Who Really Cares?
In today’s class we discussed performance appraisals and more specifically appraisals for professors and instructors at the end of the semester. Some of the problems involved with the manner in which these appraisals are conducted and put together were brought up in class. However, one problem that I see with the appraisals after thinking about it some more is that students do not feel there is any personal value or benefit of doing the performance appraisals. In addition to just completing the appraisal as fast as you can to leave the class early, students do not particularly care about the performance appraisals because there is no direct benefit to the students who fill them out. By critiquing a professor at the END of the semester, the students will add NO value to their personal learning experience because the class is over and done with. Therefore, there is no incentive for the student to take time and fill out the performance appraisal with diligence because they will not benefit from them whatsoever.
Comments
Posted by: Prof. Powley
Posted on: November 16, 2005 02:32 PM
Nice point, but I'm wondering as a professor what you think might be done to make the exercise a more productive experience for students. You give a nice list of cons, what about the pros, or possible recommendations?
Posted by: Joe Tichar
Posted on: November 16, 2005 05:43 PM
One possible recommendation is to give out two sets of surveys. One set at the mid-point of the semester and the other at the end of the semester. This way, students have the first half to get to know the tendencies and teaching styles of their instructor or professor and make recommendations as to how he or she can improve their class. Then for the second half of the semester, if the teacher is open-minded and willing to try some suggestions and not be too ego-centric, the instructor can attempt to improve the quality of their class. Then once again at the end of the semester the instructor will be evaluated on their progress.
Furthermore, to give an incentive to take the time to fill out the appraisal, it should constitute as a small percentage of the final grade, maybe .5%-1%. An incentive would help, and like we discussed in the class not all incentives work, so the incentive must be catered to what the students really want.
Now, I did make a list of "cons" in my first entry. However, I believe that the situation in which a student will take the time to fairly evaluate their professor is when they really appreciate her or him. Because they respect their professor and the professor created an impact on their learning experience, the student wants to be sure the professor gets a good rating. An example would be Doc Oc, everyone loved him so they were sure to take the time to fairly evaluate him.
Posted by: Brian Gray
Posted on: November 17, 2005 02:31 PM
I am not a professor, and as a student had a very different view of professor evaluations. I took them very serious for many reasons. First, I might have that professor again in the future, or maybe I had a bad or good experience that others should or should not experience in the future. Second, I expected my department and/or school to improve over time, thus I felt obligated by providing feedback to assist in this improvement process.
Posted by: Nick De Cesare
Posted on: December 11, 2005 07:44 PM
Joseph,
I think that the professors get a lot out of the appraisals, and that is why we do them. Most students do not take them seriously, but the few who do can alter the way the course is conducted, and create a better learning environment. The value that the students should see in it is that they are making things better for the rest of the school. This requires some school spirit, and at a place like Case Western Reserve University this is lacking.
Posted by: Nick De Cesare
Posted on: December 11, 2005 07:45 PM
Joseph,
I think that the professors get a lot out of the appraisals, and that is why we do them. Most students do not take them seriously, but the few who do can alter the way the course is conducted, and create a better learning environment. The value that the students should see in it is that they are making things better for the rest of the school. This requires some school spirit, and at a place like Case Western Reserve University this is lacking.
Posted by: Nick De Cesare
Posted on: December 11, 2005 07:47 PM
Joseph,
I think that the professors get a lot out of the appraisals, and that is why we do them. Most students do not take them seriously, but the few who do can alter the way the course is conducted, and create a better learning environment. The value that the students should see in it is that they are making things better for the rest of the school. This requires some school spirit, and at a place like Case Western Reserve University this is lacking.