Reviews for Melissa N Hayes-Gehrke
Average Rating:| xenonscreams Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: A January 10, 2012, 10:33 pm | I'm not really positive how I feel about Hayes-Gehrke and this class. I went back and forth between really liking her as a professor and really disliking her as a professor. I think by the end of the class, I settled into liking her quite a bit. The class had a ton of group work, which became insanely frustrating at times. She did make a pretty solid effort to match the teams well, and my team was decent. Still, the class definitely could have done without a project or two, since I often felt like I was doing more work in this class than in some of my 400-level computer science courses. The exams were very easy, but they were not worth very much. She kind of taught like she was speaking to a bunch of five year-olds. At the beginning of the course I thought it was a huge relief, since I'm sick of being held to a stupidly high standard in so many of my courses. After a while it became kind of annoying, and then frustrating since there was a stark contrast between how she spoke and what she expected of us in some projects, like the research poster. By the end of the course I began to appreciate it again. I don't think she does it to be demeaning, I think she is just a very kind and caring person to the point of sometimes sounding like a kindergarten teacher. In the end I did well and learned a ton. I was surprised at how much I could learn while feeling like I was in a kindergarten classroom. I went from completely space-ignorant to being able to hold a serious conversation about pretty much anything related to our space program, especially if it concerned a threat of impact. I also feel like this class was among one of the most practical I took at the university, even though I only really took it because it had a badass name and I needed a core science. I feel like I'm highly informed if I ever have the chance to vote about space issues or make a case to anybody else. Overall, a valuable course, just gets super annoying at times. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A January 8, 2012, 7:52 pm | This class was lot of fun. She had completely new style of teaching. So many activities in the classroom (no problem if you are shy); even planetarium like displays. But there is lot of work to do. You have to watch a pre lecture video before every lecture and do a quiz on that. Then you also have to write a post lecture summary every time. They seemed hard in the beginning but then you get use to it. One can get a in this class, if you devote that time here. Also, I would like to mention I learned so many new things from this course. Its completely wonderful and the only class in the week which I look forward to. TAs are one the best (extremely helpful) and professor is very sweet. There are 3 midterms and a final. There is a "retest" paper in all three midterms where you boost your score by doing the same exam you did the classroom now at home. She usually gives 3-4 days for that, and encourages discussing with fellow students. All exams are half multiple choice and half essay types. Scoring policies are extremely fair. Recommended! |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: A- December 20, 2011, 10:04 am | Professor Hayes-Gehrke is an interesting professor and definitely one-of-a-kind. Basically, here are the main points about her that really (in my opinion) define her teaching style: 1) She is VERY patient with students' questions which leads me to believe that she has done a lot of research about teaching styles. Honestly, this can get pretty annoying if you have a head on your shoulders as there were a couple of people in my class who would literally ask her a question that she had just explained thoroughly and she would jump right in without a thought (and waste time). 2) As implicitly stated above, she likes to baby her students. She takes attendance, has mandatory rough draft editing for papers and never, ever refrains from answering a terrible question. 3) This might sound harsh, but she's a fairly poor quiz/exam writer. She has a tendency to say something in class and then put an oddly worded question on an online quiz that correlates to what she said but has a slightly different answer than what you'd expect based on her wording. Her exam questions are also pretty tricky. 4) This is the most important point of all: She somehow manages to make the class very interesting from start to finish. I think it's her delivery style but I had little trouble in following her throughout the entire lecture (unless I was exhausted). She definitely made this course a fun experience for me. Based on all of the above I recommend taking ASTR220 with Dr. Hayes-Gehrke. She's got her quirks but the class is pretty interesting and the exams and quizzes are easy enough where getting an A in the class isn't too much trouble. Oh, one more thing, if you like group projects than take this class -- We had to do ~5 (and they were graded fairly easily). |
| wombat Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B- December 15, 2011, 12:16 pm | She's definitely excited about the material, I'll giver her that. The way this class is currently structured is also really nice. I took this class once before, and it has really been streamlined since then. The textbook has been scrapped, and has been replaced by online "pre-lecture summaries" and "pre-lecture quizzes". All you gotta do is watch the pre-lecture summary and then take the 8-point or so multiple choice quiz. Sounds easy enough, but it can get aggravating when the pre-lectures are easily as long as the in-class lectures themselves. Plus you gotta do the darn things three times a week. On top of that, each in-class lecture is followed by an online "post-lecture summary" that is related to the lecture material, but oftentimes requires you to think outside the box more. The exams are also easy (I can't say much about the final, I haven't taken that yet). The attendance policy is forgiving and the lectures are by no means boring. You can tell Ms. Hayes - Gerhke is really trying to find the "perfect formula" for getting students to remember information. One thing I wish she would stop doing is treating the class like little kids. She has a habit of stating something that is blatantly wrong, then asking "do you agree? Or... is that not the case?" or something to that effect. Then she waits for people to say WHY her statement is incorrect, and all the while people just sit there going "durr... do we really have to spell it out for you? Again?". It might just be another weapon in her arsenal of learning techniques (specifically, the weapon of mindless repetition), and if it is, I don't like it. The flash cards she uses are also kind of lame. The colors of the cards are generic and not at all what I'd expect from a college-level astronomy class. |
