Cowitz, Mary  

Mary really is so nice and really knows what she is talking about. She is an art teacher so you can really learn a lot from her. Her assignments are really useful to your future career. For example you write many lesson plans and brainstorm art projects/lessons to do for different age groups. She also does many art projects with you that you can do in the classroom. I feel that this class really benefitted my future career. Just because you have to do work for this class doesn't mean that Mary is a horrible teacher. Great teacher and a really helpful class for teachers.

At first I really liked Cowitz. After a while that changed. I am a different type of learner and I need to hear things more than once to process them. As I tried very hard to approach her whenever I did not understand something, she gave me so much attitude for it and made me feel stupid in front of other students many times. Anyone I have discussed this with has agreed with me as well. She also uses her overloaded schedule as an excuse to not give individual students attention when they asked for it. There were a few times that my grade suffered because I needed help on something and she literally told me that she couldn't help me because she had "50 other students" and I would only lose a few points. Very very frustrating. Her midterm and final were also very difficult. I recommend doing allll the reading

Mary is a nice person. She is a typical artist though. SUPER unorganized. Her lectures are boring and there is a TON of work to do for such a pointless class. You probably don't have any other professor options for this class, at least I didn't. Just try to get on her good side. She will like you if you relate to art and offer to help. If you ask her questions she looks at you like you're stupid. Overall not the greatest at teaching. This class is mainly only useful if you want to teach art.

all i can say is you need to kiss her ass or she'll make your life hell

Probably the worst experience I've had as an LS major. This class takes an intense amount of time so take it with like 12 units at the most. I've seen her treat some students like shit..I've been lucky but it's not pleasant to watch and has made me feel uncomfortable.

The person below me was obviously FAVORED by Mary. She's an awful professor. Biased,one track minded, and a very mean person if you catch her on the wrong day. She's unprofessional but expects everyone to treat her like queen bee 100% of the time. You have to make this class your own to master it because expect ZERO help from her. I'll never know how I pulled off an A. Prepare for sleepless night, crying, stress, etc. I'm dreading the next stupid class I have to take with her

I adore Mary! All she expects from her students is respect and your best. Get to know her on a personal level and always try your hardest to meet her requirements. She doesn't chose to dislike a student unless they have a reason to be disliked, so if you're doing badly you need to rethink how you may present yourself in her class. Overall, the class does take a crazy amount of effort. The chapter notes & glossary should NOT BE PROCRASTINATED. The lab is an absolute blast, it is so fun going in and doing art for a few hours during the day. Overall, Mary is a kind, sweet woman. She always remembers her students & will love you if you give her the respect she demands.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Mary during fall quarter of 2016. Mary presents material in a clear and organized fashion, and you can tell that she genuinely cares about her students and wants to see them succeed. I was dreading this class since I am not generally an art person, but Mary quickly dismissed my fears and proved that I am more than capable of making art that I can be proud of. Mary only asks that her students put in their best effort and improve throughout the quarter. Her passion for the subject is contagious, and each of the students in my class seemed to take a great liking to both the class and Mary. I am saddened by the fact that Mary is leaving Cal Poly, as she is a great professor and a truly wonderful person. Cal Poly needs professors to inspire future educators, and Mary does just that.

To be honest, it's this very class that makes me not want to be a teacher anymore. LS 270 outcomes are great, but in my opinion (and many others in my class) Mary takes it a bit too far. She wants EVERYTHING to be integrated and although I understand that's the point of this course, it's impossible to have an arts integration for every single thing. That said, she took off points on my paper for having a small section devoted to a straightforward approach to teaching. Sometimes I think it's the course itself more than her that makes it unpopular. Everyone has their own teaching style but this class teaches only one way so it hardly matters what your real opinion is. Her quizzes are pretty hard. They are super specific and sometimes when taking the quiz I don't even remember learning what's on some of the questions. Ironically it's a lecture-based class, when she's teaching us not to be lecture-based teachers. There's homework assigned for pretty much every week but it's not that hard. She's super specific in her grading too. For the midterm/final, it's multiple choice and two essay questions. And try to not miss ANY class, even if you're sick. I was sick twice this quarter and she told me I missed class too much. Her temper isn't all that great. She'll tell a small group something, and if someone else in the class asked her to repeat it to the entire class she gets upset. But she really does love teaching though and is very enthusiastic about the subject. Overrall, it's the content more than her that's to be disliked. Get on her good side. Go to class and do the homework like any other class and you'll be fine. I believe most of us got A's or B's, but I could be wrong. You might not like the class like many others, but it is a required course. Good luck!

