2.4
Quality4.4
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake117
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
117
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
14
3
20
2
21
1
41
What Students Say
“Worst Prof I've ever had”
ENGL1100 - 1.0 rating“She is not terrible clear about what she expects from assignments, and occasionally does not explain what will be on exams”
ENGL1202 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.72 avg changeRatings by Course
ENGL111B
5.0
(1)ENG1101
5.0
(1)ENGL2301
5.0
(1)ENGL2202
5.0
(1)1100
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1100
5.0
1234
5.0
2301
5.0
ENGLISH1100
5.0
ENGL3133
5.0
Reviews (117)
Bad teacher!
boring/hard too understand/long winded/hard marker/ only assignments& tests
****, hard marker, and unprepared
Very nice teacher. Talks a lot during class. Cares about your learning. Hard marker though. I've learned many things from her.
Excellent teacher. Makes you work hard--but you learn.
talks too fast, be smart to listen to her in order to copy notes down by yerself!!!!!
If you are in her class, write fast because she won't slow down and wont repeat anything
She is bad in teaching but mark ok...
Good teacher, but nothing for lightweights. It's a course with standards, not a give-away show. More power to her!
She is ok in marking but the way she teach is rather unclear...
Cecilia admits to being a hard marker, and boy does she ever live up to that! This class is not a piece of cake. She is very friendly and pleasant and the class is enjoyable. But she is not clear at all. Never answers a ques. like a shrink!
Nice teacher. She marks hard but is willing to help...adapt to what she wants and nothing extra..and u will be fine. Be simple and to the point.
very nice. but a very hardmarker. doesnt give us enough time to write the quizzes and inclass. teaching is sometimes confusing. the way she teaches is very different from other eng teachers. takes some time to get used to her teaching method.
Everyone except a few people failed the first essay that we did in that class (which was worth 15% of our letter grade). She didn't clarify what she specifically looks for when grading papers, nor did she teach us properly.
Yeah, if you don't show up at classes and not want to learn from her stay away. I learned lots and found her very helpful. But come prepared for her classes and stop whining, you big babies. Her comments on my essays were always useful.
When she marks your essay, don't expect to see any red ink marks. She doesn't circle what you did wrong. Instead she reads it and marks what she found wrong on a separate page.
Doesn't mark the mistakes on your essay - expects you to know them, but if you think your essay is fine, how do you expect to know your mistakes. Doesn't teach the material, you either know it or you don't. Touch luck if you don't.
C. is an eager and friendly teacher. Gives you plenty of helpful feedback. Not an easy course but required for upgrading your writing skills. Not for lazy bums and spoilt brats.
terrible teacher, doesn't follow her own outline. she always changes how much things are worth after they have been handed in. not helpful. looses control of class and isn't prepared to teach. very confused. I think she should retire. she sucks.
I thought I had accidently taken political science.... because we would always have to read and examine stories written by Native writers, and it was difficult because of the cultural barriers... AND class debates over their human rights.. enough lady..
No Comments
I thought she was a great teacher. we always had interesting discussions and she made an effort to include everyone. She is much more focused on fresh and interesting ideas in essays rather than the struture and organisation which I liked. I wish she taught second year.
time goes by fast in her classes. neat instructor
Cecilia doesn't allow students to have their own opinions, and when they do, she continues to ask "why" even when you have explained yourself. She maks very inconsistent. I dropped 3 letter grades from one essay to the next. Sometimes you feel like your in a moral class, NOT English
If you are interested in taking an English Class, do not take Martell. What you will get is a sociology class in which a narrow racialized viewpoint is taught as fact. Be prepared to have your ethnicity and religion insulted. BEWARE
Crazy human rights, feminist bia bia. I didn't think I was taking poli-sci but...
The previous comment says all about the anonymous writer ("narrow, racialized") but nothing about C.M. She is caring and helpful. I like her class and recommend it highly. BEWARE of such people like the previous writer.
kinda like her stuff
be prepared to work hard, pay attention, take some chances. if you do, your writing will improve and so will your marks. she cares about her students, helps as much as she can, but won't do the work for you. feedback she gives as importnat as marks. worth the effort.
Not my style...high expectations that you should just know how to write a paper. Like Poof! not quite...be prepared to work pretty darn hard.
