Don Hettinga - Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Professor: Don Hettinga

Department: English

College: Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG230
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

You will do well as long as you put adequate effort into the readings and assignments. Expect an average of 2 hours of homework before every class (which includes readings and some writing). Exams were open-ended which allowed for flexibility.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL340
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I had Professor Hettinga for Children's Literaure. I ended up with an A, but many of my classmates had C's. We took one test and nobody knew what to expect on it. Lectures are long, we didn't discuss reading assignments, and we had four or five papers due. If you missed 3 or more classes the best you could get was a C. Unclear and unorganized.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGL230
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof Hettinga is a great professor. The material he had us read was enjoyable. He loves class discussion, so if you are ok with participating here and there you'll probably get a good grade. He loves what he teaches. If you have some insight and understanding of the material let him know. Great class!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: JOUR101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Mr. Hettinga is not only an amazing teacher, but an amazing person as well! I enjoyed his teaching style, because it doesn't just pertain to English, but to life as well. He is also incredibly funny, which makes his class enjoyable. I disagree with the people that said he's unclear. If i ever had a question he answered it with the utmost clarity.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGL101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He clearly cares about his subject but just does a lousy job teaching it. Going to class is necessary but he doesn't teach anything useful. He gives a lot of assignments but is flexible with due dates.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL205
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I'm going to agree there's no reason to dislike him. I'm an accounting major and have no interest in literature and am horrible at writing. Yet this class was easy because Hetinga just wanted to teach, he's real nice an could be convinced to extend any deadline and make things as simple as possible... my advice: take him.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG304
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

What's with all the haterz!? Prof. Dr. Hettinga is the best professor I have had at Calvin College in my lifetime. He is a man of utmost integrity and I've learnt more from him than is humanly possible. HETTINGA FTW!!!!! Oh, he can also speak French. In Russian. After having lived in Germany!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG326
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Enthusiastic. Realistic. Funny. The books we read were great.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Disorganized, but you have to love the guys quirky sense of humor. He is a fun guy, who really cares about his students. The class is hard because we are never taught the writing mechanics of journalism. As stated previously, he expects you to come to class with previous knowledge that no one has, also his assignments are unclear and therefore you

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

very creative guy. well worth listening to!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGL245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's a really nice guy, there's no doubt about that, but he rambles a lot and the class seemed pointless. Most of his assignments are vague, which is frustrating, but on the bright side you can do pretty much anything and still get a decent grade.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGL205
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This is the easiest class I've taken in college so far. It's even easier than all the literature classes I took in high school! If you need to take it for core and you want an easy course, take it from him. If you want challenging material and discussion, then take something harder.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Extremely nice and friendly guy, but the man just can't teach. Spends lots of time talking about unrelated stuff and never explains anything. Gives unclear feedback about your writing. Tells you what to write but never teaches you HOW to write it. A great person who really cares about students, but he's one of the worst profs I've had.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Well, the class started out interesting and fun, as we learned about actual writing techniques and tricks. Suddenly, his lectures started to have nothing to do with the class, his instructions and assignments became vague, and then he assigned a huge research paper that was worth 40% of my grade. Nice guy, but I wouldn't recommend him for a prof.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

easy

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: JOURNALISM
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I didn't want to take journalism and I didn't like it after this class either but I loved Hettinga. He is very enthusiastic and kind. And he still remembers my name.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGL245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Always at least 10 minutes late to class. Didn't teach the technique of newspaper writing, just expected you to be journalists already. He might be better in the religion or philosophy departments. Prays and/or talks about non-journalism stuff for half the class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Top-down method of teaching, so he focuses on the big picture of journalism rather than the actual techniques and mechanics of that very different writing style. Assumes that you've had previous experience with journalism writing, so don't take him if you're expecting to learn the newswriting style.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Horrible teacher! He was never ready for class, he was not helpful at all, he was uncompassionate, he didn't even teach us how to be better writers. How do you expect us to write a certain style of paper if you don't explain it?

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: 101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great prof! Really helps you to become a better writer and adapts to the needs of the class. Makes the class fun and interesting. He doesn't even like St. Martin's Handbook!!!