Matthew Ward

COMM04 · COMM05 · COMM1788 · COMM21323 · COMM5 · COMM01 · 53 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 36/100
RMP rating: 2.7/5
Take again: 45.28%
Difficulty: 3.5

The decision

if you can follow strict rubrics, handle group work, and ; many students would rather switch professors.

Best fit · Effort For RewardTough graderBusy-work assignmentsParticipation mattersGroup projectsUnclear instructions

COMM courses split sharply between students who like his structure and those who hate busy work and .
Online sections draw , and multi-step busywork.
In person, participation and speeches can build skills, but tone and .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

44/100

As are possible if you nail rubrics and speeches, but strict criteria and zero-or-full scoring make easy As unreliable.

Some in-person students call the class easy if work is done; online students more .

Is the course easy?

Standard

52/100

Content is not advanced theory-heavy, but , and participation raise the real challenge.

Online reviews stress workload over content difficulty; in-person reviews stress participation and speeches.

Is attendance flexible?

Depends

42/100

Roughly half of students appreciate skill gains and structure, while many others strongly advise avoiding him.

; online reviews skew more negative.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

30/100

, and reports of full-credit-or-zero scoring define the experience.

Format shift

Online complaints about harsh zero scores are especially frequent.

Workload

Heavy

34/100

Weekly multi-step papers, outlines, peer reviews, presentations, and .

Format shift

Online COMM01 is especially workload-heavy; some in-person COMM05/01 sections feel lighter.

Teaching experience

Average

44/100

Students split between finding him clear, funny, and skill-building , and confusing.

Format shift

growth; online instruction quality is more criticized.

Assessment method

FocusOnAssignments

28/100

Grade , and multi-step assignments rather than major exams.

Format shift

Both formats are assignment- and presentation-driven with occasional quizzes.

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

26 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person COMM focuses on participation, speeches, and group projects; some students improve as speakers and , while others find him condescending and inconsistent.

Main concern

Strict participation expectations, random groups that can sink grades, and .

What students said

“His class gave highschool vibes. , and there were probably like 2 quizzes and 1 test that were EASY”
COMM01

“Ward can come off as rude/arrogant but most of the time he is joking”
COMM04

“He would randomly give you bad scores even when you complete the assignment exactly as specified”
COMM04

Remote format

Online

24 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online COMM often feels like multi-step busy work with , and harsh scoring; a minority say attending Zoom and following rubrics makes it manageable.

Main concern

Confusing multi-step , and all-or-nothing scoring.

What students said

“ . All of his assignments are confusing and so excessive”
COMM01

“You either get full credit or a 0 on an ”
COMM01

“I highly enjoyed taking this class with Professor Ward. I learned a lot about communication”
COMM01

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Assessment is mainly speeches, projects, and rubrics rather than high-stakes proctored exams.

PresentationsGroup projectsRubric-based scoringOccasional quizzesLittle traditional testing

Assessment risk

Standard

58/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person grading leans on speeches, group presentations, participation, and strict rubrics, with .

SpeechesGroup presentationsParticipation gradingStrict rubricsLight quizzes

“there were like 5 presentations we had to do, just follow the rubric and you'll pass”
COMM01

“3 big presentations. No late work accepted. .”
COMM04

Online

Online work centers on multi-step written assignments, recorded or group presentations, discussions, and .

Multi-step assignmentsPresentationsQuizzesPeer reviewBusy work

“Occasionally, there will be a short virtual presentation, but you'll pre-record that within a small group”
COMM05

“Way too many steps for and if not followed exactly to the ”
COMM01

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“You either get full credit or a 0 on an . . Terrible class, do not recommend.”
Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews (24 online, 26 in person), , and participation. Credibility rating: High.

⚖️

30/100

“He would randomly give you bad scores even when you complete the assignment exactly as specified”

📋 Busy Work Load

34/100

“There were so . Most assignments have like 5 steps to turn in each time.”

🎯 Teaching Split

44/100

“I highly enjoyed taking this class with Professor Ward. I learned a lot about communication and he is a very passionate professor.”

👍 Recommendation Depends

42/100

“I can see why some might not like the way he does things, but I always found him very straightforward”

Theme 1

🗣️ About Speeches & Participation

he managed to make everyone participate
just follow the rubric and you'll pass
Participation is very important, he makes everyone answer at least once in class

Theme 2

📝

and
Gives a lot of

Theme 3

😐 About Classroom Tone

His tone often felt condescending
he makes his students feel dumb when they ask a question
hes actually a

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

50 reviews across online and with rich assignment-detail evidence.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 512

4 out of 58

3 out of 57

2 out of 55

1 out of 521

Course coverage

COMM0126 reviews

COMM0414 reviews

COMM056 reviews

COMM17882 reviews

COMM213231 review

Show 1 more courses

COMM51 review

Reported outcomes

B range results lead the reported letter grades.

45 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 1 · A 13

B range

B+ 6 · B 9 · B- 2

C range

C 3

D range

D+ 2

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Audit/No Grade 1 · Drop/Withdrawal 3 · Incomplete 1 · Not sure yet 2 · Rather not say 2

Matthew Ward

x x x if you can follow strict rubrics, handle group work, and x x x; many students would rather switch professors.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Standard

Recommended

Depends

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

⚖️ x x

📋 Busy Work Load

🎯 Teaching Split

👍 Recommendation Depends

🗣️ About Speeches & Participation

📝 x x x x

😐 About Classroom Tone

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

B range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you can follow strict rubrics, handle group work, and ; many students would rather switch professors.

⚖️

📝