SHE SHOULD STOP TEACHING - I WISH I NEVER TOOK HER
if english is ur second language then stay away from her class
she is a great teacher, those of you who say mean things about her, the problem is with you, not the teacher i think she is a great prof and very helpful if u go see her about your essays a lot of discussions very nice and helpful
Horrible teacher. She is very biased and appears to pick favorites. When asked, she still wont explain why you were marked the way you were. Was almost failing with her- took the class with another prof and walked out with an A. Avoid her.
Very willing to help students with their essays; encourages open discussion in class; provides interesting examples/reading materials. Only suggestion is that three journal entries a week is a bit much and perhaps two would be more suitable.
Extremely difficult marker. Told me not to use certain words because "they were inneffective" in her eyes. Biased marker, talks over you and expects you to have her level of education. felt very discouraged and dumb in her class, even though before I got her I had not received below a B anything.
She's okay, willing to help you but even afterwards seems to still give you bad marks even if you did what she tells you. Is a nice person but favours people if she's had you before in a previous semester. Bit harsh on students she disagrees with.
She is a ENGL1100 nazy. Believes that to teach irony she has to be sarcastic. expects students to know the answers to the whole study periods at start of class (on 1st day).
At first I was discouraged, But I realized that she truly does care about her students,her "toughness" will prepare me for my 1200 course. She gives good feedback and teaches the skills we all need to be good writers in every subject. I will take her class, if I don't have to drive to surrey again!
Sucks at teaching,deserves worse teacher of the millenia award.Basically said a lot of us would fail after first journal.Gives many different instructions,so you never know if you did the assigment well or not.Very discouraging and boring class,makes you sleepy.
No Comments
it's like she expects you to KNOW how to do an essy before u even start. there's always SOMETHING that she'll challenge you on..no matter how far you go, she'll go further. it made me want to give up!
She is a very good teacher. Yes, she is a hard marker, but come on guys, it's english. All her topics are interesting. Great class discussions.
folks get real! what will you do when your boss challenges you - is there a wwww.ratemyboss.com to complain about your boss? A challenge means you have to grow and develop - you want to make $80K a year or works and MeekyD's forever?
Very helpful. Very encouraging. Took a tough subject (holocaust) and made it approachable without having a breakdown. She was open to challenges and I developed a great relationship with her by reading the material and challenging many of the issues raised. She went out of her way to help me with career planning. Highly recommended.
I thought this was an awesome class. i liked the groupwork and she always made us think. comeon people, it's post-secondary. of course you gotta work hard! she's a hard marker, but it's what you expect from a college course. i really enjoyed this class. i would recommend it to anyone!
VERY hard marker! If you want to do well take advantage of her office hours and visit her! Although if you get her to check your essays she may check it 5 different times and then the day before it's due tell you you did it all wrong! Just make sure to ask a lot of questions and get her to clarify EVERYTHING.
Class pretty much a waste of time. Class time spent on a sort of retarded amateur psychology hour in which class dissects every individual word and sentence of the text to divine any "hidden" meaning. Slowly spoon-feeds amazingly obvious conclusions to the class. Subject matter has made her stiff and humorless. Marking very, very strict. Avoid.
Quite possibly the worst teacher ever to grace Kwantlen.
she is the most pretentious person i have ever met, our final was an essay about how much we have learned from the class... over half the class failed, this course should be avoided unless you love pain and failure, I wanted to be an english major but she has individually basically ruined my confidence in my english abililities...
very ahrd markerr nothing is ever right dnt take
Professor Martell's Engl 3313 was not my favorite class, but it was enjoyable. While I did not like the condensed format, I still learned some interesting things. If you have an interest in Canadian Literature or even moreso, First Nations Literature ... Take this class. I thought it was good and gave me some insight into lesser-known Can. writers.
I didn't feel like I learned anything. All useless group discussion with little actual teaching. We just talked to each other, she rarely added anything new herself. (Well there was some info she got off google...) Also, class wasn't about the topic advertised. Instead of learning about canon, it was a "Can lit. the teacher likes" course.
