My friend and I wrote an anonymous complaint to the Physics Department Chair about our Introductory Physics II Professor. In all honesty, the professor is a very nice man who’s passionate about physics, but teaching is definitely not something he’s good at. This is what we put in the letter:
The professor constantly goes off curriculum by teaching the class about advanced physics topics that involve biology (e.g. the process of random walks, resistive forces and diffusion, the physics behind gel electrophoresis). He’s essentially teaching us his research and he believes that we will appreciate his lectures. Instead, he confuses the entire class and doesn’t understand why people didn’t do well on the first exam, which was all about fluids and biophysics.
A lot of people cheat in the class. When I mean cheat, these people do it so openly and the professor doesn’t know what to do about it. To put this in perspective, this professor cannot control a class of 85 students who talk so loudly during a quiz. Yesterday, there was a quiz in the class and there were so many people talking that the professor actually said, “Guys, I’m okay with you guys bouncing ideas off of each other, but please try to keep silent”.
So my question is that since my friend and I put the complaint in the Department Chair’s mailbox, what would probably happen next, considering that we made this complaint anonymously?
If it were me, nothing. If you have an issue, I would assume the college has a procedure to follow, which probably does not include anonymity in this case.
I agree with @skieurope . What kind of response would you expect? You didn’t give your names.
Back in the Stone Age, I had a professor. He was also a very nice person, but he just didn’t seem to care about his college teaching…or so it seemed. I can’t tell you how many classes he just didn’t show up to. Plus we never ever got any quiz or midterm results back.
As finals time loomed, a number of us asked for an appointment with the department chairperson. We were all upperclassmen, and all were high honors students. This prof was teaching one of our core major undergrad courses. This was back in the Stone Age…so one of us typed up our concerns…so we would have something to leave with the department chairperson.
Everyone in the class knew we were filing a complaint, and everyone was given the chance to sign the letter. Almost everyone did.
We met with the chairperson who very carefully listened to our concerns…particularly as they related to a final exam for which we had barely any instruction on the material.
The exam was cancelled. Everyone in the class received the grades they had at midterm time. We think. Most of us got A grades.
We never saw the professor again…ever. Honestly, we don’t know what happened…but he no longer taught at our college after that meeting.
But…the point is…we were willing to put ourselves out there…not hide behind an anonymous letter. We felt confident in presenting our issues. We were willing to go face to face with the prof if it had come to that. And we had excellent documentation of the cancelled classes.
If you really have a legit complaint…then make it…but not anonymously.
If there is blatant cheating going on, take a meeting with the department chair. That has got to stop (if your school has an honor code read up on it) and the prof may need help from the department to make that happen. As far as his lecture style, you may have less luck getting a change made, but I would go direct to him, the professor, and say – “you are passionate about your work, but we need to know what will be on exams and how to do the problems.”
So the thing is that me and my friend thought it would be best if we kept the complaint anonymous because we didn’t want the professor to come after us. Now that I think about it, it would have been better to put our names on the letter.
Since the letter was sent in already, unfortunately there’s really not much I can do about it now. However, I remember some of my coworkers telling me that the same professor got in trouble for not teaching the curriculum a few years back so maybe that’ll help out my cause.
Other than that, there’s a lot of things that we could have done better when we wrote the complaint.
It sounds like this professor cares, but that he’s having some difficulty with classroom management and other organizational issues. If you’d like to help other students (and perhaps yourself), you can meet with the Dean of the professor’s department (now, or after you’ve received your final grade), and let him know about the issues the professor is having. When you do this, it would be good of you to also mention something he does well. That’s not required, of course; but it would be a kind thing.
It’s also possible for you to file a formal complaint. Every university has a specific process on how to do this. You can ask your advisor. You can do it now, or after you receive your final grade.
In addition, most unis take student evaluations seriously. You can be honest on your course evaluation. Again, there, it would be nice of you to give some positive feedback as well, if there are things he does well. But be honest in your feedback.
I’d talk directly to the professor. “Dr. X, I’m having a lot of trouble concentrating during the quizzes. Even you commented on the noise in the classroom, and I just don’t think it is fair that the exam is treated like a group project or open book if you don’t announce that it is. It’s not fair to those of us who are following the ‘rule’ that this is a quiz to be taking solo, without a book, to be graded against those who are, IMO, cheating.”
I’d also talk to him about the course material and whether he’s following the syllabus. Tell him that it seems he expects you to know more than the pre-req to keep up with his lectures.