PILFs?
November 22, 2004 6:46 AM Subscribe
Rate My Professor! A searchable database of student ratings of their college professors. In what must be a wonderful reflection of the current status of the American and Canadian higher education systems, the ratings include entries for how easy the professor is and, of course, how hot they are. So click around, visit your alma mater, and let that jerk who almost flunked you in freshman comp feel your wrath!
Ah, if only I could remember the name of the lousy Irish history prof I had in university, the one who would leave halfway through the three-hour night class and throw a movie in, anything that took place in Ireland, whether or not it had anything to do with the lesson at hand. I met his daughter a few years later, and she told me he loathed teaching, and only (barely) put up with it because he wanted the grants for research that came along with the position.
That said, this strikes me as a bad idea. Many "bad" professors are merely guilty of grading papers less favourably than students, many of whom received marks of 90% for everything they did in high school no matter how mediocre, would like.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:51 AM on November 22, 2004
That said, this strikes me as a bad idea. Many "bad" professors are merely guilty of grading papers less favourably than students, many of whom received marks of 90% for everything they did in high school no matter how mediocre, would like.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:51 AM on November 22, 2004
I am genuinely creeped out by some of the "hot" votes. Unless things have significantly changed since I last visited good old Bates.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 6:52 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 6:52 AM on November 22, 2004
A friend of mine, who is a prof, is upset that he isn't listed here. I think he secretly wants to get "hot" ratings. Okay, maybe not so secretly.
Me, I'm just upset I can't remember the name of that French guy from freshman year. He was a prize prick.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:59 AM on November 22, 2004
Me, I'm just upset I can't remember the name of that French guy from freshman year. He was a prize prick.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:59 AM on November 22, 2004
Dr. Clive Worth was a real dork of a geology prof. at Llanelli U.
I think he bought his PhD.
Flunked all the guys, but the girls seemed to like him—he had lower standards for them.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:17 AM on November 22, 2004
I think he bought his PhD.
Flunked all the guys, but the girls seemed to like him—he had lower standards for them.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:17 AM on November 22, 2004
For obvious reasons, one should take these reviews with a grain of salt. Some professors post ratings on each other just to goof around. (Or so I'm told.) And other reviews, as mentioned, are posted out of spite.
posted by meh at 7:19 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by meh at 7:19 AM on November 22, 2004
This discovery became the bearer of bad news. It appears to me that my two favorite professors from school were let go.
Mr. S, my philosophy professor of two semesters, whom with I imbibed in my first official "recreational drug use" event with a teacher.
Dr. Scott, a fine accounting professor who, on numerous occasions and for educational purposes only, used the example of me selling drugs to demonstrate fundamental corporate income tax/accounting principles. He was a funny guy. seriously. Maybe if I hadn't been so blown during his class I might not have found him as funny, though.
posted by mic stand at 7:20 AM on November 22, 2004
Mr. S, my philosophy professor of two semesters, whom with I imbibed in my first official "recreational drug use" event with a teacher.
Dr. Scott, a fine accounting professor who, on numerous occasions and for educational purposes only, used the example of me selling drugs to demonstrate fundamental corporate income tax/accounting principles. He was a funny guy. seriously. Maybe if I hadn't been so blown during his class I might not have found him as funny, though.
posted by mic stand at 7:20 AM on November 22, 2004
As card cheat said above, if you are going to a research university, the professors are not going to care how they are rated. No one in charge cares how good or bad a tenure-track professor is, they care how many papers she/he has published and how many grants they get. The departments view teaching of undergrads as a necessary evil at best. I had a classmate when I was getting my CS degree complain to the dean about how totally useless our professor was as an instructor and the dean told him, "well if we let him (the professor) get out of teaching no one will agree to teach."
posted by octothorpe at 7:21 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by octothorpe at 7:21 AM on November 22, 2004
These sites tend to attract only the most polarized people to write reviews, but I still like the idea. I think having evaluations out in the open where people can see them is a great idea. I encourage students to use this site but some profs are aghast at the idea of people seeing their teaching evaluations.
Student evaluations are a mixed bag, and sometimes unfairly critical, but if there's a problem, it'll show up as a pattern in the evaluations. And if you're doing a praiseworthy job, in the large you'll get what you deserve, too.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:23 AM on November 22, 2004
Student evaluations are a mixed bag, and sometimes unfairly critical, but if there's a problem, it'll show up as a pattern in the evaluations. And if you're doing a praiseworthy job, in the large you'll get what you deserve, too.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:23 AM on November 22, 2004
I've used this site when picking courses. If a teacher has enough evaluations that have a consistent reason for criticism or approval, then I tend to take that into consideration. I've met more than a few teachers who hate the site though, just because it's really easy for people to go and rag on them just because they didn't do well in the course, and there's no room for defense from the teacher. As a student, it's nice to have some idea what I'm getting into.
