<p>So we all know that some teachers win such awards.</p>
<p>Do you think that they really are good at teaching to higher level kids, or just to the “major masses?” </p>
<p>More importantly, who makes such evaluations? It’s common knowledge (and supported by research) that professors get higher marks when they grade easily. </p>
<p>Part of it depends on the institution (and the typical classes that they teach). But since most students don’t go onto graduate school (highest percentage is ~50% at Caltech and Harvey Mudd), it gives little indication as to how good the professor is in, say, catering to the interests of those headed towards graduate school. Now, this is assuming that graduate school-headed students look for something different than those who are not headed to graduate school (and this rarely comes in the teaching, which cannot cater towards those who want to seek more knowledge). Moreover, student preferences towards teaching style is clearly contingent on the neuro-mechanisms of the student’s brain. But most students who are smarter have neuro-mechanisms that diverge from those found in the normal student population (in that they are more intelligent; and intelligent students may prefer say, a more rigorous, less interactive “did you get this?” learning style than the less intelligent students).</p>
<p>I think you’re looking for complexity in a pretty simple environment!</p>
<p>My experience with a couple of the “highly decorated” professors here at Penn is that they are so obviously better than average that its hard to imagine there was any real competition. In neither case was the professor an “easy grader”, in fact, one of them is well known for his absolute inflexibility in due dates and in-class preparation. Both however, are completely enthusiastic about their subject matter and have the ability to get almost anyone excited about it. </p>
<p>As to who gives out such awards, the Lindback Award at Penn is described here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/notables/awards/lindback.html[/url]”>http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/notables/awards/lindback.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v43/n10/lindback.html[/url]”>http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v43/n10/lindback.html</a></p>
<p>Evaluations are by a comittee of 6 previous award winners and 4 students so its not just a bunch of kids voting on who grades most easily.</p>
<p>I don’t think students headed to grad school look for anything different in their professors. The only real factor that I can think of would be the case where a department has a couple of “name brand” professors - obviously a future grad student with an interest in their fields would do well to cultivate a relationship. A match in field of interest is probably going to be more important than teaching style, age, gender, etc.</p>
<p>Beyond that, even a relatively new professor is so far beyond an undergrad on the academic food chain that, barring a severe personality conflict, s/he would be able to handle anything that might be needed.</p>