Anonymity and the Erosion of Kindness |
Throughout the year, we all have particular events that mark the passage of time. Birthdays, holidays, special events. As professors, we have a few unique days too: some fun, some not. There’s the first day of classes, where we still (20 years in) get the jitters. The last day of classes, when we are often just as, if not more excited, than the students. And then there is the day our course evaluations arrive.
Typical of many universities, the courses we teach have an anonymous evaluation at the end. These are usually a combination of multiple-choice questions that ask students to rate components of the class on a scale and open-ended questions that allow for additional feedback. In theory, the purpose of these evaluations is to provide useful feedback to the professor. In reality, they do not do that at all.
Instead, they have become a place to say all of the things unsaid throughout the semester. We have gotten comments that range from genuinely kind to downright cruel. As much as we would like to focus on the positive feedback, we don’t because we are human.
Like anyone else, we fall prey to negativity bias.........