As students get through their semesters here at UH they usually pick up a few tips along the way. From where to find the cheapest books, the best study spots or even knowing which professors not to take, the information students pass along to each other can make a huge difference in their academic careers.
With the rising cost of tuition, the added strain among students to pick the most effective professors is even more prevalent. With the variety of professor rating Web sites developed within the past eight years, students have an opportunity to read student-generated reviews on professors and find out everything from grading history to sex appeal.
Pick-A-Prof.com and RateMyProfessors.com are two of the major players in a slew of Web sites which enable students to investigate professors on details such as the class’ overall grade-point average from the previous semester and allows them to leave comments on a professor’s teaching style and how class grade percentages break down as far as tests, quizzes and participation before even enrolling in the class.
RateMyProfessors claims to be the Internet’s largest listing of collegiate professor ratings, with more than 6.8 million student ratings of more than one million professors, according to its Web site.
Whether the professor reviews actually correlate to the instructor’s performance is still a question among students, and the overall effectiveness of the rating systems has mixed reviews among UH students.
Accounting senior Stephen Tran, who has used professor rating Web sites since his senior year of high school, said RateMyProfessor and Pick-A-Prof played a major role in his education.
"They saved my academic life," Tran said. "I know there are a lot of bad teachers out there, so it’s always good to know who to take, who’s easier, who’s really lenient and who’s nice."
Tran not only uses the Web sites as a tool for deciding which professors to take, but also contributes to reviewing his teachers as well.
"If I get a bad teacher I’ll make sure to comment. I’d rather save people and tell them not to take a bad professor," Tran said.
For Christy Schuepbach, an engineering senior who’s used the Web sites for three semesters, Pick-A-Prof and RateMyProfessor have proven helpful.
"I like to see the previous semester scores to see how a professor grades and the average GPAs," Schuepbach said. "I also like to see general comments about teaching style. If they teach to the board and don’t interact well then I won’t take them."
She feels as though the information is accurate, even though the Web sites are sometimes subject to the rantings of irate students.
"You end up with a better instructor. With things like physics – when you might have a hard time understanding the instructor – to find (a teacher) that students (say) can actually communicate is useful."
Communication junior Kristen Gerner has used the Web sites since she started college to find the easier professors to take.
"If (students) say the teacher requires attendance every day and there’s pop quizzes all the time or things that make the teacher sound hard then I wouldn’t want to take the class," Gerner said. "I know people that have taken the same classes as me with different teachers and have had a harder time."
Not all students, however, make use of these Web sites. Instead, some students just register for courses that best fit their schedule rather than on professor reviews or teaching skills.
"For me, it’s more important to take a class that fits my schedule rather than whether a teacher is awesome or who likes them," art history senior Cesar Vides said.
The credibility of the Web sites is another reason why Vides chooses not to use them.
"I think students don’t grade teachers on how well they teach, but rather if they got a good grade with them or not," Vides said. "It probably says more about the student than it does the teacher."
Some students don’t use the rating Web Sites simply because, with their departments, it doesn’t necessarily help, as only a handful of instructors are available.
"I don’t think I would use it especially because with my major there are so few teachers, so you’re bound to take them regardless," Vides said.
