I just received an e-mail from chass promoting the new class, COM 487-003 Internet & Society
MW 1:30 -2-45pm, taught by Adriana de Souza e Silva.
She came and guest lectured for my class last semester and she was just awful. She sped through the notes with a very thick accent that most of the class could not understand. The material she covered was interesting but no one knew what the hell she was talking about half the time. She seems really sweet and the class might be interesting but I'd wait a few semesters to take it. Give her time to learn how to lecture and perhaps lose a bit of her accent.

http://www.souzaesilva.com

12/6/2005 1:13:01 PM

Haha she's got her own domain that is kinda cool.

PS - I know you outside of TWW that means we both get 500 cool points.

12/6/2005 1:34:36 PM

she seems hot enough. just needs to take care of the oily skin and some porcelain veneers wouldn't hurt either. add those things and I'd hit it.

12/6/2005 1:38:29 PM

12/6/2005 1:39:54 PM

Well her blog/website is easy to understand. Perhaps she'll provide lecture notes for those hard of hearing.

12/6/2005 1:40:12 PM

It's too bad there isn't a section on TWW that's devoted entirely to this sort of topic...

12/6/2005 1:45:04 PM

Quote :

"She sped through the notes with a very thick accent that most of the class could not understand. The material she covered was interesting but no one knew what the hell she was talking about half the time."

Now you know what most of the technical classes are like.

Anyways, that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. If that is the worst professor you come across at State then consider yourself VERY lucky.

12/6/2005 1:47:39 PM

my technical classes werent like that.

12/6/2005 1:48:39 PM

i have her this semester for COM 327. she's not that bad. her accent isn't a problem at all anymore. sometimes her pronunciation of certain words and her grammar is funny, but there's no comprehension issues.

but yea, you can tell she's getting used to teaching. she seems nervous when she's lecturing. she is nice, but doesn't have the most engaging teaching style. for COM 327 tho we talked about all sorts of pretty cool (sometimes just weird and useless) technology, and she showed lots of videos and stuff, so that kept us interested. other times i was fightin tooth and nail to stay awake.

i hear com 487 is the same format. u gotta post on a weblog for every class which gets annoying sometimes, but there's no tests at least. it's different, but sort of gets old. It's definitely far from the worst class or worst teacher, but I don't really recommend either.

well there's my essay free of charge. i gotta type a ten page paper for this class due tomorrow, so i better get started on that.

12/6/2005 2:25:39 PM

I got that email too... but decided to opt out when I saw the name...
I had a professor for a PR class and she was from the Bahamas... her accent was so thick I would lose interest in the class very quickly

12/6/2005 2:28:12 PM

hahah,
I have had technical classes...com research methods being one..but when the teacher goes through a slide a minute, no matter how hard you listen or how fast you write, there's not much hope.

Granted, I'm sure she is not the WORST...I didn't say she was. I just said her guest lecture was horrible. I couldn't even read my notes because there were random words like M.U.D. that were acronyms for something but no one in the class knew what. I got through maybe 1/2 of each slide before she sped on to another one.

So, I guess the title of the thread should be "Avoid this professor for a few semesters" until she gets her routine down.

12/6/2005 2:58:11 PM

Quote :

"i gotta type a ten page paper for this class due tomorrow, so i better get started on that."

We have the same thing due tomorrow in 487.

It was originally a 15 page paper (that I could swear was supposed to be 1.5 spaced), but now it's down to 10 pages double-spaced.

It's not hard to understand what she's saying at all. If you have any questions about 487, feel free to ask me. I do find it odd that I got two e-mails about taking 487 next semester, when I'm in the class now.

12/6/2005 2:58:23 PM

Maybe I'm the only person here from a small town that has trouble understanding her..lol

12/6/2005 3:02:24 PM

She was a bit hard to understand when she presented in 250, but she was just rushing through it and nervous. We she's just teaching, she's much better.

12/6/2005 3:04:43 PM

I have her for COM 487. This class was actually fun for the most part. I just wish that people wouldn't judge teachers after one guest lectured class. She's not that bad. Sure, she has an accent or some sort of dialect (She's Brazilian for Christ sakes). She gives good lectures, and encourages class participation.

I can see where ohmy is coming from because many times I found myself not really paying too much attention to the lectures. Yes, she's a new teacher, but she has the notes online (if you come to class) and she keeps us interested with a lot of videos. I'm telling you, give her a chance. If she is going too fast, tell her, and she will slow down.

As far as work:
Around 20 blog posts (2 a week)
2 Group Papers
A 10-minute Presentation
and... a 10-15 pg. final paper

Not impossible. The only gripe is the group papers (can either help or hurt your grade). Other than that, it's not too bad. All I have to say is AGAIN GIVE HER A CHANCE. Now, I have to write my final paper as well.

12/6/2005 3:06:05 PM

Glad you liked her.

Quote :

"She's Brazilian for Christ sakes"

Good for her. I, however, am not Brazilian. I didn't blame her for having an accent..I just said she had one and it was difficult for me to understand.

Anyhow, I've spoken to a few people who have had her class and they all said the same thing but it's possibly not the best idea to show opposition on an internet message board to a professor who is internet savvy.