QUITE POSSIBLY THE HARDEST TEACHER EVER. IF YOU WANT TO FAIL, WATCH HER TWO FAVORITE STUDENTS GET A'S AND EVERYONE ELSE FAIL OR GET A C- AND EVENTUALLY LET HER DESTROY YOU LOVE FOR ENGLISH TAKE THE CLASS. SHE IS RIDICULOUSLY HARD MARKER. I WAS A+ IN HIGHSCHOOL AND GOT A- IN 1100. GOT C- IN MARTELS 1202. IF YOU WANT A NEW ARCH NEMISIS, SHES YOUR GUY
Very hard and unfair marker. Im an A+ student, and I got my lowest marks ever in her class. I even failed one essay. The reason, as far as I can tell, is because I disagreed with her theory and explained my own. If you want to pass this class, be a docile lamb and follow her every word, suck up to her. DONT TAKE THE CLASS!
Little actual teaching. Gave a lecture based on googling the main character's names. Mostly we talked in groups. Then a handful of people talked to each other. It was more of a fanclub for her favorite authors then a learning enviroment. Because of this class I have sworn off English forever. It's not worth the pain if this is representitive.
Cecilia is probably the hardest marker I've ever had - I usually get A's in English, so far I'm getting a B. However, she is an excellent teacher, and if you are interested in improving your writing skills, she will provide ample feedback. I highly reccomend her to any serious student.
Probably the most useful class i've ever taken. i agree, she's a hard marker, but that's what i'd expect from a college lvl. i've learn a lot and improved my writing. i get comments from all my other instructors about my writing ability and it's b/c she MADE me do it and i realized what my mistakes were. TAKE HER! it's worth it.
Martell picks favorites and treats them better - don't get on her bad side, she's a bit of a snap show - can be snarky and irrational. Lectures are ok, difficult marker (harder than most on the scale). Uses the texts lots. Work hard and you'll be ok. Participate in class.
Martell is a terrible teacher. Will not allow any of her students to have their own opinion and if you do you will fail. Even if you try she will knock you down. Plays favorites and makes her other students feel very uncomfortable.
She's very nice and helpful, but if she doesn't like you--or your ideas--watch out! Getting on her bad side is easy and after doing so it's impossible to leave the dark side. She will eat your soul for breakfast. All that aside, she's helpful--if you can suck up enough courage to go and see her for help!
Very hard marker but actually knows her stuff. A LOT of effort is needed to succeed in this class
OMG. I should have got a B- but got a C because i missed more than 3 classes. All my essays have a B- average but she took off strate 8 percent for participation marks for missing 3 classes
Participation is key! If you miss a lot of classes she'll ding ya! I got a C- because I wasn't there have the time but as long as you try you'll pass... You'll be REALLY lucky is you can at least get a B from her.
Do not take this class if all you want to do is slack off. She brings English in to a new light and you have to work hard to do well. Cecilia is a very good teacher and will help you as much as she can...just don't be afraid to ask questions. This course is intended to help improve your writing skills and that is what will happen if you try.
Yet another example of a useless teacher, she is all about herself. She said she favors the underdog, no infact she favored the cute guy in the class, and he was such an ignorant IDIOT. She was not teaching, she spent more time talking about herself and HER theories and opinions. IF YOU ARE SMART PLEASE AVOID HER CLASS.
WORST TEACHER EVER! NEVER TAKE THIS CLASS
She is soo proud of her german heritage and the fact that she taught in germany. Her lectures are so harsh and dry that it feels like a concentration camp. Don't ask stupid questions because she will stike you down hard and make you remeber it. She's very much in love with her own teaching style and thinks she is doing a good job but really not
Wow I never thaught I would go on here to tell how horrible an instructor is but here I am because this one is so rediculously horrible. I hate going to Martell's class. I feel sick before going to her class and afterwards too. Her notes and instructions are terrible and she is an extremely hard marker. I don't think she enjoys teaching at all. don
My goodness. Those of you who gave Martell even a grudging nod of respect are those of her students that she played favourites with while hammering on all the rest. Don't take her courses people, this prof is pretty nasty and I'm not saying this just because. I don't think she is a people person and doesn't enjoy her job at all
Did not enjoy this class at all. Instructions are very unclear, leaving students to guess on what they are supposed to do. Extremely hard marker, I went to go and see her for help...and it just made me more confused. my class,had a discussion with her about teaching style, she got upset, didn't bother to take our suggestions into consideration.
Cecilia sucks. Easily the worst prof I have ever had. She assigns homework through e-mail sometimes the day before its due. She picks favorites and picks on the people she doesn't like. Horrible teacher, I strongly advise that you stay away from Martell at all costs
She is really fun to listen to and I really enjoy her class. She is a tough marker but I feel like my writing has improved as a result. She is nothing if not fair though sometimes she does not explain certain aspects of assignments clearly enough.
