http://www.CourseReviews.comCourseReviews.com - City College of San Franciscoen-usCopyright 1997-2008 CourseReviews.comMon, 30 Jun 2008 20:22 ESThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssdylan.feed@coursereviews.com (CourseReviews.com)dylan.webmaster@dylangreene.com (Dylan Greene) hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45594/She-made-the-class-actively-involvedWhen I took her class, I found out that Prof. Fregly not only good at the subjects but also she is funny, kind and made us understand the lessons pretty well. All you have to do is pay attention carefully because she speaks fast.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45594/She-made-the-class-actively-involved#commentsEnergetichilarious2008-06-30T19:57:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45594/She-made-the-class-actively-involvedhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45593/A-REAL-OG-PROFESSORMr. Chavaria is one of the best professors I have ever had; A real old school, down to earth type. If you grew up on the block or just want to know what that life is about. . . you will love his style. His subject material is always interesting & he knows his stuff. He doesn't BS, so don't try to BS him. His lecture material is good stuff & the reading is fascinating. His tests are all from the material he covers in class and his test are open book. but you need to do the reading or you will be lost at test time. He loves to have students ask questions & partcipate in class discussions. Super instructor, CCSF needs more like him. Oh, don't get caught texting, talking. or sleeping during his lecture or one of his film presentations. The results can be very funny if its not you !noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45593/A-REAL-OG-PROFESSOR#comments2008-06-29T17:51:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45593/A-REAL-OG-PROFESSORhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45590/Knowledgeable-and-EnthusiasticMr. Balano taught the strength training portion of PE 8, Introduction to Fitness & Training; the main instructor was Mitchell Palacio. Mr. Balano is the strength and conditioning coach for CCSF's intercollegiate teams. He brings a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to the subject of strength training. He assigned quite a bit of work in the few weeks that he taught PE 8. These included an article review and a fairly large project in which students designed a training program for a hypothetical client. Mr. Balano used PowerPoint slides and talked fast during his lectures. This was a bit of a problem, as there was no textbook or handout relating to the material he covered. I think it was the first time he had taught the class, though, so he may have refined his delivery since I took him in Fall 2006. noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45590/Knowledgeable-and-Enthusiastic#comments2008-06-29T00:19:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45590/Knowledgeable-and-Enthusiastichttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45589/Qualified-and-Friendly-InstructorMr. Palacio used to be an international level judo competitor, so CCSF students are fortunate to be able to learn judo and jujitsu from such a qualified instructor. He's very enthusiastic about teaching and about CCSF in general, and his positive attitude helps to create a friendly atmosphere in his classes. Do be prepared, though, for a hard workout in his martial arts classes. By the end of the semester, you're doing randori (sparring) on a regular basis. The CCSF Judo Club holds a tournament at the end of every semester, and students in the beginning class are welcome to compete. Mr. Palacio also teaches PE 8, Introduction to Fitness & Training, which is in large part a class on how to become a personal trainer. The class is pretty easy and doesn't require much work for the first two thirds of the semester. For a project due near the end of the semester, though, students have to design a training program for a hypothetical client. This is a useful assignment, which incorporates most of the lessons covered earlier in the semester, but it does require a lot of work.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45589/Qualified-and-Friendly-Instructor#commentsenergeticfriendly2008-06-28T23:54:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45589/Qualified-and-Friendly-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45588/Usually-Pleasant-But-Has-Irritable-SideMs. Eppler was my instructor in two courses. On the basis of Biotech 221, I would have given her a grade considerably higher than a C+. In Biotech 101, though, she often became irritated with her students and sometimes had snide responses to questions that she didn't like. On one occasion, she slapped at the hand of a student who, while looking for some equipment, touched something that she was working on. She's pleasant most of the time, but her bad moments are frequent enough - and usually uncalled for - that I can't really recommend her. Ms. Eppler was one of two instructors in Biotech 221, Biotech Process Instrumentation. The two instructors aptly describe this course as a hybrid. Ms. Eppler, who has a background in