Gillette, David  

First off, I worked like a mexican donkey who was trying to support two kids and an ex-burro-wife in this class. With that aside, He's a great teacher and you will learn from him if you choose to. He scared away 80 percent of the class the first day by reading the syllabus but it didn't turn out to be that bad (he asked who were the poeople who were there from the first day and basically 4 poeople raised their hand during the last day of class). So if you stick through that first day, your home free!!! I basically did most of the work for my group (4 people), so I guess that's why it was so much work. But if your group splits up the work evenly or you're one of the slackers of the world, you should be fine if you leech your way through this thing. It's really only 2 group projects and a couple of individual assignments for the whole quarter. Nothing else. He will help you if you ask for it, by email or by going to his office. He's real good about it. Take this guy if you are really interested in tech writing. You will learn a lot. Also take this guy if you're a slacker but pray that your other group members are hard workers. If not... you are totally screwed.

this class was unlike any english class i've ever taken. we spent the quarter writing resumes, cover letters, proposals, and other technical documents. gilette comes off very intimidating at first, saying that A's and B's are very rare in his class. more than 30 of the original 40 people dropped after the first day!!! it was crazy...anyway, the workload isn't all that bad. You turn in everything electronically, and he lets you re-do assignments to boost your grade. That was actually my favorite part about the class, because you can keep turning in the same assignment as many times as you want until you get the grade you need. He's a nice guy, and his class is very reasonable... dont let him scare you away too soon.

Make sure to steer clear of this gigling fool whos so fat that his breathing sounds like a vaccum cleaner and who tries to talk with an academically snobby british accent. The only thing more unclear and idiodic than the 6th grade group work assigments is this guys grading scale. The first thing he talked about was how "last quarter he gave out a bunch of A's" but this quarter he "might give 1 or 2 A's and a couple B's". I cant understand how the hell the english dept can allow such bullshit. I literally got B's on every assignment except the final presentation which i got a c+ on, and somehow that averaged to a C+!! Seems to me he just glances over some of the shit youve turned in, comes up with a grade, then knocks it down a grade and thats what you get. This lard ass is always late, takes 3 to 4 weeks to grade even the smallest assignment, and even brought 30 laptops into class so we could practice opening the class website. On top of that the class is 99% madeup bullshit (like making an "interstellar communication device" out of fuckin playdough and popsicle sticks) so the fact that this guy grades so harsh is absurd. oh, and he takes roll alot..even on fridays. The only time i would reccomend taking Gillette is if you drink a sixpack and take 4 or 5 vicadin before every class so then you can drool and giggle at his mindless babbling and chuckling lectures without wanting to kill yourself from the boredom of like you do when youre sober.

Gilette was a good teacher. The first day, he tries to thin out his class with talk of how much work he'll assign, but it didn't turn out to be that much. I learned a lot in this class, though his lectures were interesting/informative only about half the time. I recommend him because he'll teach those who can stay awake how to be an excellent tech writer. I wouldn't take him if you're more concerned with GPA than learning the subject--he's a very tough grader.

Gillette is a really great guy that knows what he is talking about. He's fun to listen to and he has tons of working experience to teach with. He is very helpful in his office hours and will go out of his way to help you out with a paper. Unfortunately he grades too tough. On day one, he promised us he would not be giving A's in his course and that most of us should expect C's. In the end, only 3 A's were given in his entire section. His work load is also extremely tough. He's trying to fit his 15 week program into our 10 week quater. He told us that he plans to cut back some of the work load... we'll see what happens. So if you take Gillette's class, expect to learn a lot but work very hard and not get a great grade.

Gillete is a good instructor and can be funny at times. He enjoys english but I had a feeling mind was somewhere else when he lectured...say Japan. (He was teaching there next quarter) That was annoying. The assignments were not hard but there was sooo much work cramped into 10 weeks. The "busy work" was not intellectually challenging and I felt like I was in Junior High English. Also, if you do A work, expect to get a B or B+ if you're lucky. He does not give out A's unless "you can teach ENGL 149". Overall, good person, bad professor due to grading standards and class materials.

He's kinda spastic and it seemed like he had a lot going on this quarter that really preoccupied him and made his paper turnaround period really long. Overall, he's a good teacher. He'll try and scare you off the first day with, "if you want the grade, get out of this class now" but in our class, no one got less than a B-. He's really fair and gives great feedback. The stuff he teaches you is ACTUALLY USABLE in real life. He teaches you how to write a resume for a specific job (which no one actually sits down and tells you how to do. ever.) which is cool, and his feedback is realistic and positive. He tells you what you specifically need to fix, and if you fix it, you're golden.

He starts the first day of class off by telling everyone that he rarely gives A's and B's and that we will all receive F's, D's, and C's on everything until we resubmit. After the first week you will realize that this class is very easy and not the horror that he makes it out to be. The assignments in this class are not to difficult, however, the group project could have been a pain had we not picked a rather simple engineering problem. Basically our class, because it was summer, had 3 weeks to finish this. It is designed for about 8 weeks. Overall I recommend this instructor. Keep resubmitting your assignments and get better grades. He never gives you a lower grade.

