College Evaluations

     If you have ever attended college, you know that some of the professors there can be "very different", to say it mildly.   When my high school students would complain about one of their teachers I would often say, just wait to you get to college.  You haven't seen anything yet.  Many are boring.  Many don't really teach.  Many don't enjoy teaching. Many find all sorts of excuses to cancel classes.  Many don't cover in class what they will test you on.  Many never use the expensive textbooks and manuals that are required.  And I could go on and on.  Fortunately, there are many excellent profs who do teach and earn their pay.

     But part of the college process is usually a teacher/course evaluation.  Now I don't know if they are ever really used by the higher ups.  Probably not, because getting a promotion doesn't seem to depend on your teaching but on the number of publications or research experiments you have made.  When I taught at Millersville, evaluations were required for non-tenured staff.  All that I ever received back from the administration was a numerical average of my students' responses for each category and a list of written comments that were made, without any identification of the evaluator.  I never feared my student evaluations and I was often thanked by my students for actually teaching.

     Now with that background, recently I came upon some excerpts from college evaluations that I really enjoyed.  I don't know if they are actual comments or if somebody just made them up.  But I can think of profs that I had who fit the situation.   So as the waitresses say, "enjoy!"

1.   "The textbook is almost useless. I use it to kill roaches in my room."

2.   "He teaches like Speedy Gonzalez on a caffeine high."

3.   "Help! I've fallen asleep and I can't wake up!"

4.   "The recitation instructor would make a good parking lot attendant. Tries to tell you where to go, but you can never understand him."

5.   "The class is worthwhile because I need it for the degree."

6.   "Textbook is confusing; someone with a knowledge of English should proofread it."

7.   "Problem sets are a decoy to lure you away from potential exam material."

8.   "He is one of the best teachers I have had ... He is well-organized, presents good lectures, and creates interest in the subject. I hope my comments don't hurt his chances of getting tenure."

9.   "I would sit in class and stare out the window at the squirrels. They've got a cool nest in the tree."

10.   "Information was presented like a ruptured fire hose-spraying in all directions - no way to stop it."

11.   "I never bought the text. My $60 was better spent on the Led Zeppelin CDs that I used while doing the problem sets."

12.   "The course was very thorough. What wasn't covered in class was covered on the final exam."