Debate: Is It Fair to Rate Professors Online?
As students finish their finals and plan for next semester, should they turn to RateMyProfessor.com to offer advice and seek guidance?

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: Anonymous on-line evaluations have been shown to be spurious.
Warrant 0: professors need a little humility now and then
Warrant 1: professors don't need any humility
Correct warrant: 1

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: A bad rating is still there years later, even if it no longer has relevance.
Warrant 0: rating tells about the professor's history
Warrant 1: rating doesn't tell about the professor's history
Correct warrant: 1

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: Forums allow professors to be called out on bad methods.
Warrant 0: students would comment on the bad and good methods
Warrant 1: students would comment on the bad methods
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: Rating professors online reveals no contextual information on the person doing the rating.
Warrant 0: Rating professors helps students make careful and wise decisions.
Warrant 1: Rating professors doesn't help students make careful and wise decisions.
Correct warrant: 1

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: Students have a good perspective on their professors.
Warrant 0: a students perspective is not biased
Warrant 1: a students perspective is biased
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: Student evaluations tend to relate to their grades.
Warrant 0: students who are not graded fairly have a chance to speak to a professor
Warrant 1: students who are not graded fairly rarely have a chance to speak out against a professor
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: As a whole online ratings will balance out and allow students to select a good class or professor.
Warrant 0: students will get to judge everything in the real world
Warrant 1: students won't get to judge everything in the real world
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: Forums allow professors to be called out on bad methods.
Warrant 0: there is accountability and people are only able to rate professors they've had and can't leave false reviews
Warrant 1: there is no accountability and people are able to rate professors they have never even had and leave false reviews
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: One student's online ratings do not represent an entire class.
Warrant 0: not all professors know how to work the crowd
Warrant 1: the smart professors know how to work the crowd
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is not fair to rate professors online
Reason: One student's online ratings do not represent an entire class.
Warrant 0: students will all have the opportunity to rate the professor
Warrant 1: students won't all have the opportunity to rate the professor
Correct warrant: 1