2008 Woodie Awards
Website provides a role reversal
ADVICE: The tables are turned as students are able to grade professors and courses on a popular rating website.
By: James Wallace
Issue date: 11/4/04 Section: Features
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Friendly advice from friends can often help students choose what classes they should register for.
Tips from others who have already taken the class and know what to expect can help just as much, and it turns out there is a web site exactly for this cause.
Enter "ratemyprofessors.com," a web site that lets students grade their professors.
Ease, clarity, helpfulness and an overall rating scale are some of the topics that students can rate their professors on.
There is also a "hotness" factor and a place to post comments about one's own particular experience with a professor or class.
Some students believe that the web service really helps in making a decision about what classes to take, others find it completely useless.
Regardless, it is a tool that can at least be used in order to let students know what to expect in a class.
The web site is free, but requires anyone who wishes to post a comment to be a registered member and note what class he or she has been in.
Registering is easy, but it is important to prevent "spammers" from posting inappropriate or needless posts, reserving the forum only for people who hold a valid opinion.
"It's not like people are making stuff up. They'll explain if (the professor) is worthwhile and if they actually learn something beside just learning the test material," Travis Underwood, music major, said.
After making a list of which classes one would like to take, finding out who teaches the class is the next step.
The web site makes the end process easy by allowing students to get feedback and get a general sense of what the teacher and class are like, based on what others have posted.
But because the forum is open for comment, people might debate the fairness of the website, and it is easy to understand why instructors may find it unfair to be graded by students. Some students do not agree.
"It's fair for us to know whether we are to take a class or not; we pay for it, so we should be able to take the courses taught by the best professors," Kyle Smith, nursing major, said.
Tips from others who have already taken the class and know what to expect can help just as much, and it turns out there is a web site exactly for this cause.
Enter "ratemyprofessors.com," a web site that lets students grade their professors.
Ease, clarity, helpfulness and an overall rating scale are some of the topics that students can rate their professors on.
There is also a "hotness" factor and a place to post comments about one's own particular experience with a professor or class.
Some students believe that the web service really helps in making a decision about what classes to take, others find it completely useless.
Regardless, it is a tool that can at least be used in order to let students know what to expect in a class.
The web site is free, but requires anyone who wishes to post a comment to be a registered member and note what class he or she has been in.
Registering is easy, but it is important to prevent "spammers" from posting inappropriate or needless posts, reserving the forum only for people who hold a valid opinion.
"It's not like people are making stuff up. They'll explain if (the professor) is worthwhile and if they actually learn something beside just learning the test material," Travis Underwood, music major, said.
After making a list of which classes one would like to take, finding out who teaches the class is the next step.
The web site makes the end process easy by allowing students to get feedback and get a general sense of what the teacher and class are like, based on what others have posted.
But because the forum is open for comment, people might debate the fairness of the website, and it is easy to understand why instructors may find it unfair to be graded by students. Some students do not agree.
"It's fair for us to know whether we are to take a class or not; we pay for it, so we should be able to take the courses taught by the best professors," Kyle Smith, nursing major, said.