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[dr_starbucks]

I'm looking for advice, Oh Wise Ones.

I usually give 10 weekly quizzes with no make-ups allowed for any reason and then I drop the lowest two.  You know where this is going... they feel punished for having been sick and then a "low" score doesn't get dropped.
So, I have read through some of the JMT and know that some folks phrase it as "We'll have 10 quizzes and I'll keep your best 8".  I'm wondering if that will be enough of a change.  I was thinking about giving them two chits and letting *them* decide by the last day of class which two quizzes they want dropped.  Sounds like a lot more work to me, but it might make them feel more in control.

Opinions?

The slight rewording suggested here might help, but students will always test you to determine the flexibility in manipulating the system.  Holding down the line with a sympathetic response to the illness and comment along the lines of "well, I'm sure you are glad that you got to drop that quiz . . ." usually does the trick.  

Students seem to be adept at using the philosophy of "it never hurts to ask . . . the worst thing that can happen is no!" and usually a diplomatic subtle way of nipping this in the bud early will help.

[dochalladay]

On the subject of quizzes, I've always done the "drop the lowest two" bit before but have been looking for an alternative. I've been thinking of this semester doing the following. Quizzes are worth 100 points out of the 1000 for the semester, but then give quizzes worth say 120 total points. If you get above 100 points, well the extra are just bonus points for the semester. In other words, you can get more than full credit. Thoughts?

[goingbatty]

On the subject of quizzes, I've always done the "drop the lowest two" bit before but have been looking for an alternative. I've been thinking of this semester doing the following. Quizzes are worth 100 points out of the 1000 for the semester, but then give quizzes worth say 120 total points. If you get above 100 points, well the extra are just bonus points for the semester. In other words, you can get more than full credit. Thoughts?

I used to do that but after a lot of reading on the fora I've switched to "you can reach a 100 point cap."  High achieving kids who get there sooner keep trying anyway because they're nerds, while the ones who really need the practice either take them, or they don't, and when they come crying about getting anything other than an A+++ later on, you can say "oh no, you didn't take all the quizzes, how unfortunate for you..."

[polly_mer]

I've allowed students to get whatever they get with dropped points (I subtracted a set value from the denominator) and found that almost no one managed to average more than 100%.  However, the handful who did deserved it so I let that carry over in the average (e.g., 103% of 25% of the grade results in a bitsy boost to the final grade).

I didn't hear any complaints under that system.

[mountainguy]

Depending on how often you quiz, another option is to allow makeups, but to make them more rigorous than the original quiz. My students last semester magically started showing up on time as soon as I decreed that all makeup exams/quizzes would be in essay format. (I realize that's more trouble than it's worth if you're using daily or weekly quizzes).

[anakin]

Depending on how often you quiz, another option is to allow makeups, but to make them more rigorous than the original quiz. My students last semester magically started showing up on time as soon as I decreed that all makeup exams/quizzes would be in essay format. (I realize that's more trouble than it's worth if you're using daily or weekly quizzes).

I've done something very similar with makeup exams. I also did polly's "trick" with smashing success. In the Army, they call this a tactical retreat. In the classroom, it transcends mere Jedi mind tricks to surfing on the waves of the Force: it's that Zen sweet spot of just the right mixture of cluebat and carrot.

(Having mixed...let's see...four metaphors, I shall now retire for the evening.)

[cc_alan]

Depending on how often you quiz, another option is to allow makeups, but to make them more rigorous than the original quiz. My students last semester magically started showing up on time as soon as I decreed that all makeup exams/quizzes would be in essay format. (I realize that's more trouble than it's worth if you're using daily or weekly quizzes).

I've done something very similar with makeup exams. I also did polly's "trick" with smashing success. In the Army, they call this a tactical retreat. In the classroom, it transcends mere Jedi mind tricks to surfing on the waves of the Force: it's that Zen sweet spot of just the right mixture of cluebat and carrot.

(Having mixed...let's see...four metaphors, I shall now retire for the evening.)

<stands in slack-jawed awe>

Alan

[usukprof]

I guess this classifies, although it was not intended as such.  In my graduate exams on computer networking, I ask conceptual questions that are either <10 point short answer or 20+ point long answer.  Closed book, no calculators.  I use homework for analytical problem solving, and exams to see if they understand material, and can explain important concepts (sometimes requiring sketches and block diagrams).