posted by heatherann at 7:30 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by heatherann at 7:30 AM on November 22, 2004
That site is terrific, and I wish it had been around during my college career. But I did poke around in the listings for my alma mater, Ursinus College, and rate a few professors, both good and bad, in the hopes of improving some future student's life. Thanks, robocop is bleeding and banjo_and_the_pork.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:36 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:36 AM on November 22, 2004
A major problem I found when I used the site was that professors who taught low-level general education/liberal arts courses (like the required science class that business majors need to take) often took a hit from students who had no intention of putting forth any effort anyway. The solution, of course, is to disregard any sub-300 level course ratings, but then you're left with a small sample size.
posted by schustafa at 7:45 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by schustafa at 7:45 AM on November 22, 2004
No one in charge cares how good or bad a tenure-track professor is, they care how many papers she/he has published and how many grants they get.
False. I assure you that my chair and dean do indeed care about my teaching.
I'm in there, but at only one of the three places I've taught. And hey, where's my chili pepper?
posted by gleuschk at 7:46 AM on November 22, 2004
False. I assure you that my chair and dean do indeed care about my teaching.
I'm in there, but at only one of the three places I've taught. And hey, where's my chili pepper?
posted by gleuschk at 7:46 AM on November 22, 2004
I am a professor, though alas, unrated on this site. I have no problem with it, surely students are smart enough to sort the ax-grinders from the serious ratings. At the University of Chicago in the 1980s the student senate published a book each year with the student evaluation totals for each professor with selected commentary. Why not?
posted by LarryC at 7:50 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by LarryC at 7:50 AM on November 22, 2004
Take
THAT,
Dr. Terpstra!
But really, most of the commentors on this site apparently have no idea why they paid for education. We wonder why professors don't cater to our needs, but after enough half-assed criticism like this, I'd imagine most of them just shut down to the process.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 7:53 AM on November 22, 2004
THAT,
Dr. Terpstra!
But really, most of the commentors on this site apparently have no idea why they paid for education. We wonder why professors don't cater to our needs, but after enough half-assed criticism like this, I'd imagine most of them just shut down to the process.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 7:53 AM on November 22, 2004
U. Toronto also publishes student evaluations of professors, with a summary of the student comments.
posted by gleuschk at 7:55 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by gleuschk at 7:55 AM on November 22, 2004
I once spent a very boring month helping one of my roommates type student evaluations for the math department at my university. Every evaluation comment was retyped and provided to the professors as written. Let me tell you, that after the 900th time you type it in a day, 'Professor X should fuck off and die' just starts to lose all meaning. Written student evaluations are, for the most part, completely meaningless. The ones who take the time to comment generally only do it because they have an axe to grind, and rarely have anything to say that's worth saying.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:59 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by jacquilynne at 7:59 AM on November 22, 2004
Thanks for posting this. I had an opportunity to give kudos to my former Research Methods professor, who taught me the very useful skill of how to conduct social science experiments on the unsuspecting populace.
posted by By The Grace of God at 8:05 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by By The Grace of God at 8:05 AM on November 22, 2004
Banjo: what surprises me is that, for the most part, most of the Bates ratings seem generally accurate, absent the odd "hot" rating (some of which seem very very strange).
Like wolfdog said, the weird thing about sites like this though is that they tend to attract the noise -- only those who were particularly inspired or particularly pissed off about an instructor -- the malcontents and the sycophants -- seem motivated to vote. It's how the trimmed mean react to the prof. that's most useful to know, both for the prof. and the student, and that's missing here entirely.
posted by .kobayashi. at 8:12 AM on November 22, 2004
Like wolfdog said, the weird thing about sites like this though is that they tend to attract the noise -- only those who were particularly inspired or particularly pissed off about an instructor -- the malcontents and the sycophants -- seem motivated to vote. It's how the trimmed mean react to the prof. that's most useful to know, both for the prof. and the student, and that's missing here entirely.
posted by .kobayashi. at 8:12 AM on November 22, 2004
Having been a UofC student in the 80s as well, I am of a similar mind as LarryC. The student eval book was an indispensible tool with regard to selecting classes for the next year. I was always more partial to the tougher profs, which probably hurt my GPA overall, but I felt I got more out of the experience as a result.
This site doesn't offer the intimate commentary that the SenateBook provided, but tt was a nice trip down memory lane. This guy was my thesis advisor. Glad to see that that he's still assigning way to much reading. Keep the faith, Professor Moz!
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 8:16 AM on November 22, 2004
This site doesn't offer the intimate commentary that the SenateBook provided, but tt was a nice trip down memory lane. This guy was my thesis advisor. Glad to see that that he's still assigning way to much reading. Keep the faith, Professor Moz!
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 8:16 AM on November 22, 2004
People change. For good and bad. You should not retroactively rate a teacher, it is a disservice to the students who may take the course next semester.
posted by stbalbach at 8:24 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by stbalbach at 8:24 AM on November 22, 2004
Don't forget to rate your high school teacher too!