biotechnology, teaches the regulatory and validation parts of the course. Keith Mueller, who is an electrical engineer by training, teaches the instrumentation part of the course. The regulatory and validation topics are much easier than the instrumentation and software. The testing in the class on the instrumentation topics is not too rigorous, though, so I was able to get a decent grade. Biotech 101, Industrial Biotechnology, is a considerably more difficult class. Most of the time is spent in the lab, running processes used in the manufacture of biotechnology products. There is actually not a lot of required work in terms of reading assignments or homework, but you still need to spend time on the Internet, for example making sure that you understand the theory behind the techniques and processes that you perform. My classmates were a good group. A lot of them already had science degrees and/or lab experience and had a good understanding of what we were doing. Things often got pretty hectic in lab, and Ms. Eppler sometimes showed her irritable side at those times. noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45588/Usually-Pleasant-But-Has-Irritable-Side#comments2008-06-28T22:57:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45588/Usually-Pleasant-But-Has-Irritable-Sidehttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45587/Qualified-InstructorDr. Dearborn teaches Biotech 12A and 12B, which deal with regulatory aspects of the biotechnology industry. She teaches sections of the course that meet from 9:00 to 3:30 on three consecutive Saturdays. She is well qualified to teach the classes, as she worked for quite a few years in the biotechnology industry and now runs her own analytical chemistry laboratory. The Saturday class, which meets for six hours, does make for a long day. I can't say that I found the material covered in the class especially engaging. Dr. Dearborn is responsive to students' questions, though, and she is quite willing to provide advice relating to finding work in biotechnology and other science fields. It is easy to do well in these courses if you spend a few hours reviewing the material during the weeks between class meetings.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45587/Qualified-Instructor#comments2008-06-28T22:13:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45587/Qualified-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45586/Qualified-But-UnpleasantMr. Lucarelli is a skilled practitioner of taekwondo. He is, however, quite insulting and negative toward his students. This is unfortunate, not least because many of the students in the taekwando classes at CCSF are highly motivated and really want to improve their skills in this martial art. If you take his class, you will receive instruction from a qualified teacher at a fraction of the cost of taking classes at a private studio, but you may find the class environment unpleasant.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45586/Qualified-But-Unpleasant#commentsnegativeinsulting2008-06-28T21:40:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45586/Qualified-But-Unpleasanthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45585/A-vicious-human-being-avoid-herNora is in all respects a wretched human being. She can't do or say anything nice to the students in her class. She penalizes people for tardiness, for example, and is obsessed that someone might get away with being late. She makes notes to herself during class to record late arrivals. During exams, students may not leave class, even if they become sick. Her first words to a student who had joined the class late were You know that you now have an F in the class, don't you? (Unexcused absences result in failure, and this student had missed the first few classes because she had been on a waiting list to get in.) The health care interpreter course runs two semesters. Speakers of all languages meet together for the class sessions conducted by Nora and break into separate language groups for Saturday afternoon classes taught by language coaches. The language coaches are native speakers of another language who have worked as health care interpreters. In my class, we had Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian groups. I gather from talking to my classmates in the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian groups that their language coaches were quite good and that they did quite a bit of practice interpreting. The Spanish language coach, however, was useless. Unlike Nora, Carlos Vargas is a nice guy, but he doesn't do his job. Instead of having his students practice interpreting, he spends his time telling anecdotes. These anecdotes were occasionally relevant to the subject of cultural differences, but they were a poor substitute for practice interpreting. Carlos often repeated the same anecdotes, so they became less useful as time went on. In the entire second semester, when we met in our language groups more often than in the first semester, the Spanish group practiced interpreting just once. In addition to being unpleasant, Nora is a hypocrite. She frequently discusses public health issues such as smoking, junk food consumption, and diabetes, but is