I admit that I was warned by one fellow classmate to avoid Oakleaf's classes and other classmates told me her classes were a lot of work. So when I was put into her class after registering for another, I was at first skeptical. I now realize that the first student I talked to (in my opinion) just didn't want to have to work hard, and the other students I talked to were right. This course was a lot of work, but it was in no way 'busy work'.
Here are a few reasons I really appreciated this class:
1. Homework was designed to let us practices specific skills.
This class offered us real life experiences, in safe environments (i.e. online reference with fellow classmates) and pracattical work, such as evaluating reference materials, which I could specifically see why I need to know and how I could apply it to real life work situations.
2. Professor Oakleaf used best practice in teaching methods.
It is not often that I have had a professor or teacher who "walks the walk". By this I mean that she set clear expectations, and was available to us if we ever needed clarification. I could tell that she cared that we learn the material and not that she was just teaching the material.
I'm very appreciative to have another class that is clearly applicable to the field I am interested and taught by a professor who wants us to learn.