got to know everyone in the class pretty well, which made talking to the audience easier. She lectures out of a book she wrote, and she knows her stuff. She is easy to talk to and is very helpful. We have one test on all the lecture materials. It is not too difficult, and all the other grades are based on the four speeches. She is fair and overall a good teacher with great expertise.

the course is pretty basic, and from what i understand form my friends, teh workload is actually a lot less than most teachers, which is nice. her lectures are fine, pretty straightfoward. the material isn't too difficult if you can pay attention because it is rather dry. the "final" is actually given 5th or 6th week after she is done lecturing. i got a C but didn't think it was too diffuclt for a test. read her manul cover to cover at least 2 times and it shouldn't be too difficult. the only problem i had with this teacher was that she seemed to favor the girls in the class in terms of grading--she is a woman's studies teacher, so taht may give and idea. just tray and stay awake during class is the real challenge, but i think that oges for all public speaking classes.

Dr. Shea is NOT a professor I would recommend to any man. She is very partial towards the females in the class and you are in for a bumpy ride if you are a guy. She does present material clearly, but her grading leaves a lot to be desired. When you give a speech you had better have the exact same view point as her or you are gonna get a horrible grade. She puts way to much of her own opinion on the issue into your grade rather than how well you made the speech. I would never take Dr. Shea again ever!

Dr. Shea has some real issues. She is an incredibly harsh grader even though it is difficult to get up in front of people and give a speech that you have spent a long time preparing and researching. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried to get better or improve from speech to speech, she would find more things wrong the next time, and half the time I could not make out her critiques because her writing is worse than chicken scratch; a doctor's penmanship looks like calligraphy compared to hers. She teaches you from a poorly written book which she tells you to study for the midterm. She tells you to know the general ideas, then she slams you with in-depth, opinionated questions. Many people told me that she is a feminist. She has a PHd in Women's Studies and the way she comes across is like she is all about girl power and women bing the superior gender. If you want an A, don't attempt it unless you are a girl who can mimick the speech characteristics that she talks about to a Tee. You will know what I mean when you take the course. She likes to look at the cieling while she talks and her arms are constantly flailing as she rotates her wrists in a roling mottion that looks unnatural. She is on a power trip; she will not respond to Miss Shea; it has to be Doctor. If you don't believe me, take this course. You will definitly be able to pass, but if you want an A, forget it. Good luck.

I enjoyed Dr. Shea's class, it was straight forward and the one actual test was directly out of the book (which was small and easy to read). She is very nice and wants everyone to both enjoy the class and become comfotable speaking in front other people. She does base part of your grade on coming to class, so don't expect to be able to just ditch the class whenever you want.

This class was easy and informative. But Dr. Shea has her favorites so try to get on her good side from the beginning.

Dr. Shea, although a decent lecturer, is a really harsh grader. She claims that the lectures the first couple weeks of class are incredibly important, and that if you miss one (there are only 4) then you are pretty much guaranteed a C on the midterm. I promise though, that's not true, because I missed one and got an A on the midterm. All of her lectures are straight out of her book. She is way too specific about the structure of your speeches- you have to do it EXACTLY her way, no exceptions. She makes a big deal about sounding "conversational" but requires you to cite a bunch of sources, particularly in your final speech, so sounding natural is obviously hard. I managed to pull an A, but only me and one other guy got A's without extra credit... I think she liked me cuz I'm a speech major. If you're looking for an easy A, don't take Dr. Shea.. you can get one, but you have to work reeeeeally hard for it.

Yes, she does have her favorites, and yes, she DEFINTELY wants you to conform to the way she does things. However, I thought Dr. Shea was a great person to take 101 from - she most defintely knows her stuff (she's written her own "guide" to the class that's only 70 pages long, and that's ALL you need for the class, which is awesome) and she enjoys teaching the class, it shows. However, everyone is right when they say she is caustic and harsh - you have to watch yourself around her and make your moves just right; she won't hesitate to make the slightest hole you present her with and rip it into a new one for you. However, all in all, she was just fine for 101, although I doubt I would take her again unless I had to.

Study for the multiple choice test! It may seem easy but I promise that you won't do as well as you thought you would. She is approachable and straightforward. However, she is not "easy A Shea". I did the best I could and got a B. Only a select few get A's, mostly based on their ability to speak like articulate, educated, upper-middle class college students. I speak well but she is picky about the way you speak (voice, personality in your voice, etc.) which is really difficult to control. She is a nice person and it is a good class. So take it, you're going to have to anyway.

