www.theotherpress.ca

Feature.

 

class student evaluations of
teaching” noticed a pattern that
professors with high ratings
also scored very well in formal
evaluations, stating that “when
an instructor’s [RateMyProf]
overall quality is particularly
high, one can infer that the
instructor ‘truly’ is regarded

as a laudatory teacher.” But
this connection between the
two is almost exclusive to
those with high ratings; there
was a lack of any correlation
between how professors with
low RateMyProf ratings did on
formal evaluations.

A paper released in 2011 by
the University of Wisconsin-
Eau Claire also concluded that
“Trends in student ratings on
RateMyProfessors mirror those
found in traditional student
evaluations of teaching”
and suggested that instead
of dismissing the website
entirely, institutions should
“work with RateMyProfessors
administrators to include more
questions that are obviously
linked to instructor pedagogy.”
Basically, instead of writing the
website off as a place where
students go to bitch and moan,
schools should be working
towards giving the system
more credibility.

The professor point of view on
RateMyProf
I decided to reach out to several
former professors for their
perspective on the matter.

Unsurprisingly, I
encountered a wall of resistance
against even discussing the
website in the first place. I
had a few professors tell me
that they didn’t believe that
RateMyProf even deserved
the merit of discussion, while
others felt that they just didn’t
have enough of an opinion on
it. But there were a few who
were willing to share their
thoughts on the site.

“The ratings are vague
and subjective,” one professor
explained when I asked about
how fair the rating categories
were. “The motivation to write
also comes from when they
have extreme feelings. It’s
going to be either really good
or really bad.” Surprisingly, this
was coming from the professor
who, out of those I spoke to,
was the most supportive of the
website.

The idea of the
RateMyProf being a dichotomy
environment, with students
either choosing to rant or
rave about a professor, was a
popular perspective as well.

“It’s where students go to
rant, so I wouldn’t endorse it,”
another professor said.

But the awareness that
there is opportunity to learn
from the website was also
evident. If a professor is able
to filter out the extremist
comments and avoid taking
things personally, they can use
the feedback in the comments
constructively. “We're all
sensitive to criticism,” one
professor admitted. “But we
need it too.”

Without contest, the most
negatively received aspect of
the website was the idea of
being able to rate a professor’s
attractiveness. If a professor
receives enough “hot” ratings,
a chili pepper appears next to
their name on their page.

“The chili pepper signals
to people that personal attacks
are okay,” the professor
most vocally against the
feature explained why she
didn’t approve of it, with
another adding that it “can be
incredibly demeaning to the
instructor and can also be very
personal.”

My first semester of post-
secondary, I didn’t even know
about RateMyProf. I simply
chose my courses around
what allotted for maximum
sleeping in time. As a result, I
got a handful of really awful
professors and a handful of
really amazing ones. Since that
hodgepodge of a semester,
I’ve turned to RateMyProf to
help, but also not define, what
courses | take—and I believe
it’s paid off magnificently.
Research supports the website’s
validity, and until institutions
like Douglas College decide
to implement a more official
system for evaluating
professors, it’s the only tool
we've got. As long as you’re
able to detect the ratings
coming from resentment
and the ones with reason,
RateMyProf is a great tool to
help you navigate the post-
secondary world.

The reviews are In:

*A\| ratings and reviews taken from www.ratemyprofessors.com

 

 

 

 

1/10/12 = engli130 @® Poor Quality Sucked, didn't teach for crap, useless discussions,
Easiness i had a debate that was also useless, felt like | was
in a bad high school class. Marked every single in
Helpfulness [fj class write as a god damn final draft, for people
Clarity Hi that do not know, that is a BAD THING since it is a
first draft.
Rater Interest
™ Report this rating
9/4/12 ENG1106 @ Poor Quality | do not recommend this prof to anyone. In class
Easiness i discussions were pointless, and her own agenda
seemed to detract from the learning aspect of the
Helpfulness [fj course. The course material was horrendously
Clarity i boring, and completely irrelevant! | learned

Rater Interest

absolutely nothing, except that she's a man hater
and there is no point in taking this class.

™ Report this rating

 

 

“Absoulutely AMAZING TEACHER!! No complaints. His
quizzes may be more in depth than other profs but it pays
off in the end. He is very approachable if you ever need

help, | highly reccomend him!!”

 

 

Douglas by the numbers:

3.0

oi .7 Ee 288

Campus Location

Clubs and Events

eM Le)

Slats nid
Happiness 4.0

 

SORT BY MAME

= Bo Rea, Con

- 5 Clark, Roger

il & Donaldson, Laurel
om

il a Marshall, Wilma
oan

H , Jon-Paul
4 4 enry, Jon-Pau
# 8 Nicholls, Robert
om

= a Alex, Randy

~~ § Wasserman, Susan
oan

Wilson, Scott

i & son, Sco

ha Yu, Raymond

Condition of Library

3.2
3.2
Z.7

DEPARTMENT

Psychology

English

Business

Psychology

English

Philosophy

Chemistry

English

Psychology

Computer Science

School Reputation
Quality of Food

Campus Grounds

TOTAL

RATINGS =

134

Viz

420

113

112

WW

110

109

104

107

2.8
3.0
3.0

OVERALL

QUALITY

4.8

3.4

2.5

a2

1.7

3.0

3.3

a?

28

2.4

Internet Speed
Career Opportunites

Social Activities

2.7
2.8
2.8

Number of ratings 25

EASINESS

4.0

24

2.6

2.8

17

2.0

2.0

“3

2.5

1.7

HOT?

—

SHARE

le
Rie
fl
Ril-e
Hoe
fil
Hise
Hoe
Fil-&
Al-&

13