Law Professor Evaluations

I teach a law school class (Pre-Trial Practice and Procedure) at Washington University Law School.  I generally enjoy the experience and have almost always had great students.  This year was no exception. 

Near the end of every semester, the teacher is asked to leave the room and the students fill out course evaluations.  I don’t know how many other professors read them, but I do.  In fact, I’ve learned quite a bit from reading the students’ comments and have changed my teaching style based upon some of the criticisms I’ve received.  As helpful as the current evaluations are, I’d really like to read the responses to these questions from Jeremy’s Revised Course Evaluation Form:

Section I. Please rate the following on a scale from one (virtually none) to five (really quite high).

1. Odds you’re getting called on in any given class.
2. Odds you’ve done the reading
3. Chance the professor actually thinks he/she’s lecturing to a bunch of colleagues, who already know as much as he/she does about the subject.
4. Chance the professor actually wrote his/her most recent book.
5. Ease of online shopping while still catching enough of what the professor is saying so as to not feel completely lost.
6. Probability you’d be seeking emancipation if you found out the professor was your parent / grandparent
7. Amount of audiovisual equipment used.
8. Amount of food provided throughout the course of the semester.
9. Unpleasant professor odor.
10. Chance you’d take the class again, knowing everything you know now, except the material itself, because if you knew that, then taking the class again would be pretty silly, wouldn’t it?

Section II. Please answer with a percentage estimate between 0 and 100.

1. Percent of classes you have attended.
2. Percent of classes you wish you’d attended
3. Percent of students, on average, who return after the 5-minute break in the middle, if applicable.
4. Percent of students, on average, who fall asleep during any given session, with 10 extra percentage points added if there is regularly snoring heard throughout the room.
5. Percent of time you believe the professor has prepared for class.
6. Percent of time you believe that if the professor has in fact prepared for class, the professor needs some help in the “preparing for class” department.
7. Percent of time spent basically reading from the assigned materials.
8. Percent of time spent basically reading from unassigned materials.
9. Percent of time spent reading from the Bible.
10. Percent of your total net worth you would pay to have all memory of this class erased from your mind.

Section III. Open-ended questions. Please print neatly.

1. Is the professor funny? Give examples.
2. Do gunners seem to gravitate toward this class? Name them. We’ll get them.
3. Draw your best imitation of the professor’s blackboard penmanship, with an emphasis on illustrating the degree of legibility.
4. Would you recommend this class to your friends?
5. Would you recommend this class to your enemies?
6. Would you recommend this class be exported to Yale?

Section IV. Bizarre and Unrelated Logic Game.

John has Con Law on Monday and Tuesday. Katie has Corps on Wednesday and Thursday. Bill has Tax, but he can’t remember what days, since he never even bought the book. Susan signed up for a seminar, but wishes she didn’t since there’s so much reading. Classes that meet on Wednesday never conflict with The West Wing. Which class has the hardest exam?

Now, if any of my students are reading this and thinking about answering these questions for my class, remember, I haven’t turned in your grades yet!