EDSP376 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Chanai Brewster EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/21/2025	I'm taking Professor Brewster currently for EDSP376, and honestly, this class was my semester's relaxer, so I have no idea what the previous review is protesting about lol. Sure, on the surface, there are a lot of assignments due each week, but each assignment, I kid you not, can take only a few minutes, and you can essentially complete all your tasks for the week under half an hour. HOWEVER, you can only do this, as Professor Brewster stresses, with active preparation. Your only part really is to just come to class and understand the material, so practice your ASL vocab before class starts. Other than that, it's a really fun class and a great course to balance other hard annoying classes. As a bonus, even though she is deaf and the entire class is through signs/chat only, Professor Brewster's really sweet and conducts all sorts of interactive assignments to keep the class entertaining. Would definitely take this class!
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/23/2025	Highly recommend taking this class with Michael. He is so kind and willing to help you learn. I took this online in the Winter, so it was pretty fast pace but he does a great job at answering our questions before we move to the next topic. I wouldn't say it is an easy A, because most of your grade is from the assignments/quizzes that you'll really have to focus on, but it's not bad. If you plan to take EDSP467 you'll have to pass the "exit interview" which is a 5 minute conversation with Michael. Despite what one commenter said, I have never had an issue with getting in contact with this professor, and I think the class was well organized.
Chanai Brewster EDSP376 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 01/07/2025	I took EDSP376 (Fundamentals of Sign Language) thinking it was going to be a simple, introductory course into ASL but it was very fast paced and the professor created a lot of assignments like a week before they were due and many of them were not in the syllabus. Be prepared to do a lot of unnecessary assignments that take a lot of your time, often make no sense, are confusing in the sense that they are not helping you actually learn how to apply it real life situations where you are signing. The professor opened up the ELMS page late in the beginning of the semester but we still had to complete the assignments by the due date which was shortly after the ELMS page was opened, during the first week of classes. While I learned the basics of communicating in ASL, this class was VERY overwhelming and I do not recommend taking it if you have other classes that are intense and require a lot of your time. You will feel drained.
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2024	This professor is great. He is very easygoing, and is constantly making us laugh. The class is lowstakes, assignments are simple and are usually 100% with a little practice. Almost every assignment allows a retry. All he wants is effort, you are not expected to be 100% accurate all the time. Only one group presentation which you just make a class game about a subject (ASL telephone, jeopardy, etc), again - very easy and fun. Take this class/prof IN PERSON if you can.
Colleen McGilpin EDSP376 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2024	Incredible teacher! I learned so much from this class and highly recommend her to anyone who's trying to learn ASL. The workload is light. You'll get an A if you attend class, participate, and submit assignments. She's an extremely understanding grader and she gives you positive, constructive feedback on your progress. Please take her if you can!
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2024	If you’re considering learning ASL with Michael PLEASE DO IT!! He is such a kind and funny professor and I loved this class immensely. He is willing to help anyone who is struggling or doesn’t understand signs. Of course keep in mind this is a 3xx class with a language that has different rules than English, but as long as you put the effort in you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. The class is entirely voice-off from the start so you might want to at least review the alphabet beforehand but he goes slow and makes sure people understand him. The immersion is really helpful to pick things up quickly. I also appreciate that we spend time learning about Deaf culture, not just ASL. At the moment the class meets twice a week and there are weekly assignments on canvas. The assignments might look like a lot (they include videos/“snapshots” to watch before class) but it’s usually short and simple. There's also a few assignments where you'll videotape yourself signing sentences using proper ASL structure and grammar. We also took a field trip to tour Gallaudet University in DC. Overall HIGHLY recommended, this was my favorite class this semester. It’s pretty small so you get to know your classmates quickly. As I said Michael is such a great professor and you will love taking this class!
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2024	Dunham is a super nice, friendly, and understanding professor. The other reviews here are from years ago/covid - when I was reading them they didn't seem accurate. I took his in-person EDSP376 class.... the assignments are all online and super manageable (I probably dedicated 1 hour each week for them). There are no in-person tests/quizzes which is nice. He is deaf, which was initially intimidating but proved really valuable for learning. All of the times I emailed him he was very responsive. I think you get what you put into this class - you have the tools to become a strong novice signer if that is what you please, however you can get by from not being 100%.