I actually used Rate My Prof last year when I was picking courses, not so much to determine the hotness of my prof, but just to get a gist of what happens in the class. It didn't end up changing my choices, really, but it made me feel better about some of them.
posted by stray at 8:33 AM on November 22, 2004
I actually used Rate My Prof last year when I was picking courses, not so much to determine the hotness of my prof, but just to get a gist of what happens in the class. It didn't end up changing my choices, really, but it made me feel better about some of them.
posted by stray at 8:33 AM on November 22, 2004
let that jerk who almost flunked you in freshman comp feel your wrath!
Interesting thought. I assumed that the j.w.a.f. me in f.c. was dead by now . . . and in fact (thank you, Google) it turns out she died in March 2001. At age 94.
She was indeed distinguished, but someone who should never have been allowed near freshmen, believing as she did that all literature had stopped with Chaucer. I remember once when we were trying to convince her that Dylan was worthwhile, and she wouldn't hear of it. Rubbish, she said, or words to that effect, and then it came out that she thought we were talking about Dylan Thomas. The other Dylan she'd never even heard of.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:33 AM on November 22, 2004
Interesting thought. I assumed that the j.w.a.f. me in f.c. was dead by now . . . and in fact (thank you, Google) it turns out she died in March 2001. At age 94.
She was indeed distinguished, but someone who should never have been allowed near freshmen, believing as she did that all literature had stopped with Chaucer. I remember once when we were trying to convince her that Dylan was worthwhile, and she wouldn't hear of it. Rubbish, she said, or words to that effect, and then it came out that she thought we were talking about Dylan Thomas. The other Dylan she'd never even heard of.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:33 AM on November 22, 2004
I knew about the rate my teacher in highschool, no idea this existed for college professors. Surprise surprise, all my professors in the school of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University have terrible ratings. One of them, Professor Haas, a professor of Organizational Behavior, has a higher rating just because she has this blonde british thing going on...I can't wait to transfer to arts and sci where i can actually start learning something...
(1st post btw)
posted by Kifer85 at 8:42 AM on November 22, 2004
(1st post btw)
posted by Kifer85 at 8:42 AM on November 22, 2004
It fills me with evil glee every time I look at my ex-wife's page. I guess that says bad things about me.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:52 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:52 AM on November 22, 2004
I remember once when we were trying to convince her that Dylan was worthwhile, and she wouldn't hear of it. Rubbish, she said, or words to that effect, and then it came out that she thought we were talking about Dylan Thomas. The other Dylan she'd never even heard of.
Wow. Life imitates Simon and Garfunkel.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:14 AM on November 22, 2004
Wow. Life imitates Simon and Garfunkel.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:14 AM on November 22, 2004
if only they would have had this when I was in college, I would have ripped many a teachers a new one (instead of those evualtion sheets that you know the teachers read...so if they could identify your handwriting you were ska-rood)
posted by Hands of Manos at 9:20 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by Hands of Manos at 9:20 AM on November 22, 2004
.kobayashi.: They are pretty accurate, though I found some to be a bit harsh. It made me giggle to see a post about Sanford Freedman's King Lear obsession.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 9:26 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 9:26 AM on November 22, 2004
You guys are missing the best part of this site, the ability to create fake professors
posted by philcliff at 9:27 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by philcliff at 9:27 AM on November 22, 2004
I'm at an institution (USNA) where the primary job of each faculty member is to teach, though I think few actually use this site. The students however. . . let's just say that it can be an incredibly useful tool when selecting which section to sign up for. Case in point, a chem professor I have this semester who thick accent and mumbling make it impossible to understand him, compounded by his authoritarian grading policies make me what to post my thoughts about him. Not that I don't think he is a bad guy or anything, just that most of the class was hopelessly ill prepared for the next installment of chem.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 9:47 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by Lord Chancellor at 9:47 AM on November 22, 2004
My university had elaborate faculty ratings/feedback, but never anything they'd let students see the results of. I talked to a few people about trying to start something, using ftp/gopher for distribution, and was pretty much given the answer that the place was probably a bit too authoritarian to handle it.... and also that students probably wouldn't write articulate reviews. I didn't understand this because I had very specific criticisms (and praises) for several of my professors, and also, if student feedback was so useless, why was the university soliciting it? So I'm glad to see something like this. Hopefully there is a way to sort axe-grinders from genuine, thoughtful critics.
posted by weston at 10:16 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by weston at 10:16 AM on November 22, 2004
Crazy. I'm currently attending a fairly small (3,000 student) liberal-arts university and clicked on the site, thinking "well, there probably won't be many of my profs in here."
I was wrong.
Though maybe I should start taking more classes with hot professors.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2004
I was wrong.
