Course evaluations, once the ideal time-killer for those last awkward 15 minutes of lecture, have been going digital for a while now, and it looks like they’ll be on courseworks from here on out. A couple of luddite professors seemed peeved by the change, weighing in with comments like:
– “Reading between the lines of the online ones, they’re not sure if it’s going to work.”
– “I asked the administrators and they said, ‘I don’t know,’ and I said, ‘Oh, why would you know?’”
-“I would just lie low until the hectoring reminder e-mails….It would be nice if you could separate out your irritation with the process from your reflections on the courses.”
Do you like the online version? Bwog has heard of some pretty amusing anonymous TA and Prof evaluation comments, and we’re sure you have as well.
30 Comments
@grunt my ta made me suck his dick and I got mouth herpes.
@My TA experience has been nothing short of amazing. They always had thoughtful, useful comments on my papers and were available for discussion anytime I wanted. I think the problem here is that tons of kids just never go to TALK to their TA and work things out. By JUST reading a comment on a paper and making small changes to an assignment is not 100% sure to improve your grade the next time around. Which is why you need to schedule MEETINGS!
@I AM A TA I HATE MY STUDENTS. I fucking then hate them SO fucking much. Greedy, glittering eyes, mouthing the words “V-Tech, V-Tech” incessantly. One of these days I’m a going to f r e a k out.
@most TAs are pretty good. i think i’ve never really had any that sucked or were jerks. more likely professors who are jerks.
@it's me the evaluations are completely pointless.
isn’t this a liberal arts college?
you can’t automate everything.
or can you????????????????????????????????????
@I'm a TA Do most undergraduates think that TAs are assholes?
@Cam I think it’s probably just that nobody really talks about the TAs who aren’t. It’s difficult to notice when a TA is really *good*, especially if we hardly see them and they’re just doing the grading. It’s easy to notice when one is terrible, and this makes for quick, sympathy-sparking gossip.
FWIW, all of my TAs have been excellent, and I’ve been really glad to have them.
@I'm a TA Well, that’s reassuring. No news is good news, I suppose.
@Some TAs are such fucking bitches about grades. Not to mention every single word out of their mouth is dripping with the acid of hate for students. Having been a TA myself, I feel obligated to give them the most scathing reviews possible for being such assholes.
@blubb I do not really care where these evaluations are in the end. Just the ongoing email spamming is rather annoying.
But I agree with the point that bad TAs should get bad grades. Just because students could loose a scholarship for the mere reason of one bad grade, that could be given by a horrible TA does not imply that grad students are untouchable.
If you do a bad job, and some TAs are simply horrible, then you should not teach again the following semester, or at least change a few things. I went to a recitation that started with about 25 people and by the end of the term we were 3-6 people. I would have gone to a different one, but i did not have time for the others…
TAs, do your job well and everything is fine.
@... I don’t like having them on courseworks for two reasons:
1. There seems to be far less of an incentive to do them. They’re sitting there online, rather than having them passed out to a captive group at the end (or beginning) of a class. Then they just, well, disappear if you don’t fill them out within a certain number of days.
2. I don’t believe that they’re completely anonymous. Even though it’s probably 99% unrealistic that the instructor would find out who did the evaluation, the internet does leave a trail.
@hahaha you almost have to be a humanities kid.
@... I’m a political science major. What’s the point?
@undergrad I always give 5’s, even if TA’s are horrible. It’s just common courtesy. most of them aren’t vindictive in their grading, so why should I be on their evals?
if we already filled out a form in class, are we supposed to do it online too?
@You get You get an A from me!!!!!!
@Hmmm ... “I always give 5’s, even if TA’s are horrible.”
So your TAs must give you As on your papers and problem sets, even if they’re horrible, right?
Anyway, I like the online evaluations because I type faster than I write. However, I do NOT like filling out online valuations in ADDITION to paper ones.
@what? I’m with #12. What are you talking about? Why do you want horrible TA’s continuing to be in their positions? If someone’s awful at their job, then they should be replaced by someone who can do it better
@12, 13 YOU GET F-s
@You know You wanna know what they said about me? Those goddamn kids? That I talk down to them and that I spit when I talk! How am I supposed to look my chair in the face? I lost 25% of my fellowship because some little group of farts ganged up and gave me all 1s!
@what? i dont understand why anyone would like the paper ones more. its really no difference to the students is it? but it makes it much easier to manage and compile them when theyre done electronically. so theres really no strong reason i see to prefer paper.
also…to the TAs who expect us to be kind to them on the evaluations…if you’re getting shitty evals…you’re probably a shitty TA for some reason, even if you are a student like me and you are a great person who may genuinely want to help. maybe you’re incompetent. maybe you smell horrible. maybe youre ugly.
@No TnA for TA HOW DARE YOU? I AM A GRADUATE STUDENT AT C O L U M B I A UNIVERSITY!!! I WENT TO princetON FOR UNDERGRAD!!! i COULD HAVE YOU KILLED!!!
@junior I like the paper ones much better, even putting those hectoring reminder emails aside.
@also a junior i like the paper ones a lot more too.
@Friendly TA Some of you may not realize that TA positions often depend somewhat on the evaluations students receive. Especially for us undergraduate TAs, if our peers don’t like us, we don’t get rehired. So please remember that most of us are students just like you who genuinely want to help and hope that you’ll be kind to us on the evaluations.
@don't worry friendly ta, as long as you aren’t a jerk i will rate you highly. most aren’t, but some, man, get that stick out of your ass.
@angry ta i will DESTROY you
@sorry too late buddy. i’m graduating. peace out angry ta!
@MAY 11th YOUR GRADES AIN’T IN YET
HERE THEY ARE
F
F
F
F
F
@blubb If you are so pissed off, then you must be one of the bad TAs that lost more thatn 90% of his recitation students over the term.
Behave like you have some balls and grow up. Maybe learn to teach.
@Angry TA Don’t think I can’t tell which of you snot-nosed fucks is writing rude shit about me! I suffer through two goddamn hastily written puke-pile papers a semester and I’m an ENGLISH PHD you stupid scum-suckers. SO WATCH OUT!!!!!