Disclaimer: Dr. Dixon and his wife (also a professor at UCLA) they're leaving to go teach at University of Illinois, so they will not longer be at UCLA starting Fall 2014. So this review is more geared towards Comm 10 class in general.

First off, I thought this was going to be an easy A because the topics of Comm 10 is understand and relevant to our society but the exams are difficult. From my understanding, Communication STudies is not an easy major to get into so the class can't be expected to be easy.

Even though Dr. Dixon is leaving, I love going to his office hours and he is so understanding of the students who wants to get a good grade in the class and does above and beyond by doing things like printing out your "progressive report" and telling you what kind of grades you should aim for on the test in order to get certain grades in the class. I've never had a professor at UCLA that would do that for their students. He also taught me how to study for this class.

I am very sad that he won't be part of UCLA anymore. Definitely a loss.

I ended up with a B- in the class (D on the midterm but I pulled through and got an A on the Final exam).

This was honestly the worst class I have taken at UCLA. His tests were impossible because they were completely subjective. I got a B-, and before this class I had straight As at UCLA. 7 people out of 200 got As, the averages on the midterm and final were low Cs. He required us to buy 2 books, and each cost over $100! Take this class with another professor.

Dixon is a great professor! No bs tricky test questions--he is straight forward and lays out exactly what you need to do to do well. He's very knowledgeable, down to earth, and approachable. He went to UCLA so I think he really understands how to be an effective professor here, and I would absolutely take a class with him if you have the chance!

Overall decent professor. The tests were fairly challenging and you really had to study for them to be successful.

Prof. Dixon was one of the best professors that i've had so far here at UCLA. I'm not even a Comm major and I'm saying this.

The main reasons:

He's a straightforward teacher. Anything that he claims will be on the test will be on the test! No surprises.
He gives out practice sheets that do extraordinarily well to prep you.

He curves your grade to the highest score earned in the class, which i think is a fair way, because it's as if he believes the best score reflects how well he was able to communicate to his class. It's a fair balance and he achieves that.

The fact that he's a former UCLA student himself lends a hand in his ability to relate to the stress we go through; if you have 2 other exams/essays due on the same day as his midterm or final, he will acomdate you to the best of his abilities. I've never had to do that personally, but really, how much more gracious can a professor be?

The tough side? He expects you to read his PDF assignments. Really. Like every class expects that, so that's equally as fair.

His routine of 2 iclicker questions at the beginning and end of the class period helps submerse students into the class itself; it encourages participation.

His response papers are easy ways to earn points and aren't difficult if you think about it. Read the material, understand it, and simply give him feedback. The challenge is that he requires you to do it all in one page, but that's a unique skillset to master, i believe, for the real world. Present key material as dense and straight-forward as you can.

Plus, he plays rap periodically at the beginning of class. Classic rap. Not this Lil' Jon, Nicki Minaj garbage. Quality music. Also teaches you the history/evolution of rap in ways you've probably never really thought of before.

PS: His studies have been published in other scholarly articles/ academic journals i've had to read for other classes. HE'S LEGIT.

If you take his class based off of this eval, you're welcome. :-)

It was one of the best classes I have taken so far at UCLA. The readings were relatively easy to handle on a weekly basis and were not a sensory overload where studente read 400 pages every week and not remember a single concept or idea after the quarter is over. The syllabus was well structured and organized and the pace of the class was very comfortable.
Professor Dixon took a few important ideas/concepts and ensured that the students understood the true meaning and implications of it in academic and in real life. Prof. Dixon was open to suggestions, and ideas from students and was very understanding and encouraging towards the students success in the course. I wish there were more professors like him at UCLA. I had a wonderful experience.