LSU CS Professor Designs Reliable App for Public Professor and Course Evaluations
October 8, 2024
BATON ROUGE, LA – With so much information on the Internet these days, it’s hard to know what is accurate. Pretty much anyone can post a review on a product, service, or even a college professor, but who’s to say this is reliable information? Wanting to improve the process of rating a college professor online, LSU Computer Science Professor Nash Mahmoud created an app called Professor Index, which is set to transform how college students evaluate and select professors and courses.
“It all started during the pandemic in 2021,” Mahmoud said. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions nationwide shifted toward online and hybrid learning. Due to social distancing and remote learning, traditional means of communication through Word of Mouth (WoM) or on-campus interactions became limited. Consequently, students turned to public professor rating sites like RateMyProfessors for information about their professors. That came as a shock to me because that site was initially intended to rate professors based on their physical appearance.”
Mahmoud launched Professor Index LLC on Pi Day, March 14, 2024, to coincide with the app’s initials. Professor Index lists multiple universities and their departments, classes, and professors.
“PI started in my lab as a research project with one main goal—clean up the current mess in existing public professor evaluation systems,” Mahmoud said. “The evidence shows that existing systems are riddled with bugs, bias, and misinformation. Our students deserve better.”
Professor Index empowers thousands of college students to provide feedback on various aspects of their educational experience, from teaching effectiveness to course material applicability. The app is authenticated—only students rate and review professors—thus, eliminating a major data manipulation problem that existing systems suffer from. Professor Index is designed to optimize students’ experience, allowing them to compare professors, departments, and courses with only a few clicks. It also uses AI to generate comprehensive summaries of professor and department reviews.
“The students no longer have to read through 100 reviews or open multiple tabs to make up their mind,” Mahmoud said.
Professor Index is also equipped with gamification and nudging features to encourage students to actively review their professors. The objective is to get most professors and courses reviewed.
“If students make reviewing a habit, they’ll get current information on professors, and professors won’t have to worry about one bad review from 10 years ago sticking around,” Mahmoud said.
Since its launch in March 2024 with help from the LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, Professor Index has been downloaded more than 13,000 times, has onboarded 17 major universities, and has accumulated more than 2,300 reviews.
“The objective is to establish Professor Index as the industry standard for public professor evaluation systems,” Mahmoud said. “This leadership will not only place LSU at the forefront of national efforts to address systemic challenges in higher education, but also underscore the university’s commitment to academic innovation and technology commercialization.”
Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram (@lsuengineering).
###
Contact: Libby Haydel
Communications Manager
225-578-4840
ehaydel1@lsu.edu
Latest College of Engineering News
- LSU Industrial Engineering Junior Interns With Textron SystemsBATON ROUGE, LA - LSU Industrial Engineering junior Abby Lobell enjoys analyzing the bigger picture--how systems, people, and processes interact--and finding innovative ways to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. In fact, she enjoys it so much that she spent her summer gaining experience in these areas as part of an internship with Textron Systems in New Orleans.
- Meet the LSU Cybersecurity Student Whose Work CISA Calls “Staggering”Last week, LSU cybersecurity graduate student George Buras from Baton Rouge received a shoutout from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, for the “Staggering!” impact his work, and the work of other interns, is having on the nation. Here, Buras explains what he’s working on, and why.
- LSU BAE Professor, Team Work to Create Eyedrop for Retinoblastoma TreatmentBATON ROUGE, LA - Retinoblastoma is a rare, malignant tumor in the retina that mostly affects children under the age of 5 and can lead to blindness or even death if not treated. Since many patients are unable to access current treatments that include chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery, LSU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Assistant Professor Qi Cai and a team of LSU researchers are creating an eyedrop gel that will be more accessible to retinoblastoma patients, thanks to a $75,000 Provost Award grant.
- LSU Civil, Environmental Engineering Professor Assesses Impact of Sulphur Mines Salt Dome Cavern Collapse on Well WaterNovember 18, 2024BATON ROUGE, LA - The Gulf Coast is home to more than 500 salt domes, and at least 200 of those are located in Louisiana. While salt domes and their caverns can be beneficial, such as being used to hold petroleum reserves, they can also be a possible hazard should the caverns collapse. The Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR) currently has its eye on two caverns in Sulphur, La., and have awarded a $156,602 grant to LSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Frank Tsai to assess the impact a collapse would have on well water in the area.
- LSU, PNNL Research Team Study Microplastics in the AtmosphereNovember 14, 2024BATON ROUGE, LA - Microplastics are sub-millimeter-sized plastic fragments, similar to or smaller than the thickness of a human hair, that present a relatively new and increasingly prevalent type of environmental pollutant. In fact, they have been widely detected in the air we breathe and at altitudes where clouds form.
- LSU Engineering, Chance Maritime Collaborate on Uncrewed Underwater ResearchNovember 13, 2024BATON ROUGE, LA - In an old quarry near Lafayette, La., an uncrewed boat is dropping a remote-controlled robot down to the bottom of a lakebed before retrieving it and returning to shore. If a passerby stumbled upon this scene, he or she might think it was something out of a spy movie. Instead, it's a cutting-edge project that shows how advanced robotic systems can help monitor and protect marine environments, as well as inspect and maintain offshore infrastructure.