Grading the Graders

Roddy Roediger’s point that what works for one student may not work for others is important [Observer, August 2003]. I remind faculty who are concerned about some low ratings or critical comments that students differ in prior knowledge, motivation, etc., so we need a variety of teaching strategies if we hope to be effective with most students. We then look at the critical comments to see if there are ways of reaching these students without turning off others.

The problem is not with the student ratings; they provide useful evidence. However, faculty committees and administrators often misuse them, partly because they don’t want to take the time to look at additional evidence. The fact that there is a number indicating the mean overall rating gives them an easy way to make a judgment without consideration of the context. Student ratings can help a personnel committee decide whether a teacher is good, okay, or needs help, but the committee also needs to look at syllabi, exams, and other course materials.

Teachers who hope to improve their ratings by making their course easier are probably not going to profit. Of course, there are courses that are so difficult that most students don’t learn well and appropriately give poor ratings. But only poor teachers blame the students for “not meeting my standards.” Generally, students prefer and give higher ratings to a course that they feel has challenged them appropriately.