How students grade instructors

I have been looking at ratemyprofessor.com and I have been thinking of how students evaluate instructors. There seems to be three points on the students’ minds. These three points (in my opinion) are 1) Clarity 2) Difficulty and 3) Fairness.
Students look at Clarity in a different way than instructors. Instructor view being clear as having a lesson plan and an organized lecture, Although students place a value on clarity during the lecture they place a higher value on a clear rules. Basically they want to know what it takes to get a high grade in the class.

I believe that the difficulty rating by the students will highly correlate with the clarity score. They will consider a class difficult if the grading scheme or the syllabus is not clear.

“I took the online class, its an easy A if you put in the time to do all the
quizzes until you get an A on them, because he allows you to do them multiple
times until you get the grade you want on them.”
“I didn't take the online
course. I thought he would be an easy teacher, but if you don't take all lecture
notes and study from the book, I find the class to be hard. I ended up with a C,
but I didn't put much effort in the class.”

Finally the question of fairness is what makes or breaks the instructor. If an instructor gains a reputation as unfair all of his/her scores will be low. This Fairness score is based on perceptions of the students. This perception can be cultivated by first being clear with your expectations. Second these expectations should be repeated at least once a week. Show compassion to the plight of the students.

“I lost my book and he let me barrow his book. This shows how much he cares for
his students to learn. BOTTOM LINE, Mike is a great professor. Definitely one of
the better professors at this school. He is very helpful, very clear, and very
approachable. Always willing to help out.”

Finally stick to your rules! If you bend the rules explain how you bend them.

“Got a light? Just kidding. He is an excellent professor, and he will help you
out--no matter what. Do blackboard, read your damn book, and answer questions in
class; he will recognize that!”