Most devoted to having her students succeed. Of all the classes taken, this one was the only one where I have not slept during the lecture because she is very dynamic. Easy to get a hold of to discuss if need be. Highly recommended!

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Merlino is awesome. She definitely knows waht she's talking about and you can feel it. I had her for two quarters and hope I will get her again sometime. The class probably isn't worth taking if Merlino isn't teaching it.

one of the few classes that i actually enjoyed. she's an awesome lecturer, really knows her stuff.

Shes really nice and a good lecturer. Easy tests too

Funny and really nice. Take her classes if you get teh chance.

teaches to show you the world, not to have you take tests

Don't miss the lectures~!

Merlino is a great lecturer and you can tell that she wants you to learn, it is too bad that the classes have to be so long, because then you start to not pay attention. The tests are pretty easy, but make sure to study some, and don`t miss many lectures. Through this class I learned to like/enjoy architecture.

This was an easy class for getting credits. Don't waste your time doing the reading, just attend the lectures and pay attention. I did and passed the course with a 3.8!

Even though the class is meant to be relatively easy, it's thought provoking, challenging, and changes your view on the world around you - the built world. This is a class everyone needs to take in college. Merlino is the clearest, most organized, and the best lecturer i've had here.

Pretty easy class. She was really generous with giving extra credit points. Knows her stuff really well.

really knowlegable - so helpful when you ask the right questions. should teach more classes!

Four multiple choice tests, pretty easy to get a 4.0 if you either come to lecture or read the book.

Fun, easy, and extremely interesting class!! Professor knows what she's talking about and makes a great effort to relate the material to non-majors/lives of the everday student. Last lecture is fun- Lot's of photos from Rome w/ her two adorable children:)

wow, amazing professor. would take more classes if she offered them.. she makes you appreciate what she's teaching.. easy 4.0, just go to class and listen (u'll want to, she's that interesting), study for 1 hr before the quiz (or go to clue - helpful).. quizzes are REALLY EASY. (4 "quizzes" - multiple choice/tf)..

The class is easy enough, but she's painfully boring to listen to. She uses the same words over and over and repeats herself for ninety minutes until class is over. The second half of the class was a lot more interesting.

This class was really interesting, the professor knows her stuff and relates it well to non majors in archiecture. She's a great lecturer, very dynamic. Classes should be 1 hour, not 1 hour 20 minutes, though.

Professor Merlino is wonderful! I believe that it was her teaching that made me so interested and curious in architecture. Her style of teaching is so engaging, I really appreciated this & never felt that coming to class was a waste of time. In fact, the few times I had to miss class I was bummed b/c she's JUST THAT GOOD! :) My advice, take her!

She is very passionate about what she teaches but she tends to be boring and repeat herself. The material is too easy to appreciate her knowledge.

amazing.

Allows space for thought provoking discussion; totally knows her stuff and very passionate about her topic. Great listener and very helpful when needed.

we need more like her. period.

Great professor, she knows what she is talking about! Easy class. Going to the review sessions right before the quizzes is really helpful. I would recommend this class for anyone! Also I didn't open the text book once. I just went to lectures and the review sessions and I got a 4.0

Pretty easy class, 3 online quizes (75%) clicker points (20%) and an online survey that takes 2 minutes (5%). Least effort I've had to put in for a 4.0 at UW. Recommended for an easy VLPA.

Great class, and pretty easy. Merlino used clickers for the first time, so it might change, but when they worked it was for a big chunk of the grade, which was easy credit. She would walk around the classroom to ask questions which was a great engaging way of making the class less boring. Great lecturing style, awesome top class at UW!

Amazing class. Take this if you can, she's dynamic lecturer, funny, doesn't take her self too seriously, but knows her stuff. It's sorta on the easier side, but as she says, she wan't us to retain and learn basics of architecture, and I feel like I really did.

She is an amazing professor compared to the one I had for ARCH 150. She is passionate about what she teaches, and going to lectures was a must to know what was going to be on the quizzes. I rarely read the book, I just went to class and listened. Just lovely. and super easy. Got a 4.0 :)

I took this for an 'easy' VLPA, and although it wasn't superhard, it wasn't easy. Merlino packs a lot of content into the lectures, and is so passionate about the material AND the students learning. Very interactive for a large class. I now notice my surroundings due to Merlino. Awesome class.

1.SUPER FUNNY& NICE teacher. (Although I slept a lot) 2.Cancelled 3 classes (2personal & fire alarm) 3.No HW; just quizzes(32.3% each) & Clicker(2%) 4.Need to memorize a lot details to get good grades(45/50).(Textbook, PPT, Note)

Kathryn is such a enthusiastic professor! She interacts with students all the time and the atmosphere of the class encourages students to ask questions. The textbook isn't necessary since she provides detailed lecture outlines online, and that's what you should focus on studying. I recommend going to her lectures cause some contents are not online.