herself obese. It's strange that she doesn't see the irony of a health educator who is dangerously overweight. She never cut students any slack for being late but once started class at hour late because she had to pick up her husband at the airport late the previous night and wanted to sleep an extra hour. She has a policy of answering students' cell phones if the phones ring during class. She never actually carried through on this threat in my class but said that she has in her other classes. In any case, we spent a lot of time talking about how health care interpreters have to maintain patient confidentiality. There are many ways in which answering other people's cell phones could violate their privacy a child might be calling his or her parent, for example, or someone might be getting a call from a doctor about an HIV test. Nora apparently hasn't considered or ignores these issues. Finally, staff members at San Francisco General Hospital told some of my classmates who were doing practice interpreting there that students have been telling Nora for some years that Carlos does his job very poorly. Despite this notice, Nora continues to employ him, with the result that Spanish-speaking students are deprived of the practice they need. There is no reason to put up with Nora's unpleasantness, as her class is for the most part a waste of time. We spent a huge amount of time on two group projects relating to cultural differences, for example. Both projects were worthless and wasted many, many hours. Two or three class sessions, rather than two semesters, would have sufficed to cover the useful lessons, such as interpreting in the third person and conducting a pre-session briefing for the patient and health care provider. We had some useful speakers on medical topics. A much better way to learn the medical terminology required by an interpreter, though, is to take a medical terminology course (CCSF offers these courses). Most of my fellow students, in all four language groups, disliked Nora. I advise students to avoid Nora under all circumstances. I recommend that they look into interpreter training programs offered at other institutions. noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45585/A-vicious-human-being-avoid-her#commentsmeanunfairhypocritical2008-06-28T21:19:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45585/A-vicious-human-being-avoid-herhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45582/Spring-2008Spr. 2008 Steven Klot covered the psychological and social aspects of Human Sexuality. He is a unique individual with very good oratory skill. He was very open to questions and welcomed discussion. He joined the semester several weeks after the beginning of the course, so there was a slight adjustment period for the class and for him. If I had to make a minor complaint, it would be that he sometimes reads straight from the text, which can be a bit tedious. I much preferred his more freestyle lectures, which were interesting and informative. This is minor though, and I suspect that having to enter the semester halfway through may have contributed. Also, pay attention to his instructions for the extra credit assignments he offers... if he says 'typed-only and due Tuesday', he won't accept any other format, or late papers. The quizzes were scantron with about 50 psych questions. Overall, I was glad to have attended his course.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45582/Spring-2008#comments2008-06-25T20:52:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45582/Spring-2008http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45581/the-psychSpring 2008. I had the good fortune to have Lynn Byk covering the psychological portion of the Human Sexuality course I attended; at least for the first six weeks while another instructor was out on paternity leave. During that time, Lynn proved to be a friendly, knowledgeable teacher. Some of her lectures included group exercises designed to focus on a particular topic... childhood or socialization for example. She is very patient and has a pleasant lecture style. I would be sure to do the reading for the psych portions, as her lectures may not encompass every detail you'll encounter on the quizzes. Overall, I liked Lynn and would attend her class again.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45581/the-psych#comments2008-06-25T20:25:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45581/the-psychhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45580/This-guy-is-good(Taken Spr. 2008) John Perryman teaches the biological aspects of human sexuality. You would think that this would be the dreary part of the course, but John makes it very interesting, mostly through the enthusiasm he himself has for the subject. He's been involved in the teaching of human sexuality at CCSF and other colleges for several decades, so this guy knows his stuff. John has a great sense of humor, and genuinely wants you to do well in the class. Every once in a long while, he would take a minute to remind us about the importance of attendance and doing the reading, but otherwise he is very approachable and will gladly answer questions. Pay attention to the practice test he hands out a few days before the quiz... those exact questions will most likely NOT be on the quiz itself, but they give you a good idea of what to study. Also, he will usually highlight the subjects he will quiz you on by saying something like "Hey folks, write this one down, cause it will DEFINITELY be on the quiz!!" The quizzes are scantron format, with about 50 bio questions. Bottom line: John is a great instructor, well-informed, and has a great sense of humor. If I had to, I would take another course with John without hesitation.