Dr. Shea is a horrible person, i am not a c student, but that is what i got. i tried really hard and she did not like my speech topics. i am not an scom major and this was a ge class an intro to public speaking, she treated it like we all knew what we were doing. i hated this class, stay away, she is a terrible teacher

I thought she was a little nuts but she is fairly fair. I say fairly because I don

So I'm a guy and I got an A in SCOM 101. It is possible, but it is really really, extremely hard. I didn't really see the gender bias everyone was complaing about... maybe girls naturally have less monotonous voices. I dunno... anyway, I was determined to get an A in this class, and it was freaking hard for a basic speech class. If you want a B, go for Shea, if you want an A, make sure you're a natural at speaking, or take another teacher.

Before I even started fall quarter, i had checked out polyratings and was under the impression that dr. shea was going to be this maniacal sexist of a woman. however, i didn't find it to be true. she gave an equal amount of snide remarks to both the guys and girls. i found dr. shea to give constructive criticism, and i found myself having progressed a lot throughout the quarter. dr. shea was pretty helpful and flexible; it was never a problem if you had to make up a speech, but BEWARE of her sometimes sarcastic sense of humor. she doesn't grade that strictly, but she does seem to think that she knows everything there is to know about SCOM (probably because she wrote the class textbook). but all in all, dr. shea was a knowledgeable professor who was helpful in answering questions and helped me become a better speaker. (AND PLUS- the final is EASY! just 33 multiple choice questions!)

Dr. Shea was not as bad of a teacher as I was expecting. I think that I went into the class with a bad attitude based on what I read on Polyratings and therefore didn't give her a chance at first. I did progressively better on each speech of the quarter, and even pulled off an A on one. My huge fear of public speaking is not nearly as bad anymore, which is something that I never thought would happen. You have 5 speeches, starting off with an intro speech, and ending with an 7 minute debate speech (sounds worse than it is because you build up to it), a 33 question final, and a reflection paper. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it is really hard to get an A and I haven't talked to anyone yet from my class who got one.

She is nice, gets the material across well. You must give many speeches, but they are more of an improvisational nature. Final is easy, if you study the notes she gives you.

Dr. Shea was a pretty good teacher. She does not really want to teach this class because it really isn't her cup of tea. I think that she did a great job of presenting the material, and the class was pretty easy. No homework, except preparing 4 speechs, which are not that hard. The longest speech is 9 min., with the shortest being 4 min, so you get an idea of how long the speeches are. She grades fairly and objectivly. I notice that most people say that she is sexist, and I think that she may be feminist, BUT she is not sexist. SHE GRADES FAIRLY. Anyway, do the extra credit at the end. I would for sure take another class from her any day. She is a very good college level professor.

Dr. Shea was a very good professor. Although she had the tendency to show up to class late (and even to our final), we were out of class early every time. She took role a lot, but the class was sooo laid back, it was easy to sit through. There was barely any homework; you only had to do something if you had a speech to give, which was only 4 classes throughout the entire quarter). Very easy class. The final took me 11 minutes. ha! Oh, and she tends to have her favorites, so give a good speech the first time, and you should have it made!

I thought she was an awesome teacher. She gave you a clear understanding on what your speech needs to be like, and she didn't grade harshly. Also, she didn't seem sexist at all. You give only 4-5 speeches, each one increasing by only 1-2 minutes, and trust me, when you actually present a speech it flies by. Also, you get to use an outline during your speeches. Getting an A didn't seem that hard to me, just practice ur speech a few times (it helps greatly, and it's easy), than present it using ur outline. A chill class. I'm glad I took her because I learned a bunch.

I believe that this class is NOT hard at all. People struggle because they could careless about their speeches and do them at the last minute and dont care if they get a C on them. But anyways in this class there are 5 speeches one that is credit/no credit and the other 4 are for grading purposes. the first of the graded speeches needs to be 3-4 minutes then each speech is added a minute more. Dont let that bother you because seriously as long as you pick topics in your interest or know some knowledge on you should be fine. When presenting there is no need for memorizing it as that is not the point of effective public speaking. In sheas class you get to use an outline that you CAN reference to during your speech but dont depend on it. OH AND DONT READ YOUR ENTIRE SPEECH, as delivery score in each of these speeches are ALOT! that was the only thing i sucked at because i didnt take the time to practice my speeches even though i DID have them done way before my speech days. Overall I recommend Shea because its not hard to understand her grading policy from the get go. The average grade is a B due to the final thats 30 multiple choice questions on her workbook that she gives to you in the beginning and a self assessment and you turn in on the day of the final.

