SOCY335 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/09/2024	The course doesn't have a lot of assignments which is very straightforward. The lecture can drag and she is monotone but I think you get used to it after a while.
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 10/24/2024	Her assignments and grades are incredibly biased, and she is incredibly unempathetic to internet issues while taking her in-class midterms. This would be a good class if taught by anyone else, but she's just not a good professor. She seems like she would be a very nice person, but her teaching abilities are lacking.
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2024	This class is very boring, and the professor just reads off off slides. She is constantly trying to push group work, and it's really awkward sometimes when she makes you work with people in the class on random activities when no one is clearly down. She's also very inflexible when you ask for either an extension or more information on an assignment. But it's an easy class and all of the quizzes are online.
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2024	I took this class as a GenEd, but also because I am interested in the healthcare field. I recommend steering away from this course if you're not as interested because it's relatively dense (especially the second unit), and the classes are small (awkward and dreadful because she likes group discussions but no one wants to do it which sucks) and she reads off the slides. I personally loved Dr. Ashlock though. She is super sweet and understanding, and her midterms are fairly easy. Major graded assignments are 2 papers and 2 midterms, with weekly quizzes and 'attendance' points. I strongly recommend following the rubric to the T when it comes to the papers, and instead of learning the definitions, learn how to apply them to a sociological aspect. Other than that, I fairly enjoyed my time learning about medicine from a sociological standpoint.
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	A little quirky, but overall a kind professor. Takes FOREVER to grade and is very vague on assignments but wants incredible detail without saying it
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2023	This class was genuinely one of the most boring classes I have taken at UMD. It is a shame because the content is very interesting, but Dr. Ashlock is not good at conveying the information to the class. First off, her slides are white with black text, often with the information extremely condensed onto each slide. She literally reads verbatim off the slides every single class. Also GO TO CLASS. I made the mistake of missing two classes where she happened to be giving out an in class google form for participation and my grade dropped 10%. Participation is weighted at 13% in that class, which is from the forms given out randomly throughout the semester. However, at least in my experience, she was accommodating and marked them as excused if I emailed her telling her I was sick and unable to attend. This class has two exams and two papers, as well as a short recorded presentation assignment. Exams were doable, provided you review a lot and go over the homework, as she often repeats questions from that. The papers were also somewhat interesting topics so they were not horrible to write. HOWEVER, paper guidelines were extremely unclear, and you think you did everything, but nope! You didn’t provide enough detail despite there being no detailed instructions. She also posts example papers after grades are submitted which I found to be very counterproductive. Dr. Ashlock also grades extremely slowly, which can be very frustrating in knowing your grade. One thing I do have to say is that she is very kind and willing to help whenever you have questions. If paper guidelines are unclear, it is helpful to speak with her to make sure you are on the right track, as she will provide you with help. By going to class and meeting with her to discuss assignments, you should be able to do well in this class.
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/26/2023	Very accomodating and gives interesting lectures. Course load is not too heavy and you learn a lot.
Joan Kahn SOCY335 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/07/2023	she is nice but the quizzes were extremely confusing and unfair
Jennifer Ashlock SOCY335 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2022	Her lectures are informative but she takes a month to upload grades. She also makes paper guidelines unclear and even while answering questions she remains vague. This put a lot of pressure on the students to decipher what she was looking for in an assignment. She also says on her syllabus that missing more than 6 classes will result in an automatic fail, despite professors not being able to grade based on attendance. Overall, she is new to the campus and it shows. Hopefully, once she gets a hang of things she will be less strict.
Joan Kahn SOCY335 Anonymous 12/20/2021	the class is interesting but it is not worth it for the time and energy you will put into this class only to be disappointed by the unclear grading rubrics. you spend a lot of time on the weekly graded assignments but they are only worth 10 points each week and the quizzes are super-specific and worth a lot more points but are very confusing. if you care about your gpa, it is not worth it.
Joan Kahn SOCY335 Anonymous 12/12/2021	The class provides super interesting information and you will learn a lot! It really does showcase the disparities in healthcare in the US! HOWEVER, the class is NOT worth it. There are reflections due every Wednesday that require HOURS of intense reading and note taking for a 10/10 grade, and quizzes bi-weekly that are extremely weird and nuanced for no reason. You will be constantly worried about the assignments. The methodology of grading is so subjective, and differs with each student. The mandatory weekly lecture is horrifically useless, the professor literally talks and tries to get a medium/ large sized lecture to engage and discuss... not worth it, but great information learned this semester.
Joan Kahn SOCY335 Anonymous 11/14/2021	dont do it its not worth the time the money or the constant fear of an A- theres reflection assignments every week, 2 short papers worth 35% of ur grade, and also multiple videos to watch and articles that you gotta know to do the quizzes. dont not for the DSSP just dont
Joan Kahn SOCY335 Expecting an A 995fym 05/21/2020	Kahn is a very nice person, and is very passionate about the sociology of health and illness. There are some papers in this class, you can ask her to review your drafts and she'll give useful feedback. Her transition to online teaching this semester was the best out of all my classes. I highly recommend her class.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
11/09/2024