Though maybe I should start taking more classes with hot professors.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2004
I'm glad this site didn't exist when I went to school. I just took a look at some of my favorite professors and found that some of them were unreviewed, and one of my favorite profs got absolutely panned.
posted by mosch at 10:47 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by mosch at 10:47 AM on November 22, 2004
Dr. Clive Worth was a real dork of a geology prof. at Llanelli U.
I think he bought his PhD.
Flunked all the guys, but the girls seemed to like him—he had lower standards for them.
Same Clive Worth who was the retired Llanelli-based miner and serial shagger in the post from yesterday? Someone involved in mines could teach geology, couldn't he?
posted by TimTypeZed at 10:55 AM on November 22, 2004
I think he bought his PhD.
Flunked all the guys, but the girls seemed to like him—he had lower standards for them.
Same Clive Worth who was the retired Llanelli-based miner and serial shagger in the post from yesterday? Someone involved in mines could teach geology, couldn't he?
posted by TimTypeZed at 10:55 AM on November 22, 2004
Re: weston's comment about the university-sponsored faculty/course feeback. My alma mater puts the results of last years university-solicited course evaluations online. It's only the "on a scale of 1 to 5" questions. The free response ones ("The text, when dropped from a height, makes a satisfying thud") are not included, probably to everyone's benefit.
posted by milkrate at 10:57 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by milkrate at 10:57 AM on November 22, 2004
(Sorry - the HTTPS link requires a campus logon but this basically the content of each course's report)
posted by milkrate at 11:00 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by milkrate at 11:00 AM on November 22, 2004
I used this all throughout college. It's very useful! Some of the teachers I would get would be absolutely horrible, and some would be really, really amazing, and it always seemed so random which end of the spectrum I would get. Yes, some students have a lack of objectivity, but it's better to have some advice when choosing classes than none.
posted by juju at 11:07 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by juju at 11:07 AM on November 22, 2004
I looked through my former college's list and the ones I knew seemed pretty accurate. Unfortunately, there was a tenure Prof. who would collect student Evals. and remove the ones she didn't like, and she doesn't have a review on the site.
posted by drezdn at 11:22 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by drezdn at 11:22 AM on November 22, 2004
I caught a number of names from my alma mater that I remember. I just wish I could remember those two awful calculus teachers I had. Taking CompSci at night meant many of my profs were industry people who moonlighted for extra cash. They actually knew what it was like to have a real job. The calculus profs, on the other hand, were all tenured and just didn't seem to care.
posted by tommasz at 11:42 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by tommasz at 11:42 AM on November 22, 2004
Never underestimate the cathartic power of posting your critique of the slimy cool guy philosophy professor almost ten years after the fact. Great link. Great site.
posted by thivaia at 11:49 AM on November 22, 2004
posted by thivaia at 11:49 AM on November 22, 2004
my U collects student evals at the end of the term. all are kept on record, even the comments like "i'm glad this class is not all about microscopes; i am unable to use a microscope because i am a retard" (yes, one of my students put that in as a comment.)
i always tell my students to fill them out, because they do have an impact on who teaches what. i still have all of mine in a briefcase.
i think the most inexplicable one i got so far simply said "thug nigga to tha bone, tell a friend bitch." i'm still puzzled by that one. (my wife wondered if said student hadn't attended class enough times to ascertain that i am a midwestern white boy.) but i do find it amusing that somewhere in my permanent teaching record is a notation, probably neatly typed, informing all who care to look into such things that a student in my class left this specific comment regarding my teaching style.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:50 AM on November 22, 2004
i always tell my students to fill them out, because they do have an impact on who teaches what. i still have all of mine in a briefcase.
i think the most inexplicable one i got so far simply said "thug nigga to tha bone, tell a friend bitch." i'm still puzzled by that one. (my wife wondered if said student hadn't attended class enough times to ascertain that i am a midwestern white boy.) but i do find it amusing that somewhere in my permanent teaching record is a notation, probably neatly typed, informing all who care to look into such things that a student in my class left this specific comment regarding my teaching style.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:50 AM on November 22, 2004
This is awesome. One thing I don't mind, if the teacher is hard and isn't a dick I do not care about getting the lower grade. I know this is bad, but if I don't like going to class I don't believe the teacher is doing his or her job. I'm not in high school, I am now choosing to go to school, paying a large amount of money, and choosing which classes I take. I realize there are dry subjects, and I realize some teachers might not have that "everybody's friend" personality, but it's very obvious which teachers try or not.
I for one, would not expect my doctor to get up and walk away during class. I don't expect my doctor to always be on the defensive with me. I don't expect my doctor to treat me as the "enemy". I think the same should be applied to teachers. Too often I see teachers treat teaching like working at an automobile plant.
