As an instructor of record at Ohio State University, I taught about 25 students per semester for the course Criticizing Television. Criticizing Television is a second-level writing course that explores issues of cultural and social diversity through the lens of television criticism. I received the following feedback from my students.
Class Atmosphere
“I recommended TV to all of my friends after taking Shannon’s class. She’s really engaging and fun (the way gen ed teachers should be).
“Shannon was understanding and made sure that everyone’s opinion was heard and not to put people down for having opposing opinions.”
The laid–back nature of discussions encouraged me to participate without feeling judged and actually learn from the discussion (unlike what I’ve had in some other classes). Also, asking broad questions to the class helped me frame my thoughts and keep them related to the discussion.”
“Discussion-based class has been helpful to understand the different viewpoints of certain issues discussed in class.”
Teacher Feedback
“Shannon did an awesome job with making this class fun and encouraging discussion. She was very understanding with the transition to online classes (during COVID-19), and took student concerns into account. I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot, thanks for a great semester!”
“The adjustments made to the curriculum following the move to online instruction (during COVID-19) were very easy to adapt to. Shannon sent out a survey to us and actually listened to our feedback, and as a result of the changes I felt much better able to complete my work on time and with the appropriate effort. I really appreciated how we were treated in this class and felt I learned a lot about an interesting subject.”
“Shannon is a great instructor. You can tell that she really cares about her students and wants them to perform well. She is flexible, regularly gathers feedback from us, and actively changes the course to better accommodate our needs. Overall, I really enjoyed this class and it has made me a more critical and active viewer of television.Shannon did a great job communicating content and stimulating discussion. This was one of my favorite classes this semester”
Student Achievement
“This class was very fun and I learned so much from it. It was eye opening as it made me look at television in a completely different light, which is good because I used to never give too much thought about what I watched and how it was subconsciously affecting my view on the world. I also didn’t know how underrepresented certain issues/groups are. This class made me realize that it’s important to be aware of biases and representations in the media because they have a lot of influence on people, and it’s scary because most people don’t even realize it!”
“The lectures were interesting and organized in a way that helped me learn. I really appreciated the Carmen page [Ohio State’s LMS system] being organized by date– this helped me keep track of due dates and readings very easily. Clips of TV shows shown in class helped me learn by seeing examples of tropes or class elements and providing a basis for discussion.”
Course assignments
“The assignments allowed me to think critically about a TV show and apply that we talked about in class”
“All the essays required me to think critically about issues in question”
“The assignments allowed me to think about TV in a different way. The readings made things clear about problems such as racism, sexism, or mental health issues. It is not something I usually think about”
Shannon Thacker Cregg 