I received the teaching evaluations for last summer. UVic, like I
imagine most universities these days, asks students to fill out an
evaluation form about their instructors and TAs near the end of the
class. These include a numerical portion (giving a ranking from -2 to +2
on things like "use relevant examples and illustrations" or "is polite,
courteous and provides an open, hospitable environment for all") and
comments.
The numerical section tends to be useless -- I've filled out enough of
them myself to know that the answers can be fairly random -- but I
always pay attention to the written comments. (these can be typed out by
a secretary to anonymize the handwriting if the student ticks the
relevant box).
I recieved the best two comments in my (teaching) life this time. The
second-best comment was
He has a great abillity [sic] to explain in may different ways.
I make a deliberate effort to do this, so I'm quite happy that somebody
noticed. If somebody doesn't understand a concept, I'll repeat the same
explanation once (in case he wasn't paying attention the first time --
quite reasonable in a lab setting). But if they still don't get it, I
try to find a radically different way to explain the concept.
The best comment of all was:
... and he has the greatest eye's [sic] I have ever seen.
Once of my fellow grad students at UVic was really pleased about getting
"The prof is smoking hot", and now I understand why. Quite apart from
the mundane physical compliment, it indicates a level of friendly
respect. I mean, nobody would ever write "the instructor was a complete
jerk, was always unprepared, couldn't teach anything... but had fabulous
hair". When students throw in comments like that, you know that they're
happy.
I must admit that the grammar adds a certain naive charm. This was a
first-year class, so it seems entirely appropriate to have a "look out,
there's an S coming!" apostrophe in there. :)