Class choices affected by ratings
Dakarai Mills
Issue date: 6/22/09 Section: Technology
In today's technology age, there is a place to see if a particular instructor is a good fit for you or not, before you actually attend the class. It is called RateMyProfessor.com.
Founded in May 1999 by John Swapceinski, the site allows college and university students to anonymously assign ratings to professors of American, Canadian, and British institutions. According to the Web site's FAQ page, "The Overall Quality rating [that the professor ends up with] is the average of a teacher's Helpfulness and Clarity ratings."
In a New York Times article, Michael Hussey, who helped design RateMyProfessor, summed up its purpose: "All we're doing is taking chatter that may be in the lunchroom or the dorm room and organizing it so it can be used by students."
A recent study of RMP ratings found that "the hotter and easier professors are, the more likely they'll get rated as a good teacher." RMP itself admits that the ratings are not statistically valid.
So what do De Anza College faculty and students think of the Web site? Speech instructor Edwina Stoll believes students choose convenience of time over ratings. Stoll believes the old practice of auditing a class is the best way to go, but understands why student living in the technological age turn to the Web site.
Some students agree with Stoll's argument. First-year student Nick Alexandre says he doesn't use the Web site and would rather go by word of mouth from students he knows. "I don't think the Web site has any bearing on a student's academic career," said Alexandre.
Humanities instructor ErinBlythe Sanders thinks it is a valid tool for students. "The more students who use it the better it would be … it would be more effective," said Sanders.
She agrees class audits would be better, but feels that most students, who are working and going to school, don't have the time to do it, so the Web site is their best assessment. Aiman Eltilib, an international business major, stands by the site ratings and uses it every quarter for registration in harder classes such as math and science. "I would say I used it 80 percent of the time and I only read the reviews," said Eltilib.
Founded in May 1999 by John Swapceinski, the site allows college and university students to anonymously assign ratings to professors of American, Canadian, and British institutions. According to the Web site's FAQ page, "The Overall Quality rating [that the professor ends up with] is the average of a teacher's Helpfulness and Clarity ratings."
In a New York Times article, Michael Hussey, who helped design RateMyProfessor, summed up its purpose: "All we're doing is taking chatter that may be in the lunchroom or the dorm room and organizing it so it can be used by students."
A recent study of RMP ratings found that "the hotter and easier professors are, the more likely they'll get rated as a good teacher." RMP itself admits that the ratings are not statistically valid.
So what do De Anza College faculty and students think of the Web site? Speech instructor Edwina Stoll believes students choose convenience of time over ratings. Stoll believes the old practice of auditing a class is the best way to go, but understands why student living in the technological age turn to the Web site.
Some students agree with Stoll's argument. First-year student Nick Alexandre says he doesn't use the Web site and would rather go by word of mouth from students he knows. "I don't think the Web site has any bearing on a student's academic career," said Alexandre.
Humanities instructor ErinBlythe Sanders thinks it is a valid tool for students. "The more students who use it the better it would be … it would be more effective," said Sanders.
She agrees class audits would be better, but feels that most students, who are working and going to school, don't have the time to do it, so the Web site is their best assessment. Aiman Eltilib, an international business major, stands by the site ratings and uses it every quarter for registration in harder classes such as math and science. "I would say I used it 80 percent of the time and I only read the reviews," said Eltilib.
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