Comments:3355 - Crazy how smart Dr. Wisely is. He came off as a little awkward at times, but he’s genuinely interested in hearing students’ thoughts and helping them succeed. Sure, if no one talks in class, it would be filled with silence, because he’s not going to sit there and yap the whole time, but it’s great learning to express more complex ideas in another language. Exams were matching/multiple choice questions followed by a take home essay; final was a paper. Honestly the workload wasn’t as bad as I expected for an upper level language class.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:2310 - New professors always tend to scare me, and I was especially nervous when I read Dr. Wisely's reviews. I cannot stress enough how instrumental he has been in encouraging my growth as not only in German, but as a person. He was very knowledgeable and helpful this semester and I loved his teaching style. If you do take his class, be prepared for a good amount of VHL homework due on MWF nights and his light, dry sense of humor. I truly enjoyed Dr. Wisely's class and I'll miss him as I move on from my foreign language requirement.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:2310 - I admit, I was tired of German by the time I took this course. But on the first day of class last semester, after a 3 month summer break, Dr. Wisely walked into class and immediately started speaking German. He did not review with us at all, and I fell further behind than I was before. Later in the semester, I contracted covid and had to miss about 2 weeks of class, and I did better in those two weeks than I did before. I learned more from the textbook (which is saying a lot) than I did from him. This was before the attendance policy was re-instituted, and I hated this class and his teaching style so much that I skipped roughly a month of class and only showed up for tests. Missing class did not affect my performance on his tests at all because, again, his teaching ability was so poor. I cannot put into words how much I hated this class, but I will say that my friends had to frequently remind me that I had class and make me go to class. His teaching style might work for you, but if you have ADHD, I cannot emphasize enough that you should not take him.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:3301 - I took a purse combined with is 4000 level German literature class on the holocaust. will forever go down as one of the most mentally taxing and yet beneficial courses I will take. this is the type of stuff I pay $30000 a semester for. so knowledgable, really values creativity. if you can write well and participate in class discussion, even with the most obscure things, you'll do great. reading quizzes at the beginning of most classes, read all the books the night before (don't recommend that) and got 10/10 on almost all of them  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:2310 - He is a hidden gem. I don't do languages, they are hard for me, but I understood everything he taught us. I wish that he would teach some (non-language) other classes. He is very smart and genuine. He is a true Christian teacher. His workload is reasonable, and I enjoyed his class.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:3355 - If you're frightened by the low ratings here for Dr. Wisely, read this review. I have taken 4 classes with him now, and studied abroad under him as well. Firstly, you would be hard-pressed to meet a more intelligent person. The reason Dr. Wisely takes such long pauses before speaking is because he is careful in what he says, and when he does speak, he drops some philosophical or moral bomb. It's always fascinating listening to him talk. He may come off as uncaring or cold, but if you put forth the effort and show a genuine interest in learning the material, he will bend over backwards to help you out - it's all on you. The workload is often heavy, but he observes how well the class handles it, and adjusts accordingly. The tests are outlined in this way: page 1: quote matching from books, pages 2 and 3: multiple choice, page 4: more matching, themes usually page 5: short answers and page 5: essay. Despite how it may seem, Dr. Wisely is one of the most approachable and friendly professors I've had at Baylor. I consider myself lucky to have taken his classes.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3302 - This class made me very anxious at first, because Dr. Wisely did not have good reviews. I actually really enjoyed the class and learned a lot from Dr. Wisely. I can see how he could be intimidating at first, especially since we had such a small class, but the material was interesting and even though the class wasn't very structured, it ended up flowing well. We started out with grammar and workbook assignments and ended up transitioning into a children's German novel, and then toward the end of the semester we read an actual German criminal novel. It is a reading based class, so obviously there is going to be a decent amount of reading. We would have quizzes occasionally, and there was only one test other than the final. There were also two papers based on the novels we read, but as long as you followed along in class it was very easy to make an A.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:2310 - Dr. Wisely is alright. I personally did not learn much in the class, and everyone else was always lost as well. Class felt very unstructured. There is daily homework on VHL, which isn't terrible. His quizzes and tests are not too bad, especially since he gives you a study guide, which is great.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:2310 - Dr. Wisely is absolutely awful as a professor. He is unfriendly, doesn't seem like he particularly knows how to teach, and the class itself seems incredibly unstructured. He shows up to class with a vague idea of what he wants to talk about and doesn't execute it well at all. I dread going to his class and would rather drop German and start a whole new language from scratch than have to take him ever again.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:4320 (Special Topics) - I think Dr. Wisely is probably a really nice guy, but I found him quite intimidating. He also talks very slowly (in English as well as in German), which I found rather frustrating. He assigned lots of reading, but I guess that's to be expected in a 4000-level class. He also gave lots of quizzes, but graded them fairly leniently. We had to write a 5-7 page paper, which wasn't too bad, and then the final was a project, which was really nice. Overall, I thought Dr. Wisely was OK - not the most exciting professor, but very capable and thorough.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:2310 - Dr. Wisely was quite unfriendly and unapproachable. He required a large workload and I felt like I hardly learned anything. The workload wouldn't have been so bad except I learned nothing from it and everyone else that I have talked to about the class feels pretty much the same way.The class was miserable to be in but I got by I guess. I will say his oral exam wasn't bad and I would highly recommend that you do your homework before every class because he spent a lot of time making sure you had it done instead of teaching. If you have no other option than to take him, you will probably be fine but it won't be very fun. There is an exam about every 2 to 3 weeks, a quiz here and there, a final that is about the same difficulty as the other exams, a small paper, and an oral exam in his office.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3V70 - Dr. Wisely is a great man who is almost always there when a student would need him. He managed to make a German Lit. class bearable. He even guided the class through our first novel (200+ pages in german)which would have been a disaster with most professors. He cares if you do well, and is fair in his grade giving. You get what you earn in the class.   - Grade In Class:A

Comments:GER 3301 - I liked Dr. Wisely a lot. However, he does expect a great deal out of his students.. but it is a 3000 level German course so you have to already have a pretty good German Language background. There is a lot of quizzes and assignments but nothing too bad. His tests aren't necessarily the easiest but they could be worse. Good professor..  - Grade In Class:B