Having also taken Comm 134 with Professor Wright-Dixon in the Fall, I have to say that I'm not surprised to see the competing opinions about the course. Both sides have legitimate grievances so hopefully I can be a neutral resource to those who are considering taking this course.

First, there were some genuinely rude students who took away from the experience and not surprisingly annoyed the professor. However, many of these students were expressing frustration at the fact that she was very regularly late and disorganized.

I do believe that she genuinely cares about her students and wants them to succeed, but that doesn't necessarily equate to being a good professor. I have to agree with a previous commenter that it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that a professor enhance the material that's being taught. I walked away from the class having learned as much as if I had just read the textbook on my own (which is kind of a bummer when you're paying . That is not to say that I didn't learn anything, but I didn't learn anything from her.

It was definitely interesting material and perhaps she was just off her game that particular quarter.

**This is a review for COMM 134: Organizational Communication **

To the review below mine: I’m sorry, but WHAT!? The quality of education that’s expected at UCLA? You mean expectations to memorize and then present answers professors want to see without actually having the ability to apply anything you learned? Clearly, you are accustomed to this “quality of education” because all you took the time to do was memorize.

Now, to address some of the other comments:

We never had to buy a movie. Ever. We watched a movie about corporations IN CLASS.
We started late because she was trying to HELP students who insisted on using the mobile iClicker app even though there was NO WI-FI in the classroom.
There were about 15 people in this class who were rude, obnoxious and just flat out annoying. One girl couldn’t shut up about sleeping with her drug dealer, four of you sat in the back on Facebook the entire time (yes, I could hear your obnoxious snickering from the front of the class), and the others spoke constantly to hear the sound of their own voice.

This is a THEORY based class. She makes that very clear from the beginning. Is this the most exciting class ever taught in the history of the world? Absolutely freaking not. However, the concepts and theories from this class are basic, but also incredibly relevant to business and real life. So if you are a student who just wants an A and isn’t interested in learning much, then yes, memorize the book and her lecture notes and you’re good to go. BUT, if you are a student who is interested in business, then pay attention to what she is saying and see how her examples actually APPLY to real life.

Evaluation Materials:

Case Studies (5pts each. These are easy.)
Two Exams (200pts each, A combination of multiple choice, true/false, matching, and short answer)
iClicker (You can use your notes or talk to other students. these are easy points)
Participation (10 points, she takes role based on iclicker & randomly selects 10 class days)

How to do well:

- Actually Read the book
- Show up to class because iClicker points will get you
GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS.
Professor Wright-Dixon is a brilliant woman who will work with you if you’re having problems. However, she is not going to just hold your hand the entire time or be bullied into giving you something you didn't earn. She cares more about her students than any other professor I have had at UCLA, but only if you put in the work.

If this class was too boring for you, take 188A Training & Development. That’s the applied version of this class.

To the people who are claiming that the negative reviews are only from people who didn't do well in the class: You're wrong. I received an A in the class and it was strictly due to memorization. Her "lectures" did absolutely nothing to enhance the material. Her mind was clearly elsewhere (which is understandable when you have twin toddlers), but if you're too busy to provide the quality of education that's expected at UCLA, then you shouldn't teach.

Comm 134 (Organizational Communication):
The teacher was great. The material was interesting. The class itself, sucked.

Unfortunately, we were plagued by a few arrogant students who felt it was their duty to “prove something” EVERY CLASS.

I’m not sure if former reviewers were in the same class as I was, but I will say that I learned a great deal through her lectures. She is very animated and can offer real life experiences that add value to the course. I’ve heard people complain that they didn’t get what her stories had to do with anything. The sad part is that she specifically tells you “I’m telling you this because it is an example of…(insert fundamental concept here)”. You’d think it was foolproof.

iClicker’s did not work due to lack of internet in the classroom. Not sure how it can be blamed on her but I’m thinking it did more good than harm (in terms of grading).

If you’re willing to do the case studies and read the book for key words and concepts, you’ll do great. Don’t take this course if you don’t have an interest in the material, you’ll just make it a bad experience for everyone.

Professor Wright-Dixon is one of the best professors I’ve had at UCLA. She’s very engaging, approachable, cares about her students, and can offer more real-life experiences than most professors are willing to share. I’m not even a Comm major and I’m taking another one of her classes again. To be honest, if she were the only professor in the Comm Dept., I’d probably consider changing my major.

Take her if you're interested in anything related to leadership principles, networks of organizations, and/or communications.

p.s. we didn’t have to buy the movie…it was optional. I hate when pissed off students come on here to vent…it compromises the value of review sites like bruinwalk.

***THIS REVIEW IS FOR COMM STUDIES 134, NOT 133****

Interesting class, it covers lots of interesting subjects. Professor cares about students, but is easily annoyed by rude and distracted students. Towards the end of the class, there was animosity between the class and the Prof, which was discouraging for both.

Lectures cover important textbook concepts + additional "outside" topics that are related to the subject.

The class has two exams. They are noncumulative and worth 40% of your grade. They seem daunting but the TA runs review sessions that greatly help students make sense of all the material. The prof grades exams in a way that rewards students for studying, but its very hard to do good if you are BSing your way through it. Fair enough.

The class has ten case studies which are graded leniently. There is a rubric that tells you what to do to get full credit, if you miss points here you are probably braindead because i always got perfect scores.

Overall, lots of work, but very rewarding and glad I took it.

Final Grade: A

I took Comm 134 and what I thought would be a really helpful class turned out to be useless. She taught us nothing in the first week or so of class, we were behind on lectures the whole time and when she did go through things it was very quickly, straight out of the textbook, and useless. The last few weeks of class, we didn't even get taught because she got mad that people were texting and so she decided to not teach us, not show up to the last class, and make us buy a movie to watch at home. Overall extremely bad experience. She has a great personality, would be a great friend, but not the best professor.

I took Comm 134, Organizational Communication, with professor Wright-Dixon. The quality of the class would have been unacceptable at a community college. She never started on time and spent the first week trying to figure how to work the iClicker. We were always behind schedule so she would fly through the lectures which were just summaries of the textbook. Stay away from her if you actually want to learn anything, but if you're looking for a class where you can just sit and zone out, then this is the one for you.