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45580/This-guy-is-good#comments2008-06-25T19:41:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45580/This-guy-is-goodhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45579/Focus-is-on-Global-Warming(Taken Spr. 2008) Anna Mills is a fine instructor, who chooses to focus her curriculum on the various facets of global warming. She is patient, informed, and tries her best to keep the class engaged. Pay close attention to the syllabus because all the grading and assignment instructions are clearly explained, and she does enforce them. Personally, she is extremely approachable and friendly. Although she focuses on the general topic of global warming, and you can tell she is pro-environment, she explores all aspects of the problem, including opposing viewpoints. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the class most when various aspects of a problem were being debated by the students. She offers extra credit in the form of visits to the Writing Lab, which can improve your Homework grade. There are a total of 4 main essays in addition to the midterm and final, with moderate readings from various sources including the web. I strongly recommend you attend the peer-review days to avoid a mandatory trip to the Lab. The peer-review days are no big deal... you basically form a small group and just exchange essays to look for errors or give suggestions. Thankfully, she also keeps a nice web-page up with announcements, assignment schedules, and links to homework and study guides. If given the chance to take another of Anna's courses, I gladly would.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45579/Focus-is-on-Global-Warming#comments2008-06-25T19:18:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45579/Focus-is-on-Global-Warminghttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45577/Upbeat-Dedicated-TeacherDr. Kaeuper is an upbeat, dedicated teacher who makes a real effort to help students succeed in her classes and in pursuing their career goals. With respect to her teaching, she's a good lecturer. She also writes tests that present just about the right level of difficulty. The test are challenging, but they avoid obscure points and give students a good chance to show their knowledge of the material. She encourages students who are having trouble or who just want to discuss class topics to come to her office hours. Dr. Kaeuper often tells students about internship and job opportunities and helps to publicize Biotech Club events. Biology 11 is a straightforward introductory biology class. My class met twice a week. Dr. Kaeuper lectured on Tuesday, and on Thursday we had lab. Grades are based on weekly quizzes; two midterms and a final; and lab reports. Biology 11 is not an easy class, as it covers a lot of material. The material on the tests comes from lectures and the textbook, though, so if you come to class and do the reading, you will be able to do reasonably well. The labs are generally easy to understand, and the lab reports are not hard. Biotech 101, Industrial Biotechnology, is a considerably more difficult class. Most of the time is spent in the lab, running processes used in the manufacture of biotechnology products. There is actually not a lot of required work in terms of reading assignments or homework, but you still need to spend time on the Internet, for example making sure that you understand the theory behind the techniques and processes that you perform. My classmates were a good group. A lot of them already had science degrees and/or lab experience and had a good understanding of what we were doing. Things sometimes got pretty hectic in lab, but Dr. Kaeuper always kept her good humor and was ready to explain things to students. noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45577/Upbeat-Dedicated-Teacher#commentsenergeticfair grader2008-06-24T01:14:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45577/Upbeat-Dedicated-Teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45576/A-nasty-character-avoid-her-classMs. Banuet-Alvers' beginning yoga class fit into my schedule, but attendance at the first class made it clear that she is a bitter and unpleasant person. She corrected one non-native English speaker on her pronunciation and had some other snide comments for non-native speakers. She told us that she was going to have jury duty and that her attitude toward the accused was "hang 'em". In addition to her nasty attitude, she is fat, out of shape, and inflexible. She has no business teaching a yoga class anywhere, much less in San Francisco, where there is an abundance of qualified yoga teachers. If you want to take yoga at CCSF, take another teacher.