Turning the tables on the teachers

Religious studies professor Kathryn Lofton advises students to write evaluations like they're appraising a friend's outfit. \n"You want them to look their best, but they can't change their body type," Lofton said. "The bad thing to say is you look bad in that outfit. The good thing is to say maybe pink is a better color for you."\nAside from finals, the end of the semester brings students the opportunity to let professors know how they really feel about the class. The question is: Do professors and administrators really care what students say?\nLofton says they do. Most of the faculty she knows will change their teaching habits after reading evaluations, she said. However, this change is contingent on the criticism being constructive. \n"What is more useful is when students comment on themes and teaching habits, like 'I don't like Power Point' or 'I didn't think this book fit in,'" Lofton said. "If a student simply says he or she doesn't like (the professor), or doesn't like their clothes," a comment Lofton has seen appear on a colleague's evaluation, "the chances of making an impact are not as good."\nSenior Curtis Griner takes a different approach to the evaluations he completes, focusing on personality over specific complaints. \n"It's more useful to be personal because you've probably already told the professor if you have a problem with a teaching style," Griner said.\nEvaluations are not something Griner takes lightly. In fact, he said it's often something he's thought about long before he starts filling in bubbles on a Scantron.\n"It's mainly a release for me," Griner said. "If I don't like a particular professor, I think of ways all semester that I can say things on the evaluation."\nThis "release" has also been used for good, Griner said. Last semester, about 10 students in one of his classes agreed before evaluations that their goal was to help their professor earn tenure, Griner said.\nThis goal was not that out of reach, said Bonnie Brownlee, associate dean for undergraduate studies for the IU School of Journalism. Within Ernie Pyle Hall, full-time faculty on a tenure track are evaluated every year, and evaluations are a big part of that process, Brownlee said.\nWhen it comes to graduate students and adjunct faculty, the school pays even more attention to evaluations, Brownlee said, adding that their progress is discussed both during and at the end of the semester.\nMathematics professor Greg Peters, also monitors untenured professors in his department. \nThe standard evaluation form consists of about a dozen general questions and a corresponding bubble for the student's answer, and a few questions at the end where students are asked more open-ended questions. When evaluations are submitted at the end of the semester, it is the comments students have written that Peters finds particularly interesting. \n"Sometimes, the numerical parts aren't really giving you an accurate read-out, so if you can get half of your class to put down one or two constructive criticisms, sometimes those can be insightful," he said. "Especially if two or three students suggest the same thing."\nThe Italian department provides evaluation forms in addition to the standard Scantron with this intent, said associate professor of Italian Massimo Scalabrini. Scalabrini is charged with overseeing associate instructors within the department. \n"We find that there is some merit in filling out electronic responses, but if they have open-ended questions, they can articulate their thoughts more fully," Scalabrini said. "They give you more meaningful feedback to the teachers."\nScalabrini tries to make sure this feedback reaches professors. While each professor receives his or her students' evaluations after grades have been issued, Scalabrini said he urges all his associate instructors to come and talk with him about responses, good or bad. In the case of negative remarks, another step is taken.\n"I talk to the AIs who got consistently bad evaluations," Scalabrini said. "When I see that there may be a problem, that there may be a pattern, I talk to (them) to see what can be done." \nEvaluations are also a good place to turn for solutions, Scalabrini said.\n"If read with a critical eye and a grain of salt, they can tell us a good deal about what works and doesn't work in class," Scalabrini said. "They tell us something interesting, a different perspective on the reality of teaching." \nFor the student who still has a sour taste in his mouth from a disappointing class, even after completing an evaluation, other options for recourse do exist. Junior Kyle Wood inadvertently got his opinion heard when he mentioned to his advisor that a professor he had never returned graded assignments. \n"The next time I went in to see my adviser she said, 'Oh, by the way, that professor was fired,'" Wood said.\nSenior Kimberly Musgrave once took her complaints straight to Dean of Students Dick McKaig.\nWhile McKaig says students are welcome to come to him with problems, he encourages them to first speak to their professor and, if necessary, the department chair. \n"That usually would be the place at which most resolutions of this type would come about," McKaig said. \nHe said he thinks there is a system of checks and balances in place between students and professors, but often students are reluctant to use it.\nHowever, he encourages students to move beyond this, saying, "There is a willingness to listen"