PROS:
- Interesting and relatable content, not difficult to grasp at all
- Dr. K is very nice and pleasant to talk to!
- Essays were short and easy to write, not graded harshly
- Tests were all multiple choice and OK, but they do require you to pay close attention to details from the readings

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CONS:
- You have to write a 10-ish page portfolio paper at the end of the class.
- You also have to buy a $45 course reader

The real strengths are in the professor through this class. She is able to engage the class a lot. However, a STRONG weakness is the grading of this course. There is only two exams and two papers with the exams being extremely abstract even with its multiple choice nature. I feel as if the teacher tries to make the course harder with those for almost no reason. On the two essays I received nothing higher than a 90 with no comments on my grade and no explanation on how or why I could have done better. I really liked this class before I got my first essay and test back. I think I'm going to end with a B+ or an A-, but I really don't know what I could have done any better.

I loved class with Professor K and would gladly take another B from her class. I feel like I was able to learn a lot. The midterm and final tests were multiple choice and true/false but a bit tough as it's closed notes, so make sure to study the different terms. There's also 2 papers that are super easy and also a final portfolio which allows you to be a bit more creative while reviewing concepts learned (helpful for reviewing for the final). Make sure to take good notes, she's always there for office hours if needed, I wish I would've taken more advantage of that! She creates slides that are informational, but she explains it further in her lecture and is often more a digestible version of the slides. She has played videos in class and assigns weekly readings and sometimes videos (some are optional). Would recommend reading cause that'll help you understand (they're not that boring) but I didn't and managed to get a high B.

After taking 2 classes with Dr. K (both online), I can confidently say I'd never take her class in person because I cannot imagine what my score on exams would look like. She asks very specific questions on readings and her "study guides" aren't condensed at all -- she just puts everything onto a paper and calls it a study guide. She claims her exams are multiple choice but they are "select all that apply" which really puts you at a disadvantage. Her T/F questions are tricky as well.
She's helpful with the short papers and I feel like she remembers you if you go to her office hours for help. The work is manageable its just the exams.

I really enjoyed Comm 110 w/ Dr. K. The class was broken into five assignments, two papers (each 100 points), two exams (midterm and final, each 150 points), and one final portfolio project (200 points). You can work in a group on the portfolio and the length remains the same whether you work alone/together, so that was a good opportunity to collab and tackle it together if wanted. I worked alone and it was totally fine. I found the actual lecture to be really enjoyable. They were recorded, ok to skip or not be in the actual time which was nice and made the class very accommodating. In lecture our class actually had many extremely insightful and really good conversations about gender, something I really enjoyed. Dr. K is straightforward and very clear with topics. Readings are helpful, you definitely need to do them for the midterm/final. Honestly, I thought the test were hard. I studied for both of them a lot and got an 86 on midterm and 82 on final. For what it's worth, I thought I got an 100% when I turned my final in and was genuinely shocked to see I got a B-. BUT essay grading was super easy (and the "essays" are two pages double spaced), and the portfolio seemed to be graded as much on effort as content. This is a great class to fulfill requirements for the Comm major, and Dr. K offers extra credit and REALLY cares about her students. She was super flexible, changed dates around to accommodate us, and is always willing to read over an outline, chat during office hours, etc. I probably will try to take another class from her before I graduate, she brings a lot of personal experiences into lectures and I found myself really enlightened in terms of gender and communication, which is the topic. Overall - fun class, learned a lot of interesting things, but NOT an easy/guaranteed A, I definitely had to put in some work for my A- so that is one thing to note, but overall the workload is pretty light until the end of the quarter.

Definitely recommend this class! Kiscenski is super helpful and the lectures are engaging. The workload is heavy around midterm and final time but manageable with readings throughout the quarter. There were 2 tests, 2 papers, and a final cumulation paper. The lectures are very interesting and allow for discussion. I learned a lot and would for sure take this class again as an upper-div comm requirement

I know a lot of Comm students really like and enjoy Mrs. Kicenski's course, but I did not share in this experience. The information in the class is interesting and obviously socially relevant right now, but her presentation style is very poor. She often comes off unprepared, just reading off her slides and not having ready-made examples. She also has a very lackadaisical speaking style that makes her seem almost uninterested in her own material. The readings were great, and the structure of the class was well done--two papers, a midterm and a final, none of which are too difficult. Overall this class was OK in my opinion. It's not a class to stay away from, but it won't be the bright spot of your quarter either.

Love Kicenski. Such a dope teacher who gives personal antidotes to the material and invites discussion from her students. We watched a lot of videos in class which brought the lecture material to life. Two two page essays on gender in real life media and marketing which she grades pretty leniently, a portfolio which is about 12 pages of writing on a couple topics of your choice due tenth week, and a short MC midterm and MC cumulative final. Not super tough but definitely go to class as some of the test questions will be about what was shown in the videos. The course reader isn't extremely useful until the portfolio as you'll need to use quotes from it to get a good score. Tests are a mix of readings and lectures but the reading questions are usually pretty general (ex: what is the main idea of this reading?)

I definitely recommend this class!!
Strengths: Professor really does do a great job of engaging with her students and allowing the discussions take a natural flow. I was very comfortable seeking help, and I always felt that my input was welcome. I felt that I learned material that is very applicable outside of the course.
Weaknesses: The course material was great, but the grading for the essays and tests was pretty tough. Not as easy as you may think!