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45576/A-nasty-character-avoid-her-class#commentsmean-spiritedunqualifiedrude2008-06-24T00:40:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45576/A-nasty-character-avoid-her-classhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45575/Helpful-and-Enthusiastic-InstructorElizabeth Proctor was my instructor in Geography 110, Introduction to GIS, in Fall 2006. She was a good instructor in all respects. She works as a GIS professional, and her enthusiasm for the subject was apparent. I contacted her fairly often via e-mail about our assignments, and she always responded quickly. She offers students opportunities to earn extra credit on both exams and projects. She also drew our attention to a Bay Area GIS professional association and its programs and had some advice about seeking jobs in the GIS field. With regard to the class itself, I found Geography 110 to be more of a class about using software than about geography. The class provides instruction on the use of the ArcGIS software produced by ESRI. Elizabeth typically spent the first 45 minutes or hour of class lecturing on a cartographic or GIS topic. After that, we were free to use the computers in the classroom to work on our GIS assignments. We had four of these during the semester. When I took the class, the computers in the GIS classroom were very slow. The ESRI program was also installed on the computer in the CAD classroom, which was open for our use at certain times during the week. I understand that the GIS classroom was going to get new computers, so slow computers may no longer be an issue. I found the class fairly difficult because of the assignments using the software. Quite a few of my classmates, though, seemed to find it pretty easy. I imagine that people with a background using complicated software packages would not encounter too much difficulty using the ESRI software.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45575/Helpful-and-Enthusiastic-Instructor#comments2008-06-23T23:19:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45575/Helpful-and-Enthusiastic-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45574/Helpful-and-Accessible-InstructorMs. Conner was my instructor in an online section of Computer Science 160A, Introduction to Unix/Linux in Fall 2006. She seemed committed to helping students do well in her class. CS 160A lasts eight weeks. There is a new topic each week and a related assignment. The early assignments were fairly easy. I found the later ones rather more difficult. I spent time working on the assignments several days a week. This was my first computer class, so someone with previous experience scripting or programming might find the class pretty easy. Ms. Conner offers chances to earn extra credit, so it's possible to finish with more than 100% of the points required for an A. noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45574/Helpful-and-Accessible-Instructor#comments2008-06-23T21:23:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45574/Helpful-and-Accessible-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45573/An-All-Around-Good-InstructorDr. Su is a friendly instructor, dedicated to seeing that his students succeed in chemistry and in their academic careers generally. Dr. Su was my instructor for an online section of Chemistry 40 in Fall 2007. I found the online format excellent, a very efficient way to take a science class. We met once a week for our lab session. When we had quizzes or midterms, we took those in class before starting our lab. Otherwise, the class was conducted online. Like most students, I found Chemistry 40 fairly difficult. The class doesn't require a huge amount of time, but it is important to spend time on it regularly and to keep up with the reading. The attrition rate is high. Be persistent if you're trying to add the class. Chem 40 may be full at the beginning of the semester, but it probably won't stay that way. Dr. Su is a hardworking instructor. He was online frequently, so there was never a long delay in getting a response to messages sent to him. He always made an effort to accommodate students. The previous edition of the textbook is available for a fraction of the price of the current edition, for example, and Dr. Su indicated reading assignments for both editions. The online class assigns problems on a the Mastering Chemistry website (MCWeb), which only runs on a Windows platform. For students who don't use Windows, Dr. Su provides other problems. He was also attuned to the fact that some students are taking chemistry for general education requirements. He knew that they might not have the time to get an A in chemistry, but he emphasized ways in which they could benefit from the study of the subject.