2.3
Quality3.7
Difficulty30%
Would Retake108
Reviews30%
Would Retake
108
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
11
4
12
3
22
2
22
1
41
What Students Say
“Lectures are very boring”
HIS102 - 2.0 rating“THE WORST TEACHER EVER”
HIS102 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
88%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
HIS307
5.0
(1)102
3.0
(1)H102
3.0
(3)HIS306
3.0
(1)HIS11O
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
HIS11O
4.5
101
4.3
102
4.0
HIS150
4.0
HIS306
4.0
Reviews (108)
I had Professor Trimmer in her first semester at UW Lax. She is a nice woman, but she is the absolute worst teacher/professor I have ever had in my whole life. You will get 6 textbooks, packets and packets of reading questions. The content itself is not difficult but the way she teaches makes everything so unnecessarily difficult. DO NOT TAKE HER.
Avoid this teacher. She gives out hours and hours of readings every week, and gives out a packet full of questions every week (which will take additional hours). Her lectures are too vague and conceptual. She needs to work on content rather than concept. This does not feel like a "100" level class at all.
T. Trimmer is easily the worst professor I have ever had. Every thing about her is terrible including her tight clothing chooses, screechy high pitched voice, high heels, and constant hand motions. Her teaching style is horrible as you are required to read 40-50 pages a night, participate in class, and teaches you absolutely nothing, making no sens
If you enjoy a lot of homework that is only used to discuss in class, help on the papers, and prepare for the quiz's you will love this class...For everyone who works and is a full time student, good luck. Trimmer assigns 5 pages of homework a night with a required reading of roughly 50 pages.
So much reading, everyday you have to read over 40 pages and answer 5 pages of questions. She does grade pretty easy which is nice but if you don't like history do not take her.
I spent more time studying for this class than I did for Chemistry. That should say it all. She grades you on discussing the readings that are due every class. This class is bad and I would never recommend it.
Rediculous amount of reading. Class is based entirely off of readings and questions which take at least 2 hrs if you're a fast reader. WAY too difficult for a 101 class. Ideas are so broad their difficult to grasp cuz they all blend together. DO NOT RECOMMEND whether you like history or not.
Avoid at all cost.
Easily the most boring class... ever. She grades you a lot on participation so you have to talk even though everything is super boring and the class is huge. Her voice is screechy and you get distracted by her ugly heels she wears. Attendance is part of your grade which I find ridiculous.
horrible.
Avoid this professor. Way too much work for a 101 class. Ridiculous amounts of reading/questions assigned every night, along with online lectures. Grade relies heavily on attendance and participation. Dreaded this class every time I went.
Avoid taking her class. Awful teacher. Your entire grade is her opinion of you. Not a single part of your grade is non written. Wish I had listened to everyone else's advice and not taken her.
Get ready to read about 20-40 pages every night. Way more work than any science class I have taken. On top of that, she does online "mini" lectures that are each about 45 minutes. AVOID HER CLASS.
ALOT of reading. Class and assignments were graded easily. She explained all her expectations ahead of time and held open office hours before ALL deadlines. She is a very nice teacher and I definitely learned a ton! You can get a lot out of the class. A bit challenging, however
Attendance is mandatory, she talks about boring topics all class long. Gave everyone Cs and Ds on the first paper even though she didn't explain it well at all. 4 papers, 4 pop quizzes. Attendance is 20% of grade. Very boring and grades hard for a 100 level class. DONT TAKE HER.
THE WORST TEACHER EVER. Too much homework for a 100 level class and it's 100% true that she grades you based on her opinion of you. She gives the most boring lectures (online and in-class) and I found it impossible to get a good grade on any of the essays no matter how long I worked on one. It was a pointless class and a guaranteed GPA-dropper.
Trust me DO NOT TAKE ANY CLASSES WITH HER ! You Have Been WARNED.
Teachers like her are why students decide college isn't for them. The worst class I have ever taken.
Prof. Trimmer is terrible. Her lectures are boring and her voice is extremely nasal and shrill. I didn't learn anything when I took her class. The only reason I even went to the class was because attendance was graded. Avoid this professor.
This class involves a lot of day to day work. Also, the papers are crazy long and need a lot of specific things. I failed my first 2 of 3 papers, went and talked to her, she gave me credit back and a ton of feedback. For the final paper i had her look over my rough draft twice and she gave me an A. Very helpful if you ask for help.
Lectures are very boring. She goes on and on and on in lectures. She grades on her opinion of you. Attendance in mandatory. Participation is graded. Gives out a ton of homework. Very tough grader. She is a bit helpful, but she only allows a few people to see her per day. Not a good class to take at a 100 level.
