BY AGATSU KIMURA

Teacher evaluations by students have started in this academic year in all classes in the Faculty of Foreign Languages. Our university took a long time to adopt this system, which produces arguments both pro and con. What kind of attitude toward the evaluation system should we have in order for it to benefit us?

This is part of the university reformation, and is designed to improve our classes. The evaluation of universities has been decided mainly by the students' deviations of the entrance examination, which entrance exam industries produce. But from now it will also include both students' and teachers' achievements. Those industries will consider teachers' qualities, students' effort, graduates' accomplishments and such accordingly. This is a trial in adjusting to the change of the times.

One good point of this system is that we can put more pressure on teachers. Some teachers will have to modify classes where they only read their own notes intently, ignoring students. The less boring classes students have, the more they will participate in the classes. It will be more interesting and students will be satisfied with them as a result. On the other hand, students will have to study more positively. When you get a right, you have to meet an obligation.

We should be aware, however, of the fact that this system does not promise to make classes easier for students. This is a means for teachers to consider their own classes. Only a teacher can get his own class questionnaire data. The purpose of the questionnaire is to elicit opinions from students. We cannot use this system beneficially if we do not understand its purpose. It is meaningless to call a teacher "bad" because he or she does not give credit, because he or she assigns much homework, or because he or she gives classes throughout the full class time. This system does not allowed us to have an expectation that we can get credits easily. It is especially meaningless for diligent students to have classes in which the levels are aimed at lazy students.

By answering this questionnaire students can think over their own attitudes toward classes of this past year. This is a good chance to consider not only attendance, papers, and preparation and review, but also to think about how this can broaden into other fields of study.

Using teacher evaluations, students can influence classes in a positive way which will benefit all students. When both teachers and students make efforts to improve present faults, ideal classes will appear. And it needs a premise that students have high diligence. Students' sincere answers will affect not only SU's present, but its future too.