| bachpad2 Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B August 20, 2011, 10:33 am | She is a great person, nice, and never judges students or makes them feel bad. But she does baby the students around, I felt like I was in middle school. I thought this class would be a breeze because of her teaching style but I was wrong. She screwed us all over with the midterms. Yes, there is a curve, and I thought I would be fine, but I ended up getting a B and so did everyone else. She is nice but she is an unfair grader and has a TA that is the most clueless and dumb TAI have ever seen in my life. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B May 4, 2011, 7:54 pm | She was an okay teacher. She dumbed it down which is good if you are not a science person. On the exams, particularly the exam 3, she totally screwed us over. She made all the essays tricky and worded them badly. Basically in discussion the entire class was talking about how terrible she worded the questions to purposefully mess us up. She's a nice person and lectures aren't too bad. IF you wanna take this class..just remember to STUDY YOUR BUTT off for midterm 3. For a core class it could be a lot worse. Overall, I personally I am not extremely fond of her but for science she's not too bad. Just expect a lot of work. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: B December 20, 2010, 7:56 pm | She's an excellent teacher. She is very friendly and open to questions. She never patronizes a student for answering a "stupid" question as many professors here at Maryland do (based off personal experience). This class is NOT easy though. It is not an easy A at all and does require a lot of work. There is a post-lecture quiz after every lecture, 2 tests, 1 final, 1 research paper, 1 project, 1 team debate, discussion and attendance. I suggest having taken Astr100 because you do jump right into Astronomy. I recommend the teacher, not the class if you're looking to satisfy an easy CORE class. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A December 10, 2010, 7:46 am | Interesting class, easy A, lots of work. You might be turned off by her ridiculous demanding of extremely large amount of time for a simple 100 level class, but you get to learn a LOT. You'll be tempted to skip lectures, but she takes attendance. For both lectures and discussion. My TA on the other hand was useless, condescending, and self-absorbed. She would make herself sound smart by saying terms that we don't even need to know for the exams. Things that she's learned in her "upper" level Astr class. I mean, really though? I didn't enjoy the discussion portion mainly because of her. Overall, this class made me decide to minor in Astronomy. If you think it's interesting, or just need a PS core, then I would definitely recommend you taking it with Dr. H |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A November 30, 2010, 7:30 pm | I am not a science person at all, but the professor made the course material pretty interesting with examples and demonstrations of concepts in class. Some of the material can be difficult, but if you do all the work and study at least a little, you'll do fine. Exams can be graded pretty unfairly on the short answer sections, because sometimes it seems like A LOT more points are taken off than should be for whatever little mistake was made. BUT after every midterm, you can choose to do an easy "mid-term analysis", explaining why you got each wrong answer wrong (which you can discuss with your TA) and that will give you an automatic 10% added back onto your midterm. She takes attendance every class with a slip you have to personally hand to a TA, and attendance is a good portion of your grade. There is also a pretty time consuming "pre-lecture video" (usually about 30 min) accompanied by a "pre-lecture quiz" before EVERY lecture, and a "post-lecture summary" after EVERY lecture. If you do the quizzes and go to lecture, you never have to read. It's not hard work, but this class does take A LOT of time. |
| punkmaniac05 Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: A+ November 23, 2010, 8:14 am | She is a fantastic professor. I am always amazing how enthusiastically she will answer people's stupid questions or questions that she had answered like 2 seconds before. She is very nice and engaging. The class is extremely easy but also really awesome. I mean it's a class on saving the Earth from an asteroid collision, what could be more interesting. There is a online quiz after every lecture that you can do anytime and questions are right from the lecture which are on elms and you can use. I have not gotten lower than a 100 on one and they take maybe 5 minutes. No homework or in class quizzes. There are three projects, a 4 page research paper and 8 minute presentation on an interesting topic. A mission to build a spacecraft to study an asteroid with a budget. And finally an in class debate. All these projects are done with a group that was picked for you at the beginning of the year. Have not really met with my group once except to watch Deep Impact, and still get good grades. There are three exams, two midterms and a final. All very easy, with the ability to get ten points extra on the exam if you do corrections. Overall, one of the easiest and most satisfying classes I have taken at UMD. I would recommend it to everyone. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B October 27, 2010, 9:23 am | The professor is very engaging and interesting. She makes astronomy seem fun, and makes you want to learn. However, she is an extremely unfair grader. You can write a textbook answer on a test, and she will take off 90% of the credit because you skipped one word that did not even pertain to the question. It is still relatively easy to do well in this class, because you get a lot of points for coming to class and completing the homework, but do not expect to do well on any of the tests |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: B September 14, 2010, 5:24 pm | Unprofessional and unfair grader. Even though answers are written correctly and explained in appropriate fashion, she cuts the points. You would think, you have given complete answer, but wait til you get grades back. I'm sure, she loves to cherry pick on your answers. I went to her office to explain grading, but she already made up her mind. (DON'T BOTHER ARGUING, YOU ARE NOT GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE). I have answer key of her homework, I wrote it from it, still cuts the points. UNPROFESSIONAL, BIAS, AND UNFAIR. She makes fun class, confusing and complicated. She does not deserve to teach. |
