Gideon Burton - Brigham Young University

Professor: Gideon Burton

Department: TBD

College: Brigham Young University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Obsessed with tech, forcing constant usage of multiple social platforms. 50% of grade was social participation and it was SO extreme I could never escape the class: it infiltrated my life at all hours, every day. Nice, but very disorganized. Homework is in hours worked and assignments completed but he's bad at posting the assignments regularly

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGL212
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This is one of the most fascinating classes I've taken at BYU. Dr. Burton uses unconventional learning methods. Homework is mostly self-directed and you track hours worked. There are several blog posts--tests are conversations/blog posts. Class felt unorganized at times and grading was late, but it was interesting.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG212
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr Burton was a great professor! He met with us individually on a weekly basis, and he worked towards a good student-professor relationship. We used several digital tools in this class, such as BlogSpot and a professional collaboration site called Slack. There were many readings, but Dr Burton encouraged us to branch out our learning in fun ways.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGL326
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is difficult, particularly because it's a podcasting class and not a traditional lecture course. Dr. Burton expects a lot, but he works hard to meet individually with each student so you can succeed. This class pushed me to my limit, but I'm definitely a better person because of fo it. Take this class! It's hard but so worth it!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Online textbook. 3 hours of homework per class; if the reading took longer than that, he gave us permission to read summaries. You use an app called slack to have discussions with other students. One easy test. One final paper 8-10 pages. Dr. Burton is readily available outside class. Really increased my love of Shakespeare! Would take again.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGL251
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class was incredibly disorganized. He didn't get grades in until finals week so it was near impossible to know where you were at in the class--even if you go in to talk with him. He regularly goes off on tangents and there were many days where I felt like I had learned nothing from the class. Take the class from a different professor.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Burton is very knowledgeable about Shakespeare. He made us use only e-books and we had to work on a Slack channel for points. He focused way more on the technological side of our class than he did on Shakespeare. He loves to listen to himself talk. He also takes an incredibly long time to grade assignments.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof Burton is a nice guy and he's willing to work with you if you ask for extra help but his expectations are really unclear. This was supposed to be a Shakespeare class but the focus was more on technology. He wanted us to learn how to communicate with others via the internet but as a future teacher, I wanted to learn about the content first.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Burton never provided a Syllabus or updated Learning Suite, and the criteria for assignments was extremely vague. He'd dock points on assignments for things he never specified (and usually they seemed to be more of an opinion than anything else). He asks terrible, probing questions in class then gets frustrated when no ones participates.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG295
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Gideon is always ready to help students who ask for extra help. There are always homework assignments, but they're usually very manageable. However, he does have long lectures and is an unclear communicator. I was often confused about the purpose of or instructions for our assignments and essays.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG212
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

- VERY opinionated - Disrespectful of students who disagree - Very unclear, and when you ask for clarification, condescending - Epitomal professor who thinks you have no other classes - 10+ hours of homework/week - NO SYLLABUS - Frequently changes coursework - Argumentative - Uses student work to get published

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was a difficult class. Grades were never up do date, assignments were often posted the night before they were due, and class discussions were often ambiguous as to what we were actually supposed to know. The most valuable things I learned were from personal studying and the classes were often very boring.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

It class was AWFUL! We never got a syllabus, and Learning Suite was never used. The whole semester you have no idea of what your grade is. He gives you the homework assignment the night before it's due, and you never get any feedback on them. The entire semester I was always frustrated, and I wouldn't even recommend him to my worst enemies!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGL383
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I found this class (on Milton) to be challenging, but I wasn't interested in Milton to begin with. There are some weekly assignments to keep in mind (blogging and google+) He is into using electronic means whenever possible; the book was entirely online. He also encourages his students to visit him and talk about their progress. Very helpful.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGL392
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Burton is an interestung one. I really agree with a lot of his ideas and what he is trying to do, and I got a LOT out of the class. However, the final was disorganized and confusing. The best thing about him is that he encourages well-roundedness, which was great for me.

Rating # 16

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

had a few classes w/him, every 1 of them diff-grading subjective, based on participate-he's a tad overzealous about "new media" & technology & his pedagogy is in major flux-syllabus "flexible" = unpredictable, can make 4 heavy workload-take his classes if ur invested in doing something "real world" w/ ur learning-NICE guy-u'll learn a ton-not easy

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG291
• 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:

Professor Burton is amazing. Look forward to his class every time - he's personable and makes the class interesting and entertaining. You, as the student, are his focus, completely - he bases his lesson plan around online discussion. Great for understanding the literature and making sure your voice is heard. Tech-based class, which is very cool.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL291
• 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:

Incredible teacher. The reason people think he has pets is bc he has a wholistic process of grading - the exam is an interview. u basicly say what you learned from each unit. He is interesting, lenient, competent, and open-minded. The course has a ton of reading (w/ short responses each class), 3 3-pg papers and interviews, and group final. Goforit

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG291
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He has his teacher's pets, and will usually ignore other students. He has class discussions on Facebook for homework. Lots of reading, and he uses the Broadview Anthology while the Norton one is better overall. He assigns tons of projects, and they are just time-consuming, and other professors don't require them.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGL251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Your grade is based on his opinion completely. He is very biased and will decide what student he likes quite quickly. If you like sucking up and are you could get a good grade. OR if you like participating every other second in class then maybe you will get an A.