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[lpmont]

Ok, so this is only the second class I've taught, and the first I've taught online, but I thought I made things pretty clear in my syllabus.

Last week (Jan. 21st to 25th) I gave 3 assignments:  a discussion topic (students had to post and respond to at least two other students) and 2 fairly simple one page reflective papers.  In my syllabus I stated that all assignments for a week are due by 11:59pm of the Friday of that week. 

But only about 40% of the class submitted their papers by the deadline explained in the syllabus, which would have been 11:59pm on Friday Jan. 25th for last week..

I had one student email me on Saturday morning commenting that they had taken online courses before and assignments were always due by Sunday.  To which I responded on the importance of reading an instructor's syllabus and knowing the expectations he/she places on the students. 

I further explained to the student that this is why one of the very first assignments for the class was for students to read the syllabus and post to a discussion topic that they had read the syllabus, whether they understood the syllabus, or ask any questions they may have.  (Yeah, so every student posted saying the read and understood & none asked a single question.)

Does anyone else experience this?  Do I really need to explain the deadlines when I post every single weekly assignment?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but just needed to vent a bit.

[big_giant_head]

In my own experience, what you describe is pretty typical.

It may seem like unwarranted and unnecessary work on the instructor's part, but I always send a reminder email about upcoming deadlines.  I do this even though my students actually have to pass a quiz on the important parts of the syllabus. 

[dundee]

Of course they didn't read the syllabus - they're students. That's why I read it to them, but that's not possible in your case.

[zharkov]

Does anyone else experience this?  Do I really need to explain the deadlines when I post every single weekly assignment?

Yes and yes.

I usually remind students of each weeks deliverables and activities via the announcement feature (more or less the same in BB, eCollege, or Moodle).

It is also important to provide weekly grading/feedback.

[magistra]

It might be worth it to put major assignments in announcements or on the course calendar.  Yes, it's their responsibility, but this will help.

And know that the drop-out rate is horrific with on-line classes.  A certain percentage you'll simply never hear from.

[larryc]

Online students are more prone to debate the rules with you and to tell you how Professor X does it better than you. (And sometimes she does--I've picked up a lot by listening!)

What I have done is to create a quiz over the syllabus, one that addresses pet peeves or potential flash point in advance. Sample questions: "When are the quizzes due? A. Sunday night B. Monday night, etc." Other questions ask about how properly format an email to the professor, how to submit the essays correctly, etc. It doesn't eliminate all of these situations but it cuts way down on them. And the students like the free points at the start of the class.

[bamabound]

Students who don't read the syllabus are very common in online classes. Usually, I teach online, and most of my students are working adults: many do the majority of their homework on weekend.  Semesters usually start on Monday, and I always have quizzes, discussions etc. due Sunday night at 11:00p.m.  Papers are usually due by 8a.m. Monday. 

Having taken some online classes, I think 90% of them had Sunday night due dates for assignments.  If professors had Friday due dates, I'd work a week ahead and turn assignments in on Monday instead of waiting until Friday.

Sunday night makes sense for working students and I do sympathize with the demands of working and studying.  Since I don't have the weekend to grade, I always tell students that it delays their receipt of grades. 

You don't have to have Sunday deadlines but in the future you might consider it.  It makes for happier students (and perhaps petter evals). 

[onilne_adjunct]

Most students just skim through the syllabus, and expect it to be just like every other class they've taken.  Surprise, surprise, surprise (as Gomer would say)!  Not all instructors are alike.

I just slammed my students for a plagiarism issue - they tooks images off the web but never cited them.  As my policy is very clear about plagiarism (accidental or not), a bunch of them suffered.  When they complained, I simply pointed out the part in the syllabus (where I even advise them to ask if there's a question about what constitutes plagiarism), then informed them that this is something that I've been repeatedly told by students is something that is covered in high school.  They're in college, for cryin' out loud - RTFM (or, in this case, RTFS).

Sorry for the rant - frustrating week (there's a reason why I have a No Whining sign on my desk - nice brass one picked up in a Pirate shop in San Francisco).

Back on topic, as Z points out, use the announcement feature to let students know when things are due (I call it "Week at a Glance" - idea given by a student who recommended it from a class s/he had with another instructor), post it on the assignment, and in the calendar.  Lots of work up front, but cuts down on hassels.

And, for those with Sunday (or Monday morning) assignment due dates, if you don't work on weekends - let the students know in a most emphatic manner!  If a student complains on a Saturday or Sunday that I'm not helping him/her, I require they submit a summary of what the syllabus says about that before I'll grade any more of their work. 

