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 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: 1

Claim: It is not 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: 1

Claim: It is not 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: 1

Claim: It is 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: 1

Claim: It is 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: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: A bad rating is still there years later, even if it no longer has relevance.
Warrant 0: this discourages making mistakes
Warrant 1: this won't discourage making mistakes
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: Students are able to make false claims against professors. Some people make these claims and may not even be real students.
Warrant 0: everyone pays attention to ratings anyway
Warrant 1: no one pays attention to ratings anyway
Correct warrant: 1

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: The online ratings effect teacher's careers and are uncontrolled.
Warrant 0: professors tenure will protect them
Warrant 1: professors tenure will not protect them
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: A bad rating is still there years later, even if it no longer has relevance.
Warrant 0: this is important to know that even in years passed teachers did a bad job and should be held accountable
Warrant 1: this is important to know that even in years passed teachers did a bad job but shouldn't be held accountable
Correct warrant: 0

Claim: It is fair to rate professors online
Reason: Online evaluations are inconsistent and conflicting.
Warrant 0: conflicting evaluations don't effect things one way or the other
Warrant 1: conflicting evaluations effect things one way or the other
Correct warrant: 0