Spring Break
Web site allows students to learn about potential teachers
Jhenene Louis
Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: News
Thanks to the Rate My Professors Web site, shopping for a teacher is as easy as picking out new shoes - but some students admit that the Web site is nothing more than a popularity contest.
Rate My Professors is a Web site on which students can comment and rate professors from different universities.
Though it is an American Web site, Canada and Britain also have access to it.
Students can rate professors on a scale from one to five based on the difficulty of their courses, how helpful they are and their clarity.
"The Web site is not that efficient," said Rosa Nguyen, a junior electrical engineering major. "Students just based their ratings on whether or not they have a good grade, and not on the teacher's actual teaching abilities."
According to the Rate My Professors Web site, it has more than a million ratings.
Ruth Wilson, chair of the African-American studies department, said she believes that the Rate My Professors Web site is a great way to get to know teachers before registering for their classes.
She said it is important for students to make their own assessments first.
"I think it is useful for students to have access to information about teachers," Wilson said. "However, they should consider other sources, such as other professors. From a professional standpoint, 'liking' the professor is not as important as being able to access the most comprehensive body of knowledge or skills from the instructor."
Nguyen said she has never rated a professor before, but she does use the Web site to read the reviews and said it is a great feature for students.
"Students are curious, especially if they don't have a friend who has taken the class," Nguyen said. "They just want some type of information about what teachers they need to take to graduate. "They also want to know whether or not they are good or bad, even if the information is not reliable."
What Instructors Think
John Trifari, a teaching assistant in foreign language, said looking at his ratings is a good thing.
He said that he is curious to know if his students are actually learning something, but as teacher, there is always room for improvement.
"It's just another form of evaluation, like the evaluation forms we hand out at the end of the year," Trifari said. "It's good to know what the students think."
He said professors don't care about a popularity contest. It's more about students learning the material.
"The purpose of being a teacher is not to make people like you," Trifari said. "It's to teach, and there is always going to be some form of criticism from anyone."
Wilsons said the Rate My Professors Web site is a great way for students to evaluate teachers, but said the comments submitted by students are not accurate.
"It is best to have a system that collects data from a large group of students taking the course," Wilson said. "Not all students participate in ratemyprofessors.com, thus the results tend to be skewed and biased."
Associate sociology professor James Lee said students base their ratings primarily
on satisfaction, not just the quality of teaching.
"We have to remember that evaluations of teachings are not always just about learning is going on in the classrooms," Lee said. "They're typically more about satisfaction. If it was primarily a satisfaction survey, then it's probably not a bad way to evaluate classes."
He said that in his research, there seems to be validity in some of the findings, but there also seems to be a correlation in how "hot" a professor is considered.
The "Hot" Rating
Students can also rate their professors based on their looks. When identifying a professor as "hot," a chili pepper will be displayed next to his or her rating.
"People will probably be more satisfied with a class because someone is attractive rather than because they are actually learning stuff," Lee said.
Victoria Aman, a junior electrical engineering major, said that since tuition is higher for students this semester, she wishes that the Web site was more helpful to students, so they could be more selective about their classes.
"Since I'm taking more of my major classes, teachers are limited, so ratemyprofessors.com is not really helpful for me to use," she said. "If I was a freshman taking regular general education classes, then I would be more selective."
Wilson said that though it is great that students can comment and voice their feelings for their professors, it's still important to remember that teachers are not perfect.
"If students have complaints, they should voice those complaints to their instructor or chair of the department, and seek ways to have a more fulfilling education experience," he said. "They should also voice their praise. Equally important, faculty should seek to engage students in discussions about how to make the classroom a more insightful and educational experience. Most teachers want their students to feel good about the classroom experience."
Rate My Professors was founded in 1999 by John Swapceinsk who is also a software engineer major from Menlo Park.
Rate My Professors is a Web site on which students can comment and rate professors from different universities.
Though it is an American Web site, Canada and Britain also have access to it.
Students can rate professors on a scale from one to five based on the difficulty of their courses, how helpful they are and their clarity.
"The Web site is not that efficient," said Rosa Nguyen, a junior electrical engineering major. "Students just based their ratings on whether or not they have a good grade, and not on the teacher's actual teaching abilities."
According to the Rate My Professors Web site, it has more than a million ratings.
Ruth Wilson, chair of the African-American studies department, said she believes that the Rate My Professors Web site is a great way to get to know teachers before registering for their classes.
She said it is important for students to make their own assessments first.
"I think it is useful for students to have access to information about teachers," Wilson said. "However, they should consider other sources, such as other professors. From a professional standpoint, 'liking' the professor is not as important as being able to access the most comprehensive body of knowledge or skills from the instructor."
Nguyen said she has never rated a professor before, but she does use the Web site to read the reviews and said it is a great feature for students.
"Students are curious, especially if they don't have a friend who has taken the class," Nguyen said. "They just want some type of information about what teachers they need to take to graduate. "They also want to know whether or not they are good or bad, even if the information is not reliable."
What Instructors Think
John Trifari, a teaching assistant in foreign language, said looking at his ratings is a good thing.
He said that he is curious to know if his students are actually learning something, but as teacher, there is always room for improvement.
"It's just another form of evaluation, like the evaluation forms we hand out at the end of the year," Trifari said. "It's good to know what the students think."
He said professors don't care about a popularity contest. It's more about students learning the material.
"The purpose of being a teacher is not to make people like you," Trifari said. "It's to teach, and there is always going to be some form of criticism from anyone."
Wilsons said the Rate My Professors Web site is a great way for students to evaluate teachers, but said the comments submitted by students are not accurate.
"It is best to have a system that collects data from a large group of students taking the course," Wilson said. "Not all students participate in ratemyprofessors.com, thus the results tend to be skewed and biased."
Associate sociology professor James Lee said students base their ratings primarily
on satisfaction, not just the quality of teaching.
"We have to remember that evaluations of teachings are not always just about learning is going on in the classrooms," Lee said. "They're typically more about satisfaction. If it was primarily a satisfaction survey, then it's probably not a bad way to evaluate classes."
He said that in his research, there seems to be validity in some of the findings, but there also seems to be a correlation in how "hot" a professor is considered.
The "Hot" Rating
Students can also rate their professors based on their looks. When identifying a professor as "hot," a chili pepper will be displayed next to his or her rating.
"People will probably be more satisfied with a class because someone is attractive rather than because they are actually learning stuff," Lee said.
Victoria Aman, a junior electrical engineering major, said that since tuition is higher for students this semester, she wishes that the Web site was more helpful to students, so they could be more selective about their classes.
"Since I'm taking more of my major classes, teachers are limited, so ratemyprofessors.com is not really helpful for me to use," she said. "If I was a freshman taking regular general education classes, then I would be more selective."
Wilson said that though it is great that students can comment and voice their feelings for their professors, it's still important to remember that teachers are not perfect.
"If students have complaints, they should voice those complaints to their instructor or chair of the department, and seek ways to have a more fulfilling education experience," he said. "They should also voice their praise. Equally important, faculty should seek to engage students in discussions about how to make the classroom a more insightful and educational experience. Most teachers want their students to feel good about the classroom experience."
Rate My Professors was founded in 1999 by John Swapceinsk who is also a software engineer major from Menlo Park.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Vickieucb
vickieucb
posted 11/03/09 @ 7:26 PM PST
The only way that ratemyprofessor could be credible is if the students were required to sign their names. The positive comments I receive are from good students and the negative comments are made by students who do poorly or fail, so this site does little to help students assess a professor. (Continued…)
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