Professor makes “Top 25” on popular student Web site

March 11, 2010 by Leslie Ventura 

Students rate UNLV professor twelfth in the nation

Students using the popular Web site RateMyProfessors.com have ranked UNLV’s Dick Tandy as the 12th-best professor in the United States for 2010.

Tandy, a health science professor in the department of kinesiology and nutrition sciences, appears on the Web site’s list of the top 25 professors in the nation.

Tandy, who was not aware of his recognition, said he wasn’t sure if he should be flattered and laughed upon hearing the news.

“During a recent conversation with a colleague, I discovered that a national magazine uses RateMyProfessors.com as one factor when rating the quality of universities,” Tandy said. “I thought it was a rather unscientific method of gathering information. Maybe I should change my opinion.”

Tandy teaches one undergraduate class – Statistics for the Health Sciences – and two graduate classes – Research Methods and Selected Applications in Statistics.

Tandy said he is aware that statistics can be a very complex and intimidating subject to undergraduate students.

“Many students come into the class hoping that they will just survive the math,” Tandy said.

Different from the way he learned statistics in college, Tandy said he teaches from a conceptual perspective.

Student response is positive and has solidified his position as the only UNLV professor on this year’s RateMyProfessors.com list.

Engaging students in real-world applications of class material, Tandy keeps his students’ interest.

“I like to be entertained and I like to laugh,” Tandy said, “and I believe most students do, too.”

Students may wonder if professors check their rankings on the Web site, but Tandy assured that he only visits RateMyProfessors.com about once a year.

Though some professors may not use the Web site often, it continues to be a resource for millions of students throughout the U.S.

RateMyProfessors.com uses a five-point Likert scale and a binary scoring system with almost 3 million students using the Web site every month.

In order to provide accurate statistics, only professors with 30 ratings or more were used to compile the “Top 25” list.

“Each year, the RateMyProfessors.com rankings shine a light on the incredible work taking place at institutions across the country,” said Carlo DiMarco, vice president of University Relations for mtvU, which owns and operates RateMyProfessors.com.

DiMarco said the lists directly reflect the different voices of students in colleges and universities, listening to and learning from their professors.

Tandy said most of the comments on RateMyProfessors.com have not been too serious. Mainly receiving comments about his presentation techniques, Tandy said he takes constructive criticism seriously because he is always looking to improve his skills.

“I think people probably consider the Web site to be positive if they are rated high,” Tandy said, “and biased and detrimental if they are rated low.”

Tandy said that the feedback from students is similar to the instructor evaluations that are given at the end of each semester.

“I believe the site might be good for students to use to help guide their decision when choosing between instructors,” Tandy said, adding that student opinions are only part of the equation when evaluating professors.

“The negative side is the lack of responses for each class, so the responses tend to be biased.”

Tandy teaches in a way he said he would like if he were still a student. Knowing that students want to be entertained while educated is part of why he believes his style works.

“Effective teaching is very difficult to measure,” Tandy said.

“Nobody likes a boring lecture, so a teacher’s job is to take what most would consider a boring subject and make it interesting. Even fun at times – while still covering the required material.”