Many of my foreign students that became equation-solving machines in their undergraduate studies on the sub-continent, middle east, and Asia have extreme difficulty with this the first few times, and a single blown 20 or 25 point exam question is really bad.

Therefore, I've instituted a policy that any question that receives less than half credit can be redone at home, with full benefit of my notes and the text, and resubmitted to receive half credit.  This rescues students that don't get how to do the test the first few times, spaced on an important concept, and than have a strong incentive to really learn the material.  Since they don't get full credit, this is still fair to the A students that nail things the first time.

A side effect, is that the students love it, and I suspect that my course ratings (which have always been extremely high in graduate classes) benefited.  I still do this now that my future no longer depends on high class evaluations for the other reasons I mentioned.

[bioteacher]

Any ideas on how to get two of my UTAs to actually write and submit questions?

They hold office hours and run the recitation sections without fail. They are not as engaged and animated during recitations as their co-UTAs, but that can also be a personality issue. They do seem to be trying in that area. But I ask them to all generate questions for the worksheet we assign for recitation and also submit a few questions each term to include on exams. It's good practice for them to synthesize what's important and think about where the misconceptions are based on what they see in office hours. This term, I have two students who are very unreliable about this.

I came down hard on them and said that they now had to submit one question to me within 24 hrs of each class, instead of once at the end of the week. I was hoping that by coming down on them, they'd wake up do better. That worked for one week only. They are back to "forgetting" to do this.

While I can hold the S or N/C grade over their head, I'd rather not have to go that route. I am going to try to talk to each of them in person this week and see what is going on. But if any of you have ideas, I'm game.

UTAs are a self-selected group since they apply for the position. They're good students. I've always had a bit of trouble getting regular questions but generally, a gentle reminder or two fixes it. This term, I'm stumped.

Help me channel the Force!

[polly_mer]

What about group meetings where people brainstorm the questions, Bioteacher?

That way the pressure is off, the students can see how others think through the process, but everyone still has to submit the requisite number of questions within the time period.

[bioteacher]

Hmm. There is no common time when we can all meet. But maybe I can have those two come to my office to do questions if they won't do them on their own. --Not that I need another meeting on my calendar, but I'm not giving them a satisfactory grade if they don't do some of the work.

[polly_mer]

All is probably unnecessary, but if you go the group route, then the mind trick was to see what other people are doing.  Calling in only the people who don't do it doesn't fix the underlying problem of good students who are probably feeling a bit lost and could benefit from an example or ten.

Can you get together a few people as an "experiment" and tell them that's what you are doing since they've been doing such interesting questions and someone other than you should get to see?

[toothpaste]

Sure, Snowflake. You are welcome to join my seminar now, even though you have missed the first two weeks of class and introduced yourself with a note about how flakey you are, including the information that other instructors have already refused to let you into their sections. I won't mind if your enrollment puts my class over the cap and adds a good twenty or thirty hours to my already overfull workload this semester. Here, here is the syllabus and a detailed description of the first assignment. We'll see you next week and I'll sign your add/drop form.

I look like a  nice guy, and amazingly enough Snowflake never shows up for class.

[conjugate]

Sure, Snowflake. You are welcome to join my seminar now, even though you have missed the first two weeks of class and introduced yourself with a note about how flakey you are, including the information that other instructors have already refused to let you into their sections. I won't mind if your enrollment puts my class over the cap and adds a good twenty or thirty hours to my already overfull workload this semester. Here, here is the syllabus and a detailed description of the first assignment. We'll see you next week and I'll sign your add/drop form.

I look like a  nice guy, and amazingly enough Snowflake never shows up for class.

Umm... Wrong thread?

[cc_alan]

Sure, Snowflake. You are welcome to join my seminar now, even though you have missed the first two weeks of class and introduced yourself with a note about how flakey you are, including the information that other instructors have already refused to let you into their sections. I won't mind if your enrollment puts my class over the cap and adds a good twenty or thirty hours to my already overfull workload this semester. Here, here is the syllabus and a detailed description of the first assignment. We'll see you next week and I'll sign your add/drop form.

I look like a  nice guy, and amazingly enough Snowflake never shows up for class.

Umm... Wrong thread?

<waves hand>

This is not the thread you are looking for.

Alan