Colleen McGilpin EDSP376 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/14/2024	I love Colleen. She is a great teacher- I have learned so much from her. She is so sweet and understanding. I have had problems with assignments and she will extend the due date. If she was teaching ASL 2 I would 100% take her class again. The homework and exams are easy if you pay attention in class, it is not a hard class at all.
Elizabeth Martinez EDSP376 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2024	This is an ONLINE class. The professor doesn't teach and you are on your own in this course. The workload isn't too terrible. Although, I thought the curriculum could have been better and the professor doesn't teach anything, other watching her YouTube videos. Also, she is pretty slow to respond to emails. The course itself is easy and there is no time limit on tests/quizzes. Professor is based in Tennessee if I recall correctly. If you're just looking for an easy A class, this might be for you, but if you really want to learn and engage, stick with in person classes.
Elizabeth Martinez EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/15/2024	she was so sweet and really tried to make the class entertaining. i had it online so we met once a week on zoom, but since she is deaf herself, there is never any talking on the zooms so it is completely silent. you mainly just follow along with her powerpoints and also do some practice activities in breakout rooms, which were usually very awkward. the class was really cool though and it was fun to learn some parts of the ASL language, although i feel like every week we sort of kept moving forward and rarely reviewed terms from the past, which was sort of difficult. i got through the assignments and tests just fine, with a lot of help from the online textbook.
Elizabeth Martinez EDSP376 Anonymous 01/11/2022	Rating doesn't reflect the instructor, but more so the class. Can't honestly give her a rating because she wasn't really our instructor. This was a self-paced, self-taught, asynchronous course. I came in with some knowledge of ASL and hated every minute of this class. I rushed through it just to get it done. Luckily my daughter is interested in ASL so I could practice with her. 99% of the course was done through True+Way ASL using their curriculum. They open by preaching about immersion and practicing with others, but it's a ****ing online course. Do not take this class if it is online. Sign up for an ASL class through MCCC or in person. I'll get he credits and probably be happy to get the requirement done, but I regret taking this class.
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Anonymous 03/10/2021	I took this class during Fall 2020 when it was online due to covid. Michael was always very friendly and considerate of different signing paces and receptive to any feedback. The course material was taught via short pre-recorded lecture videos. These videos are completely in ASL and don't have captions or voiceovers, but most of the time his facial expressions and pictures/animations make the meanings pretty clear. You do have to be pro-active if there's anything you don't understand, and that means either emailing him separately or asking a question during the live class. But, he encourages people to interrupt and ask what signs are, so it's totally okay if you don't understand the video lectures entirely. There were live classes for 1-hour once a week. On Testudo, it shows up as two sessions a week, but before the semester starts, he lets you pick one of three times that meet once a week in smaller groups (not sure if this was just because of the online format or not). These live classes were fully immersive, so everyone was muted and any questions would be asked via chat. He would prepare some sort of activity that involved using signs taught in the previous week's lecture videos in order to practice them and gauge comprehension. There was never too much pressure to know every sign beforehand, because, as I mentioned, it was completely okay to be reminded of the signs or even learn new signs by just asking. Overall, Michael really cares about helping students learn the material, and this is a great class to take with him if you're interested in learning some basic ASL directly from someone in the deaf community.
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/26/2021	I took EDSP376 online over the winter. The main content of the course is taught through recorded lectures, and there are biweekly synchronous lectures with some basic participation activities. We didn't have any exams but there were a few untimed quizzes and homework assignments, as well as an easy final project. It's intended to be a "full immersion" class so there's no speaking in class or in the recorded lectures. That's not really a problem though, since he's patient and writes what he's signing in the zoom chat, and the videos have pictures to describe whatever he's talking about. It's rarely, if ever, unclear. There was only about an hour or two of recorded lectures a week (not bad for a 3-week class) so it's pretty easy to rewatch them before/during a quiz. Overall, it's an easy class if you put in literally any effort at all and you'll probably have a bit of fun with it too. He was good about responding to emails (despite what the other reviewer says) and other concerns. Easy five stars.
Elizabeth Martinez EDSP376 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/18/2020	I took EDSP376 with her over Summer2020 and she is awesome. There is not a ton of work and the work is pretty straightforward. Before I graduate, I want to take EDSP476 with her if she ever teaches it during the fall or spring.
Michael Dunham EDSP376 Anonymous 01/12/2020	Do not take this class if you do not have to and do not trust the data for this professor. The class is extremely unorganized and moves at a way too fast pace. The professor is horrible about responding to emails and is always MIA. If you want to take a class where you get the review packets the night before a test and can never get in contact with the professor then this is the class for you.

