Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ytuque]

I just received notification that I had low survey scores as well as some pretty harsh comments (mostly in broken English) from my Korean and Chinese students. There were a handful of comments about my being unqualified to teach these subjects. It was actually funny that students who can't form grammatically correct simple sentences were flaming me about being unqualified to teach.

Some of my colleagues openly allow students to cheat, do not take attendance, and allow students to sleep in class. I am thinking about how low to drop my standards to up my student surveys.

For the uni profs, how low do you drop your standards to avoid bad student surveys?

[jinks]

Student evaluations are a pain - but there is a way to improve your ratings without 'dropping standards'.
My scores have always been good enough (80s) to keep the admin' off my back and they generally - but not always - improve every semester. The one time my evaluations dropped was the semester I decided to bribe all my classes with cola and cookies just before the online evaluation pages went up. This semester I rocketed up from 83 (a bad semester) to 88. I have given some thought about why my scores are better this semester, and the only real cause I can point to is the effect of reading about sociocultural theory - especially around issues of identity - and the subsequent change in my management of my teaching style and the students' learning.
Do a google, or look it up on wikipedia - you might be surprised.

[Hanson]

Appearing to be fair and having the perception of caring for the students are the most important when it comes to evals. Being funny doesn't hurt. Student evals at the uni level are a popularity contest, nothing more.

You do have to lower your standards, though...

[Leslie Cheswyck]

I got hit with that BS awhile ago.

If you're thinking of 'dropping standards', do it!

They want to be entertained, not taught.

http://home.sprynet.com/~owl1/sef.htm

http://www.rasmusen.org/w/04.06.16a.htm

http://chronicle.com/colloquy/98/evaluation/background.htm

I followed the above wisdom and boosted my ratings.

If they want to play this game that's fine by me.

Best advice: Let class out EARLY!

[Demophobe]

Funny how the evals never have merit unless they are high.

I know many great teachers who consistently get good evaluations, and this:

Appearing to be fair and having the perception of caring for the students

...is freaking hilarious. How about really caring and really being fair? These are certainly keys to getting good evaluations, but as I see it, they are also a big part of being a good teacher.

The evals do have merit, but in a limited way. It is simply not true that the easiest, laziest, pushover teachers get the best scores. Hard work, good preparation, transparency in grade assignments (solid, easy to understand rubrics), well-planned courses (a strong syllabus), enthusiasm, care and patience are trademarks of great teaching and will also net good evaluations.

One has to wonder how uni lecturers would fare under regular, more qualified scrutiny. Perhaps some should be thankful for these evaluations; heaven forbid they actually have meaning, right?

[ytuque]

[Otherside]

[Leslie Cheswyck]

[Demophobe]

[Hanson]

^ Dude, you have a point that good teachers, prepared teachers, "God's-gift-to-teaching" teachers get high evaluations.

But when the university forces classes to be curved, you get a lot of C-students who aren't happy they got a C. They obviously voice their displeasure in the only way they know how - teacher evaluations.

To make matters worse, on our teacher evaluations, they ask students things like "Did the student come to every class punctually?" or "Did the student participate in the class?" How the hell am I supposed to be responsible for their punctuality in class? Participation can be encouraged by the teacher, but really, this is the student's responsibility.

Another teacher I work with got nailed on one class because a week into the class, another teacher's class got cancelled for having too few students in it. Those students were transfered into his class. The original students blasted him because the extra students were seen as taking away their A's quota for the class. In his other classes, he was one of the top ranked teachers. It is so obvious to anyone with a brain that this friend/coworker got rolled over the coals for something entirely out of his control.

These student evals are so flawed it's not even funny.

[Leslie Cheswyck]

[bluelake]

As mentioned before, the evals are nothing more than a popularity contest. I've seen teachers with great evals who couldn't teach and I've seen those with low evals who were very good teachers. If a teacher expects students to learn, which often involves making the students work and think, some students, who don't like to work or think, will give low evals. That's not to mention students who stopped coming to class and got an automatic F for attendance who are still allowed to evaluate a teacher they never had a class with

At my past two universities, students could only see their grades after giving an evaluation. Of course, if a teacher posts grades early, all bets are off.

[Demophobe]

[Demophobe]

[Demophobe]