According to a study from Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, opinion expressed on ratemyprofessors.com correlates to official university and college evaluations. An article in the Sept. 12 issue of the Globe and Mail published the study’s findings.

Given that ratemyprofessors uses the criteria of helpfulness, clarity, easiness and hotness, it’s surprising the opinions expressed on the site indicate a professor’s teaching abilities.

While it’s obvious the metrics of easiness and hotness are irrelevant when judging a professor, the site’s uncensored commenting system leads to a wide array of unsubstantiated comments and attacks. The site is rife with problems, but without an available alternative, it remains popular.

Higher education is an investment that costs students thousands of dollars to pursue. Learning is often correlated to the effectiveness of an instructor’s teaching. Lectures are essentially a service, so students should have some information on what they’re money is being spent on.

When a PhD is often the requirement to teach a class instead of mandatory training, there’s no guarantee that a professor is an effective teacher.

Queen’s should follow the lead of University of British Columbia and McGill and make the results of University Survey of Student Assessment of Teaching (USAT) evaluations public for future students.

The anonymity of ratemyprofessors.com allows for many disrespectful comments. Adding the extra step of moderation, as occurs with USAT evaluations, would be constructive.

Where the USAT evaluations excel in evaluating professors is with an emphasis on comments as opposed to numerical ratings. It’s important that the focus of evaluations be constructive criticism, asking students what they liked about a course and what they would change.

This could be helpful is understanding whether a professor’s teaching style is compatible with a personal learning style and might bring to light an instructor’s personal idiosyncrasies.

The study stated that professor ratings are strongly tied to a course’s easiness. Evaluations don’t take into account the effort, or lack thereof, that the student puts into learning.

The best way to assess an instructor is to personally attend their class, but having the results of USAT evaluations would be a useful tool for students who are unsure of what courses to choose. Until an alternative option is made available, students will continue using ratemyprofessors.com, regardless of its flaws.

Evaluating professors is necessary but constructive criticism always goes further than anonymous and unsupported comments.