2008 Woodie Awards
Student evals revised after investigation
Beth Scorzato
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: News
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At the end of each semester, every student at Emerson College is asked to evaluate the courses they have taken. The results then go to department heads and academic committees who use them to gauge the success of teaching methods.
Recently, these evaluations became a point of discussion when the administration launched an investigation into grade inflation. The investigation first came about when overall school grades indicated an unusually high number of "A" grades earned throughout the college.
Tracy Worrell, chair of academic policy, was the head of the sub-committee investigating grade inflation. Its findings did not indicate a grade inflation problem but did uncover some problems in the student evaluations.
According to Worrell, the inordinate amount of "A" grades was not coming entirely from grade inflation, but also from a lack of challenging courses.
"It's come out from certain student evaluations that classes aren't challenging enough and that's a problem," Worrell said. "It was that students were feeling that they didn't really have to do a lot of work to get an A."
Alex Porteshawver, a senior marketing communication major, said that while her classes can be challenging, they seem redundant.
"I'm not saying it's so easy that I don't have to try," Porteshawver said. "But I'd like some variety. How about a sports marketing or an entertainment marketing class?"
Students in the Visual and Media Arts (VMA) department had the most complaints.
Daniel Raybin, a junior TV/video major, said that he would like to learn more from his classes.
"TV/video at Emerson does not revolve around the classes, but around the extracurriculars," he said.
As a member of Emerson Independent Video (EIV), Raybin said that he feels he is learning more from working with the organization than from his professors.
"The people in EIV are at least five years ahead of entry-level classes," Raybin said. "EIV students run classes."
Recently, these evaluations became a point of discussion when the administration launched an investigation into grade inflation. The investigation first came about when overall school grades indicated an unusually high number of "A" grades earned throughout the college.
Tracy Worrell, chair of academic policy, was the head of the sub-committee investigating grade inflation. Its findings did not indicate a grade inflation problem but did uncover some problems in the student evaluations.
According to Worrell, the inordinate amount of "A" grades was not coming entirely from grade inflation, but also from a lack of challenging courses.
"It's come out from certain student evaluations that classes aren't challenging enough and that's a problem," Worrell said. "It was that students were feeling that they didn't really have to do a lot of work to get an A."
Alex Porteshawver, a senior marketing communication major, said that while her classes can be challenging, they seem redundant.
"I'm not saying it's so easy that I don't have to try," Porteshawver said. "But I'd like some variety. How about a sports marketing or an entertainment marketing class?"
Students in the Visual and Media Arts (VMA) department had the most complaints.
Daniel Raybin, a junior TV/video major, said that he would like to learn more from his classes.
"TV/video at Emerson does not revolve around the classes, but around the extracurriculars," he said.
As a member of Emerson Independent Video (EIV), Raybin said that he feels he is learning more from working with the organization than from his professors.
"The people in EIV are at least five years ahead of entry-level classes," Raybin said. "EIV students run classes."
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