Not A Folk Singer

Against Student Evaluations

I’ve seen some discussion about annoying student behaviors over at Dr. Crazy’s place. I think we are all at the end of our ropes with students, in much the same way that they are at the end of their ropes with the semester. We all seem to be dangling closer to the water, clutching the rope with the very tips of our fingers. I don’t know about you, but I’m damn close to letting go.

Much like every other semester in the past, I have trouble keeping my energy levels high when the semester draws to a close. Most of my students have worked hard all semester, and they will be reaping their rewards in the form of good grades and an understanding of the material we covered these last four months.

I have two or three students, though, who have squandered the semester away and now expect me to do something to help them out of the mess they’ve created for themselves. I understand that personal problems can get in the way of doing good work, but that doesn’t mean you get a consolation prize in the form of a passing grade. I have one student who attended one class. ONE CLASS. She believes she ought to pass the class—with a grand total of zero points. Wtf?

What makes this even more ridiculous is the level of institutional support these students receive. As much as I care about the well-being of my students, I can’t pass someone with a zero. It would be unethical for me to do so, and I’m not willing to compromise my ethics, no matter what the circumstances. I’ll do anything else I can to help, but I won’t just hand out a grade.

Trying to find the balance between professionally removed and personally engaged with students is almost impossible. The fact that student evaluations count toward tenure make it even more difficult to navigate this political situation. If I don’t distribute unearned grades, I run the risk of alienating my students who expect me to be understanding of their personal lives. If I do distribute the unearned grades, I lower the standards of my department, and I become the resident grade-inflator. Either way, my professional judgment is called into question by both my students and my tenure-review committee.

Of course, I’m not saying anything new. New Kid, Shrinky, and others, I’m sure, have been talking about student evaluations. I think student evaluations are completely useless. Frankly, I’ve never made any major changes in my class based on student evaluations, but it’s not because I am resistant to change, nor because I don’t respond to student feedback.

Here’s why formal student evaluations don’t help me:

1) Sometimes students will provide useful substantive feedback, but it’s usually something that I already knew. I can see when assignments don’t go well; I know which classroom activities flopped and which flourished. Most of what they see, I see too. And that’s because I’m committed to my classes; I’m constantly reflecting on my assignments, my lectures, my classroom activities, my grading, everything. Often students comment on the very things that I was planning to change because I told them in class that I would change it next time. I’m not shy about admitting in the classroom my own shortcomings. I teach them to revise their work all the time; I demonstrate it by publicly reflecting on my own revisions. Students usually just repeat back to me what I identified for them.

2) I don’t claim to be a good performer. In fact, I’m not all that adept at speaking to a crowd of people. I’m a much better teacher one-on-one, so I’m constantly working to improve my performance in a large group. I’ve gotten pretty good at it with a lot of practice and concentration. Comments about my presentation style aren’t particularly helpful. Every now and then, someone will say, “You talk too fast,” or, “You do funny things with your voice” or “Don’t stand behind the desk,” or “Don’t sit in a circle with us.” The valid comments (“you talk too fast”) would be helpful, except I already know that. I’m consciously working on that, but I also sometimes receive evals in the same bunch that say I talk too slow! (And that leads me to #3, but stick with me for a minute). Most of the style comments are personal preference. Some students like my somewhat formal approach to teaching; others want me to tell more jokes and stories about myself. Some want me to juggle fire and others want me to wear my hair in a bun. Part of my teaching style is just my personality; I’ll work on the things that can truly hinder someone’s ability to learn, but some things are just me. And not every student will like me and my conception of teaching. Evals only serve to remind me that you can never, ever please everyone. Why do I need that reminder?

3) Evaluation comments are often contradictory. For every person that says, “Too much time on Subject X,” I have another person who says, “We didn’t spend enough time on Subject X.” Ultimately, I have to make some judgment calls about which commenter has more ethos. Wait! I have no idea because the comments are anonymous. So I have to make the decision on my own. So what good did the evaluations do? Remind me again?

4) Students are often unqualified to answer some of the questions on the evaluation form. They can respond about me and my presentation of the material, but they can’t answer the question, “Did the class cover everything it should have covered?” I’m actually insulted by these types of questions. I have a PhD in my subject area; aren’t I (and my colleagues) best qualified to judge the content of the class? Students can answer questions about whether or not my class met the objectives that I laid out in the syllabus, but that doesn’t really tell me a whole lot. If I didn’t do that, I know it already. And probably my tenure committee knows it too.

5) Evaluations do provide a place for students to vent about grades. Sometimes they can accurately tell me if grading was fair. I usually get very high scores in this area because I talk a lot about grading fairness throughout the semester. I also tend to be an easier grader than some of my colleagues, so I’m not surprised that I get high scores in that area. But what does that really mean? That I’m fair? Or that they got a higher grade in my class than in my colleague’s class? When I say I’m an easier grader, I mean that I allow unlimited revisions in all of my classes. If my students don’t get good grades, it’s usually because they are lazy. I may give higher grades, but my students produce higher quality work, yet none of this is reflected on evaluations, save for the fact that students might write, “I like that we get to revise,” or something to that effect. But, again, my ten years of teaching experience, not my evaluations, tell me that revision works for my classes.

Evaluations are useful for one thing: they provide reinforcements. After a grueling semester, it’s nice to read the good evaluations, to be reminded that students do appreciate all the work that we put into making a class valuable and engaging. Other than that, evaluations are utterly pointless.

Some people (usually students) will argue that evaluations are a way of indicating a professor’s inappropriate behavior. For example, if the professor never came to class or showed up drunk or was downright rude to students, students can use the evaluations to reveal that information. That makes sense except I guarantee you that the professor’s colleagues already know all of that information. Evaluations don’t tell us anything new. After sitting in meetings with colleagues, I can tell you which cancel class all the time, which are unorganized, which are drunk in class, which are lecherous pervs. Evaluations might provide a paper trail, but that’s about it.

None of this is to say that I don’t find feedback helpful. I do find the following useful:

1) One-on-one student feedback. When I converse with a student, I truly listen to his/her reaction to the class. I realize this is a somewhat flawed system because it’s hard for students to provide negative feedback; I find, though, that most of my students have no problem telling me what they want to see changed. They just have to find a way to word it so they don’t come off as obnoxious and offensive. That’s a skill they’ll need in life anyway.

2) Feedback from colleagues. I’ve made many changes based on observing other teachers who I respect and admire. Colleagues who observe my classes also provide useful evaluative information.

3) Self-reflection. Blogging, emailing, discussing with friends and colleagues all give me ideas about ways to improve myself.

Student evaluations do nothing for me, and they tell my tenure committee almost nothing about me and my classroom presence.

So when will we get rid of this archaic tradition??

Posted expressly for you @ 10:33 AM