Web site grades SJSU teachers

By: Kris Anderson

Posted: 10/17/06

Turning the tables on their professors, students are doing the grading on the Web site www.ratemyprofessors.com, but some San Jose State University teachers are denouncing the site's accuracy.

Some professors say the end of semester Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness forms, or SOTEs, better reveal professor quality, but Ratemyprofessors.com president reports fiscal gains and a high number of users.

"We have had just over a quarter million users visit in the past month," said Patrick Nagle, the 23-year-old president of the Web site.

Founded by SJSU alumnus John Swapceinski, Nagle says the site grew incredibly in popularity over the years.

With more than 9 million current users, Nagle said the site's revenue has increased from $10,000 to around seven figures since October 2005 when he purchased Ratemyprofessors.com with his partner Will DeSantis, 24.

According to Nagle, Swapceinski got the idea after taking a class with an "ogre" of a teacher.

"(Swapceinski) created the site for students to know which professors to take and which to avoid," Nagle said. "This was after he had a bad experience with a professor that left some students in tears."

A rating of a current SJSU professor read: "(This is) the worst professor I have ever had. San Jose State should be ashamed. So many students say the same thing about this woman, but they continue to let her bring bitterness over her personal life into the classroom.

"She plays favorites to anyone who is willing to get her a cookie and hot chocolate at break. Complain about her she will ruin your grade."

Mary Pisapia, a junior majoring in child development, said she used the site both at Mission Community College and at SJSU.

"I've only posted a couple of times," she said. "If I was happy or upset."

Sigurd Meldal, incoming chair for the instruction and student affairs committee in the Academic Senate, thinks students use Ratemyprofessors.com for amusement or outrage.

"Online rating places like Ratemyprofessors.com or Consumerreports.com appeal to those enraged or enraptured," Meldal said.

The emotional responses of the Web site, he said, are not qualitative because the online forum is unlikely to provide unbiased results.

Although some professors on campus question the accuracy of the ratings, some students view the service as a valuable tool.

"I've used (Ratemyprofessors.com) pretty often," said Ngan Nguyen, a junior majoring in occupational therapy.

She said the written testimonials on teachers posted by students helped more than the numerical grades in the areas of easiness, helpfulness, clarity and rater interest.

"Most of my professors have been good to some degree because of Ratemyprofessors," she said.

Lisa Bigelow, a senior psychology major, said it's a better choice for students to use the site.

"With classes that have a variety of times, it becomes a very useful tool," she said.

Geology professor Don Reed, who checks his ratings regularly, said the site doesn't accurately relay student opinion.

"In theory, (Ratemyprofessors.com) may have merit," Reed said. "But in practice, it's not an accurate reflection of the course."

Reed, echoing Sigurd Meldal, contends that students tend only to post on the site when angry or happy with a professor, as opposed to judging teaching methods or course effectiveness.

Reed claims the site is statistically inaccurate due to a small sample size of respondents.

"How can you rate a class when only 1 or 2 percent of students respond?" Reed said.

Nagle disagreed, saying, "How can you judge accuracy of one's opinion?"

He thought the service his Web site supplies is a student right.

"I believe students are consumers of college," Nagle said. "And when they have to pay money for (their education), they should have the right to know about their professors."

Despite both praise and criticism from some faculty members and students, Reed and Meldal agree that the SOTEs, give more objective and accurate feedback for grading professors.

SOTEs offer the same amount of invisibility as Ratemyprofessors.com, while giving a more comprehensive and accurate professor evaluation, said Shannon Bros, chair of the professional standards committee in the Academic Senate.

"The SOTEs offer a 75 percent response rate," Bros said.

Abraham Guizar, a graduate student in computer engineering, said he thought the SOTEs were powerful as well because almost every student fills them out.

"(The SOTE grades) are not just people with something really good or really bad things to say," Guizar said.

An effort is being made currently, Bros said, to take SOTEs online, giving students the opportunity to grade their teachers mid-semester.

"It would be an in-flight check, if you will," Bros said.

She said that although the online SOTE is still in the testing phases, students would be able to enter the ID numbers, possibly through my.sjsu.edu, and rate the courses as they are in progress.

"I am a member of (Ratemyprofessors.com)," Bros said. "At first, it was because I was curious."

She said she liked the idea that students could view peer opinion of professors, but said the SOTEs are a better way of rating professors.

"The written student responses (at the end of the SOTEs) are of extreme value," she said.

Because personnel decisions are made based on the student evaluation form scores, the information becomes confidential, Bros said.

Sigurd Meldal summed up his thoughts of the site, saying students use it either for amusement or outrage, as opposed to the opinions expressed in the written response boxes in the SOTEs.

"There is a broad participation in SOTEs," Meldal said. "Whereas, there is a bi-polar constituency with Ratemyprofessors.com."

Abraham Guizar thought a generic preview of a given professors teaching style would be a tool students could rely on for picking classes.