At the end of every quarter, students at Ohio University fill out teacher evaluations. Required for all courses, evaluations usually consist of a page or two of general questions along with space for student comments. But do teachers take the evaluations seriously?
I don't think that teacher evaluations are taken very seriously. It's just a bunch of circled numbers that don't really say anything about the professor or the class. Most students don't even write comments
said junior Molly Oches.
The comments that most people write are like 'Yeah this professor sucked' or 'The book was too much money' or 'Should be at a different time 8 o'clock is too early.' With comments like these
professors are bound to ignore their evaluations
said junior Nathan Wiery.
But graduate assistant Brian Mize said he values the evaluations.
I take student opinion into account a great deal
said Mize, who teaches advertising and is working on his masters in business and sports administration. My students point out to me when I'm not covering something adequately or when I've done something wrong
and I correct it. We learn from each other.
Course evaluations are sent to the director of each school, where they are reviewed individually. Directors look at the general questions and students' comments regarding teacher performance. Directors then return them to professors so they too can evaluate student feedback.
Evaluations are used for more than learning tools for instructors. Each professor uses their evaluations for their annual faculty report
said Thomas Hodson, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, and probationary faculty use the evaluations in their tenure packet
so when the time comes for them to apply for tenure
they have a record of their teaching.
Annual faculty reports describe an instructor's accomplishments in advising, research, teaching and service. They are used for faculty-to-faculty peer evaluations made every year based on the reports. Peer evaluations are submitted to the director of each school and taken into consideration for promotions, raises and merit pay increases.
Teacher evaluations are accessible to the public through the professor. However, Hodson said evaluations are not always on hand for students to read because the professor or director may be using them. Also, there is no university record retention policy, so professors do not have to keep them for long periods.