Her classes are full of boring facts that are rarely used on her few quizzes, and if you miss more than 3 classes, you might as well as skip 20 of them, because you'll still get the same attendance grade. She makes you write a paper based on Japanese manga, but never brings up anything related. Annoying voice. She's unclear on her paper grading.
Prof. Trimmer and her class are not very fun, but it is not as bad as most of the comments on here. She is really helpful and friendly if you ask for help. If you get stuck with her don't worry. Just try to participate as much as you can in class discussions and follow directions and you won't have a problem with her.
Annoying voice, long lectures online and in class, and lot of writing and reading. #ICantEven in her class
I would recommend not taking her for any class. She takes a 101 Gen Ed course and makes it as hard as possible. She is a very motivated and passionate teacher, but she treats the class like it is a bunch of history majors. She does not give good feedback and does not help much if you ask. Avoid at all costs.
Professor Trimmer is very passionate about her profession. She takes her work seriously and wants her students to as well even though it's a gen. Ed. Course. She is always clear and willing to give feedback. She expects participation but this is rewarding if you do so. The students who give bad reviews are the ones who didn't try in her course.
Professor Trimmer is the pickiest grader I have ever had in my entire life. I would estimate that less than 15% of the readings you do for class had any relevance to assignments you would be graded on. She is very passionate about the subject and I did well in the class, but the class itself is set up so poorly. FIND SOMEONE ELSE.
This professor cares about history a lot, but doesn't realize that no one else does.
Trimmer is obviously very passionate about history and her lectures can be a bit long, but this was not a hard class by any means. There is a reading packet at least once a week, but if you just skim it you'll be fine. She is very helpful during office hours and you can email her for participation instead of talking in class. Would recommend.
She is definitely passionate about the subject. Although she does give a lot of reading packets that tend to be long. The class was not that hard, but could have been easier. Not the easiest but also not the hardest.
Prof Trimmer is very passionate about her job as a history teacher, which leads her to trying to make this class into more than just a gen ed course. She only assigns in class writing assignments, two essays, and a take home final paper. She is open to meeting with her students and cares about them. However, her lectures and topics are boring.
Prof. Trimmer is a very passionate and helpful professor, however she is incredibly confusing with what she wants in her papers and assigns a TON of reading. She is constantly restating the same points but in different wording and talks the entire class. I was so bored during every class and would not take her again. Very nice, but boring.
Prof. Trimmer is very passionate about history and knows what she is talking about. The class itself can be boring and has a lot of reading assignments but it is not hard. She goes out of her way to meet with students to help them with class papers and if you go in for help you will easily get an A or B in the course.
Professor Trimmer structures her class to help you do well. 90% of the class is made up of papers, but if you go see her to look at your paper you should be able to get an A or AB. She cares a lot about history and you can email her for participation if you don't like to speak in class. May be my best professor I've had at UWL.
A lot of reading, and a lot of papers but if you work with her, sending in rough drafts and such you will do well in the course. You also go over most of the reading in the class so reading isn't really mandatory
It was easy to tell that History is Professor Trimmer's passion. She was a wonderful professor and made it really easy to get A's on papers. There are four regular papers and one final paper. If anyone thinks that this class was hard, they probably didn't put any effort into asking for help. If you ask for help, she gives you everything you need.
This professor was AMAZING! As long as you pay attention she won't let you fail. Anybody who didn't get a good grade didn't put effort in. Don't let the comments scare you off she is a great teacher who is very passionate.
Professor Trimmer is nice & clearly she cares about history, but that doesn't mean class isn't excruciatingly boring sometimes. You have to do a lot of reading, & try to think of something to say about it during the next class because she's really into class participation. Taking notes throughout the semester will help with the final paper.
Dr. Trimmer has the worst lectures I have ever had to sit through. She teaches nothing. It takes her 45 minutes to explain something easy that should take 3 minutes. If an easy grade with some effort is what you're looking for, take her but you will regret it this class is painful.
Seems to be better than other gen ed history teachers here. Always willing to help. Letures can be pretty boring, but if you pay attention you don't have to do the readings word for word. 2 in-class paragraphs, 2 papers, final paper(2 questions) and participation. If you don't participate in class, you can email or visit office hours for points
While her lectures can sometimes be boring, Prof Trimmer is a great professor that cares about all her students. She's super nice and always wants to help. The class is fairly easy to get an A in, and I recommend going and talking to her during office hours. You don't have to do the readings if you go to class.
