When tackling registration, students need as much information as possible so they can make intelligent decisions that best suit their personal learning needs. In the current system, students sign up for specific sections of courses with little information other than GPA distributions and professor names.
However, many professors teach the same course in several ways, and students are currently unable to gauge these differences during registration. By giving students access to more comprehensive data about specific professors and courses, the administration could greatly improve the registration process.
For instance, the administration could provide snippets of professors’ lectures for specific courses. Students, when signing up for a course, would benefit greatly from seeing a professor speak before entering the classroom. The videos could simply be short clips of professors explaining key concepts to help students gain an understanding of the pacing of the course and the teaching style of the professor. These videos, ideally taken at a random time during the semester, would provide students with other contextual information about the course. This could even motivate professors to have higher teaching standards.
Other resources, such as Course Critique, could also be improved, providing more detailed information about specific sections of courses. Course Critique could include specific metrics from Course/Instructor Opinion Surveys instead of just providing GPA distributions. Professors who teach flipped or themed classes could make this information readily available before the first day of class.
While some may worry about creating a system where students deliberately move towards certain professors and away from others, the Institute is responsible for enabling students to learn effectively.