One should never look at teaching evaluations in the middle of the workweek. Or the middle of the term, really. I don't feel like my evals are ever bad, but they're so contradictory that it worries me how on earth they'd actually be factored into promotion and tenure. I grade tough, it's true. And I explain that at the beginning of the course and what to do to avoid it.
My favorite comment of this round: "[students here] don't agree with 'the class average was a B, and that's above average'." Funny, I wasn't aware that was a matter that the average of your grades was a matter that could be disagreed with.
Really, this isn't so surprising. It happened at both universities I've taught at previously in the first terms, but this feels like - probably because it's the most current case - the most outlandish example.
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4 Responses to “Evals”
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On my paper grading rubric for large classes, I say that to pass, the paper must meet these following terribly stringent requirements: address the assigned topic, reflect some knowledge of the assigned reading, and not be plagiarized. If they do that, they get a 60; there are additional points for actually making an argument, writing clearly, etc. I've had students complain that 60 is too low!
February 17, 2010 at 9:05 PMI hate reading evals. I'm with Joseph Epstein, who said of his students' complaints, "Such criticisms roll right off my back, like buckshot off of a duck's heart." (He was *not* a good teacher, but he's a good essayist.)
Ditto everything AF said.
February 25, 2010 at 11:07 PMRight now I have it so that if they actually make an argument and write clearly, they have to get a B-. I have one complaining who wrote clearly but only summarized the text in question and made vague/stereotypical contextual commentary. I gave him a C and he is upset. Other people are upset because just with correct grammar, the prescribed length, and showing some knowledge of the reading they did not get As.
Once again: why I stopped reading my student evals two years ago: no matter what, no matter how good most of them are ... they lead to grief, self-doubt, and (for me, anyway) sleepless nights.
March 3, 2010 at 8:34 AMAnd: hey! You've gussied up the digs here. Looks nice.
I had a nice talk with my chair about the evals. What worried me was that this was the first place I've been when anyone could explain how the evals were quantified, and I - not unexpectedly - suffer for making them do rewrites.
March 9, 2010 at 1:40 PMFortunately, my chair is understanding about that and promises to both explain and cheer that on. She also notes - and this has happened at the other places I've taught - that once it becomes expected by students, evals will go up. So I just need a bit more of a reputation, I guess.
Also, glad to hear the new look of the blog is getting some approval. I figured it was time.
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