Students’ Comments (taken from anonymous 2005-2014 Course Climate reports, exactly as written :~)
Fayetteville State University
Fall 2014
Portfolio Development: Multimedia Editing & Accessibility (ENGL 420)
“This course should be continued to be taught by Dr. McFarlane, who is very knowledgeable about the subject.”
“I really enjoyed the class and the instructor. She had a great approach to introducing the material. It would be better if this class took place in a computer lab that had iMovies (Mac computers). I didn’t really need the course, but took a previous class with the instructor and it made me want to take the class.”
“This course has enabled me to create a website, make a movie and navigate YouTube as well as how to make changes to closed captions. Overall, the course is invaluable to me.”
Business & Professional Writing (ENGL 344.01)
“Great class! Dr. McFarlane really helps with the future of students and things that we will need in the real world!”
“Great teacher…”
“I love Dr. Mcfarlane, she is a great teacher and she really prepares her students for the world. I will take everyone of her classes offered within my major!”
“Professor McFarlane is years beyond her calling. She is so bright and energetic. She wants more than anything for her student to think, on their own, and be somebody they can be proud of. Her teaching styles are different from most and that takes some getting use to. Her only agenda is the well being of her students. You can feel her motherly care. I will remember her the most.”
“The best teacher I’ve had at Fayetteville State (: “
“The course was helpful in learning about how technology influences professionalism”
Spring 2014
Issues in Professional Writing (ENGL 335.01)
“Course really taught me how the real world is technical and really prepared me for it.”
“This course was very informative while maintaining an informal feel, which made it easier for open discussion. Personally I would preferred more open discussion time among students, but the class time itself made that impossible.”
Business & Professional Writing (ENGL 344.D1)
“I was enrolled in the wrong class per my advisor it was too late to drop, so I requested a withdraw which was denied, so I ended up having to stay with no participation or enough time to catch up per the advisor. So I do not expect a great outcome, however I plan to take the class again in Summer Session I, 2014. The professor alone, is very communicative to her students and has everyone’s best interests at heart” [sic].
“Informational and imperative as I proceed to the next level of my curriculum courses.”
“Overall the class was informative and interesting! Learning how to create professional resumes into digital media and getting more acquainted with social media was great. I am not into the new aged technology but know I am working on learning and doing more to be ready and prepared for the new aged digital world.”
“Professor McFarlane was very hands on with our course ensuring that we had the tools needed to complete assignments.”
“This instructor was the best instructor I have had in a while. She was informative and willing to assist.”
Fall 2013
Business & Professional Writing (ENGL 344.01/03/04)
“Instructor continuously encouraged all students to think in terms of an innovator, and be a revolutionary in our fieLd. I enjoyed the class.”
“I have learned so much about this course as being connected with professional résumé writing and technology. It is great!”
“Very informative class. The instructor kept learning unique, fresh, and challenging.”
“Instructor brings energy to the class and actively engages us each class period. Her passion for the subject and for student learning is remarkable and welcomed. It was a relief to actually have a college instructor who CARES about student progress and encourages students to be successful. Appreciated her and feel that I am a better writer because of the way she challenged me this semester. I also want to commend her for upholding the STANDARDS!”
“Great teacher. Dr. McFarlane is proactive.”
“I can say I enjoyed this course. I learn so much about the business writing and web presents [sic] is important as well.”
“She is more than just an English teacher, She is a true life coach!”
“This course was a learning experience for me. She really made us think outside-of-the box. I enjoyed the course. A real challenge!!!!”
“The class has help me build character, confidence, and ultimately encourage me to succeed outside the school. Working on my own personal persona. She was very helpful to me.”
“She is a very passionate instructor, and wants all to succeed post graduation.”
“Dr. McFarlane is a great teacher, I would recommend other students take her English course.”
Summer 2013
Composition II: Rhetorical Argumentation (ENGL 120)
“Great Job! It was a short summer session but we managed to learn a lot. The teacher used techniques to make the learning fun and interesting.”
“Improved writing and brainstorming skills.”
“Dr. McFarlane was very animated! She encouraged the class to always think more in depth about simple situations. Her teachings can definitely be used in future endeavors.”
“I am greatly enjoying this course. The professor is doing an excellent job.”
“I loved this course with Dr. McFarlane. She really helped me to get through this course. She encouraged me not to quit and to finish what I have started. Dr. McFarlane was a great help to me with my schoolwork and personal issues. I would recommend her class to anyone seeking a great professor.”
“This class was very helpful on learning more things about writing. It was very fun and I enjoyed having Dr. McFarlane as my instructor. This instructor goes beyond expectations to help students succeed in her class.”
