This book explores the emerging trends and patterns in online student evaluations of teaching and how online reviews have transformed the teacher-student relationship as developments in technology have altered consumer behaviors. While consumers at large rely more and more on web-based platforms to purchase commercial products and services, they also make highly personal decisions regarding the choice of service providers in health care, higher education, and other industries. The chapters assess the challenges that web-based platforms such as RateMyProfessors.com pose for service providers in higher education and other industries, and the role of these online consumer review sites in driving consumer expectations. In framing her argument, the author considers the validity of online rating systems and the credibility and trustworthiness of online consumer reviewers. She also evaluates cultural trends that play a role in perpetuating systems of inequality such as racism, sexism, and ageism in online consumer reviews.
Author(s): Pamela Leong
Series: Marketing And Communication In Higher Education
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 199
Tags: Assessment, Testing And Evaluation
Acknowledgments......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
About the Author......Page 12
List of Tables......Page 13
Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 15
1.2 Down the Web-Based Teaching Evaluation Hole: Confronting RateMyProfessors.com......Page 16
1.3 A Discordance Between Faculty Expectations and Student Expectations......Page 20
1.4 How Web-Based Platforms Transformed the Evaluation of College Teaching......Page 22
1.5 Organization of the Book......Page 24
References......Page 25
2.1 Shifting Trends in the Information Age......Page 27
2.2.2 TripAdvisor......Page 28
2.2.4 RateMyProfessors.com......Page 29
2.3 Web-Based Platforms and Social Media Applications as Sparkplugs for Consumerism and Consumer Expectations......Page 30
2.4 Evaluating the Credibility and Trustworthiness of Online Reviewers......Page 31
2.5 Other Validity Issues in Online Review Platforms......Page 33
References......Page 36
3.1 Body Politics in Cyberspace......Page 38
3.2 Correlates of High Teaching Evaluations......Page 40
3.3 External Status Characteristics That Shape Student Evaluations of Teaching......Page 41
3.3.1 Faculty Sex/Gender......Page 42
3.3.2 Faculty Race......Page 44
3.3.4 Physical Attractiveness of College Faculty......Page 45
3.4 Limitations in the Existing Literatures......Page 47
3.5.1 Data Source and Sampling......Page 48
3.5.2 Validity Issues in Student Evaluations of Teaching......Page 50
3.5.3 RateMyProfessors.com and Validity Issues......Page 52
3.6.1 Summary Statistics......Page 54
3.6.2.1 Perceived Difficulty Level......Page 55
3.6.2.2 Overall Quality......Page 57
3.6.3.1 Perceived Difficulty Level......Page 59
3.6.3.2 Overall Quality......Page 61
3.7 Discussion......Page 62
3.7.1 Racial Effects......Page 63
3.7.3 The Effects of Physical Attractiveness......Page 64
3.7.4 Leniency Effects......Page 65
3.8 Conclusion......Page 67
3.8.1 Limitations......Page 68
References......Page 70
4.1 Gender, Social Media, and Online Consumer Behaviors......Page 75
4.2 The Relationship Between Physical Appearance and Appraisals: A Refresher......Page 76
4.3 Gender Inequality in Higher Education......Page 78
4.4 Gender Effects on Student Evaluations of College Teaching......Page 79
4.5 Method......Page 82
4.6.2 General Gender Comments......Page 83
4.6.3 Physical-Appearance Comments......Page 84
4.6.3.2 Negative Physical-Appearance Comments......Page 85
4.6.4 Faculty Sex and Age-Related Comments......Page 86
4.6.4.1 Positive Age Comments......Page 87
4.7.1 Trends and Patterns Across the Student Comments......Page 90
4.7.2 Polarizing Expectations and Continued Gender Inequality......Page 94
4.8.1 Limitations......Page 96
References......Page 97
Chapter 5: Discrimination Based on Nationality, Race, and Ethnicity on Web-Based Consumer Review Platforms......Page 100
5.1 When Discrimination by Nationality, Race, or Ethnicity Makes Its Way Into Online Consumer Reviews......Page 101
5.2 Embodied Biases, Implicit Racial Biases, and Evaluations......Page 102
5.3 Racial Biases and Teaching Evaluations......Page 104
5.3.1 Limitations in the Existing Literatures......Page 106
5.5 Results......Page 107
5.5.2 Racial Comments......Page 108
5.5.3 Themes and Patterns in the Racial Comments......Page 110
5.5.3.1 Positive Racial Comments......Page 114
5.5.3.3 Neutral Racial Comments......Page 118
5.6 Discussion......Page 119
5.6.1 Implications for East Asian Faculty......Page 120
5.6.2 Implications for Black Faculty......Page 122
5.7 Conclusion......Page 124
5.7.1 Limitations......Page 125
References......Page 126
6.1 Data Analysis......Page 129
6.2 Results: Rants and Raves......Page 130
6.3 Characteristics of Bad Professors......Page 134
6.4 Some Mixed Bags of Nuts......Page 146
6.5 In Defense of the College Professor......Page 149
References......Page 151
7.1 The Goldilocks Principle......Page 152
7.4 Results: Characteristics of the “Ideal Professor”......Page 155
7.4.3 Caring......Page 159
7.4.5 Clarity......Page 160
7.4.8 Exams......Page 161
7.4.10 Feedback (Good)......Page 162
7.4.12 Humor......Page 163
7.4.13 Learning Observed, Improvements Seen......Page 164
7.4.14 Lecture Style/Teaching Style......Page 165
7.4.16 Personality......Page 167
7.4.17 Transformative (Life Changing)......Page 168
7.5 Analyzing Student Perceptions of “The Ideal Professor”: How the Therapeutic Ethos and Hyperindividualism Prominently Figure into Student Expectations......Page 169
References......Page 173
8.1 Profile of “The Ideal Student”......Page 177
8.2 Problems with “The Good Student” Label......Page 182
8.3 Sociology as Perpetuating the Status Quo......Page 183
8.4 The Rules of the Game......Page 185
8.5 Other Structural Constraints: Cultural Trends, Cultural Pressures, and Consumer Expectations in the Age of Social Media......Page 186
8.6 Conclusion......Page 192
References......Page 193
Index......Page 196
