Emily Leach is the opinion editor of the Daily Titan. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Daily Titan as a whole.<\/p>\n
As weeks 12 and 14 of the fall and spring semesters roll around, Canvas notifies students of the beginning of the Student Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) season, marking the biannual window for students to provide feedback regarding their professors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although the prospect of completing these surveys each semester may seem tedious, the feedback they provide is essential in ensuring Titans receive a high-quality education. For their opinions to be reflected in action that benefits the student body, Titans must prioritize SOQs over public platforms like RateMyProfessors or Reddit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CSUF\u2019s SOQs are mandated by University Policy Statement 220.000 and serves as an opportunity for students to provide anonymous course evaluations and commented feedback to their professors. These surveys play a significant role in CSUF professors’ periodic evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents, they have a really good sense of how they experience a class, and they describe it well when they write their SOQs,\u201d said Irena Praitis, a full-time professor and the Department Chair of English, Comparative Literature and Linguistics. \u201cSo that is one piece of many pieces that\u2019s part of a faculty evaluation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
CSUF students\u2019 ability to influence faculty evaluations underscores the importance of intentional completion. An increased response rate to SOQs can ensure that instructors are held accountable when necessary, maintaining CSUF\u2019s high standards of academic excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The belief that these questionnaires do not serve as an effective medium for change can hinder students’ willingness to set aside time in their busy schedules to complete them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents kind of feel like they\u2019re not really getting anything from it (SOQs) or their voices aren\u2019t going to get heard from something that short, because obviously it\u2019s, like, \u2018Fill in the dots and write a paragraph,\u2019\u201d said Joanna Liu, a second-year business administration major. \u201cTo some students, it feels like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s not really going to do anything. What\u2019s the point?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If students feel their voices are not being heard, they will ultimately be demotivated to contribute to the university’s overall educational improvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By increasing Titans\u2019 understanding of the impact of completing SOQs thoughtfully each semester, the completion rate of these surveys will likely increase, resulting in greater student-faculty harmony during class time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rather than filling out these semesterly evaluations, many students turn to online forums such as RateMyProfessors to share their grievances about professors and classes they took during a given semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though this website can provide some helpful guidance in choosing a professor to enroll with, the unofficial nature of these evaluation methods often leads to increased biased reviews against teachers of specific demographics \u2014 such as women or people of color \u2014 and an uptick of unreliable information.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor an SOQ, it\u2019s really from the student to the instructor. So, you\u2019re saying how you felt, you\u2019re saying things in a way that, you know, no one else is gonna hear it,\u201d said Edward Watson, an associate professor of sociology. \u201cIf we think the opposite of this, if I\u2019m saying things in a way where I know anyone could see it, then I might say things that might be more for the audience and not for the instructor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because websites like RateMyProfessors and Reddit act as social-media-esque public forums, there is an inherent pressure to perform or to draw attention \u2014 resulting in inflammatory comments that misrepresent instructors\u2019 actual teaching methods for the sake of making a point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Student satisfaction levels cannot be enhanced if feedback is not provided through mechanisms such as university-mandated SOQs, which give instructors a genuine opportunity to change. Though the forum will continue to remain popular, balancing its often unproductive complaints with informed evaluations vetted by a committee to discern student bias can provide instructors with actionable feedback to improve their instruction.<\/p>\n
Direct student feedback is a primary method of classroom improvement, offering a firsthand perspective on how specific educational approaches impact learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The necessity of high-quality student feedback lies in its ability to bridge the gap between curriculum design and the student experience, enabling intentional adjustments that make the educational process more effective as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can think of some times of feedback that, like, maybe I\u2019m talking too fast or I\u2019m going through things too quickly,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to take that feedback and\u2026make sure that the students are getting a better opportunity to learn something from it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When educators and students take these evaluations seriously, collaborative efforts can facilitate faculty improvement in their ability to accommodate student needs. By providing constructive feedback on the necessary areas of improvement, CSUF\u2019s faculty serves as a guiding light in maintaining high levels of Titan academic success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Detailed evaluation within the SOQs ultimately serves a purpose beyond individual benefit, extending to future Titans preparing to take classes assessed by students during semesters prior. The completion of these surveys serves not only as a record of personal experience but as a resource that contributes to the university\u2019s collective growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of those times when your perspective and your insights and what you offer contribute to a larger community,\u201d Praitis said. \u201cIt\u2019s a way for you to sort of do your part on behalf of not just your own experience, but the experience of other students, both in the present and the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Leach is the opinion editor of the Daily Titan. All opinions expressed in this article are those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14714,163,165,164,119793,119791,119792,38124],"class_list":["post-277294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-academic-excellence","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-ratemyprofessors","tag-soqs","tag-student-opinion-questionaires","tag-student-success"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}