Grades on participation, not a fan. I just want to listen to what is said and absorb the information. Papers aren't difficult. You won't be able to tell class periods apart because she'll repeat things over and over again through multiple days. She keeps attendance so don't skip too much if at all.
Trimmer gives out a lot of readings for you to "historically contextualize," which is basically summarizing the readings. She will never randomly call on you but strongly urges participation--you can get participation credit by email or D2L, otherwise. 3 essay exams, fairly easy if you pay attention and go to class. Boring lectures but worth the A.
I would highly recommend Prof Trimmer! She is very caring and wants all of her students to succeed. She is always willing to work with you and tries to give all of the resources you'll need. Grade based on three papers and participation. Definitely utilize her office hours for contextualization help. I'm not a history major but loved the class.
Professor Trimmer can be very boring to listen to but she truly does care about all of her students. You write three papers during the semester and if you go to office hours and talk to her about your paper you are likely to get a good grade. You can participate by going to office hours or even emailing her. Take her if you can
Her lectures are very boring and always go the full time. There are lots of out of class readings. Besides the boring lectures, all you do is read, analyze and write three papers that in total are worth 85 percent of your grade. She cares about your grades and is always making sure you know what you are doing.
No tests, just three papers. The papers can be confusing to write about but if you go to the lectures you should be able to get some information to help. The lectures are super boring though and always use the full time, if not more. Lots of reading in order to write papers. Good professor who is very passionate, but just not the type for me.
Trimmer talks the whole time and can be repetitive, but shes really nice and is always available if you need help. In this class you write 3 essays and do a ton of reading, but overall its pretty easy if you go to class and do the readings.
This class is 3 papers worth 85% of your grade and 15% is attendance. The lectures are very boring to listen to but you can get a lot of information for the papers. However, go to office hours for each paper once and she gives you very good feedback and makes it very easy to get the grade you want. She cares about your grades and loves history.
The class has 3 papers, worth 85% of your grade and participation at 15%. It's one of the toughest classes I've taken for being gen ed. She's a great person, but I don't like her teaching: she's overly repetitive and I feel like class was never interesting/fun to attend. A plus, though, is that she's always willing to help and is easily accessible.
She only grades three papers. That and Participation are the only thing put in grade book. What she asks you do to for the papers is tough but if you go to her office hours you will get good feedback and most likely an A on the papers. P.S. the last paper is 45%of your grade
Her discussion circles are boring and she doesn't elaborate more on what material was assigned ahead of time. She is kind and is willing to help you succeed, it's just that her class is boring.
Professor Trimmer is very knowledgable. With that being said, her lectures and class is EXTREMELY boring. She is so repetitive, long winded and almost every class period goes beyond the time limit. Participation is a huge part of your grade. The one good thing about the class is there are only writing exams, so memorizing dates/info isnt needed.
Overall class wasn't extremely hard, but you do need to go to class in order to get a good grade. She assigns a lot of readings, but when you go to class she goes into detail about the readings to help you understand better. You do not have any exams but there is in-class writing analysis'. She is can be repetitive and lectures can be boring but go
This class grade is based on 5 writing exercises throughout the semester. I only read the texts that related to the writing exercises and did fine. She requires participation in class but also has online discussions counted for participation as well. The readings are somewhat confusing at times. The lecture drags on and she talks in circles.
Definitely an easy class but she is a pretty boring teacher. If you show up she will repeat the same material over and over, but if you copy down the same material on the exams she will grade very easy. She really wants everyone to pass and will be happy to help if you need it.
Normally, I enjoy Hst classes but I did not enjoy HST 110. Prof. Trimmer is knowledgeable, but she talks, a lot. If you do not enjoy repetitive lectures or if you get annoyed easily, don't take her class. For her 110 class, she kind of "dumbs down" the content. If you're looking to take an interesting history class, hers is not the one for you.
personally she was a great teacher for me. she really cares for her students and wants them to succeed. she does talk quite a lot, but I didn't mind really. lectures are long and boring, but she provides lots of info from readings that allows to easily do the essays and tells us exactly what she expects in the paper. there's a lot of reading tho
I had Prof Trimmer online only. I definitely agree that her lectures are sometimes repetitive but they also really helped me with the discussion posts we had to write (total of 5). Going to her office during hours was really helpful and I think were the reason why I did so well in the class.
This class online was mainly just watching lectures and reading, but she gave very clear expectations and you can tell she really cares about the subject and her students. Super helpful and friendly in office hours too! There is a midterm and a final (both take-home tests) and a couple other assignments.
A really wonderful history class without too much, heavy reading. No pre-reqs for it and needed it for individualized minor. It was online through Zoom, but we read about 8 visual sequential narratives for the class (a lot of them autobiographical) or in other words, comics. 1 midterm essay and 1 final essay with weekly discussions.
