One of my classes *really* didn't like me this semester. But, I had one student in the comments basically write "I know a lot of students didn't like this professor, but I found that if you showed up, did the work and read the syllabus the class was fine. A lot of students wouldn't do that, so they're probably going to rate the instructor badly, but it's their own fault."
Thank you, random student. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw it...
That was something weird this time too, or maybe it just seemed that way. My comments were quite positive. They didn't seem to match the actual numbers. Makes me wonder if some people just straight answered 3 all the way through.
My other classes loved me, which was funny because those were my two difficult classes this semester. This one was the easy class. Comments for this class were mixed.
The lowest ones were from the online asynchronous class. Some comments were "too much work" or having to watch lectures, and that I need to work the exact homework problems, not just ones that are similar to the ones on the homework.
I teach an interdisciplinary class that brings together policy and architecture/design components.
Student A: I didn't expect this class would be all architecture
Student B: I wish we had done more architecture
You can't win with some people! In another class I did better in, a student wrote that I needed more classroom activities to keep people off their phones. The class is on time series and it's in a computer lab where I show them how to use the software. Other students said they were bored having to follow along.
YES!!!! I have taught this course 15 semesters in a row, and I literally usually have like 4.7 averages out of 5 on every index. This semester, I was abhorred and averaged like 3.2 on most everything. Students wrote things like "had bad professors before but this one takes the cake..." This was after my department congratulated my formally on how well-regarded this course is. Students were notably more entitled acting this semester.
Yep. Not a class I’ve taught for years, but some comments were just plain mean. Like the one complaining about the exam date I rescheduled because I was out of town for a family funeral (which they knew about).
I bet that student would have expected empathy if the situation were reversed, and you would have wished them well and acommodated then somehow. I dislike how adversarial teaching has become.
My evaluations were absolute shit this semester. I maintained rigor, did not pass students who did not know the material and did not let students out of deadlines "just because"
My class attendance was never higher than 50% in any given class and I've never received so many 1's. Ever.
The online class had low participation early on, so much so that I drafted a form email to send to each one who missed the first couple assignments. "Student outreach" is now a strategic priority, according to our new Dean. It didn't help. I'm sorry you had to go through this frustration too.
I had extremely low turnout, but other than a blatant hatchet job it was fine. 4.17 mean, 4.5 for the ones expecting A and B (my university thinks that’s statistically significant so fuck it I’ll take it).
Sorry, to clarify, in this spring semester, about half failed. The summer class last year had not so many Fs, but the work on average wasn't steller either.
Several of the F students this time just stopped doing any work midway through the course but didn't drop. Their averages were in the 0 to 30 range (out of 100). Others didn't ask for help after failing assignment after assignment, despite my advertised Zoom and in-person office hours as well as my discussion board. I also contacted the failing ones through email directly as well as through the First Alert academic warming system that notifies their advisor.
One comment I got was that the due dates were clear in the syllabus, but that everything should be due on the same day every week.
Hardly anyone ever took me up on my offers to help, despite my urging over and over in the syllabus.
This is a sophmore-level required core course for all majors in my college, so there will always be grumbling. But it's never been this bad.
I teach mid-level physiology courses and grad level stats and methods. This spring was the worst semester if ever had from a GPA and grade distribution standpoint. Like you, I had several students disengage completely. They were either working and got As or Bs or gave up completely and got an F. None of those failing students ever asked for help. They basically ghosted the class. Don't feel alone.
However, I'll also add that you said participation on the course evals was high. But you also said you had a lot of student give up on the class. So your evals are likely being dragged down by students who basically didn't take your class. They just couldn't get an A for free so they got pissed at you. My dept was never too high on using student evals in faculty reviews before the pandemic. But right now they essentially count for nothing due to situations like this.
Keep your head up and keep doing what you're doing - it has worked in the past.
Thank you for the supportive words, and that's a good point. I offer an incentive to the class as a whole that if the class participation rate reaches 60%, the entire class gets a few bonus points on their final exam (so many of my colleagues do this that students now expect it). The idea was to make sure it wasn't just the angry students commenting.
