Richard Young - University of Wisconsin - Madison

Professor: Richard Young

Department: TBD

College: University of Wisconsin - Madison

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG420
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He sets unrealistic goals by giving heavy workload and tight deadlines. For take-home exams, expect to write dozens of pages in 2 days without knowing the scoring of each question. The weekly homework needs to be completed based on long and tedious readings - they were ALL very difficult to read AND his lectures WONT help a bit on it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG214
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The class content is not hard, but the online quizzes are ridiculous. The homework does not prepare you for the quizzes, and the tests are basically "learn by yourself". The content he talks about in class is usually pretty bland and does not prepare you for assignments. The TAs aren't very helpful either, making the class that much harder.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG214
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I really enjoyed the course material and his lectures were a helpful recap of the textbook. TA's will be helpful in clearing up misconceptions as he tends to move quickly through more important material.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

learned to use discourse markers in English that are very very important from his class

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG214
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The grading was super easy, we ended up having take-home exams so not to difficult. The weekly assignments were harder because I never really understood the content until discussion when the assignments were due. I feel lecture was a waste. I didn't learn anything that I couldn't read in the book.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures were worthless, lecture slides averaged ~80 words per slide. I actually found it paid off not to pay attention in this class. He says some pretty sketchy things, but he is nice. So there's that. I wouldn't take 333 unless you have to though.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is interesting and responsible. I like this class although there are lots of reading assignments and homeworks, but they help you to go deeper to the issues.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His grading criteria are not based on what the syllabus says. He'll give his favorite students As, but Bs to not favorite ones. He's just an old prof who doesn't know current issues in SLA. If you need ENG333, take it with Prof. Jane Zuengler. She knows the stuff and she's way smarter. I'm an English Applied Ling student, so I know both of them.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

It seems like he's trying, but this guy is simply not helpful. Do not expect: fair grades, answers to questions via email, answers to questions during office hours. His grading isn't hard because the material is hard, it's hard because he doesn't tell you his expectations. ALL WORK IS IN GROUPS. I took this class for fun, worst class ever :(

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• 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:

As a person, he's personable, friendly, enthusiastic and quite adorable. As a teacher, he can be very unclear. For English 336, I enjoyed him; though the class content didn't add much to my life. For 333, however, he is a difficult grader. No set standards, so he seems to give grades on whims. Also, his lectures add nothing to the readings.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This professor was unclear, he didn't grade fairly, and he relied too heavily on group work. He also made several comments during class that are not considered to be politically correct and it made many people in the class uncomfortable.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He teaches nothing!!!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Excellent professor. A fine gentleman and scholar.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Young's really invested in second language acquisition, and usually can keep lectures fairly upbeat. Be prepared for group work. We should have group evaluations at the end of the semester. The book is unclear, but lectures are clear. Exams are based off of the book, but class and homework can help with examples to pull you through.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I agree that Prof. Young is very interested in his field, but this class didn't help me much. The exams out of the confusing book were too difficult because we hardly touched on many of the book points in class. If such emphasis is given to the book for exams, it would be best to embellish on book material in class to clarify studies & relevance.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor is wonderful, has a genuine interest in his students. Class is a bit dry with everything taught with PowerPoint slides. Group work is a laborious, weekly task that takes up way too much time given feedback from prof is minimal. Choose your group wisely, as it will dictate your overall grade for the course.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ditto on the "absolutely adorable brit" coined by a past 333 goer! He makes the subject fun, and if very helpful, providing all his PowerPoint lecture slides online. He definitely wants each student to succeed, and works hard to be most helpful! I will take his advanced course this spring without hesitation.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGL333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Young is really funny and makes class interesting. It's worth going to class just for him.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The only useful thing you learn in this class is that SLA is in fact not very useful at all in teaching ESL and that you should get your certificate somewhere else than UW, since they make you take classes of which the instructor does not even think is useful for your field. Also the class is really boring and Prof Young is an impossible grader.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG333
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

dry. as. hell.