Current instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Dr. Shields is passionate about linguistics and her poisitive attitude made every lecture enjoyable. You don't have to prep over summer but make sure you get comfortable with IPA, 10 minutes a day even during the semester does wonders! Discussion activities are guaranteed credit but phenomenal exam prepRate My Professors ↗
She was a really wonderful lecturer who made slides super easy to take notes off of and prepared us super well for the exams. All the midterms were very fair, and as long as you paid attention in lecture and actually did the worksheets in discussion, this class was very easy.Rate My Professors ↗
Becky is very passionate and explains things very well, but it's either extremely interesting or kind of boring based on if you like the subject. Even still, she does a good job at keeping people somewhat engaged. Speaking another language beforehand made this class much easier. Her Canvas is well-organized, and she has an effective teaching style.Rate My Professors ↗
Super passionate about her subject, content was well-paced, and interesting lecturesRate My Professors ↗
I found her lectures rather slow and boring, but I'm willing to blame the material rather than Shields herself. Tests were easy if you read the study guide/attended discussions. You can tell she has a lot of passion for her subject and cares deeply about her students. If I actually liked linguistics I'm sure I would've loved this class :,)Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Shields is an awesome professor who clearly loves what she teaches. Lectures tended to be slow-paced at times, but she thoroughly explains every topic. She even makes study guides and practice worksheets to help prepare for the exams, which was super helpful. Discussion was fun and you basically just do worksheets/puzzles with a group!Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Semantics course covering meaning in natural languages, the relationship between syntax and semantics, and compositional semantics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.84 GPA, 92.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.79 GPA, 84.2% A/AB (n=19 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.74 GPA, 88.2% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleJunior Honors Tutorial provides mentored individual research for students pursuing Honors in the Major in Linguistics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).
No recorded grade history
LINGUIS 699 Independent Reading offers advanced directed study projects arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2023 · limited sampleDistinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | LINGUIS 340 | Semantics |
| Spring 2027 | LINGUIS 482 | Junior Honors Tutorial |
| Spring 2027 | LINGUIS 699 | Independent Reading |
| Fall 2026 | ANTHRO/LINGUIS 301 | Introduction to Linguistics: Descriptive and Theoretical |
| Fall 2026 | LINGUIS 101 | Human Language |
| Fall 2026 | LINGUIS 481 | Junior Honors Tutorial |
| Fall 2026 | LINGUIS 699 | Independent Reading |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_92beb575c017a014a2e9b14a",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "rashields",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Rebecca Shields",
"email": "RASHIELDS@WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 72,
"quality": 4.43,
"difficulty": 2.14,
"quality_count": 72,
"difficulty_count": 72,
"profile_id": "rmp:1398622",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1398622",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 18:42:23.341803+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_97c2ccf8d6ed1c7d34040f07": {
"review_count": 7,
"quality": 4,
"difficulty": 2.43,
"quality_count": 7,
"difficulty_count": 7
},
"course_2431589e0815e3d5203f376c": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 2,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 4.2624333870644495,
"prior_mean": 3.65919358049647,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_1ed4e5db7910b6475923b83f",
"course_id": "LINGUIS 482",
"title": "JUNIOR HONORS TUTORIAL",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 1,
"gpa": 3.455
},
{
"course_uid": "course_e76f9dd1c4d281ade34b6a64",
"course_id": "LINGUIS 699",
"title": "INDEPENDENT READING",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": 4
},
{
"course_uid": "course_f1bf4587edd64ad55758de6b",
"course_id": "LINGUIS 340",
"title": "SEMANTICS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.532
}
],
"revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/REBECCA_SHIELDS"
}