Dr. Shea first off is not sexist. She's an overall an O.K. teacher. Her type of lecturing is a little strange at times because she is a weird woman. Little things will make her flip out. There are four speeches which make up your grade, and a final with only 33 questions. It's a little hard to get an A on the speeches, easy to get a B, pretty tough to get an A.

Dr. Shea really knows her stuff and teaches a pretty interesting class. You are pretty much guaranteed a B in the class. An A is really hard and a C means you must suck. I watched her grade students and the differnce between a great speech and a crappy one was usually like 5 points. Make sure to anunciate...she is a good teacher, but I stress easily so it hurt me. She allows you to use as many notes as you need for speeches so just write out all your main points and you will be fine. I never got anything but a B in this class. Oh, by the way, I'm a guy and she is not a "feminist bitch". Try and you'll be fine...but if you want an A take someone else.

She is a sexist! That says it all. Well not quite all, going down the same line though if you are a guy you can't get better than a B in her class. It is strang to me why a class that is so ridiculously easy is impossible for guys to get an A. Well Like I said she is a sexist! If your a girl, maybe you will like her. She is very easy, but very serious(never laughs). Oh and Did I mention that she is a sexist!

The first day I got to Shea's class, I didn't think it was all that bad. She was a bit edgy, and she seemed a little stressed, but I thought the class wouldn't be any big deal. The first major speech proved me quite wrong. The same occurs on every speech: if you put in as much preparation as possible, you will get no higher than an 85 (esp if you're a guy). If you look at the floor and mumble something about the cieling for five minutes, you will get no lower than a 75. Let's see...she a feminest, she does not understand laughter and humor, she is defensive. Good luck to the person that has to deal with her class next...

For all those people who said Shea sucks, I don't know what they are talking about. Too many people think GE's are "easy A" classes and they aren't, so get over it. Just because it is a GE doesn't always mean you'll get an A. A means excellent and I know for a fact that there might have been a total of three people who actually got A's an deserved them, but the class only has 26 people. She makes sure you know what she wants, but she is leniant. You can pick any speech topic you want and you only have to give 4 speeches. She makes you find real resources not just internet sites, but that is the hardest part of the class. Most speech teachers only care about your delivery but she wants you to have good organization and content which really helped me out since I don't have the best delivery. She will scare you off in the first couple of classes but stick with it, she really isn't bad at all. You can use as many notes as you would like and she grades fair. I did the worst speech on caffeine and looked at my notes almost the whole time and I still got an 88%. The sexist part is not true, guys just have deeper voices that sound monotone, so if you are guy, then try harder to not be monotone. Anyway, take this class, it isn't that bad at all, it's no different than any other class at Poly.

Monotony in a man's voice or not, she's slightly sexist. (Notice: she also teaches a significant amount of women's studies classes + lack of a wedding ring = probable dislike of men). She grades a guy's speech harder than a comparable girl's speech. She's a decent teacher, but IF YOU ARE A GUY AND WANT A SOLID "A" GO ELSEWHERE. Girls, if you want an A, just do a speech on feminism, women's equality, title 9, etc. and it's almost a lock (aside from her difficult midterm).

This was an easy course, I didn't do that much work and got my 4 credits. Shea gave me very generous grades on horrible speaches, possibly becuase I am female, As others have mentioned she might be a little sexist, not horribly or offensively just appeared to be easier on the girls of the class. All in all I would suggest Shea, she is a lively animated woman, and has been teaching the course long enough to know what students find difficult or misunderstand and makes sure to clarify. A suggestion for her class is use very big almost ridiculous gestures when speaking, for some reason she likes that.