OH MY GOD
worst teacher ever... no point in considering to take her becuase you will end up with a low grade and a nightmare of a semester!
This teacher is a horrible teacher and a cold definitly a cold hearted witch. she is not a people person and most likely hates her job. GET OUT OF HER CLASS NOW!!
A RUTHLESS TEACHER!! DO NOT TAKE!!
the best way to put it is : You do your work, come to class , you will do just fine
Those who think she is "unclear" should maybe be in remedial English? Just like any other class you get what you deserve if you show improvement in your writing t will show in your grades. She is critical and seemed mean at first but if you look at her as a friend class is interesting. this was my favorite class, mostly because of the discussions!!
She should NOT be teaching. That is all I have to say.
Honestly, I don't understand why people are rating her so poorly. I've found her class very helpful in developing arguments and clearly giving evidence, which is what the class is about. True, she's a hard marker, but she's fair. Just listen in class, do your work thouroughly, do the readings, and argue your points well, and you'll do fine!
i cant understand why some people hate her because she is very hard and strict about the textbook and readings. BUT SHE IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL and TRUST ME IT REALLY HELPS IN ALL OTHER COURSES INCLUDING 1202 english.my friends had an easy prof for eng1100 and then in 1202 or other classes they did not know how to write/format a proper mla paper
VERY VERY HELPFUL. and VERY CLEAR on what she wants and explains it very well. discussions in class are very interactive. BONUS: SHE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN MIDTERMS AND FINALS! and her door is always open, i failed my first essay and by my last one i got a B! HIGH RECOMENEDED IF U ACTUALLY WANT TO LEARN!
Cecilia is an extremely difficult teacher. She is very willing to help people but isn't often clear about what you can do to make your work better. Her class was very interesting but the material she chose to teach was much too personal for her to be objective. We were given 3 essays (3rd one was a 10pg paper), a midterm, and a final.
This instructor is just way too full of herself. It doesn't matter that she thinks she knows what she is talking about if she can't explain it properly so the students can understand. If you don't like kissing nasty old wrinkled hemorrhoid laiden ass, don't expect to get anything close to a "B" let alone an A for that matter. Work hard, barely pass
Very old-fashioned. I felt like she treated the class as if we were still in highschool. She is always there for office hours if you need help, which you will. Her essays are fairly straightforward, but she doesnt properly explain how to write them before they are due. I would never take her again, her class was challenging and not in a good way.
She is probably the most insensitive, uncaring teacher ever. If you want to be stressed the entire term, cry daily after her class and waste 500$ on absolutely nothing - take her.
WORST TEACHER EVER! She is a callous old fool who has nothing in her soul but arrogance and spite. No empathy, no reasoning, and NO RESPECT! Do not take this class, whatever you do! Please, for your own good, do not enroll.
A lot of people don't like her, she is not one of my favorite teachers, but she gets the job done. She is old fashioned and it was like her way was the right way. She is helpfully and always in her room during her office hours, and make sure you go if you need help because you WILL need it!
She doesn't have the warmest personality but if you listen in class and do the homework, you should have no problem with her. I found her challenging which is a great thing because her class definitely prepared me for writing in university. Highly recommend.
She teaches as if she is a high school teacher.
Useless, doesn't even bother to help. She is very unclear about what she expects, and only likes you if you are German.The majority of our class failed an essay because she told us to reference the book.... and wouldnt even tell us what she wanted.. we all failed.
Cecilia is the worst teacher I've ever had. She has favourites, and picks on those that she does not like. If she doesn't like you she won't bother to help you. Her directions are very unclear, and makes you write essays on what she likes. She made us do an in class essay on politics.
I don't think people should take this class if they like to slack off. I actually like this class better than my high school English class. I actually like English now. I actually learn the different parts of the English language, and it's not just about how well a person can write an essay.
Cecilia is the worst teacher at kwantlen. She has favourite students and picks on students she does not like. She's both **** and ****. You are not alowed to wear perfume/deoderant to her class because she is allergic and she will ask you to leave if you do. Her classes are old school and very very boring and she doesn't explain the assignments
cecilia martell is a ridiculous teacher. she accuses people very quickly and will indirectly tell her class they are too stupid. she does choose favourites so if you're a suck up, you're safe. she doesn't tell you her requirements and marks very hard. she'll say one thing and mean the other. she likes to put people down to make herself feel smarter
Do not take this course!!! I repeat do not take this course!!!!!
horrible teacher.
