slides: 10 Highest and Lowest Rated Professors at Oregon Public Universities

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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Kyle Curtis, GoLocalPDX Contributer

GoLocalPDX examined professor ratings of the seven historical Oregon University System schools—University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Southern Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University, Western Oregon University, and Oregon Institute Technology and found which professors were ranked the best and the worst by students.

Rating of the staff was done on RateMyProfessor.com, where students can go and give their professor a ranking on a 1-5 scale, considering such attributes as helpfulness, clarity, easiness. For the purpose of this analysis, teachers needed to have received a minimum of 20 rankings.

"I definitely see it beneficial for students all ready attending a school," said Emily Standish, a local college admission coach. "RateMyProfessor is just like Yelp or TripAdvisor, but you rate your professors. I've never used it, but my kids just finished college and I know they used it!"

See Slides Below: The Highest and Lowest Ranked Professors 

Adriana Stuart is a Portland-area transplant who is entering her second year at Scripps College in Southern California.

"I use RateMyProfessor every semester, and so do all my friends," said Stuart. "RateMyProfessor definitely effects whether me and my friends will sign up for a class depending on who teaches it."

Along with their rankings, students could also contribute anonymously to either offer praise or complain about their professors. A professor receiving the same rating would score higher than another professor with the same rating but fewer votes.

A perfect 5.0 rating was only accomplished by one professor who met GoLocalPDX’s search parameters: Johanna Larson, an ASL (American Sign Language) professor at the University of Oregon. “Jo made every class more enjoyable than the last,” one student posted. “Her love of sign language is addictive. She spreads that through to her students and makes u want to learn more.”

Oregon State Wins Over U of O For Highest-Rated Professors

Despite Larson’s place at the top of Oregon college students’ highest-rated professors, she was one of only two University of Oregon professors to crack the Top 10. Arch-rival Oregon State placed four professors--the most of any of the seven schools analyzed. 

All four OSU professors received a 4.9 rating (out of a possible 5), education professor Michael O’ Malley leads the pack of highest-ranked Oregon State professors, with his 47 student rankings more than 50 percent than that of his closest colleague.

“If I could take every education course from him, I would,” read one review. “One of the best instructors I’ve ever taken a course from.”

Oregon State Leads in Both the Highest-Ranked and Lowest-Ranked Professors

Oregon State University dominates the rankings of least favorite professors, with the school providing six of the ten least favorite professors. Biochemistry Professor Michael Gross—with a 1.3 rating over 35 rankings—has the dubious distinction of receiving the lowest-rated professor of the seven historical Oregon University System schools.

Among the complaints of Gross provided by Oregon students in their online comments include his tendency to “mumble(s) through the entire lecture” and that “nobody understands him.” 

Gross’s low 1.3 ranking is also shared by Western Oregon University Mathematics Professor Stanley Leung, who received the same low rating but from only 23 student rankings.

Where These Professors Are and What They Teach

Twenty-eight professors of the seven traditional Oregon University System schools received a 4.8 rating from at least twenty student rankings. Eleven of the highest-rated professors are from Oregon State, seven from the University of Oregon, six from Portland State, three from Western Oregon University, and one from Southern Oregon University.

Neither Oregon Institute of Technology nor Eastern Oregon University had a professor to receive a rating as high as 4.8 with at least 20 student votes.

Mathematics was the most popular subject, with twelve of the highest-rated as math professors. With five math professors, Portland State edged out Oregon State's four math professors. Education, psychology, and writing were also popular, with each subject having two highly-ranked professors, both from separate schools.

Twenty-one professors received a rating of 1.8 or lower, with Oregon State having the most, with eight low-ranked professors followed by Portland State with six. Similar to the list of highest-rated professors, mathematics was the subject most often taught by the lowest-ranked professors.

Oregon State, Portland State, Western Oregon, and University of Oregon all have low-ranked math professors. 

Not Scientific, But Provides an Interesting Snapshot

Nobody is going to mistake RateMyProfessor.com as a scientifically accurate tool to measure a professor’s effectiveness and capability. A caveat of the self-selective nature of students who rush to post an online review of their most favorite (or most abhorred) professor needs to be considered. Of course, one could argue that it is precisely the opinion of those students that are passionate enough to post that should be sought out. The presence of Oregon State's professors on both the highest and lowest-rated list indicates that OSU students are willing and eager to share information about professors they both like and can’t stand. This information might be useful for prospective transfer students or current Beavers planning their next semester.

"RateMyProfessor is an excellent tool to help find a professor whose teaching style matches your learning style," says Jodi Walder, a Portland-area college admissions coach. "I tell students there are two ways to do college research: go to both websites with factual information and go to websites that offer anecdotal evidence. RateMyProfessor is certainly one of the sites that offers anecdotal evidence."

"The website has great value, and I do recommend prospective students include RateMyProfessor when conducting research. Just as long as they make sure to take the reviews provided with a grain of salt!"

As reviews of nearly every item are instantaneously available through such websites as Yelp or Amazon, it should  be no surprise that a similar site exists to review college professors. Along with these reviews, RateMyProfessor also provides a real-time snapshot of how Oregon's college students view their professors.

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Related Slideshow: Slideshow: Best and Worst Ranked Professors of 2014

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