This class is mostly giving/listening to speeches. There were only about four days of lecture so you basically learn from your own experience. There are about 4 speeches, 1 paper, and a short very easy final based on the very short text and her lectures which are based on the text since she wrote it. With each speech you just have to turn in a limited outline and you are supposed to speak off of that. She takes off points for missing class so come even if you're not speaking. It's not hard to just sit there and class usually gets done early. Since everyone has to take this class I would recommend her.

Definitely an easy and fun class. Sitting through other people's speeches seems pointless...but can be educational in a good way sometimes. She grades a little harshly only to make you better and is definitely not sexist because I'm a guy and got an A. People simply don't care about the class. Have fun and it will be easy and worth your time. Make sure to note picky small things in her guide for the final.

I was not looking forward to taking SCOM 101, especially after reading all these reviews about her, but truthfully she is not as bad as they make her. I did not notice her being sexist towards females or anything, she is pretty brutally honest, but that is good. Helps you to improve. The speeches are not to bad and the final exam is cake. 30 questions, multiple choice. Over all not bad.

Though I was taken aback at first at this instructor's initial approach, she knows her stuff. (HELLO-- she wrote the book!) I was amazed at how my speech technique changed merely by virtue of being in the class for a couple of weeks. Very flexible and low-key; just get your stuff done on time and listen when she gives instructions because they are PRECISE and she wants them followed PRECISELY. Speech 101 is torture in any case, but if you want to get through it relatively painlessly, I definitely recommend this instructor.

Prof. Shea was an extremely fair grader. She told you what you needed to work on, then once you improve on it, you get higher grades. I never noticed that she was biased towards guys or girls. I am a guy, and could/should have gotten an A, but on my final speech, I used books printed in like 1950 because we changed topics the day before our speech was due. Her final is very very very very easy, if you just read the book she sells you. I heard from friends that other teachers speeches are shorter, hers were kind of long. The last few were like 8 to 9 minutes. Which sounds like a lot, but its really not bad at all. If you take her, just remember to use good sources. Overall, she was a good professor.

Strange woman, but a good lady and good teacher. I took her class my first quarter at Poly and she is quite welcoming to new students. Anyone can get an A or B in this class.

Shea was a really good teacher. She grades on exactly what she says she will, so make sure you do exactly what she says. Theres only 4 speeches, so it's not that bad, and no improv speeches. She likes it when people participate and she will notice if you don't come to class.

Awsome teacher, she'll explain anything that you have a question about.

Impossible to get an A in this class. I personally thought she was sexist and didn't treat everybody equally. Easy to get a B, impossible to get an A. Oh, and don't miss class

i got B's on all of my speeches never missed a class and i still got a C in the class because of her final...who gives a fuck if you don't know stupid terms that you will never use in your life...My first quarter at cal poly i got A's in all of my classes an A in macro and an A in Bus law [she] gave me a C which fucked up my gpa. I play a sport and would show up late to her class because i would have practice form 2 to 4 and [she] wouldn't take that into consideration.

It is almost impossible to get an A in this class. Having said that it is even harder to get anything below a C as long as you show up to class ( even if you only do so on your speech days ). She tends to repeat herself a lot which gets boring and annoying after awhile but nothing too bad. She makes you buy her public speaking guide which is both a good and bad thing. Good: at $10 it is much cheaper than the regular textbook. Bad: she wrote it, so obviously there is going to be some kind of ego issue. She likes it when students volunteer on the first day and grades them easier, so if you are looking for a better grade get ready early. The final isn't completely random, I only skimmed through the guide for about 5 minutes and I knew about 3/4 of the final

This class is a mixed bag. Be prepared. The highlight is you only have to buy a $10 pamphlet. There are no papers and no tests.

shea is a chill lady. she's always willing to answer questions (even if they're in the text or have been answered far too many times before), is open-minded on topics, and isn't a bitch like some others have said. if you want an easy a, i wouldn't recommend taking her. the closest i got to an a on a speech was 88% (which i got twice btw)--so she's a fairly tough grader, but is consistent and gives tons of feedback. to get a low b on any speech, you just have to follow the guidelines in her book. also, if you ask questions during the final assigned speech of the class and time, she'll bump your grade up if you're on the border. her final wasn't too bad, i studied maybe a half an hour for it and she likes having students give insightful speeches about topics that aren't cliche or overly discussed. bottom line is, she's not out to get you and considering how many shitty coms teachers there are, going with shea isn't too damn bad. besides, she requires a $10 book--how bad can she possibly be?

