Rate My Professor/Rate My Teacher

[Maraena]

I'm sure some folks are aware of these sites. Basically, posters rate their professor or teacher on their teaching ability and/or the ease of the class. Often students engage in some fairly harsh appraisals of the teacher/professor and can directly influence whether students take that course with that particular teacher in the future. In many regards, it's not terribly different from Travelocity ratings of hotels and the like.

The question is, are these sites defaming these teachers/professors to the degree that they're causing irreparable damage to their livelihood? Should the students be held personally accountable for what they post and be legally liable for such posts (i.e. should they face suspension/expulsion at their school, criminal prosecution, etc.)?

I've been examining some legal cases in regards to Facebook and its effect on preservice and inservice teachers. There really isn't much legal precedence in this particular area and, unless a person can directly prove that a loss to their livelihood was directly sustained due to libelous postings, the courts often move to quash such efforts.

What are your thoughts? Should and could our online actions be held against us in a court of law? To give a better example, should a poster here be held accountable if they post a negative review of an interaction with certain CMs, which results in job loss?

 

[paintnolish]

Nah...it is just an opinion. It is up to the reader to decide how to take it. Do you know how many posts I've read from people who dislike Coral Reef? I prefer to form my own opinions. I love it!
Just like movie reviews...no biggie!

 

[Aliceacc]

I've never gone there to find a review, nor do I intend to.

I sincerely hope that my students like my class. But, more than that, I KNOW they're learning their math. If that occasionally makes them unhappy, I can live with that. (I know that my own kids sometimes think I'm a bad mom when I make them do things they don't like-- like getting to bed at a decent time or going to the dentist.)

Opinions, particularly opinions of people when they're angry, are not facts. They invariably contain a personal twist on what happened.

So my students are free to discuss my class, in person, on the phone, or online. But there's no reason to read what they say. I prefer to listen to the input of kids come back and tell me they became teachers as a result of my class.

 

[Cindy B]

I'm a college student. When I was a paraprofessional at a middle school, I actually had my name on rate my teachers.

Many many college students look at rate my professors. I tend to look but discredit most of the reviews because it looks like they have been written by 10 year olds. The reviews are little substance and lack any type of useful material.

I've also been told that some professors actually type in favorable reviews in order to boost thier ratings.

I read the ratings and take it with a grain of salt.

As for the legal ramifications, I don't really think there can be one. If you look at most of the Rate my Professors comments: its things like he's keeps you late, he takes attendance, her reports are hard, she is the hardest teacher that I have had, etc..

Those comments are nothing earth shattering.

 

[Maraena]

Opinions, particularly opinions of people when they're angry, are not facts. They invariably contain a personal twist on what happened.

So my students are free to discuss my class, in person, on the phone, or online. But there's no reason to read what they say. I prefer to listen to the input of kids come back and tell me they became teachers as a result of my class.

I agree with you completely. Strangely enough, I'd thought I'd see a different perspective from more people and a tightening of Internet privacy. Opinions, particularly those distorted by emotion, can certainly be painful for those to whom they're directed but, regardless, they're still opinions. My dad had a saying about opinions but it isn't DIS friendly.

Good to know. Thanks for your feedback!

 

[Maraena]

So basically, thus far, we have 3 people saying that one's opinions on internet rating boards shouldn't be place them in legal hot water nor should they be held accountable for them outside those rating boards.

Anyone else?

 

[Nennie]

I have no problem with the site. If there is a student who is disgruntled over a grade, it's pretty easy for others to see right through this. I have read my own reviews, as well as those of others in my department, and feel they are fair.

Besides, I've actiually had students rate me as "hot" (although it's probably not as much of a compliment as I think, as all things are relative)! LOL!! Hey, they can't give us a hotness rating on an SIR report!

 

[Hedy]

FWIW, I knew someone in college who has a relative who was deeply upset by what written about her on ratemyprof. That said think it's any different than having a reputation on campus for being easy/mean/incompetent. As long as it's not slanderous, I don't see the issue.

 

[Maraena]

I have no problem with the site. If there is a student who is disgruntled over a grade, it's pretty easy for others to see right through this. I have read my own reviews, as well as those of others in my department, and feel they are fair.

Besides, I've actiually had students rate me as "hot" (although it's probably not as much of a compliment as I think, as all things are relative)! LOL!! Hey, they can't give us a hotness rating on an SIR report!

I think the chili pepper thing on Rate My Professor is amusing. I've looked through some profiles where the receiver really wasn't all that 'hot' but evidently had a charisma about them. I've seen others where they were definitely attractive. Evidently, intelligence is still attractive!

What are your feelings on JuicyCampus or have you had a chance to look at it?

 

[barkley]

i feel that since the sites are there for people to post their opinions they should be viewed as such-opnions-not facts.

just as as aside. a few years back i was wondering what happened to music teacher i had in highschool that left after my senior year to become a professor of music at a university across the united states from where he had previously taught. i did a google search and found that he still was working for the same university he left for AND then i found a specific site for students of that university to rank/comment teachers and the classes they taught. i thought it was amazing that the comments (good and bad) were almost identical to the comments my fellow students made about this teacher at our 20 year class reunion. the comments were almost divided in the same manner and brought up the same issues the students that encountered him almost a quarter of century before shared (including where we felt his shortcomings in instruction were, which areas we felt he overtaught because he had a personal interest that he chose to have outweigh the needs of completly teaching all of the areas in the stated curriculum, AND some statements about which gender/'type' within that gender was likely to receive from him preferential treatment in grading ). to that end i thought that he was given a very accurate and fair assessment.

