Is there any reason to take a students’ academic vitriol seriously? You bet. In my opinion, most “pissed off” students reached that point by virtue of something I wish I could have done differently.

–Frizbane Manley

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At first glance, it is too easy to focus on the unfairness of student evaluations. For example, a student in one section of HIST 152 was critical because “The main text was a novel, and we only read 3 chapters of it.” The text to which this student referenced was 1776, a factual book written by a Pulitzer Prize winning historian. And even if he/she only read three chapters, the entire book was assigned and discussed.

In another example, one student wrote to RateMyProfessors.com that “40 people registered 33 dropped” in the section of ENG 102 that she was taking. Because the maximum enrollment for the class was 31, it is unlikely that 33 people could have dropped the course—or that 40 had been permitted to enroll.

As part of my formal evaluation in another class, it appears that three students simple gave me low scores even though many of them were totally unjustified. Because few students completed the evaluation in this class, the unfair responses from these students provided untruthful information about my teaching and skewed the overall results.

But, as instructors, we cannot be too quick to disregard student evaluations. Sometimes, even “unjustified” comments can give insights for improvement.

For example, one student wrote in RateMyProfessors.com, “The workbook we used, never had to turn it in but it was in the syllabus so I wasted many hours on that.” Because I can demonstrate how the textbook was used and how it fit into the class, I could cry “Foul!” and complain about the unfairness of this student’s comment. But too many students comment that the textbook is not used for me to ignore this criticism.

The problem is not that I don’t use the textbook. It is that I do not do a good enough job helping students see the connection between the textbook activities and other course work. Because of this perception, I have been working on ways to better incorporate the textbook into my classes.

As I recorded in a 21 April 2007 Briefly Noted entry, “I took myself to lunch at the Panda Buffet. Armed with a copy of The Earth and Its People and my reflections on how to better incorporate the textbook into my classes–reflections that included recent conversations with three students–I compiled a list of possibilities.” Furthermore, as I have been reviewing the possibility of using Religious Literacy as the basis for ENG 102 during the Fall 2007 semester, I have been designing specific assignments related directly to the text.

In an on-line section of ENG 200, one student argued that “I have not received any personal feedback” and another one claimed that “there was zero feedback as to the quality of our work.” Yet I know that both of these students—and others who make a similar claim—do get feedback.

The problem, however, is that many of the assignments in my classes are essentially pass/no credit. The student either successfully completes the assignment or I work with them to revise it to make it meet the standards of the course.

While my learning style accepts “100%” or “Completed” as personal feedback, these students are not incorrect. To just acknowledge that students completed the assignment is not sufficient for them. Simply adding a sentence such as “I especially liked how you did…” might be all that is needed to solve the problem.²

Another problem that some students in RateMyProfessors.com identified is the syllabus. In the past, I would give a detailed syllabus to students at the beginning of the semester and explain that this would give guidance to the course. However, I would stress that we would adjust the course schedule as necessary throughout the semester. Because the course schedule I included with the syllabus gave class-by-class details, students often became confused as we made adjustments based on class needs.

The solution to this problem was very easy and was implemented at the beginning of Winter 2007. Instead of giving students a day-by-day outline with the intention of modifying it as we went along, I now give them a list of modules—sans any dates—that we will cover. Then, as we proceed, students are able to add the dates themselves.

Beginning in Winter 2007, I also changed the way I use BlackBoard in my on-campus classes. After most classes, I e-mail students an update on where we are in the course. The update includes upcoming assignments. This change has also helped students.

It is true that some students out-and-out lie on the comments they make when they complain about a member of the faculty. It is also true that some of the comments students make are either ill informed or misleading. But, if we want to improve, we need to carefully consider all student comments because even an unfair or misleading comment might give us insight.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

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¹Professor Manley’s comment was made in response to Scott Jaschik’s “Could RateMyProfessors.com Be Right?”

²“Don’t You Care That I Did a Good Job?” also addresses the issue of student feedback.