Oh Mary... Mary seems like a genuinely good person, however she is extremely unorganized and doesn't like to work with students' needs. If she likes you, you are 100% better off. She would often post stuff on polylearn the morning before class and expect us to see it and be prepared for whatever it was in class that day. Participate in class a lot and speak up in class as much as you can. Do all extra credit she offeres because the quizzes are deadly!!! She says quizzes aren't a big chunck of your grade, but they are when you bomb them. Don't buy the book because she hates it and you barely use it. She ended up splitting the class into groups and having them all share one book that one student in that group had. So some people are going to need the book but I wouldnt spend money on it. Best advice I can give: keep a positive attitude in class, get her to like you, study for the quizzes, midterm, and final, and try to make the best out of what you have. Apparently she is the best teacher for this class and the other class she teaches so take her over the other teacher!

Very unorganized, information revolves around PolyLearn which is very inconvenient for busy college students. Is not consistent in treatment of students, you're MUCH better off if she likes you. Also, a lot of reading in 270. Not difficult but class attendance is necessary.

She's just alright. Super unorganized but the class was not too difficult. She uses a textbook but constantly says how much you hate it. We did a lot of hands on activiites which was cool. Sometimes the material was so basic and found myself bored a lot. Overall she was just alright, easy class but I had to mostly tolerate her.

It stinks that the LS department has chosen two of the worst professors possible for their visual arts classes. You have an old lady who hates everyone, and then you have Mary who is, at times, very bitchy. She is incredibly biased towards her students and takes her students missing her class very personally. IT'S AN ELEMENTARY ARTS CLASS LADY, PEOPLE ARE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO THINK IT'S STUPID AND MISS!!! So keep in mind that when you miss she will be mad at you. Also, she is very bad at explaining what's expected in her assignments, so try and coordinate with the other students in the class that way you all do the exact same thing so she can't grade differently. Anyways, hope some other professors are offered for this in the future...

I'd rather eat milk that's been sitting out for a week with the cap open every morning at 9:10am rather than go to Cowitz's class. She wears high heals because she's insecure with her shortness. She doesn't hold herself accountable when she explains things wrong. I heard she is better than the other teacher for this section; however, if this is the best option than I would go to LS headquarters and demand change, because this lady is awful. Good luck, future teachers.

I had Mary for 270 and 311. She is such a nice person! If you pay attention you can learn a lot from her classes. For 311, there were a lot of assignments at the end of the quarter but she recognized that and I think she is modifying that. If you show an interest for the class and stay positive she will really appreciate it. DO NOT argue with her on assignments/test answers. Overall these are a pretty easy classes and can be helpful to your future career. Mary is super sweet and loves when students take her class seriously.

A lot of students come into this class thinking it's an easy A. The people that give bad reviews of Mary are those people that thought they could slide by in this class without putting in any effort. Mary is a great professor. She also teaches art to grades 1-5 at a local elementary school so she knows what works with kids and what doesn't. I learned more from her classes than I have all three years I have been in college. She is inspiring and a genuine person. Mary has great ideas for integrating art into all subjects, getting students involved, and handling classroom management. If you aren't convinced of this after taking her classes, just observe one of her lessons at the local elementary school. Some people complain that Mary is unorganized, however, I believe that Mary is flexible. If something isn't working she changes it up. That's not a lack of organization skills...it's called being a good teacher.

Cowitz works best with children and teaching people art. I strongly believe she shouldn't teach people how to teach art. Very biased, very into favoritism, and strongly believes her class should be your number one priority by overhauling you with pointless work that won't take you anywhere. Claims to have everything laid out and detailed and organized, but it's not. Good luck asking a question because she will look offended and give you a "What??" in the rudest voice. It's ironic that she's teaching future elementary school teachers because she certainly doesn't account for anyone with any kind of variance from her learning style, which is a huge factor in education...diverse learners. A very detrimental person in the LS department

Mary is the BEST professor I have ever had in my 4 years of college. She is a perfect fit in the Cal Poly LS department because she teaches EVERY grade in elementary school. If you want to learn about any age group in elementary education, she has had experience. She teaches 1st-5th grade art and keeps up on the latest standards and developmentally appropriate practices for teaching. Her classes are extremely beneficial to anyone who appreciates art or wants to be a good teacher.

I had Mary multiple times throughout my four years here and she was by far one of the most passionate and helpful teachers to my career path. She can be a little intimidating at first, but she really wants you to succeed and is approachable if she sees you putting the effort in. She not only inspired me to pursue my passion, but also gave me the support, help, and knowledge to do so. In this class, it was very well structured and organized, with a lot of enjoyable hands on ways to learn the material. She really does have a lot of experience so I learned a lot about not only ways to teach art, but how to manage the classroom as well as activities that students could do themselves, and the reasons behind them. She knows that just art is hard to teach as an elementary teacher, so she also gives you the knowledge on how to integrate art into other subjects as well.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.