| Izahckret Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A April 27, 2010, 7:56 am | I hate astronomy and do not find this class that difficult. Yeah you have to go to class and discussion but thats like 20% of your grade and can help you a lot. Also my TA was amazing so that helped. No matter how bad you do there is always a 10% increase. So if you get a 80% on a test or homework it becomes a 90%. The teacher is enthusiastic so that is nice, she actually loves the subject. And there is only 8 hw for the entire semester and one is dropped. I would recommend this for someones non lab. |
| terp13 Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A March 4, 2010, 7:14 pm | This class is not that bad if you go to class and do the work. Attendance is mandatory; everyday you have to write your name on a colored slip of paper that she makes. Homeworks are time-consuming, but not that difficult. You don't have to read the book. The class may seem hard at first, but it gets easier. Your TA can make or break the class, but discussions are very helpful because you always do this multiple choice worksheet which exam questions often come from. The class is very organized. She teaches until the end of class. The professor is always willing to answer questions. She posts the lectures online. The slides are very informative, not broad like other professors' slides may be. One of the best professors I have had. |
| Semirhage666 Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: December 23, 2009, 10:08 am | I did not like her. The material in class was as easy as you would expect from a 100 level course, but the complicated and downright childish way she does things makes it ridiculous. I haven't been told "you cannot use a calculator and you must show all of your work in this specific format" since High School. Get real, lady. Also, the tests are only worth 45% of the grade, the rest is a random mix of homeworks, quizzes, and lecture and discussion attendance. I did not like the fact that only 50% of the points on the tests were multiple choice. Those were easy. The rest were short answer Qs that were graded harshly. I got 3 out of 10 points taken off my answer to one question because I forgot to include the words "low density." Also, the 2 times I communicated with her, once via email and once in her office, she seemed very snippy and not that willing to help. I really would not recommend taking ASTR-100 with her if you are looking for something that is as easy as a 100 level class should be. |
| ALangworthy Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A December 21, 2009, 3:36 pm | Really easy class with very generous curves on the exams and interesting material, but a ton of homework and mandatory attendence in lecture and discussion. For me, the big downside was the textbook/CD. It costs $120 and the bookstores won't buy it back once its been opened. The book is only alright and the CD is required for access to online homework. If you want either one cheap, e-mail me: alangwor@umd.edu |
| omgitsalexis Course: ASTR220 Grade Expected: May 23, 2009, 5:44 pm | This class is hard for no reason. The homeworks are graded harshly and there are alot of them. Only take if you love astronomy. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B May 14, 2009, 4:39 pm | This class is ridiculous. She is extremely nice and a good teacher, but if you are looking for an easy class DO NOT TAKE IT. She takes attendence at lecutre, and their is a ton of crazy busy work (online quizzes) which aren't hard but annoying. There are also 9 homeworks, which are pretty tough and graded hard. I wouldn't reccomend this class to anyone unless you are just really in love with astronomy. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: B December 27, 2008, 9:09 pm | She is an amazing teacher. She is especially good if you are bad at science, because she explains the material in a really clear way and makes it easy to understand. The course material is extremely interesting. The homeworks count for a big part of your final grade, and a lot of what is on the tests comes from the homeworks. There are 3 midterms and 11 homeworks. Overall, a really good class, especially if science isn't your thing. |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A December 27, 2008, 8:28 pm | Very nice professor. exams are straightforward and are based on lectures and homework. lectures are online but she makes lecture mandatory. homework is time consuming. the online text book is a complete waste of money. |
| nsarhene Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: December 7, 2008, 11:44 am | She's an okay teacher, its hard to get an A in that class-you have to really focus and work on it. She's good in trying to explain things and its very helpful to go her and her TA's office hours. The discussion and textbook is very unnecessary. Its important to study the homeworks and lecture notes |
| Anonymous Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: November 13, 2008, 2:08 pm | This class was way too hard for a 100-level class. I really don't think it was fair that we couldn't even use a hand help calculator on exams. She was nice, but it was very very hard. |
| pluralfacade Course: ASTR100 Grade Expected: A May 17, 2008, 2:57 pm | Awesome teacher! She lectures extremely well, and going to class and copying down her notes is very helpful. Her homeworks are a little time-consuming, but doing them will help you learn a lot about the material. She gives quizzes once in a while, but theyre extremely easy (rewards for coming to class). |