Smailes, April  

She's a very nice person, but unfortunantly cannot teach course material very well. The text chosen by this teacher is not very clear.

Professor Smailes is not very understanding of her students problems. She is unorganized and messed up on our test grades. Her time management skills need improvement because we would often run out of time for the lectures. She is however down to earth with her students and relates well to them.

Great teacher who keeps class interesting. Would recommend to anyone who has to take Political Science classes.

all i have to say is that if you are a student who can read all of the assigned reading you will do fine in this class. as for those of us who have no interest in government and thus somtimes fail to do the reading, do poorly in the class. her lectures usually dont even cover the reading. she spends the whole class talking about current events and makes you do all of the work. would not recommend her

Professor Smailes is very energetic and interesting. I had her class in the morning and she definately kept us awake. The material is relatively easy and should be pretty much a review of high school government. Her tests are multiple choice straight from her lecture. For the first three tests we also had an essay. These are easy too. 10 points for the essay and 40 multiple choice. However she does get off topic quite often, and she is not always undrstanding of personal problems. Other than that take good notes and you will be fine.

She's a bit of a dim bulb, but the class was fairly easy and there was no homework or out-of-class essays. Mostly a rehash of high school government class. She seemed kinda sorta interested but not really. Neither was I. Quite the yawnfest, but easy credits.

I hated her disregard for professionalism. I don't care that she went drinking with her friends or about how "lame" Catholics are. She tended to cuss repeatedily as if trying to relate, or show herself "hip." Frankly, this made it difficult to remain attentive to the lecture. I found the book entertaining and delightful. Her lectures tended to be loosely prepared and easily off-tracked. I'm sure there are people who enjoy her "style", I wouldn't recommend her to anybody who takes class seriously.

She is very energetic and happy about this subject and brings the information across quite well. The bad thing is that if you don't do the assigned readings, you won't understand a word she's saying. Her tests are fair but like I said, you will only get through this class if you are interested in government like she is and you do all the assigned readings.

Don't bother about this professor. She told us she's leaving after this fall quarter. According to her, she's working too much and her husband wants more time with her. It seemed like a hurried decision to me. Who would quit a job at Cal Poly?

Being a student who is not at all interested in government and that had a bad expierence with a lowsy professor in highschool, I was dreading this course. April, however, made it a breeze. I felt that she was able to relate to her students and present the material in a way that was easy to understand and entertaining.Although I didn't use the text that she has chosen for the class, her exams come straight from her lecures, if you pay attention and take good notes you will do well. I would strongly recommend her to anyone that asks.

I have two messages regarding Professor Smailes. One she comes across as being a very friendly individual to her class which gives students an opportunity to relate to her. She is down to earth, which is a great change for professors at this unviversity. A warning, the reading is long and boring, so it is not intended to be left for the night before an exam. Her lectures sometimes get off topic, but all the information she tests you on is fair. She offers no misleading questions. Test format: multiple choice and a short essay (very easy since she goes over the topics in class).

clear and concise delivery of material - kept me interested - would highly recommend her.