- Pick-A-Prof
Pick-A-Prof is an online website found at www.pickaprof.com [http://www.pickaprof.com] that hosts
professor review s and otheracademic tools and services foruniversity students and professors. The website allows students to enter a professor's name and find out how they have been rated in a variety of categories and read excerpts about them. The company was founded inApril 2000 by John Cunningham, Chris Chilek, cite web|url=http://battalion.tamu.edu/archives/00a/4-17/fp5.html |title=Website showcases professor, class info |accessdate=2007-10-15 |last=Liffick |first=Brandie |date=2001-06-21 |work=The Battalion |publisher=Texas A&M University |archiveurl=http://battalion.tamu.edu/archives/00a/4-17/fp5.html |archivedate=2001-06-21 ]Texas A&M University alumni and Karen Bragg, Citation |last =Zaragoza |first =Sandra |title =Pick-A-Prof picks up steam as college kids clamor for info |newspaper =Austin Business Journal |pages=5 |year=2007 |date=2007-5-07 |url =http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2007/05/07/story8.html ]University of Texas alum. The company is headquartered inAustin, Texas and has services available to 294 colleges and universities across theUnited States (as of October 17, 2007). [http://www.pickaprof.com]The site hosts a large and active message board community. The site allows students to include information for other students in sections labeled “strengths” and “drawbacks.” [http://www.pickaprof.com] Every course listed on the site has a "review" section or board for discussion where students share their experience of a particular course and its' professor. "Reviews" on this site usually focus on teaching style of professors, homework load, type and number of exams, and overall "evaluation" from a students perspective of the class and professor. The reviews are submitted by volunteer students and contributions are read and posted by [http://www.pickaprof.com Pick-A-Prof] .
This site also features, professors’ grading patterns, university course schedules, schedule planner, degree planners, and book exchange programs.
Grade histories
The site posts grade histories of professors. The grade history graphs display the distribution of grades from A’s to F’s.
This feature displays the semester(s) a professor teaches a particular course and the average GPA each professor gives in that course. While searching for a course, the site shows the professors teaching the course, a 5-star rating system (an overall average of student ratings for a professor), the number of student reviews submitted for each professor and the percentage of students who dropped the class.
Professor Support System
Professor Support System is a feature on the Pick-A-Prof site. This feature was designed for professors to post their syllabi and biographical information on the site prior to registration, and furthermore use this feature to make their own course evaluations or respond to any posted student evaluation which may be directed toward them. The site implemented this feature with the intention that Professors believe that Pick-A-Prof was not a site solely dedicated to students. "|The site anticipates that by creating this feature and utilizing Professors' response will almost develop a Checks and Balances-like system. Pick-a-Prof has set guidelines to escape the negative stigma other Web sites have garnered by posting reviews about professors|by
Karen Bragg .Criticism
Professors and students have differing views about the website. While some find it useful, others believe it may not be a right tool to pick classes. Brian Bremen, an English associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes that the type of feedback found in Pick-a-Prof reviews can be important for faculty. "A professor can certainly learn a lot about themselves on Pick-a-Prof, and in some cases, the criticism I have found online has made me a slightly better teacher," Bremen said.
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