I literally hated writing these essays. They were 3 questions each but OMG her responses to my essays were always, "you could've explained more" or "If you dug a little deeper it would be better". Don't get me wrong she is very sweet and energetic but I hated writing essays and having reading assignments along with writing assignments every week.
I took HIS 110 through the online asynchronous format. She had almost 100 students in the course, so only three exams were graded throughout the semester. I was scared at first, but she is always willing to help- through zooms, emails, etc. She wants you to do well, if you put the effort in, you can do well! Thorough feedback and so much dedication
Exams were worth way too many points. She is a very boring speaker and always uses up her allowed hour and 25 minutes of class time, sometimes even more.
If you pay attention and take notes you will pass. She taught this in an incredibly interesting and engaging way. She tells you exactly what you need to do in order to get an A before each exam, gives you two weeks to complete the exam, and offers ample time to go to office hours and get feedback before turning it in. Do your part and you'll pass.
I took first year seminar with this professor and she was the hardest grader of all my classes and we had to do a lot of busy work and read a lot of things that did not pertain to the class. She is so nice as a person and really cares about all her students, just made this class way harder than it needed to be.
The most confusing person I have ever listened to. Instead of explaining the subject in a way the whole class understands she makes her lectures so complicated I feel like I'm sitting in a graduate course at Harvard.
Lectures for the entire class without making any sense of what she is talking about. Asks you to read ridiculous amounts of material for an entry level/ general education class.
She talks and talks and talks. Most of the time I don't even know what she's talking about.
Talks forever, Lectures are extremely boring, Requires you to check out 5 textbooks and hands out 10 reading packets.
Lectures can be hefty and boring, but attendance is essential as it's a decent percentage of overall grade. Either participate in class discussion or use office hours for participation credit. The class can be tough but do the work and meet with her when needed and it can be very manageable. She is a super friendly and kind lady.
gives us useless work to do
Had us do useless work. Lectures are long and boring.
Uses up all 55 minutes of class every time. D1 Unanimous 1st Team All Conference yapper. Reminds me of Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter.
She takes this class too seriously. It should be very laid back, an easy A. However, this professor makes it near impossible to stay floating in a class where all of my friends are getting easy A's. It should not be this difficult, and grades the essays extremely hard for no reason. Would not take if you can avoid!
She assigns too much homework and then doesn't even go over it in class. She rarely talks about anything useful. ISTG she believes she is better than everyone else.
Any of professor that teaches FYS is a better option than professor Trimmer. She might be the hardest grader I've ever had. The lectures are pointless. I didn't get any useful information out of a single one. She grades every essay like her life depends on it. If I had a different professor I would've received a 100% on each essay.
I had Professor Trimmer in the spring of 2023 for HIS 110 (Empire). She is a very nice professor, but her lectures are boring with lots of information. She explains things as if the students have a vast knowledge of history and other topics. Graded on 3 papers and I was able to get an "A" by being very thorough and detailed when doing the readings.
Trimmer spends more time trying to convince the class why history is important and why her class should be taken seriously, rather than teaching the actual material. She spends more time yapping about how to write a paragraph or take notes instead. Essay grading is ridiculous too she's the most nit picky professor I've ever had do not recommend
She is a very nice teacher but spends the entire class talking about topics that could be talked about in 5 minutes. Class is super easy but so boring and she doesn't teach anything. I am 100% confident that anyone on campus can teach better than her. She just talks and talks some more. The worst part is she just repeats herself the entire class.
Professional yapper. Avoid at all costs if you want to keep your GPA above a 3.0. She grades papers harshly. Take another professor. Shes the reason I'm not on the Dean's List.
I think that Professor Trimmer is caring, but man, her standards for FYS are absurdly high. Made the entire class about her own oral history project, and just threw the required FYS content on as extra homework. A class that should be an easy A quickly became my most stressful class to date, with 3-5 hours of homework per week. Avoid at all costs.
Do not take her at all cost, her lectures are awful and she does so much for a fys class.
Spends too much time trying to get her words to sound extremely sophisticated than actually telling us what she means. I sat in her class for an hour and did not comprehend a single thing she said. Homework is pointless and grades like her literal life depends on it.
DO NOT TAKE HER FYS COURSE! This class is insanely boring and tedious. She will complain about wasting time, yet spend 20 minutes of class trying to make a singular point. She makes the class only focus on her oral history project, and is insanely strict on grading essays. Take any other FYS class.
