Should I say it was me who made disparaging comments?

Question

W have to do an evaluation at the end of term for college.I gave some really good comments to all but one who I marked down and said it was poor and inconsequential and irrelevant.I feel I was harsh but it was annoymous.Today the prof remarked about a very negative evaluation and would the person like to contribute ant further.I said nothing there are about 50 in the class.Should I explain my reasons,I feel they were justified at the time I wrote them but inretrospect were somewhat harsh.

Answer 1

Say nothing to your professor - but you might consider talking to the department head or academic advising. Your comments might have been harsh, but it was extremely unprofessional and possibly unethical of him to try to single out an anonymous evaluator.

Answer 2

I don’t know.....depends on how you feel about the professor. You were in the course with him over the semester so you can better judge his character. I know that I have to do surveys at the end of the semester for each course and I have down rated a professor or two but I also add comments at the end that say why........how is helpful to say something sucked but not why? How can they fix it if they don’t know why?

If you are concerned that the professor may retaliate or treat you harshly in future courses then you could submit an anonymous letter. However, if you think he really wants to know so he can learn why and try to fix it or perhaps explain himself and methods to you then meet him at the office and talk about it.

When it comes to evaluations I have never said anything I didn’t mean and the one time I was questioned I told him why I felt the way I did, he explained his point of view and since that time I have taken all my psychology courses with him and had no problems. He’s actually written me a few recommendations.

Even if it is anonymous he can ask a person to explain especially if you did not provide and explaination. It is up to you ifyou want to come forward in the course or if you approach him later or if you even come forward at all. It is not rude to want to know why.....if someone made that comment toward you....wouldnt you want to know why?

Answer 3

Would you have been so forthright if it had not been anonymous? Probably not, but that is the reason for having anonymous evaluations - to get honest feedback. On balance, was your feedback honest? If so, you have nothing to feel guilty about. If, on reflection, you feel you were unduly swayed by some recent event (it is not uncommon) then you might feel it would be the decent thing to do to talk to the Prof and to retract your criticism. Even if you stand by your criticism, is it possible that this Prof. is genuinely concerned and would like to understand where he went wrong? I am pretty sure *I* would. It would take courage and trust to follow this up with the prof. If either is lacking, you may just want to let it go.

Answer 4

When you gave the feedback it was appropriate. It was how you felt and it will probably do some good and make things better for everyone to be a little harsh. There would be no point in you coming forward on writing the feedback. Sure you could give more details, but in your evaluation you gave sufficient details, correct? Is there really anything that's that important that you didn't already write? You don't want to create waves, so I would suggest letting it go. Don't feel guilty, don't feel bad, and certainly don't allow those who raise their eyebrows to make you feel an ounce of guilt. Those feedback surveys are there to improve the program. Tip-toeing around the problem won't help anyone.

Good for you!

Answer 5

Yeah don't let him know it was you for the following reasons.

First off he/she shouldn't have disclosed his remarks like that as it's very unprofessional to do so. That's the first time I've heard something like that happening, as it's suppose to all remain anonymous. This professor should've at least taken it as constructive criticism instead of trying to single somebody out. These little evalutations are suppose to be an internal way for the department to audit their own professors, as students can reveal any exceptional or poor professors.

Also you don't want to reveal yourself because, while you may never see this professor again, if he/she finds out who you are, they may have teacher buddies within their own or other departments. The last thing you need is this professor finding out it was you, then telling their buddy professors about you and you suddenly finding yourself in the situation of going into a new class and starting the semester off with a professor who already has a grudge against you. I know it sounds weird, but it hopefully also sounds legitimate too.

So yeah, just please keep everything quiet, but you should at least mention to the head of the Professor's department that this particular professor is doing something unethical with regards to the student evaluations. And you should be safe in doing this because this department head should keep everything anonymous.

Answer 6

I've had to fill out those evaluation questionnaire things on several occasions, at both college and Uni, and some times I've gave very negative comments. At no point did I ever own up to it being me, even when we were quizzed on it. Those things are supposed to be anonymous to allow you to feel comfortable in saying what you think. Don't say anything to your professor, it's up to him to take the comments on board, and for you to get ahead, saying it was you could get you penalised by other staff members, I've seen that happen before. I'd strongly recommend forgetting all about it, and just enjoying christmas.

Answer 7

That was extremely unprofessional of that prof. It sounds like he was trying to "out" the writer of negative evaluations so that he could somehow disparage them and make them less meaningful. The whole point of course evaluations is that they are supposed to allow you to comment anonymously.

No, I would not come forward in that kind of a setting. For one thing, you don't know if it was your comments that he was referring to. If you thought his course was that poor, the chances are that so did others, and it may be that someone wrote something really unpleasant and mean that he is upset about (as a department chair, I once got a set of evaluations for a faculty member that were so bad that every form contained at least one curse word!). You do not have to "justify" your comments. He doesn't sound like someone who takes criticism well, so even writing a helpful letter might be misconstrued.

Answer 8

I would agree about the anonymus letter to the professor or I would say after the final grades have been posted, I would sit down and talk with the professor abour the evaluation, especially if I did not have to take him/her for anymore classes. Hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

The evaluation was anonymous. End of.

However, in the future, you should consider that a considered comment sensitively written is less likely to cause offence. Anyone can take criticism provided it is constructive.