Was a little worried about the amount of work in the class, but it proved to be negligable. He's a good instructor, the material is practically spelled out for you, and he gives you every chance to get an A by resubmitting your material. You cant beat a course and teacher like this.

He started off trying to scare students off by saying it was going to be a very difficult class. It turned out to be very easy with minimum work put in. I would recommned him for this course because if I would gave a damn about trying I would of for sure gotten an A.

Just go to 2nd floor library and see the mess. I work here and I am embarassed!!! It's junior high school crap except we are paying for shit like this.

For this class there just isn't much to do, and he made it even easier. I have a feeling that he grading us really easy this quarter because he became very busy with his other classes and also heading up a new program at Poly. He is realy nice and very helpful. The coolest part about the class was, if you turn something in he allows you to return it in later for a better grade. That option is open for all things due.

Dr. Gillette is a good instructor. Most of your grade is based on a group project. This is both good and bad. On the plus side if your group does well then you do well. The problem is that if you are a good student and your group is just ok or not so great, than your final grade is affected by this. He said that he gives grades to groups as a whole. So four people get A's, four get -A's, four get +B's etc. The biggest key in the class is to meet with Gillette often as a group and have him evaluate your work. He gives great suggestions. I felt like that class demanded the full 4 units worth of work. Start early on the project, work hard on all the group projects and you should do fine.

The problem with this guy is he doesnt like giving out that many A's. So if you want an A, you hae to try real hard. Other than that after 3 or 4 revisions of your assignments, you should get a B very easily. Group project worth alot so you better find people who are willingto do some work

He's a great guy. Will definately put time aside to help you with anything you don't understand. He made the class interesting and clear.

Just know that David is one of the most student oriented teachers at Cal Poly. He'll do anything for his students. If you get a chance to take one of his New Media Arts classes take it and try to be in the core group that does more work than everyone, but i think benefits the most. I took this class as an elective just because I wanted to make a film. So eventhough I wasn't required to take this class, I loved it! The only problem with this class is that I wish it counted for a GE requirement like the Tech Elective.

Take this class- it's simply an awesome film class. I thought it would be about web design; but that only came in the last week. If you like film- this class is for you. Also- get into the Core group and get involved as possible in the filming weekend and activities. Whatever you put into this class, you get back ten-fold. Gillette really cares about his students. He wants us to learn and gain as much experience as possible. Most of all, he tailors the class according to the students. This can get annoying for a few, as we don't stick to the syllabus, but you have to swing with it. I really recommend this class. Gillette is a great teacher if you try to learn.

This class was beyond easy. Join the Film Crew . . . it's a lot of work, but it's fun work (making a movie). And if you're on the Film Crew, you are excused from all other assignments. The reading is actually quite interesting, but you don't have to read every page to get the basic gist. With this base knowledge of the reading, you can participate in class discussions and answer questions on Blackboard. Even if you don't join the Film Crew, however, this class is pretty easy and fun. You will learn how to edit movies on the iMacs, and do some fun group work along the way. It's almost impossible to get less than an A in this class. Gillete's a nice guy.

I tried to relate to this professor, but he was entirely unreliable, close-minded, and self-absorbed. Although I participated intensely in discussions, and contributed some of the best work in the class (this from the students), he failed to recognize anything I did. The class was a waste of time, falling entirely short of my expectations and not at all the innovative class he had pumped it up to be. Granted this is partly due to the inexperience of the students in terms of web capability and design skill. But I echo the sentiment of annoyance... his idiotic giggling at himself, his tardiness in returning assignments yet without the slightest speck of insightful feedback, and yes his 'lard ass', made the class a twice-weekly annoyance, of which I wish I had never partaken. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

David Gillette is an astoundingly brilliant professor. He truly understands everything he lectures about, and has the uncanny ability to talk for the entire class without losing anyone's undivided attention. Now, that alone doesn't make someone a good teacher...I've had plenty of smart professors who were clueless as to why they were talking about whatever crap they knew. But David is different...better. He's more down to earth than other super-smart teachers, and just a genuinely nice guy. He assigns the coolest books to read, and is very receptive and helpful during office hours. Take him for whatever class he's teaching!

David Gillette is an awesome teacher. Dynamic, interesting, understanding and respectful. Do not be scared of his first two lectures, he always lightens the load and grades fairly. Take him for any class you can. Cal Poly needs more teachers like him.

If u look closely at Gillette, you will see a fraud. Everything comes from a book that Gillettee has read the day before. He claims it as his own "knowledge" but we caught him in this crap. What'd Gillette do: laughed it off and "lectured" us on how Calpoly is "lucky" to have him. He says he knows more than any other professor on this campus in "new media" I didn't deserve the grade Gillette gave me. Stand up to Gillette & you'll scare him into a good grade. Take him only if you have to for the technical writing certificate or if you don't want to read the books. Gillette is the worse thing to happen to a good program at Calpoly.

Taking this instructor is like being in a Twilight Zone episode. You just can