Students Evaluating Teachers Doesn’t Just Hurt Teachers, It Hurts Students
This is the age-old doctor question. You go to the doctor&#x27;s office because you have a medical problem.<p>Doctor 1 comes in on-time, she&#x27;s smart, capable, friendly, and spends a good amount of time concerned about you and your situation.<p>Doctor 2 comes in late, she&#x27;s irascible, pedantic, hurried, and only listens long enough to tell you what to do. She also insults you and your family in various ways and doesn&#x27;t seem to care.<p>After the visit, you go to Yelp. Which one was the better doctor?<p>You have no idea! But do you think that&#x27;s going to stop somebody from forming and posting an opinion anyway?<p>You can make the argument that these other qualities are good to have in a doctor. I agree. I want a doctor like the first one. But people go to doctors first and foremost to <i>get better</i>, not to make new social acquaintances. If the first doc is incompetent and hurting people, and the second doc a genius, and her attitude is actually causing more people to comply with what&#x27;s best for them out of a sense anger at her style, perhaps? That&#x27;s the thing. Who the hell cares if the outside looks cool&#x2F;sexy&#x2F;friendly or not?<p>So when we ask for reviews from students who have never worked in the field they&#x27;re studying for, they&#x27;re like that Yelp doctor reviewer. I don&#x27;t see how this situation is good for anybody. In fact, it&#x27;ll probably lead to a bunch friendly, good-looking morons with great people skills entertaining bunch of kids who aren&#x27;t learning anything. That&#x27;s the only natural consequence here.