Considering this is a FYS course, it is awful. All my friends in other FYS classes can turn in anything and get 100%. For prof. trimmer, nothing is ever considered perfect and it is nearly impossible to even get an A in what should be a super easy class. Do NOT take her, she also makes it all about her Oral History program which is not fun.
We are supposed to spend 90 minutes on homework, like seriously women it's a fys class its suppose to be easy not wanting me to jump off eagle hall every damn time. Class is 55 minutes long and if you pack up a minute early she has a two-minute discussion on how her time is 55 minutes so you should give her all 55 minutes of class. Dont take class.
Anyone that gets stuck in Professor Trimmer's FYS class needs to drop it immediately. Professor Trimmer stands in front of the class and talks in circles. She spends no time going over the actual course material but instead makes everything about her oral history program. Her essays are impossible to get a good grade on. Good luck if you have her.
Professor Trimmer makes her class all about her Oral History Program. FYS should be a easy A butTrimmer makes it difficut a perfect points on simple reflectve essays.Trimmer requires sources and 4 page essays when our FYS essays are to be graded on the same rubric for all classes, and other clases recieve 100% for turning in.
Professor Trimmer over explains everything to the point where it is impossible to understand what her point or the task is. She makes us write essays in an odd format with no intro or conclusion. Its very difficult to get an A without going into office hours because of how unclear her instructions are. Following the rubric won't even get you an A.
She sucks. Do not ever take her for FYS100. She nonstop talks during class and overexplains everything to the point where no one knows what to do. Grades as if it is a PhD Thesis.
The content learned was nice to know especially being a first-year student. Professor Trimmer was nice but took the gen ed class way too seriously. She grades pretty hard and likes to give homework assignments that take quite a bit to complete. She also uses up a lot of class time overexplaining things that could be explained in a few minutes.
Professor Trimmer is extremely nice and helpful but, her class is pretty hard for a first-year seminar. When you are in class don't pack up before it is time to go because it's rude and for papers go to her office hours and you'll get 100%(also don't think you can't go she is available like every day at every time)
If it is not your first semester of your first year of college, I would advise against taking her class. Because from my experience from taking a few of her classes it is a STEEP learning curve, from going from your usual college class to, raising your hand 4 times a week to answer a question otherwise “Your grade will tank”.
I would not recommend taking FYS with her. She is a tough grader and made this class way harder then it should have been. There is a lot more work then other FYS classes do.
Her FYS is the absolute worst First Year seminar you can take. Attendance and participation are mandatory for a good grade, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the lectures that add nothing of value to learning about college. She spends 40 minutes summarizing a single point, and grades like you're in a 400 class. TAKE ANY OTHER FYS
Do not take this FYS. You will spend hours on homework outside of class, preparing for the class. The essay rubrics are so general, but if you don't cry tears and go to office hours you're not getting an A on the essays.
If you get in this class drop it immediately. This is your warning
Do not take this FYS class; take any other. She will grade your essays like an English analyst, and if it is not to her liking, you will get a bad grade. Go to office hours and go over your essays; otherwise, she will nitpick everything. She will ramble throughout the class and go in circles during lectures. Pick any other FYS
Whatever it is Drop it.
She talks way too much and takes up all of the time we are given. She doesn't explain things good. She will never forgive you for missing a class. She treats FYS like a microbiology class.
Trimmer is very energetic. She can be cringy at times but she genuinely wants whats best for you. Her FYS class may have included more work then other FYS classes but it wasnt too challenging. She was very thorough on what she wanted on papers and homework.
Professor Trimmer was not nearly as bad as described in some of these reviews. As long as you show up to her class and engage in her discussions you will be fine. She also likes when you go to office hours to go over each of your 4 essays. I got 100% on each essay just by going to her office hours and taking her ideas and feedback.
She's very energetic, but the class is extremely boring. It's an easy course and she wants students to do well. If you go to office hours, you'll likely get good grades on essays. She emails asking for permission to talk about things in her own lecture, and most class time is group discussions that few people participate in because they're boring.
She tends to ramble on, so sitting through class gets tough, but it was still such an easy class. Sometimes the rubrics for papers were unclear, but just go to office hours and she will happily give you feedback on your paper drafts. Overall my biggest problem is I did not learn a thing, but at least it wasn't hard...
Do not take her FYS. She talks too much. Will keep you till the end of class or past. I learned nothing in her class.
very pointless discussions
Awful. Terrible experience.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
88%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
HIS307
5.0
(1)102
3.0
(1)H102
3.0
(3)HIS306
3.0
(1)HIS11O
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
HIS11O
4.5
101
4.3
102
4.0
HIS150
4.0
HIS306
4.0