Academics unmasked!
[Warning: cheap frivolity ahead]
The internet is a great democratizer, giving power to the ordinary folk often at the expense of the Great and Good. Blogging is a case in point. Another is the website ratemyprofessors.com.
One thing I dread slightly as a teacher is having the students evaluate my classes. Luckily, official evaluations only get published in the most vague ways. That "you suck," or have a propensity for "flirting with the female students," largely gets left out of published professors’ ratings. That is until the advent of ratemyprofessors.com.
The Bloggernacle seems full of lawyers, but there are a few ivory-towered academics around too. So, I thought it would be fun to see what their students really think of them. Sure, we know they can pontificate, but can they teach?
Wilfried Decoo: hot pepper! Apparently he knows his French grammar (amazing!)
Jim Faulconer: smiley face! Great guy! Incredible logician! A bit of a slave-driver, though.
Frank McIntyre: hot pepper! Cool and awesome apparently. And they call him "Frank."
Russel Fox: smiley face! They love him, even if he is a bit of a snob.
Oh, and the real point of this post:
Me: English accent and tight pants. That’s it really.
(Unfortunately I couldn’t find ratings for certain other ‘Nacle academics. If anyone finds any, please post away (but not if they’re very negative–we name, we don’t shame!!))
I’m on there too!
Right here.
Comment by Jordan — May 18, 2005 @ 3:00 pm
Lou Midgley: arrives unannounced at Lighthouse Ministries and rudely interrupts the Tanners having fondue with George Smith.
Comment by a random John — May 18, 2005 @ 3:01 pm
Me too!
In order to centralize student complaints, I put a link to the ratings on the teaching section of my homepage.
What I really want to know is: who has taken direct action when their averages get too low? For the record, I have not, and I would never stoop so low as to give myself a hot pepper.
Comment by Jonathan Green — May 18, 2005 @ 3:24 pm
Don’t forget Jonathan Green — he’s very knowledgable [sic] and hilarious. Also, he lets his students watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and is apparently “a major wiseass.”
Comment by Bill — May 18, 2005 @ 3:27 pm
Looks like he’s quick on the draw too
Comment by Bill — May 18, 2005 @ 3:28 pm
Jonathan:
Wow! They love you!
I wouldn’t influence the ratings myself. Just get my wife to do it….!
Comment by Ronan — May 18, 2005 @ 3:41 pm
Look up Dennis Potter. He got a hot chili pepper, and if you ask me, he deserves it.
Comment by Arturo Toscanini — May 18, 2005 @ 5:12 pm
rj: You beat me to the Lou Midgely punch again. And the other day you had to remind me via email. I’ve completely lost my Lou Midgely edge!
Comment by Arturo Toscanini — May 18, 2005 @ 5:13 pm
Bill: And everything my students say about me is true, all too true.
I’m sure that ratemyprofessors.com gets used to a certain extent in academic hiring, too. At least the sword has two edges: when I had an on-campus interview coming up at a place I was wary of, I checked the ratings of my potential colleagues and found they were abysmal, so I didn’t feel bad when no job offer was forthcoming.
Comment by Jonathan Green — May 18, 2005 @ 6:00 pm
Tight pants! Ha! Niiiice Ronan.
Comment by Geoff J — May 18, 2005 @ 6:37 pm
AT,
My Midgley genes make me quick on the draw, at least on that subject.
Comment by a random John — May 18, 2005 @ 7:37 pm
Hey, this is a fun thread! Can we all join in and post our pictures and do a mini “hot or not” bloggernacle thread??!
http://www.hotornot.com
Comment by Tess — May 18, 2005 @ 9:10 pm
Tess,
You first.
Comment by Ronan — May 19, 2005 @ 7:27 am