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L
Lyn VAN SWOL
VAN SWOL,LYN M
Email
Position

Professor

Department

Communication Arts

Credentials

PHD 1998 Univ of IL at Urbana-Champaign

Grade Point Average
3.05
Completion Rate
96.84%
A Rate
32.53%
Students
4614
Rating
4.3
Difficulty
2.9
Would Take Again
82.7%
Attendance
Unknown

54.3% of students reported.

Comments

Very knowledgable and passionate. She was funny and engaged with her students.

Her lectures were structured terribly and often went on tangents, the class itself lacked a concrete structure and was very disorganized.

I had her this past sem, she is very spacey and did not give us much information for papers, assignments, or quiz/tests. Half the lectures are online and one in-person lecture per week. she would often last minute cancel discussion sections, not send the link to online review, and overall was not on top of her teaching. this class was disorganized

One in person lecture, one online lecture per week. Prof Van Swol is great at giving examples, etc. I would say going to lecture and watching the online ones is relatively important. A couple mini essays and one big essay, and you can work in a group. I would say if you give any effort at all you should get an A!

CA 368 with Dr. Van Swol is a lot of work, but it's manageable. It was important to read the assigned textbook chapters, take good notes, and go to discussion sections. Lectures weren't as important. She mainly just expands on different studies that pertain to what was in the textbook, but the info was still valuable for the tests.

If you're looking for social psychology fused with communication, take this course. Prof. van Swol's background in social psychology truly shows in her lectures and online modules (it's a hybrid course). She provides countless examples that help understand concepts (albeit more memorization for exams). She's also very caring and professional. 10/10

CA368 was an awesome course. Professor Van Swol made the lectures interesting and includes examples of the material from her own life, which made it easier to comprehend. For this particular course about persuasion techniques Professor Van Swol always connected the lectures back to the original goal of the course: to teach us how persuasion works.

I highly recommend Professor van Swol and her lab! CA699 was one of the most interesting and useful courses I have taken and offers an invaluable look into the world of communication research. If you have the opportunity to research or learn under Prof. van Swol, take it!

Professor van Swol is a wonderful instructor! Doing research with her and her Ph.D. students was a fantastic experience. Her care for students' success is obvious, and she makes learning the content of the course fun. I would highly recommend taking any course with her.

I like doing research with Professor Van Swol and her Ph.D. students. It is a very informative and insightful class to take. Strongly recommend students who are going to pursue graduate school to take it. It is going to be a great help since students get to know more theories and concepts in the communication field.

Professor Van Swol has made the class lectures and material very easy to access. I like how she break apart her lectures into 3-5 mini lectures so students would not feel burdened while listening. She also likes to supplement examples following abstract concepts/ theories. Professor Van Swol responded email promptly and with clear answers.

Prof Van Swol is an amazing professor - took multiple classes with her and did research with her as well. She really cares about her students and has helpful review sessions before her midterms. Everything she covers in class makes sense and comes in the exam. 11/10 would recommend taking a class with her!

she is a amazing professor. Really opened my mind about techniques behind tactful businessmen

You are given the option of 3% extra credit so it's not hard to get an A. I found the lectures to be incredibly monotonous but the content is interesting and applicable. You write an 8-10pg paper at the end but you work on it in bits and pieces throughout the semester. The exams are a bit tough but they are all non-cumulative and there is no final.

I really think CA368 is the most interesting com arts course I have ever take. It is both theoretical and practical, and I really enjoy doing all the assignment without feeling struggle or boring at all. Professor Van Swol is supportive and kind. The lecture is interesting and not stressful

Professor Van Swol is an okay professor, but her exams are super tough as she includes questions about the minimal details that she barely talked about in her lectures. Moreover, she makes an extra effort to hide the correct answers in the test, which makes it really annoying. (a lot of "both B and C" and "all of the above" questions).

One of my favorite classes this semester! Prof is very nice and seems passionate about the subject. The class is structured into mainly group work and then all lectures are independently done online. Exams aren't too difficult but get ready to write a ton of short answer problems. Material is valuable to our own lives and uses interesting examples.

Lyn is very sweet, and funny in lectures, but her slides aren't organized and the modules are difficult to navigate on Canvas sometimes. There was only one in person lecture per week, and then 3 videos to watch with more notes to take. She uses a lot of helpful examples in class, but it doesn't really help for the exams. The exams are hard.

On top of being a great professor, professor Van Swol is very friendly and respectful and has entertaining and exciting lectures. There was not too much work outside of class, three tests, and a few group projects on top of a final paper. Overall I found this class very interesting and enjoyable.