The course doesn't have a lot of assignments which is very straightforward. The lecture can drag and she is monotone but I think you get used to it after a while.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
10/24/2024

Her assignments and grades are incredibly biased, and she is incredibly unempathetic to internet issues while taking her in-class midterms. This would be a good class if taught by anyone else, but she's just not a good professor. She seems like she would be a very nice person, but her teaching abilities are lacking.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2024

This class is very boring, and the professor just reads off off slides. She is constantly trying to push group work, and it's really awkward sometimes when she makes you work with people in the class on random activities when no one is clearly down. She's also very inflexible when you ask for either an extension or more information on an assignment. But it's an easy class and all of the quizzes are online.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/06/2024

I took this class as a GenEd, but also because I am interested in the healthcare field. I recommend steering away from this course if you're not as interested because it's relatively dense (especially the second unit), and the classes are small (awkward and dreadful because she likes group discussions but no one wants to do it which sucks) and she reads off the slides. I personally loved Dr. Ashlock though. She is super sweet and understanding, and her midterms are fairly easy. Major graded assignments are 2 papers and 2 midterms, with weekly quizzes and 'attendance' points. I strongly recommend following the rubric to the T when it comes to the papers, and instead of learning the definitions, learn how to apply them to a sociological aspect. Other than that, I fairly enjoyed my time learning about medicine from a sociological standpoint.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2023

A little quirky, but overall a kind professor. Takes FOREVER to grade and is very vague on assignments but wants incredible detail without saying it

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/12/2023

This class was genuinely one of the most boring classes I have taken at UMD. It is a shame because the content is very interesting, but Dr. Ashlock is not good at conveying the information to the class. First off, her slides are white with black text, often with the information extremely condensed onto each slide. She literally reads verbatim off the slides every single class. Also GO TO CLASS. I made the mistake of missing two classes where she happened to be giving out an in class google form for participation and my grade dropped 10%. Participation is weighted at 13% in that class, which is from the forms given out randomly throughout the semester. However, at least in my experience, she was accommodating and marked them as excused if I emailed her telling her I was sick and unable to attend. This class has two exams and two papers, as well as a short recorded presentation assignment. Exams were doable, provided you review a lot and go over the homework, as she often repeats questions from that. The papers were also somewhat interesting topics so they were not horrible to write. HOWEVER, paper guidelines were extremely unclear, and you think you did everything, but nope! You didn’t provide enough detail despite there being no detailed instructions. She also posts example papers after grades are submitted which I found to be very counterproductive. Dr. Ashlock also grades extremely slowly, which can be very frustrating in knowing your grade. One thing I do have to say is that she is very kind and willing to help whenever you have questions. If paper guidelines are unclear, it is helpful to speak with her to make sure you are on the right track, as she will provide you with help. By going to class and meeting with her to discuss assignments, you should be able to do well in this class.

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/26/2023

Very accomodating and gives interesting lectures. Course load is not too heavy and you learn a lot.

Joan Kahn
SOCY335

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/07/2023

she is nice but the quizzes were extremely confusing and unfair

Jennifer Ashlock
SOCY335

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/07/2022

Her lectures are informative but she takes a month to upload grades. She also makes paper guidelines unclear and even while answering questions she remains vague. This put a lot of pressure on the students to decipher what she was looking for in an assignment. She also says on her syllabus that missing more than 6 classes will result in an automatic fail, despite professors not being able to grade based on attendance. Overall, she is new to the campus and it shows. Hopefully, once she gets a hang of things she will be less strict.

Joan Kahn
SOCY335

Anonymous
12/20/2021

the class is interesting but it is not worth it for the time and energy you will put into this class only to be disappointed by the unclear grading rubrics. you spend a lot of time on the weekly graded assignments but they are only worth 10 points each week and the quizzes are super-specific and worth a lot more points but are very confusing. if you care about your gpa, it is not worth it.

Joan Kahn
SOCY335

Anonymous
12/12/2021

The class provides super interesting information and you will learn a lot! It really does showcase the disparities in healthcare in the US! HOWEVER, the class is NOT worth it. There are reflections due every Wednesday that require HOURS of intense reading and note taking for a 10/10 grade, and quizzes bi-weekly that are extremely weird and nuanced for no reason. You will be constantly worried about the assignments. The methodology of grading is so subjective, and differs with each student. The mandatory weekly lecture is horrifically useless, the professor literally talks and tries to get a medium/ large sized lecture to engage and discuss... not worth it, but great information learned this semester.

Joan Kahn
SOCY335

Anonymous
11/14/2021

dont do it its not worth the time the money or the constant fear of an A- theres reflection assignments every week, 2 short papers worth 35% of ur grade, and also multiple videos to watch and articles that you gotta know to do the quizzes. dont not for the DSSP just dont

Joan Kahn
SOCY335

Expecting an A
995fym
05/21/2020

Kahn is a very nice person, and is very passionate about the sociology of health and illness. There are some papers in this class, you can ask her to review your drafts and she'll give useful feedback. Her transition to online teaching this semester was the best out of all my classes. I highly recommend her class.

Reviews for SOCY335