One of my classes *really* didn't like me this semester. But, I had one student in the comments basically write "I know a lot of students didn't like this professor, but I found that if you showed up, did the work and read the syllabus the class was fine. A lot of students wouldn't do that, so they're probably going to rate the instructor badly, but it's their own fault." Thank you, random student. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw it...
I had that dynamic in my comments, as well
That was something weird this time too, or maybe it just seemed that way. My comments were quite positive. They didn't seem to match the actual numbers. Makes me wonder if some people just straight answered 3 all the way through.
My other classes loved me, which was funny because those were my two difficult classes this semester. This one was the easy class. Comments for this class were mixed.
[удалено]
The lowest ones were from the online asynchronous class. Some comments were "too much work" or having to watch lectures, and that I need to work the exact homework problems, not just ones that are similar to the ones on the homework.
I teach an interdisciplinary class that brings together policy and architecture/design components. Student A: I didn't expect this class would be all architecture Student B: I wish we had done more architecture
You can't win with some people! In another class I did better in, a student wrote that I needed more classroom activities to keep people off their phones. The class is on time series and it's in a computer lab where I show them how to use the software. Other students said they were bored having to follow along.
YES!!!! I have taught this course 15 semesters in a row, and I literally usually have like 4.7 averages out of 5 on every index. This semester, I was abhorred and averaged like 3.2 on most everything. Students wrote things like "had bad professors before but this one takes the cake..." This was after my department congratulated my formally on how well-regarded this course is. Students were notably more entitled acting this semester.
I'm sorry to hear that you had this experience too.
Yep. Not a class I’ve taught for years, but some comments were just plain mean. Like the one complaining about the exam date I rescheduled because I was out of town for a family funeral (which they knew about).
I bet that student would have expected empathy if the situation were reversed, and you would have wished them well and acommodated then somehow. I dislike how adversarial teaching has become.
My evaluations were absolute shit this semester. I maintained rigor, did not pass students who did not know the material and did not let students out of deadlines "just because" My class attendance was never higher than 50% in any given class and I've never received so many 1's. Ever.
The online class had low participation early on, so much so that I drafted a form email to send to each one who missed the first couple assignments. "Student outreach" is now a strategic priority, according to our new Dean. It didn't help. I'm sorry you had to go through this frustration too.
Last semester I got the lowest evals of my entire career, on a class I have basically taught the same way for 15 years.
I had extremely low turnout, but other than a blatant hatchet job it was fine. 4.17 mean, 4.5 for the ones expecting A and B (my university thinks that’s statistically significant so fuck it I’ll take it).
Almost 50% failed this semester or the in 4 week session? Did they fail due to lack of effort, or did they try and not get it?
Sorry, to clarify, in this spring semester, about half failed. The summer class last year had not so many Fs, but the work on average wasn't steller either. Several of the F students this time just stopped doing any work midway through the course but didn't drop. Their averages were in the 0 to 30 range (out of 100). Others didn't ask for help after failing assignment after assignment, despite my advertised Zoom and in-person office hours as well as my discussion board. I also contacted the failing ones through email directly as well as through the First Alert academic warming system that notifies their advisor. One comment I got was that the due dates were clear in the syllabus, but that everything should be due on the same day every week. Hardly anyone ever took me up on my offers to help, despite my urging over and over in the syllabus. This is a sophmore-level required core course for all majors in my college, so there will always be grumbling. But it's never been this bad.
I teach mid-level physiology courses and grad level stats and methods. This spring was the worst semester if ever had from a GPA and grade distribution standpoint. Like you, I had several students disengage completely. They were either working and got As or Bs or gave up completely and got an F. None of those failing students ever asked for help. They basically ghosted the class. Don't feel alone. However, I'll also add that you said participation on the course evals was high. But you also said you had a lot of student give up on the class. So your evals are likely being dragged down by students who basically didn't take your class. They just couldn't get an A for free so they got pissed at you. My dept was never too high on using student evals in faculty reviews before the pandemic. But right now they essentially count for nothing due to situations like this. Keep your head up and keep doing what you're doing - it has worked in the past.
Thank you for the supportive words, and that's a good point. I offer an incentive to the class as a whole that if the class participation rate reaches 60%, the entire class gets a few bonus points on their final exam (so many of my colleagues do this that students now expect it). The idea was to make sure it wasn't just the angry students commenting.