Had you been researching Political Science professor John DiIulio last week on Penn Course Review, you would have seen that his "instructor rating" stayed in the three to four range.
You wouldn't have known that some students consider him "the best professor they have taken at Penn."
But Penn Course Review now includes student comments, which should help undergraduates looking to get a feel for classes and professors before stepping foot in a classroom.
PCR, the online, student-run publication that ranks undergraduate courses at Penn, started the new feature yesterday.
Staff members write the comments themselves, based on those that students fill out on course evaluations.
The PCR Advisory Board, which is made up of student and faculty representatives, is largely responsible for this update.
PCR Editor-in-Chief Dan Strigenz pointed out that the change has been in the works for a long time.
"Sometimes, the ratings were misleading," Strigenz, a College junior, said. "The ratings are one [through] four, but even two is still listed as 'Good.'"
When asked about their thoughts on the two-day-old change, professors seemed positive.
Psychology professor Lauren Peoples said she would appreciate written comments - even critical ones.
"I'm always looking for feedback on my teaching, [which] I actually find . hard to get," she said.
Peoples said that, in the middle of every semester, she hands out an evaluation form to her students but is often surprised by the discrepancies between those responses and the numerical ones that appear online at the end of the year.
"I never understand why I have the numerical grades that I do," she said, adding that she hopes more students will feel inclined to write comments so that she'll be able to understand the numbers better.
Biology professor Jeffrey Klemens agreed that "these [comments] are good things - to allow that information to be shared by students."
Students, too, look forward to the extra help that these comments will likely provide.
"I think they'll be helpful," Wharton freshman Alexander Anderson said.
College freshman Alyssa Mendoza said she was excited about the reviews, noting that "a lot of the reviews they'll get on their Web site will be really strong one way or the other."
Back when the PCR ratings were published in print, comments were included, but they never made the transition to the Web in 2002 with the numerical ratings.
To date, PCR has added a number of comments and will continue to add more over the next few days.
