Askay, David  

Askay is overall a good professor. I had him for Quarter Plus so my experience was a little different (I took the class in three weeks). He is a likable guy, his lectures are informative, but he grades much harder than other COMS professors. The first thing he tells you is that he doesn't really give out A's. The final exam was fair and if you review notes and skim chapter summaries then you'll do fine. He is an interesting person who is definitely qualified to teach. My only complaint: he grades speeches with no mercy.

On the first day, he told the class "if you do everything I ask of you ... you will get a C." So do the work, give your speeches, and you are guaranteed to pass the class. However, getting a good grade is harder. Don't expect an easy A here. He tells you exactly what you have to do in the rubric, but a lot of the time he gives 3/4's.

I had him for Quarter Plus which was rough since we were giving a speech every week. He grades pretty harshly when you have a few things bad, but then if you do above average he will randomly give a 100 on a speech. The tests are fair. Don't read the textbook or even buy it. Everything is in the lecture. In the end he curved all of our scores which was pretty chill. Overall speeches are hard, tests are not, and he's a cool guy.

This guy is the nicest professor I've ever had! However, he is a really, really, really harsh grader. I got the highest grade in the class on two speeches and only barely got an A-. Do not take this guy if you care about your GPA, it is almost impossible to get an A.

He gives a fat curve at the end (at least for my class) which makes up for his somewhat hard grading on the speeches.

Askay is very direct and clear on what he wants. There is three speeches, one final speech with a group that he assigns you in, quizzes and a mid term and final. He teaches very well and makes everyone comfortable to speak in front of the class. I have learned a lot and there was not that much workload. Take it, you won't regret it.

I really enjoyed this class. I think Dr. Askay is a great professor that really makes his students feel comfortable when giving speeches. Since public speaking is a huge fear for many people, I think this is a great trait for a COMS teacher to have. The one thing I was not a fan of was that our final speech was a group speech. We did not get to pick our groups and the entire group got the same one grade. So, if you are like me and get stuck with a crappy group, you're grade will end up taking the hit. Really not a fan of that group speech

Askay is awesome. I really, really enjoyed my quarter with him. He is a very nice guy, and he appreciates professionalism. If you make an effort to talk with him if you have any issues, he will be very reasonable and open to giving you the benefit of the doubt. He does not assign a TON of work, but don't take this to mean he is the easiest professor you will take. There are four or so speeches you have to give during the quarter, and while they are not long, they can be challenging. Getting A's on them is quite difficult, and you must spend time preparing to excel. However, Askay is very fair and extensively outlines what he wants from you. Did not find his tests and quizzes very hard though so you can overcome B's on speeches. To summarize: absolutely take him. Very rewarding and enjoyable quarter.

This is the first C I have recieved in my entire life. I hope that says something to all of you out there watching their GPA. Do not take him--this class was a nightmare!

I really enjoyed Small Group with Askay. He was thorough, straightforward, and an incredibly passionate instructor. Keep up with the reading, as you have quizzes weekly, and keep up with your group project/presentation. 3 tests, 3 papers, and a presentation at the end. If you do the work and do it on time, you will do well. If you don't, you will not. It's that simple.

Askay is really helpful and open to any questions. He's also very fair and willing to listen to you if you want to debate test/quiz questions. He's overall a nice and funny guy, so his class is easy to pay attention to. His tests and quizzes can be nit-picky, which means you really have to read the textbook if you want an A. That being said, he lectures on the book in class, so just paying attention in class will be enough to pass. Sometimes he words his lectures just different enough from the tests to really trip you up though. The tests are oriented more toward memorization than understanding of the concepts. The work load is kind of heavy for a 200 level class. A big portion of the class is a group project that lasts the entire quarter, which can be pretty difficult since group members are all on different schedules. Other than that, there's about 5 hours of reading per week, plus 2 exams and 3 papers where you reflect on concepts from the course that you've seen at play in your group. He can be pretty harsh on grading the group work. Overall, he's a great teacher. I recommend this class to anyone. I'd take it again even if it wasn't required.

Askay is great and a real asset to the COMS department. He's always extremely straightforward with what he wants, do the reading and take some notes and you'll get a good grade. He pulls most of his test questions directly from bolded or important sections in the textbook so only people who can't be bothered to read struggle in his class.

If you are a senior with a busy schedule, consider taking some other class instead of this one. The work load is heavier than I was hoping for due to the fact that you have to work on a quarter-long group project and produce several large documents at the end of the quarter. For a senior who is already busy with group projects that actually relate to my major, this class was just a frustrating waste of my time. Askay is a pretty hard grader so expect to put a lot of work into your assignments just to get a halfway decent grade.

Don't get me wrong, Askay is a good lecturer and presents the information with plenty of examples to help you understand.... BUT: His tests are confusing as he puts "jokes" in them but sometimes it is hard to tell if you should put true or false... Regarding the group project, it is a lot more work than you would think. The two powerpoint presentations and the paper were alright, but the journal entries and peer evaluations were the worst. I only got one 5/5 for my journal entries and that entry had 1200 words. The rest I mostly got 4/5 hitting between 900-1000 words. He is definitely a tough grader. Make sure you take notes during the week in the reading and lecture so you'll have something to write about for the journals. Good luck!

WORLD’S MOST AMAZING PROFESSOR. He makes everything so interesting and is so nice!! He will help you with anything in office hours and is super happy to do it. He makes himself extremely available to students and is so receptive to any questions. However, his course is super hard. I literally spent five hours preparing for each class through all of the reading, and my study guides for the midterm and final were 30 pages each. The group aspect of this class is very challenging, and it’s very unfair, as you could have an A individually but your group could suck, leaving you with a C in your group grade. This would leave you with a B in the class. However, since anyone reading this probably is required to take the course, I would recommend studying A LOT, doing all of the reading, even if it makes you want to die, and asking lots of questions.