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		bassexpander
 
 
  Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:18 am    Post subject: Professor rankings made public at Sangmyung Univ. | 
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				http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2913484
 
 
 
 
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	  Professor records made public on Sangmyung site
 
Move meant to raise lecture quality and spur on improved competition
 
December 04, 2009
 
Sangmyung University, a private university based in Seoul, unveiled comprehensive evaluation records of its 293 full-time professors on its home page yesterday that can be viewed by professors, students and school administrators.
 
 
Though some universities previously provided student evaluations of lecturing abilities of their professors, this is the first time that a local university publicly disclosed comprehensive rankings of professors.
 
 
If students, professors and employees log onto the home page at http://www.smu.ac.kr with their ID and password, the professors� records pop up. The records have various measurement categories, including their lecturing skills, research achievements and marks for voluntary work. Professors are classified according to their research fields - humanities, social science, engineering, natural science and so forth.
 
 
The records and rankings of all professors under each category can be viewed at the Web site.
 
 
�We have decided to unveil the professor evaluation results so that universities go beyond waging competition of picking better-qualified students and jump into the rivalry of teaching students well,� said Lee Hyun-chong, president of the university. �This will provide a chance for professors to raise the quality of lectures and to concentrate better on research.�
 
 
The university plans to use the system as a tool in evaluating the incentive levels of respective professors.
 
 
A professor, who took the 46th spot out of 47 in the art department, said, �How could this school humiliate professors like this? We professors are baffled.�
 
 
Goo Kee-heon, vice president of Sangmyung�s Cheonan campus, also received bad results. But he said, �Competition among different universities and inside universities is an unavoidable trend now......" | 
	 
 
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		cdninkorea
 
  
  Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:16 am    Post subject:  | 
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				| For a country in which newspapers often don't print criminal's names in newspapers to prevent them from feeling shame, this is a shock. | 
			 
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		Hyeon Een
 
  
  Joined: 24 Jun 2005
 
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:22 am    Post subject:  | 
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				| Good on Cheonan VP for not whining like the art professor =) | 
			 
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		Moldy Rutabaga
 
  
  Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 7:14 am    Post subject:  | 
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				Who does the rankings? Students.
 
 
Professor who challenges students with new materials and exams, and who takes attendance = low rating and denial of tenure or contract
 
 
Professor who plays movies and passes everyone regardless of attendance = popular prof and high rating on public website
 
 
I have mixed feelings about young undergraduates ranking their professors. While some metric is certainly necessary, it's like asking inmates to rank the prison guards and expecting helpful information. | 
			 
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		makemischief
 
  
  Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Location: Traveling
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:16 am    Post subject:  | 
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	  | Moldy Rutabaga wrote: | 
	 
	
	  Who does the rankings? Students.
 
 
Professor who challenges students with new materials and exams, and who takes attendance = low rating and denial of tenure or contract
 
 
Professor who plays movies and passes everyone regardless of attendance = popular prof and high rating on public website
 
 
I have mixed feelings about young undergraduates ranking their professors. While some metric is certainly necessary, it's like asking inmates to rank the prison guards and expecting helpful information. | 
	 
 
 
 
Some truth in this, but let's not overgeneralize. Good and "difficult" teachers can get better marks than teachers who just play movies at many schools. At least where I've worked the students have had a lower tolerance for BS teaching than one might imagine- and those teachers who slacked got canned. That said students across the board are allergic to homework. No matter how much I give it is "too much." As such I just give a ton, seeing as they will think it is too much no matter what   | 
			 
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		Goon-Yang
 
 
  Joined: 28 May 2009 Location: Duh
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 12:34 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				| I wonder if that place is anything like my uni?  Students evaluate us after they get their final grades.  Brilliant i tell you...BRILLIANT! | 
			 
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		cdninkorea
 
  
  Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 4:44 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				| They evaluate you after getting their grades? That's all kinds of stupid. It's hard to imagine setting up a more perverse system of incentives in an academic setting. Wow! | 
			 
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		cruisemonkey
 
  
  Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:09 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				Student: "Professor, professor... he hit me."
 