She's obviously passionate about what she teaches. Her class is pretty easy and she seems like a great professor overall. I just couldn't stand the material taught. If you are interested in architecture then you will probably enjoy her class.

She's a pretty good lecturer, but unless you like architecture the class can be incredibly boring. Very easy though, and very reasonable with work required and expectations. Even let me make up a quiz i missed when she could have easily just let me fail. I would recommend getting the E-book for the tests as they are open book and its searchable

Not quite as easy as I thought it would be but if you pay attention during lectures you should do pretty well. The questions on the quizzes can be specific at times

Not as easy as I thought, but if you go to class and pay attention you will be fine.

DO NOT take this class if you are looking for an easy VLPA. It is not an easy A. Professor Merlino is great though, she understands that most kids don't really care for architecture. Quizes are online so that is helpful

great intro class. lots of info, passionate, but long lectures can be .... long. should be shorter class, 50 minutes.

Awesome.

Best prof in the department. Cares, passionate, knows her stuff. Wish I could take more with her.

It's clear that she is passionate about architecture and she wants to share that passion with her students, her lectures were interesting and she is so approachable. You are only graded on a few things but they're not that difficult, some of the assignments will actually make you go outside to different buildings across campus. Great class overall.

Reasonably interesting lectures, really cool person. I could have easily spent longer than a quarter in her class!

Nice lady. Passionate about architecture. Here's what you need to know. Her class is easy to pass. You can get easy 3.8 if you go to lectures and take notes. However, her exams have errors and some concepts are not mentioned in lectures. If you have a GPA of 3.9+ and want an easy 4.0 class, this is not your ideal choice (3.8 still hurts).

I don't think Kathryn has taught this studio class in the past couple of years, but she is the best studio professor I've ever had. She cares about her students and gives really good feedbacks. She's very flexible about your design development. I felt most in an actual architecture studio environment in her class. Would totally take her class again

Loved this class.

Don't buy the textbook. None of the test questions came from the reading. Definitely attend the lectures. I joined the class late and my test grades definitely reflect how I missed some lectures. The assignments are extremely easy (you just take pictures and add captions). Easy 3.5+ if you go to lecture, take notes, study a little before tests.

Not an easy thing to teach to the masses. She does it.

Passionate about students learning. Funny. Had guest lectures a few times because of conferences or something but overall would totally take again. Go to leacture for sure, book is sortof used. Funny, too!

The class was really interesting because she tied in Seattle architecture as well, but with your grade being mostly dependent on quizzes you really needed to pay attention in lecture( Doesn't use panopto and slides dont contain much ). 25/30 questions on each quiz were straight forward, other 5 you really had to be paying attention to details

fab smart, fab funny

multiple choice quizzes are from lecture and a few from textbook. awesome lecturer. funny sense of humor to keep it interesting. lectures should be shorter, though. 4:30 pm lecture for an hour and a half is rough.

I had bad vibes about architecture because of my experience in ARCH 150 (with Anne Huppert). I learned a lot from this class about architecture. At the same time, I've come to really appreciate it and now I feel inspired to observe the architecture around the world as I travel. Two thumbs up!

Made me really like architecture.

I've had Kathryn in studios and graduate seminars. She's busy and subsequently hard to get a hold of, and often goes wildly off the syllabus and so sometimes comes off as disorganized, but she isn't tortuous or aloof. She's really personable and genuinely cares that you are learning and getting something out of the class.

inspiring.

easiest 4.0 ever. 5 quizzes and your worst one gets dropped. no homework, no final or midterm, coming to class is not mandatory, and there is no need to buy the book. Kathryn is probably the best teacher to take the arch classes with

I think it's ok she switched to in-class quizzes. She said they are easier anyway cuz their closed note. So many students cheat online and probably don't even come to class---why they come to the UW at all? This class is easy 4.0 if you just show up, shes a good lecturer and you might learn somethin!!

Great professor! I have taken a class that's in my major with her and it was a bliss. Yes, she makes you read and write a lot, but what did you want? This is college. She provided great feedback on the drafts and we had valuable group discussions.

Awesome prof.

great lecturer, and for this quarter she changed to paper quizzes halfway through. still pretty easy class, and I thoght it was cool she cared that it was unfair with all the online cheating. funny, too. interesting lectures. easy vlpa!

business (i hope!) major - took her for both 150 and 151 I liked her classes so much. it sucks in the large lecture when people don't care or pay attention (take another class!) so its best to sit up front. great lectures, learned a ton, can't wait to travel and see all the buildings. awesome prof. easy vlpa too.

One of the top 2 professors in my grad experience.

Amazing. Kind, intelligent, allows for thoughtful discussion. She is always doing interesting research and she seems more connected with the real world than many of the other professors in my grad experience. Do NOT miss a class with her.

Loved this class, made me really like architecture. Merlino is a great professor, very passionate and great lecture style. One of my best classes in my 4 years here.

