Once again, that time has come and gone that some students look forward to all semester: course evaluations. It's the opportunity for some therapeutic ranting about the professors who made your life miserable all semester, and the occasional praise for the classes you really enjoyed, with a lot of tedious bubble-filling in between.

Besides the random comma attempting to punctuate number 18 on the evaluation form (go ahead, congratulate yourself if you noticed that), I have a few issues with the possible choices of 'agree or disagree' statements. Yes, I know that there is a comment section on the back, which I have been known to make full use of when necessary, but there are some basic questions I think could be included on the form.

For example: 'The instructor clearly had a grasp of what he or she was teaching.' Many students have probably had at least one professor for which they would have marked 'disagree' to this statement. I believe that, in general, we have fairly competent faculty at UD, but occasionally one slips through the cracks, or a professor ends up teaching a course outside his normal field that maybe he isn't quite as knowledgeable about as he should be. Higher education is not cheap, and most students will become quickly frustrated with a professor who says, 'Oh, sorry, I did that wrong'' several times every class period. If a statement like this was included on evaluations, and an entire class of students felt that their professor did not understand what she was supposed to be teaching, this could raise a necessary red flag about having that professor teach that course.

Another suggestion: 'The instructor listened to students' questions and could provide clear answers.' There's nothing like asking your professor a question (relevant to the material you're learning, of course) and either hearing, 'Hmm'I'm not sure' or getting a long, meandering response that leaves you more confused than you were before. If this is happening on a regular basis to most students in the class, then I would say it's not the students' fault if they're having trouble understanding the material.

Finally: 'What was taught in class seemed relevant to the course subject.' If you've ever had a professor who used the class time as a soapbox for her personal beliefs, going off on tangents at every opportunity and leaving you wondering whether you've walked into the wrong class, you know what I mean. If you sign up for a philosophy class, you expect to learn philosophy, not biology, even if that is your professor's primary field of study. While professors' personal stories can often illustrate important points or provide interesting side notes, a professor who spends more time talking about his personal life than the course material can give you a strong urge to start skipping class.

While I'm attempting to overhaul our course evaluations, I should mention a statement that I find rather useless to have on there: 'My use of computer technology contributed to my understanding of the material.' This sounds like it was included in the evaluations about 25 years ago, when the evaluation writers said, 'Hey, we should find out if this new-fangled 'computer technology' is really useful.' UD is now widely recognized for its innovations with wireless accessibility and other technology. So what is this statement asking? Does it include using your computer to type up your papers or send your professor an e-mail? Did you somehow understand the class material better if your professor put the homework on WebCT or QuickPlace, or if you read an article on e-reserve instead of on paper? Even if the class is centered on computer use, maybe a statement like, 'I feel confident using the computer program taught in this class' would be more helpful.

If evaluations are really meant to give students a say in our education, we should have the opportunity to make it clear when we're not getting the education we paid for. I suggest the administration take some time to re-do the course evaluations and get student input on what we really want to say about our classes.