AI Rate Professor

Communication

Darin Garard

COMM288 · COMM289 · COMM299COMM289 · COMM288289 · COM289 · COM288 · 288AND289 · 159 lifetime ratings

AI rating
86/100
RMP rating
4.5/5
Take again
81.82%
Difficulty
3.8

The decision

if you want excellent Comm teaching and are willing to write and study hard for a fair grade.

Best fit · Effort For RewardHilarious LecturesTough But Fair PapersUC Transfer PrepWeekly Extra CreditIn-Person Preferred
  • Students rave about engaging, funny lectures and genuine care for success.
  • Expect , and ; effort is required for an A.
  • ; online sections draw more complaints about workload and grading.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

38/100

An A is realistic if , and study, but he is a .

Online students report harder paths to high grades; in-person students say effort is rewarded fairly.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

32/100

Theory-heavy Comm content, long papers, and .

Both formats call it hard; online adds extra friction for some.

Is attendance flexible?

Recommended

58/100

Attendance is often not strictly required, but sign-ins, lecture value, and .

online reviews.

Is this professor recommended?

MustTake

88/100

Most students would retake him and call him a , and real learning.

Recommendation is strongest in person; online opinions are more split.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

36/100

Tough on papers and logs, but and improvement is possible if you revise your approach.

Format shift

Online tough-grader complaints .

Workload

Heavy

28/100

Multiple essays, theory logs, and a long 10-15 and final.

Format shift

Online sections more often call the load extreme.

Teaching experience

Excellent

92/100

Consistently praised for hilarious, organized lectures, care, and .

Format shift

Teaching praise is near-universal in person and more mixed online.

Assessment method

Balanced

55/100

, and traditional midterm plus final exams.

Format shift

Same structure appears in both formats with different delivery stress.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

41 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In person he is widely called one of the : if you use practice quizzes.

Main concern

and and early starts.

What students said

“Garard is so sweet and quirky. He truly wants you to succeed in his class.”
COM289
“Professor Garard is the .”
288
“As long as you attend class regularly and stay on top of .”
COM289

Remote format

Online

9 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online COMM 288/289 is , and stricter, with some students advising other professors.

Main concern

, and weaker support or clarity than the in-person sections.

What students said

“If you ever have the option to take COMM 289 online with a so.”
COMM289
“if you're online, everything is heavily proctored so you really have to study for the big exams.”
COM289
“300-point papers with little to no help? if you can.”
288AND289

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

quizzes, but they are serious and not free A tests.

Midterm and FinalPractice Quizzes Align With ExamsOpen-Note Weekly QuizzesScantron StyleHeavy Online Proctoring

Assessment risk

Standard

52/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In person, midterm and final track textbook practice quizzes; .

Practice Quizzes Mirror ExamsOpen Note Weekly QuizzesScantron Midterm/Final
“All the the exams content.”
COM289
“The notes in class work as a resource for the weekly 10 point open note quizzes.”
288289

Online

Online students report heavily proctored major exams that require real studying.

Heavily Proctored ExamsStudy Required
“if you're online, everything is heavily proctored so you really have to study for the big exams.”
COM289

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“Hands down my fav professor I've ever had, genuinely the most charismatic man ever.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews, , and format gaps. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

92/100

“ !!!!! My favorite SBCC teacher, so funny, kind, and .”

👍 Recommendation Rate

88/100

“ . I took both his comm 289 and comm 288 and they were both amazing!”

📝 Paper Difficulty

36/100

“ .”

😄 Lecture Energy

90/100

“Prof Gerrard is absolutely hilarious! Funniest professor I've had.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • He makes lectures very interactive which is fun.
  • His lectures are great he's really funny which make them enjoyable.
  • Will definitely prepare you for UCSB.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • If you are looking for an easy A, I would look for a different class.
  • He is a but gives lots of .
  • As long as you show up to class and an A.

Theme 3

💻 About Online vs In Person

  • In person is better than online too!
  • If you can find an alternative elsewhere please save yourself.
  • Even though I did end up getting a C ... I learned so much.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

159

Lifetime ratings

90/100

Evidence confidence

50 recent, detailed reviews with strong agreement on teaching quality and .

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 5121
4 out of 518
3 out of 513
2 out of 53
1 out of 54

Course coverage

COM28913 reviews
288AND2898 reviews
2887 reviews
2897 reviews
COMM2897 reviews
Show 5 more courses
COMM2882893 reviews
2882892 reviews
COM2881 review
COMM2881 review
COMM299COMM2891 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

48 reported outcomes

A range

22

A+ 5 · A 14 · A- 3

B range

16

B+ 2 · B 14

C range

5

C+ 1 · C 2 · C- 2

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

5

Not sure yet 4 · Rather not say 1