Class was panoptoed so I never attended. 4 online quizzes and 2 REALLY easy assignments. Good class to take if you're looking to soften your schedule. I had Professor Merlino for ARCH150 and really liked her so she did not disappoint for 151

Best class in three years. I didn't like architecture - ok didn't really know what that meant. Such enthusiastic and interesting stuff. Take this class!!!

Learned so much. Such a great speaker and knows so much and is really kind.

One of the best studios taken, handsdown. Creative and thoughtful. Wish we had a real final review since we built the model stand.

Taken online, this course is fairly easy! 4 quizzes, 2 discussion board posts and 2 assignments! Lectures can be a little long but the material is easy so they are not taxing. Prof. Merlino has some trouble with Panopto so the lectures are not always up in a timely matter, but they get posted eventually! Good class taken online!

This was the best online class I've taken over this past year. The course was not live, but on Canvas, and Merlino was so good with communicating, answering questions, and organizing the class with Modules. Her lectures were great - she is really into the subject and makes it interesting. I would taker her again if I wasn't graduating!!! Awesome.

very cool theory class cotaught with Alex Anderson. really interesting topics and assignments. I didn't think i'd like theory, but she was interesting and the subjects were too. hard to get into too many good discussions on zoom, though.

Interesting and easy VLPA.

It is not that hard to get an A, but I don't think the effort I need to put into this course to get an A is not for a 3 credit course.

Dr. Merlino is very well-versed in all of the courses content, and really puts herself out there as a resource for help. I think the material was well selected and interesting to learn. My only minor gripe is that I didnt find the lectures very engaging, but perhaps thats just a product of the remote asynchronous setup.

Prof. Merlino's lectures were amazing, she was always able to the make the audience want to visit cities and buildings of the past. She gave lecture notes which were great for review and the quizzes were easy and open note/book. The mini projects were easy and fun too.

One of the best professors I've had. Merlino is caring, inspiring and funny, too. Keeps the lectures interesting and relevant, but also requires you to participate, so be prepared.

I love this class! Prof. Merlino is one of the best at the UW. Show up in person because she is engaging and not boring.

Overall amazing. Love the class content. Yet I don't know why the professor made the lecture soooo long. The lecture recording was usually 6-7 hours long per week, with 70-80 pages of slides on average. Recommend to take this after Arch 150, as they share the same textbook and have some overlaps.

2nd class with her; she is so passionate about her subject. really interesting topic and learning a ton even though it's an intense quarter for me - lots of small assignments and a final paper.

This is such an interesting class. Five quizzes - drop one - and four assignments. Not difficult, great lectures, funny and super cool and easy VLPA that you learn alot from. Take her!

She is a very passionate professor who makes learning about architecture interesting. Easy 4.0 if you take time to review the lectures and slides before doing any of the quizzes and assignments.

Professor Merlino is great! Only graded on quizzes and assignments. Quizzes are online and open book so you can literally look up the answers. There is a textbook, but it isn't necessary to purchase. Easy class to boost your GPA, I recommend!

One of the best at the UW in my experience

Go to lecture in this class. It can get very boring, but ended up being the class I look forward to going to the most by the end of the quarter. Does make people with laptops sit at the back or sides of Kane so be warned if she yells at you for that. Overall, decent elective class but not for those who are prone to falling asleep in lecture.

Awesome

you dont need to go to class, but its fun when you make the effort. interesting assignments given, pretty easy and interesting content for non majors who want to travel and understand architectures

Great way to end my four years at the UW!

Easy but engaging class. Lectures can be long, but worth attending to understand the material. Quizzes are open-book, so use tools like unstuck AI to prepare quickly. Overall, a great elective for non-majors.

why aren't architecture students required to take a class on adaptive reuse? it's like she's the only one who does work in this -seems required in the age of climate change. i feel like the faculty here only teaches new buildings bc ie, housing is needed. doesn't seem like good problem solving- this class has us thinking differently..

Take this class, you won't regret.

Lots of reading for a 3 credit class, but really worth it and discussions were so good unlike other seminars. She made me feel comfortable talking- and she's such a well of knowledge and cares if you learn. Some profs here seem jaded or just want you to think like them. Not her!

She clearly cares a lot of about what shes teaching about even though most students are just there for the free 3 credits. Being said this class is free 3 credits. Theres a lot of reading to do but its not really required at all just go to lecture and have fun. Learn something about architecture.

lots of lectures but recorded. awesome teacher, but this was her last time teaching it. beware of other boring teachers for 150 and 151.

Class was pretty easy. Lectures were low-key boring, but if you want an easy 3-credit course, this class is one of them.

The class was basically just all assignments and some quizzes. Overall, everything was pretty easy and all lectures could be accessed online. It was basically an online class. The professor is very passionate about architecture and is very open to questions. She's also very realistic with her expectations and just wants her students to learn.