Spring 2013
Composition II: Rhetorical Argumentation (ENGL 110.07)
“This was an interesting course. I enjoyed the written assignments because they were different than what I was used to. They were challenging and the reward was nice. I enjoyed learning to use Prezi.”
“I really loved the assignments they are very creative, and a genius ideas to provoke students to learn :)”
Business & Professional Writing (ENGL 344.03)
“The class helped me learned more about APA style and it’s usage in the business world.”“Support Dr. McFarlane. She is awesome and built us into better people.”
“Dr. McFarlane is an expert in her field and I enjoyed class. However, I do wish we had a day in class to begin assignments to get clarity on new technology.”
“Dr. McFarlane is a breath of fresh air to this university. She is energetic, enthusiastic, and educated. We need more professors like her because her course was informational, beneficial, and fun.”
“This course would be beneficial for students in all majors.”
“Dr. McFarlane is one the best Professors that I have encountered in my college years!!”
Fall 2012
Business & Professional Writing (ENGL 344.01)
“Dr. McFarlane is a great instructor. Her instruction exceeded the realms of business and professional writing and crossed over into a territory that challenged her students to view professional writing in a more positive light. She highlighted the importance of professional writing and how it relates to our professional image. In addition, she introduced the students to new interactive software to aid professional presentations. She also introduced the students to the members of the Career Services center in reference to job recruitment/interview. I gained a great deal of information in this class that will be valuable once I leave Fayetteville State University.”
“From completing a career website we learn alot of important things that will help in the future. After completing the assignments earlier in the semester we actually had to revise, edit, organize and proofread all of it to put it in the career dossier. We also did facilitations in which we had to work in groups.”
“The assignments that were most useful were creating the Career Dossier and the professional ethos webpage. I feel that these two are the most beneficial. The information learned in doing these assignments… will help me the most.”
“She really made me think of what I wanted to really want to do after school, and how important it is to know how to write properly. The most effective elements to me was her speeches and the things she brought to the class. The least effective was the due dates.”
“The instructor allowed us to go back and make changes just in case the career path we chose at the beginning of semester had changed at this point. She kept it real with the class. Let us know what is happening in the Workforce and where we stand and what actions to take to rise above that stereotypes.”
“Continue to educate students on career documents that set them apart [sic] from the other applicants in the workforce. Helping them to build the confidence in the writing that they can sell themselves and show themselves in a positive light. Continue to build that confidence. A lot of students are fearful and unsure of how to present themselves to the workforce, but this class overturns those boundaries. Thank you.”
“Meeting with us one on one if needed but also giving us plenty of time to do an assignment that started out as tough. The peer editing helped a lot as well as feed back from the Professor. She used a lot of modern day comparisons and that made things easier to understand.”
“I think small groups help me out with learning how to better improve my summarizing and various other activities because it helps the students help out each other. What I mean by that is if one student knows how to do it then they can teach the other which helps them to know the material better.”
Clemson University
Summer 2009
Accelerated Multimodal Composition (ENGL 103.17)
“One thing that greatly helped me in English 103 was in the class discussions: Professor McFarlane was able to clearly explain the material from the lesson each day. I especially liked her drawings on the board because I could visualize what she was saying.”
“I remember the first day of my English 103 class. I resented going because I already had this scenario of how it was going to be made up in my mind. I thought our professor was going to be very dull and nonchalant. Knowing that English was a weakness for me, I was afraid of such teaching. To my surprise when I walked in, I saw smiles across the room. Our professor was sitting in the middle of a semi-circle of students… When I finally head the teacher speak, I knew for a fact that what I thought before was wrong. She seemed to actually enjoy her job. My whole attitude changed towards the class, and all of a sudden I grew eager to see what was next.”
Guilford College
Fall 2007
Historical Perspectives: Understanding HIV/AIDS (ENGL 151)
“Able to combine an English class with social justice issues that really mattered. While learning to perfect writing skills, we did work with race studies and white privilege which is essential, especially in an institution shadowed by the ivory tower.”
“Nicole McFarlane was my first instructor at Guilford College. She is a very smart woman. I learned a lot from her. I refer her to many new Guilfordians as she also sheds light on social issues as well. But hey… we are a liberal school, no?“
NC A&T State University
Spring 2005
First Year Composition I: Writing with Literature (ENGL 100)
“She actually made the most boring subject (writing) fun. Ms. McFarlane is classy but down to earth. She really worked hard to make sure we knew what we were doing. She showed great movies that seemed wierd (sic) at first but related to the subject. Be sure to do the reading if you want to ace the extemporaneous essays.”
Nicole Ashanti McFarlane, PhD 