The lady is a bit of a "mixed bag." She doesn't really teach anything except sell you a stupid $10 guide that you are suppose to basically teach yourself. And when you ask her a question she WILL reply.... "Its in your Guide, didn't you read your guide?" The thing is pretty much crap anyway, except for the good example speeches. Anyway, my point, maybe a good person, but not a good teacher in any way. Im sure there are way better ones out there.

Last post: you're a douchebag! Shea is great, that you could not understand her is your fault. Grow up, go to school, learn to learn. Otherwise fuck off!

Dr. Shea does seem to play favorites, but it is not hard to get on her good side. She seems fairly opinionated but does her best to stay balanced on her example speeches and evaluation of others. She is a difficult grader, I only got 1 A on a speech but she doesn't usually give below a C either. The final is fairly specific but not a problem if you study the blue book she gives at the beginning of the class.

Although she definitely has her favorites, she's a pretty easy grader overall. Definitely take her for COMS 101, she's alot easier than many of the other teachers. Not to mention she's pretty funny, and the book for the class only costs $10.

Dr. Shea is a total hard ass. She basically strolls the class room like she is having a bad tweak out on cocaine. Her overall ability to present the instructions of the class clearly are awful. She is super edgy and her attitude rubs off on the students. And she grades extremely meticulously. She told our entire class that the maximum amount of A\'s she would give out would be 3 for a class of 25. It\'s basically automatic that you will pass the class, but that\'s if you are fine with getting C\'s. I really wish I took this class with a different professor.

I absolutely LOVED Dr. Shea. I had her for COMS 101 and although she might come off as strict and sometimes intimidating, she makes it perfectly clear what her expectations are and exactly how to achieve them. My advice is to use her booklet and definitely keep it because it was extremely helpful throughout the course. If you have a hard time with anything, she is also really helpful if you come to talk to her after class or during office hours. She offers good suggestions for speeches and is good with answering any questions you might have or explaining her reasoning in the way she grades you. She is extremely fair and from what I\'ve heard, she\'s definitely one of the better teachers to have for COMS 101

By the far the easiest teacher ever. A B is attainable just writing the speech the night before. Whoever got a bad grade must be retarded

If you show up and speak on the days you are assigned you are almost certain to get at least a B in the class. She is a very laid back prof and is a really easy grader. She also allows you to pick your own topic for all of the speeches. Overall Shea made this class very non-stressful, I\'d recommend taking her.

This class sucked. You could always expect your grade to be the same as your first speech. NO EXCEPTIONS, no matter how prepared/unprepared you are. In some ways this makes the class easy, but also, you have to sit and listen to her feminist bitching for 2hours straight. maybe there was a 2 minute break in the middle. AVOID her. person below me.. BOSS

She's ok if you follow everything she wants to do. If you conform to her standards, she'll love you.

this professor was an interesting one. i definitely would not recommend her to anyone. she is very biased towards men, so if you are a guy i would avoid her. she also has VERY BAD mood swings, no humor, and she thinks she is the god of public speaking. i personally dont think she is a great speaker at all. shea is very picky and you have to put up with her a lot. good luck with this one.

Overall, Professor Shea knows her stuff. But here are some of the goods and bads about her. Good: she knows her stuff, she will pin point what you are doing wrong and isn't afriad to say it. Bad: You will have to buy the book she wrote. And since you can't sell it back, the book is pretty useless. She will lecture the first 4-5 weeks, and you will do all the speech in the next 5 weeks or so. The final was ridiculous. She puts little details in there from the book she wrote. With information you will never use again. One thing though, she doesn't grade on the content of the speech rather on how you presented the speech. There were people with 1/2 the wrong information in their speech that still got an A in that particular speech. Therefore, don't spend all your time getting all the correct facts for your speech, spend time practicing your speech. She will also look directly at you when she talks. Sometimes her eyes will get really big and just stares are your face. I wasn't too comfortable once she got too close to my face since I sat on the first row. Also, be sure to call her Professor Shea. One student accidentally called her Ms. she got very annoyed and made a huge deal about the whole thing. The less stuff you say in her class the better.