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45573/An-All-Around-Good-Instructor#commentsfriendlyhard-working2008-06-22T15:45:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45573/An-All-Around-Good-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45572/Friendly-and-Enthusiastic-InstructorMr. Mueller is a friendly and enthusiastic instructor who is dedicated to helping students succeed in his class and in their careers. Mr. Mueller was one of two instructors in Biotech 221, Biotech Process Instrumentation. The two instructors aptly describe this course as a hybrid. Mr. Mueller, who is an electrical engineer by training, teaches the instrumentation part of the course. Dorothy Eppler, who has a background in biotechnology, teaches the regulatory and validation parts of the course. The topics that Mr. Mueller covers deal with the instruments and software that monitor and regulate processes in the biotechnology industry. I have no background in engineering or electronics and attained only a limited understanding of these topics. The testing in the class is not too rigorous, though, so I was able to get a decent grade. The regulatory and validation topics are much easier than the instrumentation and software.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45572/Friendly-and-Enthusiastic-Instructor#commentsfriendlydedicated2008-06-22T15:09:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45572/Friendly-and-Enthusiastic-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45571/Friendly-and-Helpful-InstructorMedical Transcription I is a self-paced class. Students have to complete about 50 transcriptions over the course of the semester. The early ones are short and easy while the later ones are considerably longer and more difficult. Completing all the transcriptions is not hard, but doing so with sufficient accuracy to get an A is more challenging. Ms. Fiore is a friendly teacher who returns assignments quickly. The format of this class doesn't include a lecture. She is in the classroom while students work, though, and is quite willing to answer questions and show students how to use the transcription machines.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45571/Friendly-and-Helpful-Instructor#commentsfriendlyhelpful2008-06-22T14:45:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45571/Friendly-and-Helpful-Instructorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45570/Qualified-Instructor-Friendly-AtmosphereI had not practiced yoga before taking this class. Since taking the class, I have attended classes at various yoga studios and have found myself well prepared with respect to yoga poses and terminology. Jean Elvin is a qualified instructor who establishes a friendly atmosphere. The class ran a bit less than the scheduled two hours. Over the course of the semester, Jean gave us some sheets with information about yoga poses and anatomy as well as some articles about yoga. We were tested on this information on our final. The final also included a practical portion, where we had to demonstrate poses. I checked out some other yoga instructors at CCSF and got the impression that some of them are not genuine yoga practitioners. Jean has clearly studied and practiced a lot of yoga, though. Her class is really a good value. For $20, you get 18 weeks of yoga. Private studios charge about $15 a class. I didn't even have to buy a yoga mat, as the gym at James Lick Middle School, where my class was held, had a supply of mats.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45570/Qualified-Instructor-Friendly-Atmosphere#commentsenergeticfriendly2008-06-22T14:21:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45570/Qualified-Instructor-Friendly-Atmospherehttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45569/Qualified-and-Dedicated-InstructorI had Ms. Smernes as my instructor in Health Information Technology 50A and 50B Medical Terminology I and II in 2006. She didn't teach in the 2007-08 school year and isn't scheduled to teach in Fall 2008, so she may have retired. If she does teach again, though, I recommend her as an instructor. Ms. Smernes is well qualified to teach medical terminology. She is a native speaker of Greek who has studied Latin. She has worked in the medical field for many years, previously as a medical transcriptionist and currently in a cancer registry. She is an easy grader and is dedicated to seeing students do well in her class and in the health care careers that they are pursuing. The first several weeks of Medical Terminology I are devoted to covering the Greek and Latin words that form most medical terms. After that, medical terminology is introduced in the context of the different systems of the body the digestive system, the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, etc. Tests are multiple choice and are fairly easy. The textbook is good, and students can save themselves a lot of money by buying a previous edition. The current edition doesn't differ much from previous ones. The two semesters of medical terminology consist almost entirely of lectures supplemented by overhead projections. I can't say that they lectures always captured my attention, but I'm not sure that medical terminology lends itself to consistently engaging lectures. On the basis of her experience in the medical field, Ms. Smernes added interesting commentary to the topics we were covering.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45569/Qualified-and-Dedicated-Instructor#commentsqualifiedeasy grader2008-06-22T13:46:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u191/review45569/Qualified-and-Dedicated-Instructor