|
Ratemyteachers.ca is an excellent resource not only for
students, but also for teachers; thus, use of the website
should not be discouraged.
This website offers a unique service whereby teachers can
obtain feedback regarding their teaching methods. Through
a combination of numerical ratings as well as simple comments,
students can anonymously rate their teachers.
The student who originally registered Martingrove Collegiate
on the website commented that the website is useful and
that students generally tend to be quite honest. He also
expressed a hope that more students would input their ratings.
The operators of the site concur, as even though they concede
that the results are not statistically valid, they do remark
that many have said that the results are often "uncannily
accurate."
Doug Willard of the Canadian Teachers' Federation disagrees.
He says that "If students have a dispute with a teacher,
rather than writing negative comments on a Web site, they
should go to the teacher." However, in many cases,
this is not a realistic suggestion. Not only does it effectively
silence the less confident students, it means that the teacher
will receive a toned-down and ultimately less honest opinion.
Any student can rate their teachers on the website and,
since they can do so anonymously, have no reason to be dishonest.
Realistically, some students may tend to be dishonest. However,
in many cases it would only take one or two insightful comments
for the rating and comment system to be extremely constructive
to a teacher; dishonest ratings will not detract from these
comments.
Therefore, ratemyteachers.ca represents a unique opportunity
for a teacher who wants to improve his or her teaching methods.
He or she can easily ignore the sometimes meaningless numerical
ratings and still take note of any serious comments made
by students.
|
