Beachpride.com
lets students rate teachers
By
Jacob Ian Jahn
On-line Forty-Niner
Students
will now have the power to say if a teacher
makes the grade with the "Rate Your
Professors," option at beachpride.com.
Many students have had professors that affected
them in one way or another. The professor
evaluations now give students the ability
to either praise or criticize their teachers
in a constructive way.
"I
think that the rate your professor is a
clever idea," said April Zoe, an English
major Cal State Long Beach. "Yet, I
don't think it's fair or completely accurate
since each students' opinion differs from
the other and some students could be trashing
a teacher for personal reasons."
The
"Rate Your Professor" option on
beachpride.com was started up about three
months ago according to Svavar Svavarsson,
the Web master for Beach Pride.
"It was one of Danny Vivian's big campaign
pushes." Svavarsson said.
At
beachpride.com CSULB professor can be graded
by their students and then their grades
are posted on the Internet. Each teacher
is graded on four different categories.
First, and most important, easiness, then
followed by effectiveness, availability
and concern. Then the numbers are tallied
and put in the overall ratings. Finally
there is a section where students can comment
on the teacher's overall ability.
"I
have never heard of 'Rate Your Professors'
but I think that that it might be less than
representative of the full population of
the class," said professor Wade Martin,
who received an A for his economics 333
class. "I feel that if an 'A' implies
that those doing the rating got something
out of the class then I feel good about
it. I want students to learn something and
enjoy the experience."
While
some teachers can sit back and revel in
the fact that they received an A, others
have aspects of their classes to be concerned
about. Professor Sam Councilman received
an overall rating of an "F" in
his math 222 class and is confused as to
why he received such a low rating.
"I
don't really understand what it indicates,
is it just a popularity contest or does
it really indicate anything about the professor's
teaching performance?" Councilman asked.
"I want to know who gets the high grades,
the funny teacher, the easy teacher or is
it the good-looking teacher."
With
confused professors, and students that are
unsure of the site's accuracy, the fate
of "Rate Your Professors" is in
the hands of the students to use to their
advantage. If users of beachpride.com report
accurately on teachers this could be an
excellent way to give fellow students insight
into classes when filling their schedules.
Currently
the site has 280 professor's rated and about
500 ratings.
"It's
seen a fair about of activity," Svavarsson
said.
"I
will use the 'Rate Your Professor' option
in the future," Zoe said. "But
I am going to use it to rate the teacher
as best as I can and really give an honest
opinion."
|
