I finally got around to reading the written comments on my teaching evaluation forms from last term. For the most part they're positive. The overall ratings are probably my lowest ever, which isn't surprising given that this is the first time I've taught non-majors. And some individual students were quite negative. Oh well. The most common criticism was that the lectures are too fast. I do have to work on that -- I tend to speed up when I get excited.

There were a few interesting comments on my personal appearance. One student wrote "I appreciated that Craig always had a casual appearance. It made him very approachable". I've seen different attitudes on the question of appropriate dress for faculty. Clearly I'm on the casual end, though I don't go around in the summer wearing tight Adidas shorts like at least one professor in my department. I know our chair (who is a very snappy dresser) would prefer us all to be a bit more dressed up. But I agree with this student: I'm a casual person, and I want students to feel at-ease with me. My uncle, a distinguished professor, once told me that the only rule I needed to remember for teaching was to wear a jacket and tie, and I know professors my age who follow that rule. I don't think I could.

On the other hand, I suppose it's possible to be too casual. Two students, one from each of my sections, wrote that I should shave my back hair because it's distracting. I assume they're not suggesting that I shave it in class; that would be very distracting indeed. Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone and wear more turtlenecks.