Sorry for this rant, I know teachers have accountability with evaluations and such, and I know teachers might get a lot of flack sometimes. I don't have the advantage of being in a frat and knowing who to pick or even livingon campus. I'm adding my own evals (hopefully more in-depth than the "He was so funnnnnn!!!" comments I see) so I hope at least serious students can take an objective look and not just shoot blind like I always seem to do.
End of teacher rant.
posted by geoff. at 11:59 AM on November 22, 2004
I for one, would not expect my doctor to get up and walk away during class. I don't expect my doctor to always be on the defensive with me. I don't expect my doctor to treat me as the "enemy". I think the same should be applied to teachers. Too often I see teachers treat teaching like working at an automobile plant.
Sorry for this rant, I know teachers have accountability with evaluations and such, and I know teachers might get a lot of flack sometimes. I don't have the advantage of being in a frat and knowing who to pick or even livingon campus. I'm adding my own evals (hopefully more in-depth than the "He was so funnnnnn!!!" comments I see) so I hope at least serious students can take an objective look and not just shoot blind like I always seem to do.
End of teacher rant.
posted by geoff. at 11:59 AM on November 22, 2004
I'm listed there and it corresponds fairly well with my "official" student evaluations, and also with the sense I get of how I do. Also, I would say it corresponds well with how I perceive my colleagues do as well. So terrible methodology but somewhat accurate results in my opinion.
A few cautionary points though:
-- Yes profs do fuck around with each other's ratings on that site
-- Student evaluations are often lower for courses which are intrinsically hard to teach or difficult subject matter. Evaluations always reflect grades somewhat - in fact, our official evaluations include "what grade do you expect to get" as a sort of counterweight to the rest of it.
-- ratings can differ form course to course so your sucking prof in 200 becomes your mentor in 400.
-- I am all for publishing the official evaluations
posted by Rumple at 12:12 PM on November 22, 2004
A few cautionary points though:
-- Yes profs do fuck around with each other's ratings on that site
-- Student evaluations are often lower for courses which are intrinsically hard to teach or difficult subject matter. Evaluations always reflect grades somewhat - in fact, our official evaluations include "what grade do you expect to get" as a sort of counterweight to the rest of it.
-- ratings can differ form course to course so your sucking prof in 200 becomes your mentor in 400.
-- I am all for publishing the official evaluations
posted by Rumple at 12:12 PM on November 22, 2004
Interesting. When I applied to college as a music major, my school selection was based almost entirely on the merits of who was teaching my instrument. Of course, when you're with the same professor for your entire college career, it's important to find someone who is good.
Many of the music prof reviews here seem to be from students who took lower level classes, like appreciation and whatnot. So it's definitely a mixed bag. But, most prospective performance majors have probably already known for years who they want to study with. I'm sure the same goes for similar programs that hinge on key professors.
What's amusing is I've just looked up several of my gigging colleagues who are also music professors and many of them seem to have teaching personas completely opposite than what they project in the pit/stage. I even had to double check a few of the names to make sure I didn't click on the wrong record. And I'm talking about shifts in both directions of the talent and personality spectrums.
Don't know how much of that is student bias and how much is really that person. (I, for one, am a far more patient person when I'm teaching but can be a bit of a crank in the pit.) Or how much *my* perspective has changed since I graduated and now work with teachers a good deal of the time.
posted by Sangre Azul at 12:13 PM on November 22, 2004
Many of the music prof reviews here seem to be from students who took lower level classes, like appreciation and whatnot. So it's definitely a mixed bag. But, most prospective performance majors have probably already known for years who they want to study with. I'm sure the same goes for similar programs that hinge on key professors.
What's amusing is I've just looked up several of my gigging colleagues who are also music professors and many of them seem to have teaching personas completely opposite than what they project in the pit/stage. I even had to double check a few of the names to make sure I didn't click on the wrong record. And I'm talking about shifts in both directions of the talent and personality spectrums.
Don't know how much of that is student bias and how much is really that person. (I, for one, am a far more patient person when I'm teaching but can be a bit of a crank in the pit.) Or how much *my* perspective has changed since I graduated and now work with teachers a good deal of the time.
posted by Sangre Azul at 12:13 PM on November 22, 2004
This guy, when handing out course evaluation forms, would both stay in the room (which is generally not allowed) and tell us to put whatever the hell we wanted on them, saying "what do I care? I've got tenure."
He was really good, though.
posted by kenko at 12:18 PM on November 22, 2004
He was really good, though.
posted by kenko at 12:18 PM on November 22, 2004
I just go in and give high ratings and chilli peppers to all the profs I like, whether I've taken a class with them or not. I should add myself as a TA and give myself chilli peppers.
posted by jb at 12:22 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by jb at 12:22 PM on November 22, 2004
Oh - and picking courses based on what the lowest common denominator isn't a good thing. The best profs I've had were sometimes disliked by the lazy/stupid - they were good because they were challenging. It's all about what you want out of your education, but I got the best education possible at my uni by going for what I wanted to study, and being willing to meet a challenging prof.
posted by jb at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by jb at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2004
We had a professor so bad that when he left the room for course evals, we passed our forms around and added one word to each form, constructing a madlibs mash of childish insults.