[dept_geek]

FWIW: My department has (with one or two exceptions) changed the online course submission deadlines to one day during the week in the early evening (I won't get more specific). The theory being.. if this was a traditional - Say M/W - class, your assignments would be due on Wednesdays at the start of class. Why not make the online courses run the same way? 

Advantages: All the questions come at a time when you can actually answer them. All the grading occurs during the week, not on the weekends. 

The initial disadvantage is that not much can be due during week one, due to late adds & "I don't have the book" whines. Students also whine that they don't have a weekend to work. When it is pointed out to them that they do in fact have the weekend to work, they just will have to submit the assignments early rather than at the last minute, the whining slows down. (It never stops, does it?)

Students will have to read the syllabus. And the schedule of readings and assignments. And the announcements. And their email. And eventually they will figure out the due dates. Eventually.

Now, I can spend the weekend doing actual family stuff and not babysitting my course sites.

[magistra]

Ooooh, this is important.  They only take over your lives if you let them.  Make deadlines on Friday night (or another time), make it clear that e-mails require 24 hours for responses, don't have office hours and the like on weekends, tell them it'll take responses take longer over weekends (and even that you WILL NOT look at the site on a Sunday, even if that's a lie), and you can reclaim that time for yourselves.  If students know you won't be readily available -- and aren't in panic mode -- it won't be a problem.  They'll adjust fairly easily.  Make papers due Monday at 5, or 12, rather than Sunday.  It changes the entire mindset.

[lpmont]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys.  I've been working on some other things so haven't really had a chance to access the forum lately.

Anyways, this particular class is not what I'd lable an "academic course."  This is a class where the primary objective is to teach students how to be successful in college.  I purposefully set the syllabus and class due dates up with the Friday deadline to help demonstrate one of the most important lessons...The syllabus is guide/manual for a class & no 2 instructors/professors set their class up the same way.  So read, understand, ask questions about, know the syllabus for each class.

I had a quiz scheduled for them this week and included 3 questions about information on the syllabus.  I'll be curious to see what the numbers show as to whether or not students really "understood the syllabus" like they said they did.

[bamabound]

...
Anyways, this particular class is not what I'd lable an "academic course."  This is a class where the primary objective is to teach students how to be successful in college.   So read, understand, ask questions about, know the syllabus for each class.

I had a quiz scheduled for them this week and included 3 questions about information on the syllabus.  I'll be curious to see what the numbers show as to whether or not students really "understood the syllabus" like they said they did.

In this case, I'd set up the first quiz to be a quiz on the syllabus, due dates etc.  I have done this in the past with good results.   

[georgia_guy]

Put all the due dates in the syllabus. That's step one.

If your course management software includes a calendar, make sure to include them there.

Sent reminder e-mails, a week before deadlines, 2 days before deadlines, and the day of the deadline. That way, when they log in to email their ignorance to you, they realize how stupid they will sound.

Sincw you desacribed the course as not an "academic course" and a course "to teach students how to be successful in college" I would assume it is one of those freshman "college success" type courses. I have taught those ON CAMPUS and students were just as clueless. The bottom line is that students who are ready for college usually don't take that course. You have students who really desperately need some handholding and direction. That's really tough to do online. Put the due dates everywhere. Syllabus, calendar, e-mails, header on the front page, and anywhere else you can think of.

[mountain_ivy]

Syllabus??  What's that???  I don't have one.  You didn't give me one.  You did?  My server was down.  The dog chewed the cord. 11:59???  Didn't you mean 11:59 on Sunday?  That's the rule for on-line courses.  It isn't?  well, it should be c'z I go to church on Saturday night and the service is really long.  You're discriminating against my religion, making me turn this paper in when I should be in church.  I'm reporting you to your supervisor.

[daurousseau]

Students didn't read it? How about the professors? My job includes going over syllabi each new term. Lo! Professor Jo has submitted the same syllabus hu's been using for 5 years, with some changes made and some not, for example the phone number that's been inoperative since last year. Professor Jan has the syllabus written at Headquarters; machts nichts that parts of it don't make sense at this campus, referring to entities and procedures that don't exist. Professor Per is an adjunct who accidently revised the syllabus from 2006 instead of the one from 2007, with 2006's out-of-date textboooks required. Best of all are those written in India by an academic outsource that cite the reading assignments incorrectly, making them impossible to find unless the student recruit a professional researcher.