At the end of the semester, professors pass out teacher evaluation forms that will give you a chance to rate your professor. Usually you will be asked to complete a list of bubble sheet questions (like "On a scale from 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest, how enthusiastic was your instructor about the topic?'). You will also be asked to answer some questions with written feedback.
Take these evaluations seriously, because your opinion does matter. Here's what teacher evaluations are used for:
- Job performance evaluations. Good evaluations can help your professor receive raises, awards, and promotions. If your professor is untenured, he or she will need consistently good student evaluations to get tenure.
- Feedback. Professors use teacher evaluations to get feedback about their courses. They help professors identify problems and how to fix them, and to see what their students thought was most useful.
The bubble sheet answers are useful, but what professors value most is good written feedback. Most professors will take feedback seriously when it's time to teach this class again. If you are interested in helping out the professor and future students in the class, take the time to leave constructive feedback. Here are some suggestions:
- Be specific. The more specific you can be about what you liked and did not, the more helpful your helpful your feedback will be. Instead of writing, "I hated the readings," write, "The book by Jones was very confusing and unorganized, and I didn't think it related well to the course material."
- Offer suggestions. Tell your professor specifically how to change something. Instead of writing, "The Power Point slides were unhelpful," write, "Could you please put less information on each Power Point slide, and use a bigger font?"
- Explain what you liked about the class. Teachers always like getting comments like, "Your class rocked!" However, it would be more helpful to explain specifically what you liked about the class so the professor can continue doing these things. So how about, "Your class rocked, especially the fun class activities that helped me learn the material."
- Don't criticize things your teacher can't control. It's not helpful to complain that the class is too early in the morning, or that the audio visual equipment in the room doesn't work well, or that the classroom is too cold and feels like a dungeon. Your professor probably has no control over these things.
- Be nice. Teacher evaluations make professors nervous, and it's extremely hurtful to receive nasty comments. Honesty is important, but there's no need to be mean. For that reason, evaluations can be a good form of revenge if you hate the teacher. But do you really want to do that?
- Be appropriate. Commentary about physical appearance or grooming isn't appropriate on an evaluation or useful to a professor's ability to teach the class. Resist the temptation to write, "Dude, take a bath!" Do not compliment your teacher on his or her attractiveness, and certainly do not make lewd comments about various body parts. These kinds of comments are disrespectful and make teachers feel uncomfortable.
- Thank your teacher for the great class. If you enjoyed the class, thank your professor. This is one of the nicest things a student can say to a teacher.
For more helpful Campus Life articles, check out these Ten Study Skills Articles Every Student Should Read.
Naomi Rockler-Gladen - Instructional designer and freelance writer, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes some of Suite101's most read work.
