2008 Woodie Awards
Students, professors fight to keep records
Cheyenne Lee
Issue date: 8/30/06 Section: News
SSU students seem mixed on the benefits of student-help sites such as Pick-A-Prof, dangling between issues of student privacy and the reliability of peer rating systems.
Pick-A-Prof.com has stirred up controversy in UC Davis when Pick-a-Prof sued the university for its refusal to cooperate in releasing the grading histories of its professors after their initial agreement in 2001. The website claimed that these histories are public record.
"They did not sue, but put in a request under the Public Records Act," says Susan Kashack, Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing for SSU.
"You have to look at where the student comes from in their post. While it is true that some professors may be harder than others, it's part of the real world that some work situations are harder than others as well Learning from different types of faculty only benefits the students in the long run," argued Kashack.
Associate professor Heidi LaMoreaux of the Hutchins School of Liberal Arts agreed with Kashack's remarks. "I am not in favor of them knowing what the grading structure is like because that shouldn't be the reason they take a professor. It should be more about how they teach and how good they are at teaching, not how high grades they give. If the students perceive that the tests are easier in a lecture course where an instructor grades higher they might be more likely to take that instructor versus an instructor that is more difficult," said LaMoreaux.
"Well it won't change my teaching at all what it will do is motivate me to look up the site. I've never looked at it," said Mathematics professor William Barnier.
According to Pick-A-Prof.com, "By connecting the professors to students before classes start, Pick-A-Prof could decrease the drop rate and increase the understanding of what is expected from the student."
Besides peer ratings of faculty, Pick-A-Prof.com displays the average drop rate from a class, as well as the final grade distribution, shown on bar graphs. It offers students various tools, such as a schedule planner, discussion boar and the website provides a book exchange program. It also features a service called CourseCasts, which according to the site, "are a great study tool that allow students to refresh their memory before the next big exam or catch up on material they missed in class."
Pick-A-Prof.com has stirred up controversy in UC Davis when Pick-a-Prof sued the university for its refusal to cooperate in releasing the grading histories of its professors after their initial agreement in 2001. The website claimed that these histories are public record.
"They did not sue, but put in a request under the Public Records Act," says Susan Kashack, Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing for SSU.
"You have to look at where the student comes from in their post. While it is true that some professors may be harder than others, it's part of the real world that some work situations are harder than others as well Learning from different types of faculty only benefits the students in the long run," argued Kashack.
Associate professor Heidi LaMoreaux of the Hutchins School of Liberal Arts agreed with Kashack's remarks. "I am not in favor of them knowing what the grading structure is like because that shouldn't be the reason they take a professor. It should be more about how they teach and how good they are at teaching, not how high grades they give. If the students perceive that the tests are easier in a lecture course where an instructor grades higher they might be more likely to take that instructor versus an instructor that is more difficult," said LaMoreaux.
"Well it won't change my teaching at all what it will do is motivate me to look up the site. I've never looked at it," said Mathematics professor William Barnier.
According to Pick-A-Prof.com, "By connecting the professors to students before classes start, Pick-A-Prof could decrease the drop rate and increase the understanding of what is expected from the student."
Besides peer ratings of faculty, Pick-A-Prof.com displays the average drop rate from a class, as well as the final grade distribution, shown on bar graphs. It offers students various tools, such as a schedule planner, discussion boar and the website provides a book exchange program. It also features a service called CourseCasts, which according to the site, "are a great study tool that allow students to refresh their memory before the next big exam or catch up on material they missed in class."