Deming on rating teachers

[David Kerridge <dfkerridge@mac.com>]

John Hunter mentioned, in this connection,

>......... students don't know what they need while they are students (I
>remember it as him talking about NYU but again my memory is not
>totally clear on this subject).  Then I believe he went on to say something
>like, if you want to get an idea of the value of a teacher ask the students
>20 years later.


What I remember came up as the answer to a question in a seminar.
I may not have got the details right, but this is the general idea.

WED said that at NYU they conducted a survey of students 10
years after graduation with a first degree. They asked which teachers
had left a lasting impression on them. According to WED there
were only a few teachers (I believe he said three) who were ever
mentioned as having made a lasting impression, and none had
received high ratings from students during the courses.

Someone else who was at the seminar (or at NYU) may have a
more accurate recollection.

Of course, a lasting impression may be due to force of personality
rather than excellence of teaching. I suspect, though he never said
so, that he was not rated highly by students as a teacher at the time,
but one one of those who left a lasting impression.

-- 
Best wishes

David

dfkerridge@mac.com