In retrospect, not the best way to inspire change.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2004
In retrospect, not the best way to inspire change.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2004
At Big Eastern State U, my first-year-comp-teaching colleagues and I have known about this site for a while, and I always get a kick out of checking the ratings. And, yeah, most of us actually do care about our ratings, because most of us actually do like to teach, and try to do it well. I'm thinking I might make this thread assigned reading for my students, along with Mark Edmundson's essay "On the Uses of a Liberal Education", which has an entertainingly snarky/obnoxious take on the whole evaluations thing. (Usually half the class hates him and the other half says, "Well, y'know, he's kinda right. . .")
posted by vitia at 12:29 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by vitia at 12:29 PM on November 22, 2004
My university has its own system like this. Indispensable when selecting classes.
posted by rooftop secrets at 12:53 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by rooftop secrets at 12:53 PM on November 22, 2004
We had a professor so bad that when he left the room for course evals, we passed our forms around and added one word to each form, constructing a madlibs mash of childish insults.
In retrospect, not the best way to inspire change.
That made me laugh out loud. I know I had a few professors who deserved that sort of treatment. I remember one time when the evaluation sheets were passed out and the professor left the room, and I announced to the other students, "Now, if you put down '1' for everything, nobody will believe you. You need to put a couple of 2s and 3s in there."
I think that was actually the same "professor" (the scare quotes are because he was just a grad student, not even a PhD) for whom I wrote, "This man is not qualified to teach at this school." He wasn't back the following year. I wonder if he ever got his doctorate after all.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2004
In retrospect, not the best way to inspire change.
That made me laugh out loud. I know I had a few professors who deserved that sort of treatment. I remember one time when the evaluation sheets were passed out and the professor left the room, and I announced to the other students, "Now, if you put down '1' for everything, nobody will believe you. You need to put a couple of 2s and 3s in there."
I think that was actually the same "professor" (the scare quotes are because he was just a grad student, not even a PhD) for whom I wrote, "This man is not qualified to teach at this school." He wasn't back the following year. I wonder if he ever got his doctorate after all.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2004
In the fun that is academia I find that some the highest rated professors get screwed by their universities. The professors that focus on their students instead of research don't get tenure. There are some exceptional professors who can pull off both research and teaching but there are a lot of good teachers that don't bring in big research grants and get left out in the cold when tenure time comes.
posted by dirvish at 1:17 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by dirvish at 1:17 PM on November 22, 2004
TimTypeZed:
You caught my reference.
Dr. Worth is fictitious, but I do believe it is easy for teachers to gain popularity by lowering their standards. In Clive's case, I thought he'd do that for the girls. The rating system is not necessary, and probably counter-productive. Better to use the informal one: ask around.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:31 PM on November 22, 2004
You caught my reference.
Dr. Worth is fictitious, but I do believe it is easy for teachers to gain popularity by lowering their standards. In Clive's case, I thought he'd do that for the girls. The rating system is not necessary, and probably counter-productive. Better to use the informal one: ask around.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:31 PM on November 22, 2004
My ethnic studies teacher from UC Berkeley:
class is overall easy. but its EXTREMELY difficult to listen to her lectures. she gets to into it and goes to fast. BUT, one plus is that she is smoking hot. when she wears a skirt...MMM MMMM...GOD DAMN. shes HOT. i want that accent.posted by quasistoic at 1:46 PM on November 22, 2004
I picked this up via Blog Explosion...but I see that it's made it's way on to MonkeyFilter. He's someone whom, from what he says, has reason to rate his professor's from a small Christian school poorly -- and does so, quite boldly. Has your school taken your blood yet?
posted by nospecialfx at 2:21 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by nospecialfx at 2:21 PM on November 22, 2004
I'm a prof, and I've got postings on the service from two schools -- a big research institution where I did my doctoral work and taught for a number of years, and the place where I am now. I'm teaching the same course in both places, am using the same materials, am teaching to the same year level and have roughly the same grade distribution. I also have the same personality. The approach that produced uniform raves from students at my old school (average rating 4.8 out of 5) has produced horrified cries of 'really awful' at this one (average rating 1.8 out of 5).
Yes, sure, maybe I'm a lousy teacher: certainly the students at this school seem to hate me. But if that was the case, why did the students at Mammoth Hard To Get Into University think that I was really good? And why was this opinion held for 4 years?
What's really odd is that roughly the same number of students got C's and D's in both places.
posted by jrochest at 2:57 PM on November 22, 2004
Yes, sure, maybe I'm a lousy teacher: certainly the students at this school seem to hate me. But if that was the case, why did the students at Mammoth Hard To Get Into University think that I was really good? And why was this opinion held for 4 years?
