Each semester students are asked to fill out teacher evaluations only to find that the same teachers are teaching the same way and not much, if anything, has changed.
We are told that these evaluations are looked at very closely, yet we see and hear other students complaining about the professor who drones on and gives a test that relates in no way to his droning.
These evaluations are also comic relief for some professors.
They stand before their class and say, “You won’t believe what I read on an evaluation …” and then they give a hearty chuckle.
If professors aren’t taking the evaluations seriously then how can students take them seriously? It’s like the professor doesn’t take his class seriously and expects the students to.
We think, “Why waste our time with evaluations? Obviously they are not making a difference.” Students do care about what they are learning and how it’s being taught. Don’t ask for our opinion and then leave us wondering what was done about that professor who disregarded the book and tested us on the price of wax paper in India.
The questions on these evaluations are so redundant and nothing is really accomplished. “Are the tests given in the class fair?” is just one of the questions.
I mean, come on! Of course tests aren’t fair! They measure a person’s intelligence on whether or not they have crammed for six hours the night before.
Students will be inclined to fill out these evaluations if they can actually see some changes taking place within the college department and around campus.
If the administration really cares about what is being taught in a class then why don’t they unexpectedly show up and evaluate it themselves. If they listen to our droning professors talking in monotone and not teaching $1,600 worth of education, then they would think twice about the paper evaluation.
And since the budget is so horrible why don’t they cut out the evaluations and the teachers who suck, and take our education more seriously.
Teacher evaluations not only waste students’ and teachers’ time but they also have taken the lives of many innocent trees.

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