Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
The end of the fall semester is here which means most students will be receiving evaluation forms from their professors.
Teacher evaluations give students the chance to voice their comments and concerns about the courses they are taking while giving teachers a point of view from which they can improve the course.
Jason Kirkmeyer, an english professor at the University of Wyoming, believes teacher evaluations are good for teachers and students.
“There is no better way to assess what goes on in the classroom,” Kirkmeyer said. “It is the only way the invisible — what actually goes on in the classroom — is made visible.”
Most teacher evaluations are given through email. UW has made the switch from paper evaluations to online in the past three years. Though some evaluations are still given on paper in class.
Dr. Anna Alexander, associate vice president of academic affairs for undergraduate education at UW, has seen the effect the switch to online evaluations has made.
“Though online evaluations are more convenient for students and staff, they have made participation go down,” Alexander said. “Students already receive a lot of emails from the university and sometimes the evaluations get lost.”
Despite the lowering number of participants, some students around campus see value in the evaluations.
Logan Oler, a sophomore and international student, thinks teacher evaluations are important for the school.
“I already did all my teacher evaluations this semester,” Oler said. “I think they are useful for shaping the classroom and how students learn.”
However, not every student on campus believes in giving evaluations.
“I think teacher evaluations are stupid,” Austin Barlow, a freshman at UW, said. “They want us to do them so they get a raise.”
Evaluations are mainly used to assess how course material can be shaped to fill the needs of students better, Alexander said. Teachers do not typically receive any sort of monetary gain solely based on students’ evaluations.
Evaluations are strongly considered by different UW departments.
“Most departments look at evaluations as part of yearly teacher evaluations,” Alexander said. “Department heads use evaluations to help teachers improve.”
Students who wish to evaluate their teachers still have the opportunity to do so, as most evaluations do not close until after finals week.
UW teachers encourage students to do their evaluations.
“Teachers are grateful for that kind of feedback,” Kirkmeyer said. “I am doing this job, because I want to be a teacher.”
