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"This research looks closely at claims that ratemyprofessors.com creates a valid measure of teaching effectiveness because student responses are consistent with a learning model. While some evidence for this contention was found in three datasets taken from the site, the majority of the evidence indicates that the instrument is biassed by a halo effect, and creates what most accurately could be called a 'likeability' scale."

I checked out RateMyProfessors.com, even knowing all the reasons why it's not reliable. Turns out I still warrant a smiley face, but, unsurprisingly, I'm not a red-pepper hottie. Does being a hottie say anything about possible assessments of one's teaching effectiveness? Indirectly, it may: At my college, almost all the hotties are in their 30s and 40s, and my browsing revealed that 90 percent of the hotties got smiley faces, while only 75 percent of the nonhotties did.

Striking the right tone can be difficult. Professors aren't always natural performers, at least not on a par with professional actors. They also aren't famous, and Mr. Kimmel's setup works partly because viewers have a "parasocial" relationship to celebrities. That means they often know a great deal about famous people and even feel as if they're friends with them, even though there's a vast distance between them, said Dannagal G. Young, an associate professor of communication at the University of Delaware.