Course Evaluations

 

Okay, I suppose it's easier to put up course evaluations when they are good, which mine have become over the years, but in my defense, I did so when I first started teaching, when my eval scores were *much* lower.

 

More generally, I think that students have a right to this information. They pay a lot of money for their classes, so they should have informed choices. Some Universities provide faculty evaluation scores directly to students, and I think UConn should as well. Students' want of this information is illustrated by the popularity of websites such as www.myprofessorsucks.com and www.ratemyprofessors.com, on which students post comments about faculty.

 

UConn's evaluation forms have students rate professors from 1 to 10 on eleven items covering presentation, clarity, grading, accessibility, interest... pretty standard stuff. Professors are given their average across all items. The department mean is usually between 8.4 and 8.6.

 

2006

- Soci 216, Criminology, 9.7 (out of 10)
- Soci 230, Social Psych, 9.9
- Soci 216, Criminology, 9.8

2005

- Soci 230, Social Psych, 9.7

2004

- Soci 230, 9.4
- Soci 305, Crim Theory, 9.1

2003

- Soci 230, Social Psych, 9.4
- Soci 230, Social Psych, 9.4
- Soci 205, Social Psych, 9.2
- Soci 321, Methods

2002

- Soci 205, Methods, 8.8
- Soci 230, Social Psych, 9.3

2001

- Soci 321, Methods, 8.2

2000

- Soci 205, Methods, 8.8
- Soci 218, Delinquency, 9.0

1999

- Soci 205, Methods, 8.9

1998

- Soci 217, Deviance, 7.8
- Soci 217, Deviance, 7.5

 

Note: Evaluations are not collected in all courses. E.g., I teach a field experience course each semester that doesn't have evaluations.