She promises to only give 3 A\'s. uhh...what if there are 8 really good public speakers?!? Ill tell you what, only 3 get A\'s. IT IS CRUCIAL TO DELIVER AMAZING TWO FIRST SPEECHES. this is because its after the first two that she decides in her mind who the A students will be. She also decides who the B and C students are. SHE WILL NOT GIVE LESS THAN A C which is good. Easy to pass. However, dont take her if you are an A student. She doesnt judge strictly on the best speeches.

She is a great teacher and made speech very enjoyable. I am not one who likes to get up in front of others but she made me comfortable doing it. Be sure to take good notes the first few weeks of class, your mid-term depends on them.

Dr Shea is a good teacher, she states clearly what she expects from you. She only lectures during the first two weeks of class, make sure you take good notes, the midterm is almost entirely based on those two weeks (plus a little from SPC/ENGL/PHIL 125 ethos, pathos, logos etc). She is a little intimidating for a woman her size, because she doesn't smile much and has a demanding voice. However she is a good and thoughful teacher, and that is all that really counts!

Dr. Shea is rather intimidating at first but is overall a good professor and a fair grader. Be sure to study for the midterm because it is harder than you think it will be. Know the book she wrote very well before you take the test and be sure to go to class, she's big on attendance. For the most part, the speeches don't require too much research so if you're looking for an easy B, this is the class for you.

I would not take Shea again, ever. I will admit that if you want a B, then she is all right. However, if you want an A, forget about it. Her standards of grading are incredibly harsh, inconsistent, and worst of all you can NEVER read her comments because her writing is incomprehensible.

I dunno about this lady, she can often be abrasive towards people after speeches when it's not easy to get up in front of a 30 person class. Unless you're a public speaker named Adolf Hitler, don't expect to get an "A". But getting a "B" is not too difficult. Her below average book(that she wrote herself) did not help me too much with public speaking, but you need it to study for her impossible test.

I really liked Dr. Shea. I was really dreading public speaking but she helped put me at ease with her helpful suggestions and positive, upbeat style. She values everyone's input and is respectful of her students. The material was presented very clearly, and I knew exactly what was expected. One note--study hard for the midterm. Read her book cover to cover, not once, but twice. If you haven't taken speech yet, Shea's the one to take.

Dr. Shea is a really nice lady. I don't particulary like giving speeches but it was very easy to relax in her class. The first few weeks of class are all lecture, which honestly can be very boring but after that all you do in class is give and listen to speeches. You can't really skip class on days you aren't presenting because she takes role and gives participation points for being there. There are only four major speeches and one credit or no credit to begin the quarter. The longest speech is 9 minutes, which may seem incredibly long but flies by once you actually start speaking. You always get to choose your topics too. She gives you your grade with a full evaluation the same day you present which is really nice. Definitely pay attention to what she critiqued you on because she looks for improvement in your next speech. There is only one test; the final which is a piece of cake if you read her manual. I definitely reccommend taking her!

The class material was interesting, but even with doing all the readings, the tests were difficult since there were often many right answers and we were told to choose the one that was "the most right". The lectures seemed like a lot of common sense, which was hard to apply when being tested. It would be nice if this class was graded on more assignments rather than heavily on the tests, and barely on one paper.

"Um...uh"

Interpersonal Psych is a good class. Your grade is composed of two tests and a paper. The paper (20% of your grade) serves as a grade boost (it is just a reflection paper, very easy). The tests are difficult. Class itself is enjoyable, and Shea is a very engaging and nice lady. She does not lecture everything in the book, so doing the readings is imperative for the tests. But, then again, not everything on the test is in the book, so you must take good lecture notes, which is difficult with her way of lecturing, because it is hard to tell what is important. She is a good teacher, explains things well, but I just wish she would have more structured lectures. Overall, not a very hard class.

Professor Shea is engaging and incredibly knowledgeable. She presents the material by relating it to everyday situations, making it much easier to understand and personalize the concepts. The class itself is not much work: participation points, a midterm, a final exam, and a final self-evaluation paper. It may seem hard to follow her lectures because she doesn't use powerpoint, but listen for the key terms and you should be fine. If you make an effort to participate in class, you will retain a lot of the information and benefit from the participation points. This class will teach you extremely useful skills for interacting with people on an everyday basis and should be required for all Cal Poly students! One of the most useful classes I have ever had!

