Students Prefer Easy Courses and "Hot" Professors

James Felton (Central Michigan University, Department of Finance & Law), Peter T. Koper (Central Michigan University, Department of English Language & Literature), John Mitchell (Central Michigan University, Department of Finance & Law) & Michael Stinson (Central Michigan University, Department of Computer Science) have published Attractiveness, Easiness and Other Issues: Student Evaluations of Professors on Ratemyprofessors.com, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 45-61, Feb. 2008, on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:

Felton et al. (2004) reported that web-based student evaluations of teaching (SET) demonstrated a student preference for course easiness and instructor sexiness. This study explores these same relationships with a larger and improved database. Results indicate even stronger relationships than previously reported. In addition, this study demonstrates significant cultural differences by institution and discipline in the relationships between Quality, Easiness, and 'Hotness' in web-based SET.

Update:  Jim Maule has more in Tax and Other Courses Ought Not Be Easy.