On Quality

I’ve recently had a chance to do some reflection upon the quality of myself. Or, more accurately, the question of quality in relation to the realities of what I live (or what I am).

What made me think about this was my incessant internet browsing habit. Some stream-of-browsing-clicking-consciousness something led me to look for my own rating on ratemyprofessor.com. Only one student has posted an evaluation of me, so, cognitively, I know I shouldn’t consider it statistically significant, but it was a mixed review and it sent me into a introspective tailspin.

According to this student my World Literature class last semester was both unclear and easy. I didn’t like that. Would I like to be assessed as perfectly clear and difficult? I’m not certain. This is a general education course and so it shouldn’t be inordinately difficult. In truth I would like my classes to reward good effort but to not be incredibly burdensome. I’d like my students to enter the conversation of education with me. To climb to heights of understanding and mutual edification. Unfortunately, the student who wrote this evaluation is apparently more interested in easy grades than in the learning process.

But that may be unfair. Part of the “clarity” issue apparently had something to do with the fact that I “go off on tangents.” What does that mean in a literature class? In a class about the creative output of humanity, what is a tangent? Does this mean making connections outside of the “subject”? If so, I am quite sure that I go on tangents often.

I guess the key is to start recording myself so that I can ask questions on my tests about the tangents. That way I’d be on subject and my tests would be harder.

Or, I could campaign to get the students who like my classes to write positive reviews. Hmm.

Well, my wife is now watching television beside me, so my long, well-thought-out discussion of the issue of quality in the classroom is losing the battle with my ADD. So, that is all for today.