What's really odd is that roughly the same number of students got C's and D's in both places.
posted by jrochest at 2:57 PM on November 22, 2004
I suppose I should have also noted that I was always humming Simon and Garfunkel tunes during that class.
posted by quasistoic at 3:20 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by quasistoic at 3:20 PM on November 22, 2004
Student ratings are basically a survey of attitudes (i.e., how much you liked the class, instructor, etc.).
There is convincing evidence in the training literature (concerning training programs in organizations) that how much someone liked a particular training program (i.e., a class) has little relation to how much they learn, whether they will use what is learned, and whether this will have any bottom line impact on the organization. So these ratings should be taken with a grain of salt if we think they say something about student learning.
I have taught very large (600+) and small (less than 10) classes at big state research schools (in the U.S.) and have found that class size plays a big role in ratings (they tend to be worse in bigger classes...no surprise). I also taught the same class in the exact same way, back to back. One started at 8:00 am and other started at 9:40 am. I consistently received higher ratings in the later class (about .25 points higher), so time of day seemed to matter as well.
Most of my colleagues care about their ratings, but they are really limited. I can tell you that where I'm at and have been, ratings simply do not matter (in terms of tangible employment outcomes) unless they are extremely bad.
posted by Dr_Perhaps at 3:23 PM on November 22, 2004
There is convincing evidence in the training literature (concerning training programs in organizations) that how much someone liked a particular training program (i.e., a class) has little relation to how much they learn, whether they will use what is learned, and whether this will have any bottom line impact on the organization. So these ratings should be taken with a grain of salt if we think they say something about student learning.
I have taught very large (600+) and small (less than 10) classes at big state research schools (in the U.S.) and have found that class size plays a big role in ratings (they tend to be worse in bigger classes...no surprise). I also taught the same class in the exact same way, back to back. One started at 8:00 am and other started at 9:40 am. I consistently received higher ratings in the later class (about .25 points higher), so time of day seemed to matter as well.
Most of my colleagues care about their ratings, but they are really limited. I can tell you that where I'm at and have been, ratings simply do not matter (in terms of tangible employment outcomes) unless they are extremely bad.
posted by Dr_Perhaps at 3:23 PM on November 22, 2004
Oh, and I am on the rate my professor site and they misspelled my name. I suppose that says something about the people commenting...
posted by Dr_Perhaps at 3:25 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by Dr_Perhaps at 3:25 PM on November 22, 2004
I find that the ratings on the site are, as stated above, generally on either side of the continuum; you have "teacher's pets" which rate on one side, and the less motivated that hold a grudge and vote the other way. I happen to fall in the "teacher's pet" side, inasmuch as I am motivated, and get off on learning. I'm sure other students get irritated with me. But- this can be a useful tool IMO to winnow the wheat from the chaff if one must take a particular class only taught by a few instructors, and one has little input from other sources. I tend to investigate faculty as much as possible before picking classes. I'd rather see a Profs C.V. before I commit. Oh, and the "prof xyz is so hawt!!!111" is always funny, too.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:26 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by exlotuseater at 3:26 PM on November 22, 2004
I apologize if anyone has already mentioned it, but I tend to prefer College Sucks over RMP. Although it is not as well organized, I have found more teachers from my school on College Sucks, and the coments are more informative. Sorry, no hotness rating.
posted by Who_Am_I at 4:00 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by Who_Am_I at 4:00 PM on November 22, 2004
People change. For good and bad. You should not retroactively rate a teacher, it is a disservice to the students who may take the course next semester.
posted by stbalbach at 11:24 AM EST on November 22
I heartily agree. Most teachers I know read this site; allow them to learn from it, too.
This site (and Teacher Reviews, which is currently being remodeled) always make me kind of grumpy. I'm also listed there, and like Rumple says, my reviews are pretty consistent with my end-of-semester evaluations. None are particularly informative -- "easy" and "hard" say almost nothing about a teacher. I'm easy and nice. And fair. (And hot, though having seen some of the other teachers I know who are rated as hot, I'm not putting any stock in that one.) But what can I teach you about writing and argument? Who knows?
Most of my favorite teachers from grad school get bad reviews.
What makes me most upset is reading the reviews of my colleagues who speak English as a second language. I have yet to read a single review, ever, even of the Indian woman I know who speaks like a BBC broadcaster recording a language instruction tape, that does not claim the student could not understand a word the professor said. "He/she's really doesn't know enough English to be teaching it," they say. I have had many, many nonnative speakers as teachers, and I only had a hard time understanding one, and then only for the first few classes. I just get sad -- are these students not listening?
posted by climalene at 4:09 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by stbalbach at 11:24 AM EST on November 22
I heartily agree. Most teachers I know read this site; allow them to learn from it, too.
