For us college students, it is finally the final stretch! It’s finally the end of the semester! Time for school-wide BBQs, to sit and study on the lawns all over campus, get ready for finals, write research papers, and get a taste of summer weather. However, with finals and the end of the year comes teacher evaluations.
The minute I get the email with the link to evaluate my professor, I groan. Some professors even send me their own version of a teacher evaluation to fill out and hand in "anonymously." Each one usually takes about one to three minutes and they are completely anonymous when done online.
In theory, teacher evaluations seem flawless. Each teacher has his/her own strengths and weaknesses, and both deserve recognition without any punishment to the student. This way, the professor can build from there and create a better lesson plan, style of teaching, and more for the following semesters. It seems perfect-- however, in practice, I absolutely hate teacher evaluations.
Not every student learns the same way and most people do not take that into consideration when they are writing evaluations. They do not understand that sometimes, the teacher is trying their hardest to convey information in a way that the majority of the class can understand. I have had teachers admit that they have tried their hardest throughout the class.
Not only is it hard to determine how “well” a teacher has taught the majority of the class, but teacher evaluations tend to have a low completion rate. While some students take the time to fill each survey out, some students only fill them out when they have something to complain about. In some cases, teachers offer extra credit in return for a 100 percent evaluation rate by the class. While this sounds as if it would be a useful strategy, it can lead to a lack of decent evaluations and student’s rushing through them to have them “done.”
Another problem with each student evaluating the professor is there is always going to be people in the class who do not like the professor. There will always be someone who complains, or has a problem with the way the course has been taught. However, just because it is hard for someone to learn a certain way, does that make the professor bad? Is it worth creating a bad review that could ultimately end up costing the professor his or her job?
College is about adjusting to new things and learning, and when it comes to learning styles, students often lose sight of the idea. Just because the professor is trying to teach to the majority, and you need extra help to understand the material, does not make him or her a bad teacher. Remember, professors are trying just as hard as you are to help build your future, and unless they have done something detrimentally wrong, they deserve your respect.
