I was up for evaluation this school year, and a couple of day as ago, I posted that had to add an addendum.The addendum basically says that I didn’t address my student evals because they’re useless as research shows that students consistently rate female professors lower than male professors, something I’ve blogged about before.

So anyway, here’s what I sent. Putting it here for posterity and also for Slice of Life challenge reasons.

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This addendum is to directly address these two comments from the dean:

“Unfortunately, student evaluations are not as high.”

AND

“In her self-evaluation, Prof. Brown does not directly address [the success and retention] data or her past student evaluations.  She explains that most often, students’ ‘personal circumstances’ or refusal to take advantage of her office hours leads them to not complete her courses.”

I didn’t address the student evaluations because research has shown that students’ internalized sexism and racism affect the way they evaluate female faculty, especially female faculty of color. In other words, students rate female professors, and particularly female professors of color, lower than male professors, and they use different internalized measures to rate male versus female professors. Given that, I do not find the student evaluations issued by the school useful nor do I find them an accurate measure of my impact on students and their learning.

I prefer a focus on metacognition throughout the semester where students evaluate their own contribution to their learning, which is how I know that students’ personal circumstances have the biggest impact on whether they stay in the class or pass it.

Our students are more than numbers. Their education is impacted by factors outside of the classroom and the teachers’ control. Success and retention data does not take into account any of those factors nor does it take into account students’ own contributions to their learning (i.e., whether or not they continue to attend class after the withdrawal period, whether or not they do their assignments, etc.). For most students, I can tell you exactly why they may have stopped attending and/or participating in class. None of that is asked about nor reflected in the PCC success/retention data, and neither is it addressed in student evaluations. Nor does the PCC data reflect that 70% of my students who complete the semester (actually staying until the end and turning in their work) pass.

Here are some comments from my fall 2024 students’ reflections that include metacognition:

“I wish my professor knew that English is my favorite class, and I am just so happy that I was able to be apart of this class with her, I loved learning from her.”

“I’m not sure that any of the assignments in this class reflect this properly, but I noticed that in my Education class I had an easier time selecting and evaluating sources for our discussions.”

“Do the work, even though you think you can’t. Put effort into learning and completing things on time.”

“I wish my professor knew that her class has been one of my favorites, and that I have genuinely learned a lot of good writing information from it. I am looking forward to writing again because of the work I have done here. Thank you, professor”

“Knowing that late assignments will not be accepted has led to my success in this class. While it creates an increased amount of stress and pressure on me, I still manage to get it done.”

“The class is awesome, and I have no suggestions.”

“This class has helped me realize that I am capable of managing my time more effectively than I initially believed.”

“I wish my professor knew how helpful the structure of her class modules is.”

“This class has improved my writing skills, even though I never considered myself a writer or aspired to become one.”

“My overall impression of the final portfolio assignment is gratitude. I am grateful that this was the final exam because it was a beautiful way to reflect on all the stories I have written and put them together.”

“The book reviews were so valuable and submitting short stories each week. The book reviews helped me become a better reader; I learned how to slow down with the text and analyze it with a literary lens.”

“Advice I would give to someone would be to take each assignment seriously and answer each question with thought and care, because the benefits of doing each assignment compound over the course of 16 weeks, and you begin to see results halfway in.”

“I wish my Professor knew how much I appreciated her! I have not met you in person, Professor Brown, but I am so grateful for the care and intent you have put into this online course. It was the first online course I took that thoroughly engaged me and for that I thank you.”

“Thank you for creating an environment where I felt supported and encouraged to keep pushing myself, even when things got tough. Your guidance made a big difference in my writing journey this semester.”

References

Arrona-Palacios, Arturo et al. “Does professors’ gender impact how students evaluate their teaching and the recommendations for the best professor?.” Heliyon vol. 6,10 e05313. 21 Oct. 2020, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05313

Eliot, Krissy. “Are College Students Sexist? New Research Says They Grade Female Profs More Harshly.” California, Cal Alumni Association, 3 Feb. 2016, https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/online/are-college-students-sexist-new-research-says-they-grade/.

Perry, John, et al. “Metacognition in Schools: What Does the Literature Suggest about the Effectiveness of Teaching Metacognition in Schools?” Educational Review, vol. 71, no. 4, July 2019, pp. 483–500. EBSCOhost,

Vera, Hoorens, Dekkers Gijs, and Deschrijver Eliane. “Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching: Students’ Self-Affirmation Reduces the Bias by Lowering Evaluations of Male Professors.”Sex Roles, vol. 84, no. 1-2, 2021, pp. 34-48. ProQuest.

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A colleague also suggested I include Student Evaluations of Teaching are Not Valid by John W, Lawrence, but I didn’t get it until after I had already submitted my document.