 
CM: "Has he filled out his evaluation?"
 
 
Student: "Yes-uh... why you ask?"
 
 
CM: "Never mind... have you filled out your evaluation?
 
 
Student: "Yes-uh."
 
 
CM: "Ok... let's see them. (after a quick perusal)... He has my permission to hit you again."    
 
 
Student: "You are bad man!"   | 
			 
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		youtuber
 
 
  Joined: 13 Sep 2009
 
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:35 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				The University of Alberta also publishes the student ratings of profs there.
 
 
However, they are only numbered descriptors.  I find sites like ratemyprofessor.com to be much more valuable.  The written comments can be gold. | 
			 
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		ponyo
 
 
  Joined: 27 Nov 2009
 
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				 Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:27 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | Move meant to raise lecture quality and spur on improved competition  | 
	 
 
yes, nothing like fostering competition, instead of collaboration, between colleagues.
 
 
 
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	  | The records have various measurement categories, including their lecturing skills, research achievements and marks for voluntary work. | 
	 
 
it isn't just the student evaluations involved... | 
			 
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		Kwangjuchicken
 
  
  Joined: 01 Sep 2003 Location: I was abducted by aliens on my way to Korea and forced to be an EFL teacher on this crazy planet.
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				 Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 2:34 am    Post subject:  | 
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	  | cdninkorea wrote: | 
	 
	
	  | They evaluate you after getting their grades? That's all kinds of stupid. It's hard to imagine setting up a more perverse system of incentives in an academic setting. Wow! | 
	 
 
 
 
I was at a University where they also did the evaluations after they saw their grades.  If they got A+, I got A+, if not    
 
 
And, how did I know who gave me what?  The results were listed in the same order as the students in each class.  If you compare that list with the grades, you see all the ones that gave me A+, received A+ from me.
 
 
 
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		Hyeon Een
 
  
  Joined: 24 Jun 2005
 
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				 Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:57 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | Moldy Rutabaga wrote: | 
	 
	
	  Who does the rankings? Students.
 
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Well, no. These are not the student rankings.
 
 
These rankings, as the article says, take into account other stuff such as academic publications. The rankings include extra-curricular stuff such as clubs that the profs run etc. as well. It's not just student
 
 rankings. | 
			 
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		Goon-Yang
 
 
  Joined: 28 May 2009 Location: Duh
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				 Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 2:33 am    Post subject:  | 
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	  | cdninkorea wrote: | 
	 
	
	  | They evaluate you after getting their grades? That's all kinds of stupid. It's hard to imagine setting up a more perverse system of incentives in an academic setting. Wow! | 
	 
 
 
 
It was the opposite a few years ago, but some of the K-profs were punishing their students for giving them a bad eval. | 
			 
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		cdninkorea
 
  
  Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul
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				 Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:21 am    Post subject:  | 
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	  | Goon-Yang wrote: | 
	 
	
	  
 
	  | cdninkorea wrote: | 
	 
	
	  | They evaluate you after getting their grades? That's all kinds of stupid. It's hard to imagine setting up a more perverse system of incentives in an academic setting. Wow! | 
	 
 
 
 
It was the opposite a few years ago, but some of the K-profs were punishing their students for giving them a bad eval. | 
	 
 
 
You mean the evals weren't anonymous? Or the profs just punished the whole class even though some of them might've given them a good eval? | 
			 
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		El Macho
 
 
  Joined: 07 Nov 2008
 
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				 Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:34 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				This doesn't seem that far-fetched, especially since it's kept restricted for student use only.
 
 
My university in the States (a top-ten liberal arts school) published the past 2-3 years of student evaluations for each professor's courses. Every dorm's RA would have a copy of the evaluations which could be checked out from her.
 
 
Of course there were no comments printed, but you could see the student rankings for difficulty, fairness, workload, etc. It was very useful in choosing classes and did, I think, help to keep professors somewhat accountable.
 
 
Some of the tougher teachers did suffer, but only if they were unreasonable in addition to being tough.
 
 
Actually ranking the profs by department does seem a bit harsh, though. | 
			 
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