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One of the problems here (which I've heard is common to most universities) is the use of student evaluations to evaluate professors. That creates a very unfortu
by pge 15y ago
One of the problems here (which I've heard is common to most universities) is the use of student evaluations to evaluate professors. That creates a very unfortunate incentive for profs to try to please their students. Not all students value the best education; some just want a high grade for as little work as possible. Their evaluations are not going to be in line with the goals of the university. By using them as part of the prof evaluation, the school is encouraging behavior it almost certainly doesn't mean to.
- josephcooney 15y agoThis +100. Surely the student's review of the teacher should only be one factor used when evaluating the students. A band-aid fix would be to preclude students found cheating of reviewing their teacher (or their review doesn't count), but all in all this systems seems set up to be abused.
- pavel_lishin 15y agoHow about delaying the release of this information? Students would fill out a review, but it would be locked and unaccessable by the university for a period of 3 years. (The professor ought to have access, if only to gather feedback.)
- nknight 15y agoGiven an overall badly damaged classroom dynamic, excluding those found cheating may not have made much difference.
- rjbond3rd 15y agoAt my previous employer (a private college), we had a consulting group come and and discuss strategic planning. I asked them whether we could justify improving academic programs using ROI. The lead consultant said, "Nowadays, it's all about the amenities," and that we should build a swimming pool. I think higher ed really is about pleasing the students, parents and alumni, and keeping the money flowing, unfortunately. Bureaucracies just perpetuate themselves.
- robryan 15y agoYeah, their really needs to be some independent evaluation outside of the students, I saw many times lecturers have got lots of bad reviews not necessarily because they were bad teachers but because they may have set hard assignments or forced the students to do more work during a lecture.
- smackfu 15y ago"Their evaluations are not going to be in line with the goals of the university." Yes, it seems like the university goals are often to have the most published papers and the most prestigious research department, which is completely at odds with the students who want the best teachers.