I wish the existing reviews had been more updated/transparent when I enrolled, because I went in thinking this class would be manageable to get an A in, but instead, I was severely humbled despite going to every lecture, attending the professor’s office hours (plus the extra ones), and showing up to discussion sections.

There aren’t many assignments (a transcription, two quizzes, a midterm, and a final), which means each one carries a lot of weight. Discussion sections also weren’t mandatory, so attendance didn’t count toward your grade.

My main complaint is the quizzes because the class averages were around 75% and 70% even though they were open notes. We couldn’t see which questions we got wrong, the TAs gave no written feedback on any assignments, and we had no sense of what to improve on. It was frustrating as someone who genuinely wanted to learn and do well.

Honestly, I only stuck with the class because it’s a requirement. If it weren’t, I would’ve dropped early on. The professor is really sweet and knowledgeable on the topic, but I just did not like the overall structure of the course.

The assignments are easy if you pay attention to the discussion. It's mandatory and helpful. My TA was A. Martin, and they were super helpful and would help everyone with questions.

Professor Clayman is honestly the best, he cares about his students and about the class overall. He is super knowledgeable on conversation analysis and his passion really shows as well. I recommend taking this class, your grade is mostly based off about 4-5 assignments that the TA (my TA was Lillian, she’s amazing) and professor prepare you for and make them very manageable to complete, I really liked this formatting of the class as all the assignments are based directly on what you learn in discussion and lecture and there’s no busy work. I recommend this class, super great and interesting imo!

prof clayman is just a super sweet old guy who is rly passionate about conversation analysis! i personally didn't find the topic interesting, but he made it fun and engaging. assignments aren't too bad; just show up to discussion for data sessions and get your TA's help! lor martin was my TA this quarter, and they were a huge help. would recommend!