A tenured professor lights a cigar, cradles a snifter of brandy in his claw-like hand, and reviews his student evaluations from the previous semester

Question

The numbers were unspectacular, but he beamed with pride as he read the comments. For the first time in a long time, no one responded to the "What can the professor do to improve the course?" question with the classic response "not teach it anymore." There were a number of comments, and since he took his craft seriously, he set about summarizing and organizing the comments into the alphabetical list you see here. Take this data and analyze it using the appropriate tool for continuous improvement. Then recommend to the professor the next tool (out of the tools for continuous improvement) that he should use to take the next step in this analysis.

Comment Count
Can't understand the book 2
Enjoyed the class 5
Expect me to remember prerequisites 7
Need more feedback on homework 3
Prefer one class night a week 7
Slow down 15
Tests too hard 9
Work more examples 14
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The data should scream Pareto chart at the students. Sort in descending order by Count and plot using the comments as major categories.

It would be entirely reasonable to combine the two leftmost categories — if the professor worked more examples, he would, in effect, move more slowly through the material. Combining these categories makes the Pareto effect more pronounced.

A Pareto chart provides an excellent starting point for a cause and effect diagram. The tallest bar is the effect that most customers are complaining about. Troubleshooting this element of his course will address the major issue most students have with his class and set him well down the path of Professor of the Year. Or not — what does he care, he's tenured.