Good lectures, but a lot of stuff to do. Wish the class was more than three credits for the amount of work.

Great class and great professor! I learned a lot from it.

Prof Van Swol has a very lively and hilarious lecture style, and she always provides impressive examples for every concept which makes them really easy to understand. Also, she always respects the person and potential of all students without prejudice and is attentive to each students' needs. I would definitely recommend her to all CA students!

The experience of working with Professor Van Swol is amazing. She is really kind and humorous, which makes the course attractive. She really spent her effort and time to let us have a more comprehensive understanding of the course. As a result, I could proudly say that I really learned a lot from her course.

Prof. Van Swol's class was fantastic! Her lectures are engaging and involve interesting persuasion concepts that are easy to understand. The TA for the class was definitely not the best fit, but Van Swol's compassionate teaching style made up for it.

Professor Swol is amazing. I took CA 368 with her, and her explanations of the concepts were lucid and easy to follow. If you are interested in strategic communication or persuasion, I really recommend you to take this class. You can learn lots of communication skills which are useful in your daily life.

I have enjoyed her class very much. She is considerate and nice. She answered my questions patiently. Her lectures were so interesting that I hardly got distracted during the class. Dont miss her!

A very knowledgeable professor. One of the most caring professors I ever had. The lectures werent that easy, but with a lot of fun. I especially loved the cases. Ive learnt a lot from this course. Definitely will take her class again if possible.

She is an amazing professor! Her lectures were organized and engaging with lots of cases to help us understand the theories. She is always willing to talk with students and answers the questions patiently. Awesome class and awesome professor!

She was a great Professor to have. Her lecture are clearly organized and homework are straight forward. She is very accommodating too. She is one the nicest professor I had

Dr. Van Swol is a fantastic professor! She is incredibly knowledgeable on the material and truly wants her students to succeed. This class was a hybrid style with two lectures a week online and in-person discussion once a week with group case studies. She provides you with study guides that prepare you extremely well for the exams. Awesome class!!

Professor Van Swol is very knowledgeable about the material she teaches and even uses some of her own research to back up much of the material. The lectures were engaging with lots of examples and videos for reference. I really enjoyed the class and it has been one of my favorites throughout college.

Professor Van Swol is excellent! I took her lab and was also part of her lab. Her lectures were so inspiring and interesting. She gave a lot of everyday examples in class, which was quite helpful. The course contents were delivered in a way that's easy to understand. She is always willing to talk outside of class.

Professor Van Swol was one of the most caring professors I had at UW! She really wants what's best for every student and is passionate about the material she teaches. She's open outside of class and willing to explain concepts.

I really appreciated her as a professor! She seemed like she really cared about the well-being of her students. Lectures and content was useful for classes I took after hers, and I found the content interesting as well. It was a bit paper heavy and you had to study for exams, but she was very clear about what she expected and gave great feedback.

A super unflexible prof, reached out to her with concerns and she replied with little sympathy, didn't seem to care about the student's lives at all. Lecture and papers were easy but somehow tests were difficult. Overall okay content but bad professor!!

Highly recommend. She is thorough and has great delivery. The modules are intuitive and easy to follow. She makes lectures interesting and engaging. Prof Van Swol is extremely knowledgeable and respectable.

Lyn puts a ton of weight on her quizzes and tests, but she puts a great deal of effort to confuse and camouflage the answers. Very irritating as this semester had no extra credit and weighed heavily on quiz/test grades. She is good about responding to emails, but a terrible class in general.

She is the best professor I have ever seen in UW-Madison. She is super patient and replys my email detailedly every time. I basiclly took all the classes she taught. I love her so much!!

A very sweet and caring professor who is very knowledgeable on this subject. The material was fairly easy and you will get an A with a little bit of work. The way the class is structured makes it very easy to do the work as and when you want to. Recommend taking this course with her.

Professor Van Swol is pretty average. She is very casual and often reuses material that is outdated and grammatically incorrect. She struggles with verbal and written clarity though, and she needs to work on professionalism. But overall she is nice and open to helping you out. Class is easy, would recommend.

Lyn is super cool sometimes she'd bring her pug, mambo to review sessions dressed up for the holidays, and she'd pass out candy. This class involves a lot of online lectures and definitely take notes. The weekly quizzes are only 5 questions and usually straightforward. The exams aren't bad if you study/go to the review

Nitpicky with points, feedback offered is exactly what you said but reworded. Wouldnt take this class again.

Extremely reading and writing-intensive. Probably the most coursework that I've ever had for a 1.0 credit (8 week course). However, if you are a good writer and fast reader, you will learn a ton.

