By Amber Lee
In the beginning of the school year, a high school junior I “friended” on
Facebook posted that he would be taking AP Language & Composition with Mrs. Smith and asked if she was a good teacher or not. I replied that I also had her my junior year and that though it was not an easy class and a lot of effort was required, I felt it was justified. One of the benefits of having upperclassmen as friends, in high school as well as college, is the advice they can give on teachers and what kind of work you can expect to do in class. With social networking sites it is even easier to acquire this advice from friends and even strangers.
Ratemyprofessors.com (RMP) is one of the most popular sites for student evaluations. It allows you to rate based on easiness, clarity, helpfulness, and rater interest of the professor. You can even say whether you think he/she is hot or not, although the site does not consider that criteria when determining the quality of the professor. The anonymity of the sites gives the raters freedom to evaluate truthfully – and sometimes caustically. Though the site is moderated, some students use it to vent their particularly strong dislike of a professor. But is it because the quality of the professor was poor or that the class just wasn’t what the student wanted? For example, many people commented on my Facebook friend’s post and most agreed with me that Mrs. Smith was a good teacher. However, one or two felt that she was the hardest teacher they ever had and her grading policy made it difficult to receive a good grade. But knowing those students personally, I can say that they were more than likely looking for an easy ‘A’ that she wasn’t willing to give. Of course, they did not include this in there comment just like few of the comments at RPM are likely to fully explain why they gave the professor a particular rating.
Because sites such as RMP have such a strong following, students are given a certain power over their professors. However, it is also up to the students to be objective and in turn be able to discern an objective criticism from a biased one.
In the beginning of the school year, a high school junior I “friended” on
Facebook posted that he would be taking AP Language & Composition with Mrs. Smith and asked if she was a good teacher or not. I replied that I also had her my junior year and that though it was not an easy class and a lot of effort was required, I felt it was justified. One of the benefits of having upperclassmen as friends, in high school as well as college, is the advice they can give on teachers and what kind of work you can expect to do in class. With social networking sites it is even easier to acquire this advice from friends and even strangers. Ratemyprofessors.com (RMP) is one of the most popular sites for student evaluations. It allows you to rate based on easiness, clarity, helpfulness, and rater interest of the professor. You can even say whether you think he/she is hot or not, although the site does not consider that criteria when determining the quality of the professor. The anonymity of the sites gives the raters freedom to evaluate truthfully – and sometimes caustically. Though the site is moderated, some students use it to vent their particularly strong dislike of a professor. But is it because the quality of the professor was poor or that the class just wasn’t what the student wanted? For example, many people commented on my Facebook friend’s post and most agreed with me that Mrs. Smith was a good teacher. However, one or two felt that she was the hardest teacher they ever had and her grading policy made it difficult to receive a good grade. But knowing those students personally, I can say that they were more than likely looking for an easy ‘A’ that she wasn’t willing to give. Of course, they did not include this in there comment just like few of the comments at RPM are likely to fully explain why they gave the professor a particular rating.
Because sites such as RMP have such a strong following, students are given a certain power over their professors. However, it is also up to the students to be objective and in turn be able to discern an objective criticism from a biased one.
No comments:
Post a Comment