As millions of shoppers crowd the malls this week to purchase gifts for the holidays, UW-Madison students get a special treat of their own: the chance to grade the professors and teaching assistants they've grown to love and hate.
I like to be able to give my opinion about what I think teachers should be doing to help me learn,"" UW-Madison sophomore Kayla Simonson said. ""I also like to be able to be harsh to the ones that aren't very good teachers.""
Twice a year, hundreds of thousands of teacher evaluations are given out to UW-Madison students in an attempt to ensure that professors and teachers are teaching their classes effectively. However, many of the teachers that receive complaints still remain after years of student frustrations.
""I think that TAs pay more attention to what I write than actual professors because they have more riding on evals, but I feel like professors just do them because they are supposed to,"" Simonson said. ""I don't think they actually read them.""
There is also concern over whether or not written comments will yield any change in how teachers approach their subject.
""I don't write the long comments because I don't know if the teachers actually read them,"" UW-Madison sophomore Casey Spitzer said.""It just seems like after reading ratemyprofessors.com, the teachers don't switch up their style of teaching, no matter what the students suggest.""
Students are sometimes deterred from writing comments in larger lectures because of the number of evaluations that teachers will receive.
""On Tuesday, I filled out an evaluation for my psych teacher, but he obviously isn't going to read 300 student evals,"" Spitzer said. ""I think writing about a TA makes sense because they have less students while professors have, like, 500.""
Faculty members have also expressed concern over the lack of importance of these evaluations, especially to those who are now receiving tenure.
""I know for a fact that there are people out there who never read their evaluations because they couldn't care less,"" UW-Madison Spanish TA, Anthony Smith said. ""I know professors that after many years of teaching are still concerned about how they do their job even until they retire. But there are professors that jump all the hoops they need to get tenure, and once they do, they aren't as concerned.""
Although Wisconsin is one of the top research schools in the nation, this may interfere with the quality of instruction from professors conducting research, even more than those with tenure.
""When a professor gets tenure, it's not that they can be totally horrible and get away with it but with Madison being a research institution, sometimes promotions are based on what you publish and not how you teach,"" Smith said. ""I think research sometimes takes a slightly higher priority over teaching here, based on my experience.""
At UW-Madison, professors are allowed to subsidize their work through grant money they have received from the research. This means professors can essentially stop lecturing students and focus solely on their other work.
""You can buy yourself out of teaching if you have enough external support,"" said UW-Madison physics professor Mark Saffman, who looks over professor evaluations for the physics department. ""Teaching on research is important, but the weight varies.""
Steve Ackerman, a tenured professor for the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, makes 75 percent of his income based on research, and supports the idea behind the evaluation process. He believes teacher evaluations serve as another kind of research that allow professors to improve their teaching ability.
""Our approach to doing research is to collect data, and so there is a phrase that is starting to propagate about teaching as research,"" Ackerman said. ""If you want to change your teaching, you need to collect data, such as the student evals.""
Ackerman has also taken extra steps to receive class feedback beyond what his department requires. This year, he submitted a mid-semester online evaluation that students could complete anonymously. In the past, he has regularly met with his Honors students to talk about how the class is going.
Additionally, he sees room for improvement with how the department presents and regulates evaluations.
""[Evaluations are done] at the end of the year so it can't help the class,"" Ackerman said. ""A lot [the evaluation] is about the teacher, but it's not getting to what the students felt they learned by taking the class,"" Ackerman said.
Although he has tenure, Ackerman continues to look over his reviews.
""I look for the general fill-in-the-bubble, which to me is an assessment of if the students liked the course, but it doesn't tell me what I'm doing right or what I'm doing wrong,"" Ackerman said. ""I often spend most of my time looking at the written comments.
As Ackerman points out, this is a give-and-take relationship because students need to provide constructive feedback in order for the evaluation process to be helpful.
""Generally you don't get nearly as many [written comments] because students aren't willing to take the time, although sometimes I wonder if they think we pay attention to them,"" Ackerman said.
To get students to take evaluations more seriously, they need to feel that their opinions are making a difference.
""Students put a lot of time in toward our classes, and if these professors implement the changes we suggest, they would become better teachers,"" Spitzer said.
Unfortunately, even with the possibility of doing online evaluations or taking additional comments mid-semester, teacher evaluations do not look to be changing any time soon.
""This process has not been changed in seven years, in part to allow comparison so we can see whether or not anything is getting back,"" said faculty associate Jim Reardon, who looks over TA reviews for the physics department.
After all this time, could change be in the air for the way the University evalutates its faculty?
""Good luck,"" Ackerman said.