Wasn't a bad professor or anything, just super strict so if you're going through personal stuff don't expect any special treatment, she really doesn't care.

Van Swol is nice and her Lectures are entertaining + you learn a lot. I thought the exams were really easy, maybe even too easy - they seemed just like an English reading comprehension test - so an easy A - and I am not even a native English speaker. There's no way you can get a bad grade if you somewhat pay attention.

Professor Van Swol is such a great person and uses awesome, memorable examples in lecture. She posts lecture recordings online which is great if you miss class/for studying before an exam. Exams aren't terrible IF YOU READ THE BOOK! The Perloff textbook is crucial to doing well. Side note: She brings her adorable pug to review sessions!

I loved professor Van Swol, she was so sweet! Her lectures were engaging and her use of examples were really helpful when it came to papers and exams. I loved how half the class was online too. The only downside I would say is that her exams were really hard, the questions were VERY specific and the content material wasn't even that hard.

Professor Van Swol is great! I love the set up up CA 368, I love her lectures, and I love the content. I really recommend taking this course whether you are a communications major or not.

My favorite thing about Professor Van Swol is her use of examples. She gives truly excellent examples that makes the material much more comprehensible. She isn't out to get you and you can tell that she wants only the best for all her students. I love the use of mixed classes because I can rewatch lectures online whenever I want.

She's very sweet and very knowledgeable about what she's teaching. She's very accessible outside of class and cares about her students. Exams were a lot tougher than I imagined, the only thing I wish she did was address the class about the exams since the average was very low and help us improve as a whole!

Professor Van Swol is amazing! Her lectures are very clear and interesting. There's quite a lot of reading which goes hand in hand with lecture material, so it shouldn't be unbearable. Tests are worth studying for, sometimes the questions are very tricky. TA is also very nice, he doesn't grade papers harshly. Totally recommend this class!

Van Swol is so sweet and is a really understanding prof (aka visit her during office hours). Her examples during lecture are really funny and have some relevant pop culture references. That being said, her tests were a lot more difficult than I expected.

Wonderful TA, Wonderful professor, very interesting.

Van Swol is about as average a professor as you can have. She doesn't come off as extremely smart, but her class is pretty interesting and she's usually a clear speaker. I did well on her tests, but I know a lot of people were tripped up by the wording-- the tests are very wordy, and can get confusing. Take your time. Overall, the class is OK.

Lyn is one of my favorite professors so far, her class is very interesting. She is also extremely understanding and if you need an extension on something she is more than willing to give you one as long as you have a valid reason. Half of this course is online which is nice with small weekly quizzes, 3 exams, a few short papers, and a final project

Lyn is an awesome professor to have. She's very funny and is very helpful when you ask her to clarify something. I had her for both my professor and she TA'd my discussion section for the class as well. Overall class was easy to understand and i would recommend it.

Lynn is pretty funny even when she tries not to be. Warm and friendly person who generally gives good lectures. My TA was a little odd and kind of strict on grading. Unfortunately, after I signed up for this class she informed us that she was cancelling like 7 lectures and having online assignments instead. Felt ripped off from in-person learning.

Lyn is definitely on your side. She's a great lecturer and is always available for extra help if you need it. Make sure to get a good TA, though-- they'll be grading a lot of your work. Tests can be tricky, but they don't require any knowledge that wasn't presented during lecture. CA 368 is one of the best classes I've taken at UW!

Very straightforward class. Used interesting case studies to illustrate points made in class (such as Harley Davidson and Chrysler). Second half of the class focused on NASA and the space program as examples of terms in class. Made it a lot easier to remember terms when used in context!

Genuinely one of the most aggravating professors I have had at UW. No matter how well I knew the material the tests were written so confusing I could not get a grade that reflected my knowledge. She rambles a lot during lecture as well.

Van Swol is a great professor and this class is very interesting in content. The main textbook (Perloff) is where she derives a lot of exam questions. She really likes using "Both b+c" type answers to trick students on tests. Tests aren't overwhlemingly hard but they're not super easy. Good class overall and worth taking.

She is seriously fantastic. I'm a junior and this was my favorite class that I've taken so far at UW. I liked her so much that I signed up for her other class next semester. There are four cumulative exams, which kind of sucks but I got A's on all of them. Make sure you read the books. Definitely take this class if you have the opportunity to!

No Comments

took both her classes, best prof ever. really recommend her. very interesting material and she is super nice.

Very straight forward and typical class. Lectures are interesting. Nothing crazy or eccentric here.