The Dialogue Question:
Do student evaluations encourage professors to grade more leniently?

YES, good pedagogy has been transformed into an assessment tool.

Richard Nettell*

The acquisition of an increasingly expensive diploma (undertaken primarily for the expected financial return on investment) is, for the majority of today’s students, intended to be as painless  as otherwise possible.

This means that our customers (under the corporate model) actively seek out, via Web sites and word of mouth, those instructors who are reputed to make the fewest demands on their busy schedules and, of course, grade the most leniently. Classes should be fun (entertaining and not difficult), while regularly required homework, non-downloadable essay assignments, strict attendance policies, and unacceptably low grades—less than a B—all tend to dampen enthusiasm for the instructor.

Students, however, are not the only ones who have a hard time coming up with a precise definition of good teaching. Department chairs and tenure committees, for example, are overly appreciative of data gleaned from an array of questions such as “Would you recommend this instructor to your friends?”

As a result, good pedagogy (student evaluation as feedback for the individual instructor) has been almost completely transformed into an assessment tool—one in which positive comments are also somehow deemed less significant than negatives.

The overall faculty response is predictable. Tenured classroom managers who guarantee customer satisfaction can indeed expect to be left in peace. For the growing legions of adjunct staff, on the other hand, meeting the demand for fun courses that reflect the national trend in grade inflation has become something of a survival strategy.

* Richard Nettell is a non-tenure-track assistant professor of English at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and a graduate of the NEA Emerging Leaders Academy. He currently serves on the executive committee of University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly, his faculty union.

Denise Melvin*

As educators, each of us understands all too well the road that brought us to this point in our career. We worked hard in our own studies and put much effort into our role as an instructor. Most of us hold in high regard those students who are hard-working and dedicated.

It’s possible some of us have more to gain if we are less stringent in our grading habits. Nevertheless, I do not succumb to being more generous out of fear students will score me lower on evaluations.

Instead, I believe with this job comes a devotion to enlightening; and educating means that the student is taught based on the standards of each institution and standards of each course that we teach.

Rumors of grade inflation at some colleges have some of us questioning ethics. However, I do not trust that it is the student evaluations that convince educators to lower his or her principles in teaching. One student can be fond of a professor who grades leniently, while another cares more that the professor shows up for class on time. Student opinions are as diverse as their names.

Leniency in grading could play a factor in some students’ views of an instructor. But helping the student clearly understand and enjoy the material taught in class would positively influence ratings.  Sometimes it takes extra effort on our part to help them get there, but students should meet our requirements for a grade.

The philosophy I hold is that a student who “earns” his or her grade feels more satisfaction. I suppose it’s a bias in we who educate and chose this career path, but our standards do not get tainted because of the opinions of those we teach; for we hope they come to us to learn well.

*Denise Melvin is an adjunct professor in New Jersey. She has taught speech communication at Bergen Community College since 2001, and communication courses at William Paterson University. She holds an M.A. in Communication Studies from New York University.