Cardinal Points

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Ryan Hayner

"Too much homework."

"We hardly did any work."

"I loved this course so much, I switched majors!"

"I changed my major because I hated the class."

These are typical comments found on the online teacher evaluations Plattsburgh State students fill out at the close of each semester to offer feedback, both positive and negative, to his or her instructor.

Cardinal Points obtained the fall 2006 semester course-evaluation surveys done through Banner Web.

There are several different methods teachers can use for course evaluations

Students score their professors on a scale of one to five in several areas, including responsiveness, respectfulness and enthusiasm.

An analysis of last semester's online surveys, which 17 to 20 percent of faculty have used in place of paper evaluations since 2004, found that most professors scored about average - between 3.0 and 4.0

There were several recurring themes in the higher-rated evaluations.

Students generally liked professors who were well-organized, professional, enthusiastic about the course, treated students with respect and fairness, effectively communicated material, sparked interest in the subject matter and were open to assist students and answer questions.

Poorly-rated professors were said to be disorganized, unprofessional, not passionate about the course, disrespectful, unfair and unequal in grading, ineffective in conveying ideas and were unapproachable.

One student remarked about a professor, "Some of the other instructors in the university could use advice from him about the organization and presentation of material, and using class time effectively."

On another, more negative evaluation, a student commented, "The teacher berated students toward the end of the semester and made students feel as though they did not meet her expectations, even though every student in the class gave it 100 percent."

Assistant Professor of English Lauren Kiefer, who has been teaching at PSUC since 1994, was one of the higher-rated instructors.

"I wouldn't think of myself as well-organized but I compensate for that by being flexible," she said. "I've always thought I scored well on the being nice on being interesting - maybe being nice counts for more than I thought."

Continued...

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