Dr. Shea is a great professor. She cares so much about her students and loves the material she is teaching. Shea also gives her students the benefit of the doubt and is so kind and understanding with any circumstance. This class is also so much fun! You learn so much about yourself and others, even if you don't have to take it you should! The midterm is pretty tough, so make sure you study. But the final is easier than the midterm and she grades the final paper pretty nicely. As long as you try your best you'll definitely get an A or a B+

Great subject but I got more enjoyment and information out of reading the book than lectures. Examples she gives in class are not very good either sometimes making it harder to understand! She has a lot of energy and know her stuff but she doesn't get it across too clear. To get a good grade on miterm/final focus on the book: terms, theroies, outline chapters, MAKE FLASH CARDS. Exams are Multiple choice and short answer The only other thing is a paper writeup on a movie. Not to bad if you take the time.

Shea is an awesome teacher. If you involve yourself in the dayly talks you get a lot out of the class! You will enjoy it! Don't skip class, she will notice

Shea is a total firecracker! She kills me. A very funny lady who made class EXTREMELY enjoyable. She has had a very interesting life, as well as very interesting friends. I loved hearing her stories. Her grading is very fair. Your grade is based on three tests and attendance/participation. As mentioned below, don't miss class, she will notice. She goes over some of what is in the book, usually making it personal (asking for students stories about the ex-from-hell, etc. as well as telling you about her crazy friends.) In order to pass the class you must read the book. No worries though, it is an easy read.

Prof Shea is amazing! You will love this class! She is funny, strait forward, and really likes to get people involved. A great class and a great teacher!

Dr. Shea is a very straight-forward, no nonsense woman. Yes, she does recognize each student so do not miss class without informing her, no, she does not give study guides because "her lecture should be all you need." Well, she's right. In lecture (which often kept us laughing) she goes over the material you need to know that will be pertinent for the test, and any information that is NOT in the book she will usually tell you about beforehand. Do know that you will have to read and actually comprehend the book, which might be a pain, but hey--this is college! I received a B+ in the class, and with a bit more effort probably could have gotten the A. I personally think she likes it when people participate, so go on ahead. Overall I enjoyed this class and am probably going to pursue a Comm minor now! Take her!

I took her for interpersonal communication. Most of the material is aimed towards the ladies in the class, so much so that I find it hard to imagine her teaching the same class to a classroom full of guys. I don't know what she'd teach. It was pretty amusing at first, but once we got into some of the topics most guys try to avoid it got less amusing. It's very easy to participate in the class, and since 10% of your grade is on that, it should be easy to get full credit. Her first 2 midterms were easy but the 'final' was much more difficult. Curiously, out of the 26 people in the class 4 of them being guys, all four of them were the last four people to turn in there test. I don't know why, it might be the questions she asked on the test were just somehow harder for guys. I wouldn't say she does it on purpose, it was just curious to note.

Shea makes the material interesting and is not afraid to cut to the chase. She really likes student interaction, but has a back-up of plenty of personal stories. The test questions are not tricky. They are directly from the book and lecture. Take good notes and study well, and you should not have to stress. Everything is very clear, and Shea is happy to help with any questions.

Professor Shea is an amazing woman with the most intense eye-contact out of all the professors I've had in my six years here. She makes you feel like you are the only person in the class sometimes, which is great if you enjoy being engaged, but not if you want to sit quietly in the back and just listen. The class has a high amount of class involvement and she takes attendance daily. The tests are extremely fair even for the amount of information is presented. You DO need the book and you will read every page of it since she asks each class who's read and expects you to participate if you've said you have. The material is interesting, and She does a great job of presenting it and leaving out the obvious stuff. She works mostly from the book but also brings in outside information, videos, and slides - appropriately diverse and practical. The class material is vital (in my opinion) and well worth the effort it takes to be on her good side. Once the ball gets rolling you get the feel for it and it's very enjoyable.

Dr. Shea is a great professor with a lot of knowledge about interpersonal communication. She presents not only the material in the text well but she also brings in a lot of outside information. It's really important to attend class everyday but the interesting lectures make that easier. The only problem with Dr. Shea is that she doesn't exactly practice what she preaches. She is direct but the problem is that she is too direct. She can seem sort of intimidating and her sarcasm is also annoying at times. Just make sure to be on her good side. There's no study guide for the exams and you really do have to study and do the reading. Make sure to take good notes on the research or case studies she talks about in class because they are definitely on the exams.

