<p>Let me start off by saying that I am a straight-A student with a 4.0 GPA --- and I'm not talking "oh, the class is graded on a curve, so with a 75% I got an A" --- I mean that I am averaging 98% on ALL tests in ALL subjects, with my lowest being a 95.5%. So needless to say, I am not just a disgruntled kid who is failing every class.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, I also have good relationships with a few of my professors; they're pretty nice people. However, they are horrific instructors, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I entirely stopped attending all of my lectures about a month ago because of how bad they were. Guess what happened.... My grades went UP a few points!</p>
<p>Anyway, it's time for course evaluations, and I am afraid to turn mine in because of how negative they are. I am enrolled in 9 courses including labs, and 1 review is very positive, 1 is mildly positive, 2 are neutral, and 5 are deplorable. I used phrases like "so mind-numbingly redundant that the incessant questions of a five year old on a cross-country drive to Disney Land seem intriguing and engaging by comparison." Yeah. Really negative. I am, however, so appalled by the quality of instruction that these professors provide that I feel compelled to write such things. All of my peers that I have spoken to agree that the professors are lackluster, and the class attendance rates are about one half to one third of what they were on the first day.</p>
<p>Does anyone else do that, or would I be the only one? Advice? THANKS!</p>
<p>Nope, not a problem at all. Terrible courses deserve terrible evals. Although I'd suggest more about what <i>makes</i> the courses so bad instead of just how horrible they are. That generally gives more your weight to your writing, making it more likely that someone will read it and take it seriously.</p>
<p>If you could provide some specific examples of, for example, how redundant the profs are that would be better than using hyperbole. Perhaps, for instance, the professors think they need to repeat the same info so the students will learn it. Giving an example might help them realize that they've gone over the top.</p>
<p>My worst professor literally gave the same lecture every day and drank liquor in class (brought in a cough medicine bottle, swigged from it and told the class it was rum) . He never returned any students' papers, either. And when female students went to his office, he tried to kiss them. (Yep, happened to me).</p>
<p>After I graduated, he was sent to alcohol rehab after a female student turned him in for groping him. I believe he's now a prof emeritus. Harvard, incidentally.</p>
<p>I considered writing a course evaluation like that for a class this semester but I finally decided against it. While course evaluations are meant to be anonymous, the class is small enough so that the professor will know who I am by the few identifying information on the evaluation (class year and whether or not that class counts towards my major) and I don't need a personal enemy :)</p>
<p>I work at a university that uses course evaluations to help assess teaching and course content. I would urge you to fill out evaluations honestly, as it sounds as if you have, and constructively, when possible. In some cases, instructors really do hope for and value feedback on the texts they use, the structure of the class, and the methods they employ. They may be new to teaching that class and seeking input on how to make it better. Equally valuable is the information deans and administrators gain from the evaluations students fill out about how a professor is succeeding or failing, which instructors need contact with their department heads regarding their performance, etc. It is important to let deans and administrators know about the mind-numbing classes/instructors because it is their job to address such problems. Your message will be most productively received, however, if it is not simply a litany of rants and negatives but has specific substance to it: "instructor tried to...but this was less successful than it could/should have been because..." Always try to cite why things didn't work or why the student response was what it was if you can. With regard to anonymity, if you know during what time period the evaluations will be administered (the last two weeks of class, for instance) type out comments in advance on a sheet of plain paper that you then can insert with the evaluations instead of writing out your remarks in handwriting that could be recognized. Encourage your classmates to do this as well. You should know, too, that evaluation results are not returned to the professor until after grades are posted and the new semester begins.</p>
<p>i suppose different schools use evaluations differently, but</p>
<p>in my last semester I had a class with this professor who has been around awhile, was very well liked, and was fairly high up in the department. When he gave us the evaluations, he told us a story of a professor who was up for tenure, and they looked at the student evaluations, and there were a number of evaluations that included pages and pages of extra (negative) comments, like, the students wrote them up ahead of time to turn in.</p>
<p>it's a bit hard for me to believe that your profs are all really this bad, to be honest. Have you ever had a good professor to compare them to? Out of my four years in college, I can count on my two thumbs the bad professors I had and it would take both hands and feet to count the good and great ones. While some profs truly do suck, I have trouble believing they're all so bad. Your best bet when a prof seems to really not be doing well is to get some fellow students together and actually talk with the prof or maybe a TA you trust who can speak to the prof on your behalf. Most profs want to improve if they're approached in a respectful manner.</p>
<p>First, if the profs are this bad, then yes you should turn in a negative eval giving specific reasons and examples of why they're such poor instructors in your opinion.</p>
<p>Second, if the majority of your profs are really this bad, you should transfer to a college that places greater emphasis on quality teaching. Otherwise, you're wasting your (or your parents') money.</p>
<p>I agree with northstarmom that you should be honest and provide detailed examples when possible, but avoid hyperbole, either positive or negative. Your evaluation may be taken more seriously, if they are used. It helps if you can be as dispassionate as possible. </p>
<p>Also, I think it must be taken into consideration that some redundancy is necessary for most students who may not be as sharp or catch on as quickly as you must with the grades you cite. What you find mind-numbingly boring may be just what a less talented student needs. Try to separate out what is reasonable for a prof to do in a class with students of various levels and write drives you nuts because you are an exceptional student.</p>
<p>Being negative is fine if that's your experience, however your remarks should be constructive. Comparing your instructor to a child is not likely going to help him/her to improve, and if I were the dean or whomever who reads the evaluations, simply because you wrote in that manner, I would probably write you off as a bitter student and wouldn't take your comments seriously.</p>
<p>1) Try to use constructive criticism.
2) Ask your classmates what they thought of the course. If...
--> "Hard!" Then rethink the profesors' teaching styles and consider your classmates' needs. Then look at yourself again. If you're highly motivated but feeling unchallenged by your courses, I suggest that next semester, you move up to upper-level courses and see if they work for your learning style. I remember hearing this when I was taking a language course where I was on the borderline between this and the next level up and a lot of students found the course tough because everything was new to them and I found the next level too difficult... so that was really mind-numbing to hear my teacher repeat a lot of things.</p>
<p>--"Easy!" Okay,use the eval to point out that the prof was underestimating the students' abilities to handle the course and didn't catch on it during the midterm exam.</p>
<p>Also... 9 courses??? Where did you find the time? You must be some kind of genius. And a grade grubber.</p>
<p>It's ok to rate them low if they deserve it.</p>
<p>It's not ok to write : "so mind-numbingly redundant that the incessant questions of a five year old on a cross-country drive to Disney Land seem intriguing and engaging by comparison."</p>
<p>"Also... 9 courses??? Where did you find the time? You must be some kind of genius. And a grade grubber."</p>
<p>or in a major with lots of smaller courses.... music majors, science majors, etc., all have courses that are only 1 or 2 units or have 0 unit labs and whatnot</p>