Have you ever wondered what a class is going to be like before you sign up?
Websites like RateMyProfessor or Koofers offer to give you that information, but it turns out that neither of these sites screen to make sure postings come from someone who actually took the class. A former grad student in our department told me of the ongoing competition between his father (a faculty member at a small school in another state) and a good friend of his (a faculty member at a different small school in the same state). Periodically they login, pose as students, and generate outrageously awful (and funny!) reviews of each others classes. A great gag, but not helpful for curious students.
So, can you get information from students who were actually in the class? Easily. At the end of each term, the University opens up its SPOT (Student Perceptions of Teaching) surveys for each class. Access (through the course management system, Canvas) is limited to those enrolled in the class, and faculty are given the results as pdfs several weeks after the end of the term. There doesn't seem to be any reason why I can't share these results.
Each of the links below leads to an actual copy of the SPOT results for my classes, beginning with the 2011 fall semester, which is when the new system was made available.
Physical Geology (Geos 1004)
Earth's Natural Hazards (Geos 1034)