 

[Maraena]

FWIW, I knew someone in college who has a relative who was deeply upset by what written about her on ratemyprof. That said think it's any different than having a reputation on campus for being easy/mean/incompetent. As long as it's not slanderous, I don't see the issue.

I've heard of a few professors that feel the same way. It really becomes touchy when the ratings can be seen/searched by hiring universities. Supposedly, they are sometimes used as a measure upon which hiring decisions are made. I find that to be laughable, at best, since most universities place a very small proportion of value on teaching ability and a much larger value on research. (In other words, you can be the best teacher in the department but if your research isn't up to par, it won't matter. This is, of course, dependent on the classification of the university/college though.)

 

[Northstar]

Well, I'm a part-time prof and so far nobody's bothered to rate me. But I do think it's kind of unfair that students get to rate me and my teaching anonymously, with no kind of accountability, and no need to justify the opinion... when any time I rate my students and their work, I am NOT anonymous, have to justify my mark and be accountable, and have to be available for the person rated to come in and argue with me if they don't like the mark!

I guess I want a similar "rate your student" site where profs and teachers can go and anonymously put in what they REALLY think about their students!

Now think about that... how would you like it if you (or your kids) had to read completely candid, no-holds-barred, maybe outright lies, opinions about not only your work in school, but what you look like and how "easy" you are to teach? And you had no way of knowing who was posting this stuff?

So... no, I don't think it should be banned, because of free speech, but I do think it can be harmful.

 

[RadioNate]

My dad is a professor and has rankings on rate my professor. Not to totally throw my dad under the bus but I think their opinions are quite accurate. He has a 3.4 average rating.

Their comments are a lot of things I've told him over the years. He teaches only upper level courses and does get impatient with students who don't get it right away. He does get annoyed by students who don't pay close attention to his lectures. He isn't 'nice.' He expects you to come to every class proficient in the pre-reqs, and prepared by reading the text. If your not prepared and ask a 'dumb' question he will call you out on it.

He is not a professor that I would have enjoyed taking a class from (sorry dad).

But all and all I think his ratings are a fair assessment. Some aren't that nice but you can also pretty much determine those that did well in the class and those that didn't.

 

[Ride Junkie]

I always go to ratemyprofessors before I take a class to see what people have to say. I usually go with whatever the majority is. I agree that you can usually spot a disgruntled student who earned a bad grade. I've had really good luck choosing teachers there, and have left a lot of positive comments.

I doubt if someone's negative review would cost a teacher their job (s long as they aren't saying anything slanderous). It is just an opinion. If there is a serious accusation or something, I would hope it would be investigated before jumping to conclusions & firing the teacher.

 

[DemonLlama]

I presented "The Pickaprof Phenomenon" three years ago at a national conference. The room was completely packed with professors, standing room only, many of whom were shocked at the ratings systems and anonymous feedback.

Sunshine Laws in many states allow Pickaprof to legally obtain all records from public universities, so they can post the number of students who receive As, Bs, Cs, etc in a convenient graph for easy grade shopping.

They've also posted in-house evaluations of professors, since these documents also fall under the Sunshine laws.

Legally, these sites attempt to moderate student comments with the disclaimer that profanity and slanderous comments will not be posted.

Pickaprof has instituted a vague system of displaying comments from "most helpful" to "least." They seem to do this by the amount of specific class details offered in the students' review.

The tenure system in particular has driven many university students to this kind of public ratings game, because there are many professors who are not effective teachers. The cost of higher education is such that students feel they have a right to know if the large majority of an instructor's students are failed each semester, if the person displays misogynistic tendencies, or some other problem that might make them choose another teacher if they knew up front what they were getting into.

It is easy to spot those interested in providing useful feedback to others and those with an ax to grind.

Here is my favorite one about me that I used in my presentation:

(it's listed last on the pickaprof because it was deemed useless )

Strengths

you lucky if there is any

Drawbacks

I hated Mrs. Mask Class she talk for they day and grades you ... you dont know whats for a grade are not and the eassay shes grades way out of propotin i didnt like the class i felt i could not talk to her and ask her a question



Gosh! I can't understand why this student couldn't pass my English Composition class!

I told my students any person using a site such a pickaprof who would deem such a review credible should most certainly choose another instructor!

 

[daisax]

We had a hard copy version of this at my university in the early 80s -- nothing new at all. The reviews were solicited by the university and it may have even been published by the campus press!

You had to separate wheat from chaff . "He comes in 10 minutes late and spends the next 5 minutes looking for his notes, then gets aggravated when the class ends and he's not done yet" or "he's really, really dry, but he does cover all the test material in class, so if you're behind in the outside reading you still stand a chance" gives you a better idea of what you might be getting into than "he's really, really boring."

I do recall that they always pulled out the funniest ones and printed them in the campus newspaper (without naming the specific profs).