Chanai Brewster
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/21/2025

I'm taking Professor Brewster currently for EDSP376, and honestly, this class was my semester's relaxer, so I have no idea what the previous review is protesting about lol. Sure, on the surface, there are a lot of assignments due each week, but each assignment, I kid you not, can take only a few minutes, and you can essentially complete all your tasks for the week under half an hour. HOWEVER, you can only do this, as Professor Brewster stresses, with active preparation. Your only part really is to just come to class and understand the material, so practice your ASL vocab before class starts. Other than that, it's a really fun class and a great course to balance other hard annoying classes. As a bonus, even though she is deaf and the entire class is through signs/chat only, Professor Brewster's really sweet and conducts all sorts of interactive assignments to keep the class entertaining. Would definitely take this class!

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/23/2025

Highly recommend taking this class with Michael. He is so kind and willing to help you learn. I took this online in the Winter, so it was pretty fast pace but he does a great job at answering our questions before we move to the next topic. I wouldn't say it is an easy A, because most of your grade is from the assignments/quizzes that you'll really have to focus on, but it's not bad. If you plan to take EDSP467 you'll have to pass the "exit interview" which is a 5 minute conversation with Michael. Despite what one commenter said, I have never had an issue with getting in contact with this professor, and I think the class was well organized.

Chanai Brewster
EDSP376

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
01/07/2025

I took EDSP376 (Fundamentals of Sign Language) thinking it was going to be a simple, introductory course into ASL but it was very fast paced and the professor created a lot of assignments like a week before they were due and many of them were not in the syllabus. Be prepared to do a lot of unnecessary assignments that take a lot of your time, often make no sense, are confusing in the sense that they are not helping you actually learn how to apply it real life situations where you are signing. The professor opened up the ELMS page late in the beginning of the semester but we still had to complete the assignments by the due date which was shortly after the ELMS page was opened, during the first week of classes. While I learned the basics of communicating in ASL, this class was VERY overwhelming and I do not recommend taking it if you have other classes that are intense and require a lot of your time. You will feel drained.

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/19/2024

This professor is great. He is very easygoing, and is constantly making us laugh. The class is lowstakes, assignments are simple and are usually 100% with a little practice. Almost every assignment allows a retry. All he wants is effort, you are not expected to be 100% accurate all the time. Only one group presentation which you just make a class game about a subject (ASL telephone, jeopardy, etc), again - very easy and fun. Take this class/prof IN PERSON if you can.

Colleen McGilpin
EDSP376

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2024

Incredible teacher! I learned so much from this class and highly recommend her to anyone who's trying to learn ASL. The workload is light. You'll get an A if you attend class, participate, and submit assignments. She's an extremely understanding grader and she gives you positive, constructive feedback on your progress. Please take her if you can!

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2024

If you’re considering learning ASL with Michael PLEASE DO IT!! He is such a kind and funny professor and I loved this class immensely. He is willing to help anyone who is struggling or doesn’t understand signs. Of course keep in mind this is a 3xx class with a language that has different rules than English, but as long as you put the effort in you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. The class is entirely voice-off from the start so you might want to at least review the alphabet beforehand but he goes slow and makes sure people understand him. The immersion is really helpful to pick things up quickly. I also appreciate that we spend time learning about Deaf culture, not just ASL. At the moment the class meets twice a week and there are weekly assignments on canvas. The assignments might look like a lot (they include videos/“snapshots” to watch before class) but it’s usually short and simple. There's also a few assignments where you'll videotape yourself signing sentences using proper ASL structure and grammar. We also took a field trip to tour Gallaudet University in DC. Overall HIGHLY recommended, this was my favorite class this semester. It’s pretty small so you get to know your classmates quickly. As I said Michael is such a great professor and you will love taking this class!

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2024

Dunham is a super nice, friendly, and understanding professor. The other reviews here are from years ago/covid - when I was reading them they didn't seem accurate. I took his in-person EDSP376 class.... the assignments are all online and super manageable (I probably dedicated 1 hour each week for them). There are no in-person tests/quizzes which is nice. He is deaf, which was initially intimidating but proved really valuable for learning. All of the times I emailed him he was very responsive. I think you get what you put into this class - you have the tools to become a strong novice signer if that is what you please, however you can get by from not being 100%.

Colleen McGilpin
EDSP376

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/14/2024

I love Colleen. She is a great teacher- I have learned so much from her. She is so sweet and understanding. I have had problems with assignments and she will extend the due date. If she was teaching ASL 2 I would 100% take her class again. The homework and exams are easy if you pay attention in class, it is not a hard class at all.