This site (and Teacher Reviews, which is currently being remodeled) always make me kind of grumpy. I'm also listed there, and like Rumple says, my reviews are pretty consistent with my end-of-semester evaluations. None are particularly informative -- "easy" and "hard" say almost nothing about a teacher. I'm easy and nice. And fair. (And hot, though having seen some of the other teachers I know who are rated as hot, I'm not putting any stock in that one.) But what can I teach you about writing and argument? Who knows?
Most of my favorite teachers from grad school get bad reviews.
What makes me most upset is reading the reviews of my colleagues who speak English as a second language. I have yet to read a single review, ever, even of the Indian woman I know who speaks like a BBC broadcaster recording a language instruction tape, that does not claim the student could not understand a word the professor said. "He/she's really doesn't know enough English to be teaching it," they say. I have had many, many nonnative speakers as teachers, and I only had a hard time understanding one, and then only for the first few classes. I just get sad -- are these students not listening?
posted by climalene at 4:09 PM on November 22, 2004
I think the site's purpose is more cathartic than anything else. The ratings are unhelpful because they're so vague, and the comments are not very informative, for the most part.
posted by eustacescrubb at 4:46 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by eustacescrubb at 4:46 PM on November 22, 2004
I'm in there, but at only one of the three places I've taught. And hey, where's my chili pepper?
posted by gleuschk at 7:46 AM PST on November 22
Dang, somebody beat me to it. I think you'll now find your entry updated and nicely spiced.
posted by jokeefe at 4:57 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by gleuschk at 7:46 AM PST on November 22
Dang, somebody beat me to it. I think you'll now find your entry updated and nicely spiced.
posted by jokeefe at 4:57 PM on November 22, 2004
I'm rated in there, all my ratings from the same large class, and almost uniformly bad. Which doesn't match the ratings I got on the forms I handed out. This strongly brought home to me the self-selection bias that others were theorizing about upthread.
For those not (and hopefully never) in the know: one of the many reasons that teaching a 400+ person class sucks is that you must put up huuge barriers to contact with the students (e.g. "you must must must see your TA first") or else you'll see each of them 6 min/week and that's your entire workweek. So the only ones you end up seeing are the most serious problem cases. From this, you can develop a completely unrepresentative and depressing view of the class. May it never come again.
posted by Aknaton at 5:10 PM on November 22, 2004
For those not (and hopefully never) in the know: one of the many reasons that teaching a 400+ person class sucks is that you must put up huuge barriers to contact with the students (e.g. "you must must must see your TA first") or else you'll see each of them 6 min/week and that's your entire workweek. So the only ones you end up seeing are the most serious problem cases. From this, you can develop a completely unrepresentative and depressing view of the class. May it never come again.
posted by Aknaton at 5:10 PM on November 22, 2004
class is overall easy. but its EXTREMELY difficult to listen to her lectures. she gets to into it and goes to fast. BUT, one plus is that she is smoking hot. when she wears a skirt...MMM MMMM...GOD DAMN. shes HOT. i want that accent.
Koo Koo Kachoo Professor Robinson. Sadly, it's in Real Player.
Her accent DOES makes me want to be a naughty english schoolboy.
posted by m@ at 5:58 PM on November 22, 2004
Koo Koo Kachoo Professor Robinson. Sadly, it's in Real Player.
Her accent DOES makes me want to be a naughty english schoolboy.
posted by m@ at 5:58 PM on November 22, 2004
Dang, somebody beat me to it. I think you'll now find your entry updated and nicely spiced.
Yep, and thanks! But now I'm a little freaked out that whoever updated it knew the number of the course I taught last spring. Having a bit of a George Costanza moment over here.
posted by gleuschk at 7:20 PM on November 22, 2004
Yep, and thanks! But now I'm a little freaked out that whoever updated it knew the number of the course I taught last spring. Having a bit of a George Costanza moment over here.
posted by gleuschk at 7:20 PM on November 22, 2004
How hard it must be to live in the shadow of a more accomplished family member.
posted by deafmute at 8:32 PM on November 22, 2004
posted by deafmute at 8:32 PM on November 22, 2004
I've only given out one insanely negative evaluation and the professor getting it was someone without any standing whatever at the school (she had like a Masters in Communication or some such, I think her father was a respected prof). But she reeeeally deserved it, everyone knew it, but I bet most of the class was easy on her because she was easy on them, grades-wise.
Two of my favorite profs have people going "ewww he's hard" and other people going "no he's not he's awesome" Of course, I tended to get consistent As from "hard" profs like those two and worse grades (B or B-) from all the "easy" profs.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:36 AM on November 23, 2004
Two of my favorite profs have people going "ewww he's hard" and other people going "no he's not he's awesome" Of course, I tended to get consistent As from "hard" profs like those two and worse grades (B or B-) from all the "easy" profs.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:36 AM on November 23, 2004
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I've spent a half hour at work so far passing judgment upon my old school, Boston University, and the various calibers of educators found within.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:49 AM on November 22, 2004