How does someone like this become a professor? And why is she still teaching?
She is a very helpfull teacher.Come prepared, do your homework and you will do just fine.
Dreaded going to class. Class is so boring! She is all over the place when she teaches, never really gets to point just babbles on and on. Sometimes there?s no homework other times there?s a crap load. Once posted our homework on the website a day before it was due. Gives stupid random quizzes and is a really hard marker. GPA dropper don't take her
She is difficult, but if you are honest with yourself, you will learn. Many students think its a fly class so when they find out she is strict when it comes to writing they complain. I learned much from her
Terrible teacher, if you're not one of her "favorites" you might as well drop out. Very unclear in describing what she wants, and many useless and time-consuming assignments given.
She lightened up towards the end, but in general very specific in what she is looking for. Don't think she has given out any A's.
While she certainly knows the topics she teaches, sadly 85% of the class will be about the holocaust, so if you're one that grows bored with the same old topic and related books, I'd choose a different prof. She is not terrible clear about what she expects from assignments, and occasionally does not explain what will be on exams. Quite tough.
worst teacher. unclear about what she wants,all over the place.stupid expectations, pointless quizes. even when there is a planned absence, she doesnt care enough to notify her students. very disrespectful, treats everyone like high school kids. stares you down even if 1 min late. horrible
i did an essay for her class and i have been using the same MLA style citation for 4 semesters and never had a problem with any other professor she gave me a D and without any comments or even explaining why it was wrong. I scheduled an appointment with her but she was away for the week, comes back next week and says i missed my chance, horrible!
worst teacher i have ever had... im a straight A english student and she failed me on every assignment. I got her to edit and give me guidance on my work and she still failed me... unless she loves you, drop out.
The worst teacher I have ever had. I ended up dropping the class because every assignment I did, I failed. I excelled in English all my life and taking English 1100 with another teacher had resulted in an A. Avoid her if possible
A very hard marker. She makes her essay topics very broad, and there's a lot of course material to go over. She made us read two long novels as well as a handful of short stories as well as numerous poems. It is very hard to keep up. I found her also very rude and treats her students like children.
Avoid her at all costs. It may seem as if she is a professor who is excited about the course material, but she is actually a know it all. I did not expect post secondary to be a cake-walk, I have an two semesters worth of experience with professors, and I can easily tell you, she is the worst professor. Avoid taking her unless you'd like to fail.
Martell is the worst instructor I've had. Unless you're literally the perfect student or one of her favorites, she is horrible. She's totally rude, laughs in your face, and ends up yelling at you in her office. She's also the hardest marker you'll come by. Her expectations are crazy. Getting a lower grade than your average is almost certain.
She is NOT a good teacher. Not helpful,cryptic. She has a prob with almost everything, but she wont tell you that. Since eng is nt my 1st language i thought she was like with me only. I was wrong apparently. While every 1 paid around 500 bucks for her class and are still cursing , i paid a whooping 4500. Managed to pass but barely.
Worst Prof I've ever had. English 1100 is a hard subject and she just makes it harder with her attitude. If your two minutes late she locks the door. Kicks you out for using your phone. Old fashioned in a bad way. Would not recommend her, AVOID IF POSSIBLE.
There are not enough characters to properly describe how much I regret taking the class and having been her student. Even if it happens to be a mandatory class, do not take her, wait till next semester and save yourself from the figurative and in some cases literal tears that come from taking her class. I wish I had been warned.
DONT TAKE HER SHE IS HORRIBLE. If you are a minute late to class she locks the door. She is just full of herself, avoid at ALL COSTS.
I had the worst flashback memory and somehow I remembered this professor from back when I took her english class. I'm finally going to rate this professor now that I have a chance to. DO NOT EVER TAKE HER CLASS. she is one of the most incompetent professors out there, the fact that I remember her years after graduation and her awfulness says A LOT!
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.72 avg changeRatings by Course
ENGL111B
5.0
(1)ENG1101
5.0
(1)ENGL2301
5.0
(1)ENGL2202
5.0
(1)1100
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1100
5.0
1234
5.0
2301
5.0
ENGLISH1100
5.0
ENGL3133
5.0