Reviews for Wendy A. Jacobs
Average Rating:| terpzzz Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: February 19, 2012, 4:45 pm | This woman is horrid. She is the least understanding professor I have ever had. Her ridiculous salary in no way reflects her teaching abilities. Jacobs thinks that only she knows what she's talking about, when in reality she hardly teaches you anything. She assigns childish assignments that usually include some form of cutting and pasting, but grades them ridiculously hard. I have never disliked a professor more in my time at UMD. She is the worst, a total b*tch. |
| wombat Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: B December 15, 2011, 12:04 pm | I don't see the problem people have with Ms. Jacobs. She's not a bad professor, although not stellar either. First off, the class attendance policy is a bit of a mixed bag. You can miss three studio sessions, regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused. It's great for healthy people who are never actually ill and just get "sick" strategically. However, I can see how it might be tough for people who are either of weaker stock or just have very busy / unpredictable schedules. The class can be a lot of work if you procrastinate, so don't do it. The toughest bits are probably the sketchbook exercises and the final project. For both, you need to find the right balance between quality and finishing in a timely fashion. The critiques are quite easy. Just point out something cool, or something not-so-cool, about a person's work, and then explain how it either enhances or detracts from the piece. The important thing is to actually speak up, or your attendance grade will plummet. Just standing there with your hand holding your chin and nodding like a world-renowned art critic is not going to be enough. Remember that it's all very subjective (plus it's an intro course) so don't be afraid to BS your critique, a lot of people will be BSing right alongside you. Just make it sound convincing. Also, some of the grading seemed arbitrary, especially on the assignments. Ms. Jacobs would take off points for things that seemed to have no connection to the rubric or even anything, for that matter. On the bright side, she really had the capacity to inspire you. Talking to her at length before projects really helped if I was in an artistic rut. Plus she was friendly. The people below who described her as mean, unapproachable and whatnot probably did something to get on her bad side. |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: December 11, 2010, 5:09 pm | Ms. Jacobs has been really patient with me, i am not an art major and can't draw very well. she took a lot of time explaining assignments, expectations and how to execute certain techniques i wanted to use. She is a great professor. There are expectations and you are expected to be on time and not miss class, but she is very approachable. I would recommend her! |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: C December 10, 2010, 8:22 am | I took this as an elective to get into ARTT353 and thought it may be fun and exciting. I've never taken an art course and I thought ARTT100 would be an interesting experience that would teach me useful fundamentals that I could apply to future courses. Unfortunately, I cannot honestly say that I got much out of this class. The important concepts taught through the course weren't conveyed well. Our brief lecture was done in a short Microsoft Word document that went over broad concepts that we needed to execute in our projects. It was really peculiar viewing arts in a word document. Maybe a powerpoint would have been better. The room also didn’t help make the brief lectures any better. It was often difficult to hear and there was no screen to project on. Students had to view the lectures in their own time because the font was small and projected art work unclear. There seemed to be a large feeling of ambiguity of how to apply the concepts to our assignments. To be fair so projects were more clear than other (the montage assignment and pattern assignment were very clear). However, the majority of assignments required a lot of questions and often at the critiques a large minority of the class would miss the boat on how to execute the idea. I felt this was especially true for the line assignment, road assignment, text assignment, and black square assignment. The projects often seemed to have an emphasis on quantity. A few of the projects could have been better if we simply had to do fewer pieces and had better explanation. I often felt rushed and stressed like I was in a 300 or 400 level class. One of the things that made the course even more challenging was Ms. Jacobs’s attitude. She seemed rude to a couple students on more than one occasion. Ms. Jacobs addressed students who were late in a highly critical and borderline rude manner. Instead of talking to students in private she spoke loud and openly about their lateness problem or anything else she thought was wrong, which I felt was unprofessional. She also seems to have trouble with students asking for due date clarification. I’ve been around a few students who were confused about basic things and would not talk to Ms. Jacobs for help. Her tone on the first day of class may have caused this feeling. There was a huge focus on what NOT to do rather than how engaging the class would be. The whole experience was intimidating and just not pleasant. I did draw inspiration from my classmates that I shared an experience of mutual discontent and desire for something better. Mr. Karis, our TA, was quiet, but approachable and helpful. Students stated that at the critique his project was the first one they enjoyed (and this was the 6th project). I like how he gave an exercise that directly related to project so we really got the idea. I felt the exercise after a lecture was really helpful and when Ms. Jacobs had an exercise before the montage projects it was also really helpful. This method was much better than simply drawing thumbnails because you could get direct feedback. The thumbnails also took up a ton of time and ended up being a chore with little result. We didn’t get feedback on the thumbnails and unless you asked directly and were clear about the goal of the project, your thumbnails may not have been helpful. The few in class exercises really brought ideas together because you knew right away if your execution and thought process was accomplishing what it should A few words to sum up this course would be discouraging, uninspiring, intimidating, frustrating, and draining. Going to Ms. Jacobs’s class was never something I looked forward to. This course is kind of heartbreaking because I really have enjoyed my UMD course at some level, but I cannot say the same for this class. |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: C September 29, 2010, 9:48 pm | Terrible class. Avoid it like the plauge. The projects are boring. You will not learn anything from these projects. Take another professor. |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: A May 21, 2010, 7:27 pm | This class is awful. I took art every year of school before college including AP art and got straight A's. I got a "C" in Wendy's class. This woman is beyond awful. During croutiques, if you give someone a positive comment on a piece that isnt that spectacular, she makes a *****y comment about how you're "just being nice." If you don't suck up to her, you will not get good grades. I worked hard on the final and got an B, then redid a lot of it to turn in again on the actual final, and she gave me the exact same score the next time (She doesn't even look at your work). And if you ever ask her for help she is useless. She's also a stiffler for attendance and being on time, when she is late almost EVERY class and absent at least 3 times without warning. (And she WILL lower your grade for attendance issues). I don't know what else I can possibly say excpet that this woman is horrid. Not only just terrible as a person but also terrible as a professor. I did not learn a single thing from this woman and I would not take her class for any reason what-so-ever. (Like actually, registering for her class is suicidal). |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: A March 9, 2010, 6:32 pm | TERRRRRRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE! DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS. Assignments that she's giving out to us is just STUPID, and there are lot of writings that you have to do, and she criticize too much about EVERYTHING. Way too hard for ARTT100 level |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: February 15, 2010, 6:17 pm | This class is very frustrating. She is kind of unorganized and doesn't like it when you ask her questions. Projects are a joke in that it's just busy work. Terrible terrible. Pick another professor |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: A December 19, 2009, 10:00 am | I took ARTT100 as a fun course to round out my schedule, and actually learned a lot in it. Professor Jacobs was also very nice, I missed the final date and she let me bring in my project the next day with little or no penalization, and responded very quickly to my email concerning it. The work load is a little intense, but she is understanding when everyone tells her they will need more time. I would recommend her. |
| Anonymous Course: ARTT100 Grade Expected: B November 2, 2009, 9:04 pm | Let me start off by saying that this is an Art100 class and the projects are not too bad and neither is the work load. But when it comes to choosing a professor stay away from Jacobs. She is unhelpful and criticizes work in a cruel matter. Her projects are not fun and she never seems to bring a good attitude to her class. |