Elizabeth Martinez
EDSP376

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2024

This is an ONLINE class. The professor doesn't teach and you are on your own in this course. The workload isn't too terrible. Although, I thought the curriculum could have been better and the professor doesn't teach anything, other watching her YouTube videos. Also, she is pretty slow to respond to emails. The course itself is easy and there is no time limit on tests/quizzes. Professor is based in Tennessee if I recall correctly. If you're just looking for an easy A class, this might be for you, but if you really want to learn and engage, stick with in person classes.

Elizabeth Martinez
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/15/2024

she was so sweet and really tried to make the class entertaining. i had it online so we met once a week on zoom, but since she is deaf herself, there is never any talking on the zooms so it is completely silent. you mainly just follow along with her powerpoints and also do some practice activities in breakout rooms, which were usually very awkward. the class was really cool though and it was fun to learn some parts of the ASL language, although i feel like every week we sort of kept moving forward and rarely reviewed terms from the past, which was sort of difficult. i got through the assignments and tests just fine, with a lot of help from the online textbook.

Elizabeth Martinez
EDSP376

Anonymous
01/11/2022

Rating doesn't reflect the instructor, but more so the class. Can't honestly give her a rating because she wasn't really our instructor. This was a self-paced, self-taught, asynchronous course. I came in with some knowledge of ASL and hated every minute of this class. I rushed through it just to get it done. Luckily my daughter is interested in ASL so I could practice with her. 99% of the course was done through True+Way ASL using their curriculum. They open by preaching about immersion and practicing with others, but it's a ****ing online course. Do not take this class if it is online. Sign up for an ASL class through MCCC or in person. I'll get he credits and probably be happy to get the requirement done, but I regret taking this class.

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Anonymous
03/10/2021

I took this class during Fall 2020 when it was online due to covid. Michael was always very friendly and considerate of different signing paces and receptive to any feedback. The course material was taught via short pre-recorded lecture videos. These videos are completely in ASL and don't have captions or voiceovers, but most of the time his facial expressions and pictures/animations make the meanings pretty clear. You do have to be pro-active if there's anything you don't understand, and that means either emailing him separately or asking a question during the live class. But, he encourages people to interrupt and ask what signs are, so it's totally okay if you don't understand the video lectures entirely. There were live classes for 1-hour once a week. On Testudo, it shows up as two sessions a week, but before the semester starts, he lets you pick one of three times that meet once a week in smaller groups (not sure if this was just because of the online format or not). These live classes were fully immersive, so everyone was muted and any questions would be asked via chat. He would prepare some sort of activity that involved using signs taught in the previous week's lecture videos in order to practice them and gauge comprehension. There was never too much pressure to know every sign beforehand, because, as I mentioned, it was completely okay to be reminded of the signs or even learn new signs by just asking. Overall, Michael really cares about helping students learn the material, and this is a great class to take with him if you're interested in learning some basic ASL directly from someone in the deaf community.

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/26/2021

I took EDSP376 online over the winter. The main content of the course is taught through recorded lectures, and there are biweekly synchronous lectures with some basic participation activities. We didn't have any exams but there were a few untimed quizzes and homework assignments, as well as an easy final project. It's intended to be a "full immersion" class so there's no speaking in class or in the recorded lectures. That's not really a problem though, since he's patient and writes what he's signing in the zoom chat, and the videos have pictures to describe whatever he's talking about. It's rarely, if ever, unclear. There was only about an hour or two of recorded lectures a week (not bad for a 3-week class) so it's pretty easy to rewatch them before/during a quiz. Overall, it's an easy class if you put in literally any effort at all and you'll probably have a bit of fun with it too. He was good about responding to emails (despite what the other reviewer says) and other concerns. Easy five stars.

Elizabeth Martinez
EDSP376

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/18/2020

I took EDSP376 with her over Summer2020 and she is awesome. There is not a ton of work and the work is pretty straightforward. Before I graduate, I want to take EDSP476 with her if she ever teaches it during the fall or spring.

Michael Dunham
EDSP376

Anonymous
01/12/2020

Do not take this class if you do not have to and do not trust the data for this professor. The class is extremely unorganized and moves at a way too fast pace. The professor is horrible about responding to emails and is always MIA. If you want to take a class where you get the review packets the night before a test and can never get in contact with the professor then this is the class for you.

Reviews for EDSP376