And yeah, it's not always correct but first impressions often carry weight and change opinions. I know I won't be taking her class and that's all I'm saying.

12/6/2005 3:21:47 PM

it's amazing how forgiving people will be once they find out someone's brazilian/hot. That being said, go easy on her! it's not easy talking lecturing in front of so many students (in your non-native language), you know!!

[Edited on December 6, 2005 at 3:41 PM. Reason : .]

12/6/2005 3:35:48 PM

um....if you dont like getting up and talking in front of people, then teaching is not the job for you.

12/6/2005 3:37:23 PM

Quote :

"It's too bad there isn't a section on TWW that's devoted entirely to this sort of topic..."

12/6/2005 3:43:05 PM

487 was a worthless class, i learned nothing worthwile the entire semester, now i have to write ten pages of filler about a worthless topic, what a waste of time

^^^shes not hot

[Edited on December 6, 2005 at 3:45 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on December 6, 2005 at 3:46 PM. Reason : .]

12/6/2005 3:44:19 PM

i'd hit it

12/6/2005 3:54:32 PM

Quote :

"Maybe I'm the only person here from a small town that has trouble understanding her..lol"

i don't understand what coming from a small town has to do with understanding someone with a foreign accent

12/6/2005 5:21:39 PM

a COM class taught by someone no-one in the class can understand... anyone else see the irony?

12/6/2005 5:22:36 PM

shes not hard to understand but when she says focus it sounds like fuck us and i laugh every time

12/6/2005 10:08:55 PM

hahaha, oh yea, that gets me everytime

12/7/2005 6:40:59 AM

Quote :

"We she's just teaching, she's much better."

ehe com degree at work

Quote :

"i don't understand what coming from a small town has to do with understanding someone with a foreign accent"

lets see where to begin

you dont experience outside influence , because you live in a small town with very few outsiders

you dont hear people with accents often

you have a hard time understanding accents because of your lack of experience

do you need a flow chart?

12/7/2005 9:47:44 AM

Quote :

"i don't understand what coming from a small town has to do with understanding someone with a foreign accent"

Small town...READ: small, lacking in culture and diversity, southern.

As in, coming from a small town, most everyone talked the same way...with the same accent/dialect. There were no Brazilian teachers, no brazilian anything. I have never been exposed to this accent before making it more difficult for me to pick up. Furthurmore, most people from small, southern towns speak very slowly and use different phrasing.

I'm sure it works both ways. My friend from Boston has trouble understanding my friend from Alhoskie.
And I don't want a teacher whom I cannot understand.

People don't seem to be noticing that I also said the class material was confusing and her lecture was all over the place. It's nothing personal against her...the only thing she personally did was go very fast through the slides.http://www.souzaesilva.com/lectures/06conferences/digitaln@rratives2004/Slides_Digital2004.pdf


From a PM:

Quote :

"Absolutely terrible class. I'm currently writing a 10 page paper on god knows what, because I have no idea what we did in the class. "

12/7/2005 10:05:25 AM

i looked at the pdf for 2 seconds and saw

"No winners or loosers"

what in the name of christ

12/7/2005 10:07:59 AM

^^ haha. i understand what you're saying.

I have trouble sometimes picking up on what people even from other parts of the states are saying.

But i love accents .. some are just more difficult for me than others.

=======
on this subject though.. i hated taking labs when the TA seemed to have only memorized certain words/phrases for that lab day. Someone would ask him to explain it a diff. way because no one had a clue what he was saying.. and he'd just rearrange the word order.. that was frustrating.

[Edited on December 7, 2005 at 10:44 AM. Reason : a]

12/7/2005 10:42:33 AM

AMEN^^
WTF is MMPORG or MUD? I still have no idea. I finally figured out RPG means Role Playing Games but not from the lecture.

^I tried to lose my accent and I think I've done a fairly good job but it's still hard to understand my own family at times.

12/7/2005 10:45:10 AM

I MUD!! SHE MUDS?? ok. i like her already.

Correction.. i used to mud.. i have no time now.

[Edited on December 7, 2005 at 10:48 AM. Reason : oops now i feel really dorky ]

[Edited on December 7, 2005 at 10:48 AM. Reason : a]

12/7/2005 10:47:16 AM

MUD=?

12/7/2005 10:48:48 AM

http://www.mudconnect.com/mudfaq/mudfaq-p1.html#q1

12/7/2005 10:53:12 AM

As for being a guest lecturer- I've had a couple in a few different classes over the years and I think that is part of their job interview- so if she was nervous I would understand.

[Edited on December 7, 2005 at 3:37 PM. Reason : ....]

12/7/2005 3:17:31 PM

^^^

Multi-User Dungeon

MMORPG is Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game

I LEARNED THAT IN CLASS!

[Edited on December 7, 2005 at 6:15 PM. Reason : .]

12/7/2005 6:13:40 PM

i didnt learn that in class

12/7/2005 7:31:19 PM

Yeah, ok -- me either.

I knew them going into it

HOWEVER

Cyberspace is space.

I did learn that and only that.

12/7/2005 7:39:29 PM