This class wasn't bad in that the material was pretty basic. However, Dr. Shea can be hard to follow in class. She is animated and entertaining, but her lectures never seemed to follow a very specific format. The reading is what got me through the exams. I got through the entire class with an A, but somehow earned a B because she weights the last exam (not even cumulative) more heavily than the others and also makes it more difficult. So, if you do have to take this class, don't be deceived by the easiness of the first two exams.

My favorite Coms class so far. Shea is awesome!! Here's the breakdown: Exam 1- 35 points Exam 2- 20 points Exam 3- 35 points Interpersonal Analysis Paper- 10 points The first test is the easiest, the second is a little harder, and I thought the third was the hardest. Just realize that each question is 1 percent of your grade. Tests are multiple choice with the last 3 points (2 points for the 2nd exam) a short essay. Definitely read and know the terms. And go to class- it's actually really interesting!

THE MOST USEFUL AND BEST CLASS AT CAL POLY! Dr. Shea is extremely intimidating at first, but as you get further into the class you warm up to her!She is straight forward and not afraid to call you out if what you are saying is wrong. This class actually drastically changed my life and the way I interact with people.Trust me you will not regret taking it! No matter what grade you receive, you will take something positive out of what you are taught.

dr shea is so cool!! she actually makes class interesting and involves the students. plus, the tests are mostly straight out of the book, i just outlined the chapters and got an As or high Bs on all the tests. and the interpersonal analysis is SOOO EASY, plus you learn a little bit about yourself. i highly reccoomend her and this class!

Dr. Shea's class was really intresting. I would recommend it to anyone who has to fufill their cultural pluralism requirement. But be prepaired guys: she had a tendency to make the guys in class fell really guilty.

I had Dr. Shea for Introduction's to Women's Studies. It was a five-week class so it was naturally a little bit intimidating already. But this made the reading seem like a lot. But the class notes are more important than the book, by far! She is a very good teacher. I would highly recommend her for anyone who wants to learn a whole heck of a lot about Women's Studies. She presented the material in a very concise and organized manner. She had interesting stories to share about each of the different subjects. She is also big on statistics and updates on reports from the text which is not that old in itself. I did not think that I would like the class when I went into it, but au contraire, I loved it! I tend to take a lot of notes, and I write everything down, but from those notes and the readings, I was able to squeak by with an "A-". I went to her office hours as well to prepare for the tests, and she was more than willing to go over her study guide review, and any questions that I had. She is also a very knowledgeable person about the way things work, on campus and off campus. Ask her what she got her PhD in, it is impressive! Please do not call her, "Mrs.", as you will learn in the language unit, she is a doctor, and deserves the title. I ask a lot of questions, and she picked on me once and made me feel kind of weird and embarassed for asking, but I got over it. Besides that one time, she was really helpful, and really great about questions, she always had answers, except about other countries. She is an American, true and through. The class should be called, "Introduction to Women's Studies in the United States," whereas I could generally care less about the US, she could really care less about other countries. And as for the comment from the other girl who said that she tends to make guys in the class feel a little bit guilty, that did not ever once happen in our class. She went out of her way to make sure that the comments that she was making did not necessarily apply to anyone person in the class! One thing that you will leave the class with, is a true understanding about how women's movement is not over, and there are many more obstacles. It made me a feminist and I am a man! I just ordered a shirt that says, "Feminist Chicks Dig Me" in honor of that class! Well, good luck with the class, I loved it, and would take another class from her in a heart beat! Ciao Bello!

Dr. Shea is definitely an interesting teacher and the class was not overly difficult. You have about a chapter a week to read, but the reading is easy going. I would not recommend skipping a lot of classes because she does notice. Her personality is interesting and something to get used to. At times she is very amusing and at others, a little irritating. But the material is realllllly wonderful. Recommended~

Dr. Shea is an intense personality. Although knowledgable, she comes across as pushy and close-minded at times. I would recommend taking another teacher for this class, personally. Even though I don't think she is a bad teacher and the class is not very difficult, her personality can be intense at times.

Another amazing class by Shea. She is awesome at engaging the class and really makes you look forward to it. I honestly loved the book, and found the material extremely interesting. Two midterms (35 each- 30 multiple choice 5 point essay), one 3-4 page paper (20 points), and 10 points for attendance/participation. Great elective COMS course!!!