Sylvia Gray - Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Professor: Sylvia Gray

Department: History

College: Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIST102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ridiculous work load. Very tough grader. Mediocre lectures. Would not recommend or take another class with her.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HST106
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gray's course is challenging (there are many writing assignments), but I feel that I have become a better student after taking her course. The class is well organized, and she gives students a choice on what discussions to write about. I learned a lot about the history of China after taking her course. So worth it!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

The professor throws out tons of discussions and 1-page essays. The mid-term and the final is basically a book review so be prepared if you are behind to read since they're heavily graded over the homework.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HST106012069
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Sylvia gives a lot of homework. Many discussions and essay questions that are due every week. But as long as you keep up and give it a try you will do well. She is a bit of a grammar nazi but hey she is a professor.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Horrible. Good luck following her lectures. All she does is jump from one topic to the next with no rhyme or reason. The class was not hard at all, but do not expect to learn anything from it...

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIST107
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very good teacher, clearly loves her job. The only down side is she can be a tad condescending at times. Also be very thorough in your essays.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Sylvia is super nice and supportive of all the students. She listens to what we have to say and encourages all her students. There is some reading but this is a history class so it's expected. There are a couple of essays and the midterm and final prompts are given beforehand. You can even do them before they're due! Good class and pretty balanced.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIST105
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I took History of Southeast Asia & India with her and all it was, was about India, despite class description saying otherwise. Often condescending if you question her curriculum content as well with feedback. Assignments were plenty but grading was confusing when things turned into extra credit/didn't count after a certain amount.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIST106
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I had a wonderful quarter with professor Gray. She was sweet, respectful of the class and was interested in what we had to say. Gives good feed back and is genuinely interested in you succeeding in her class

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gray speaks clearly, and gives clear responses. She gives you the test prompts at the beginning, so you're never not able to be prepared. She has a passion for history, and it shows through her teaching. Some days are just straight lecture, and she will talk your ear off, but most days allow back and forth discussions.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HST106
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not much to say, She teaches HST 106 really well.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIST106
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible instructor. Condescending attitude when questions are asked. WAY too much reading, two chapters weekly, plus online reading and lots of discussions. Takes up way too much time for only four humanities credits.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HIST106
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tremendous amounts of reading per week. Typically 1 to 2 chapters weekly in addion to that about 4 discusions that require you to read additional online texts that are 2 to 3 web pages long. A report on Sun Ztu's "Art of War" (The whole book) was due on the 3rd week of the term. If you love reading then this is the class for you...

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HIST105
• 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:

My Fave. She is a wonderful teacher, although slightly unconventional. She sparked interest in topics I never thought I could be interested in (Chinese history), and is EXTREMELY informed about her subject. Any answer she doesn't know, she encourages to look up for E.C. Easy grader that will bend over backwards to help students get a good grade

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Lectures difficult to follow. Disorganized, over-simplified. Full of tangents, bad pronunciation. No visuals. I eventually gave up taking notes & just read Wiki the whole term. She is also very condescending & assumes her students don't have basic English proficiency. Recommended repeatedly we attend ESOL workshops prior to even seeing our papers.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HST107
• 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:

i have taken HST107&105 online with sylvia.people complain about all the reading involved in an online class,but how else would you learn without reading online?she is great and has many videos to watch as well.i got an A both classes and homework was easy and very clear, midterm and finals were simple essays. i cant wait to take HST106 with her!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This was the worst class I have ever taken. It's online, History of Korea and Japan. The textbook is absolutely atrocious and impossible to learn from. You have a ridiculous amount of reading to do, too. I found the teacher to be no help at all on stuff. History is great but needs a great teacher to make it interesting. This class was AWFUL.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HST102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I loved her class so much. She is such a nice lady who tries to make students be more interactive during the class. You gotta do reading assignment for her class unless it's hard to understand what she is talking about. She gives you lots of hw but you have some options. I'm taking her next class again!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HST105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I had her for history of India. If you want to learn something about India I wouldn't take Gray. She's the worst history teacher I've ever had. She's rude to the students. She doesn't cover anything that's going to be on the test. You will learn more about India by looking it up on Wikipedia than you will from her. AWFUL TEACHER!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST102
• 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:

Sylvia is one of my favorite teachers I've had at PCC. She really cares about her students and her subject. Take notes and read the textbook and you should be fine. This class isn't difficult, you just have to put the time in. Sylvia teaches history in a way that isn't overwhelming, which I really appreciated.