Students Prefer Easy Courses and "Hot" Professors • TaxProf Blog

James Felton (Central Michigan University, Department of Finance & Law), Peter T. Koper (Central Michigan University, Department of English Language & Literature), John Mitchell (Central Michigan University, Department of Finance & Law) & Michael Stinson (Central Michigan University, Department of Computer Science) have published Attractiveness, Easiness and Other Issues: Student Evaluations of Professors on Ratemyprofessors.com, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 45-61, Feb. 2008, on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Felton et al. (2004) reported that web-based student evaluations of teaching (SET) demonstrated a student preference for course easiness and instructor sexiness. This study explores these same relationships with a larger and improved database. Results indicate even stronger relationships than previously reported. In addition, this study demonstrates significant cultural differences by institution and discipline in the relationships between Quality, Easiness, and ‘Hotness’ in web-based SET.

Update: Jim Maule has more in Tax and Other Courses Ought Not Be Easy.

About the Author

Paul Caron

Paul Caron was named Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law on June 1, 2017. Dean Caron joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2013 after serving as the Dorothy and Leonard Straus Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in the spring semesters of 2010 through 2013. He served as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Pepperdine in 2015-2017. Before coming to Pepperdine, he was Associate Dean of Faculty and Charles Hartsock Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

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