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[losemygrip]

For years I've used the "best 5 of the 6 tests--no makeup tests" strategy.  But then, I ran into trouble with the athletics department, who insisted that their students be given makeups for their excused absences rather than allowing them to drop it.  I had a huge fight on the phone with the women's basketball coach.  I've had to move to the strategy of: "if you have an excused absence, you can choose to drop the test, or do a gnarly make-up essay."  Their tests are multiple choice scantron things.

Another thing I've tried with success recently: I used to require two essays/semester for students in this same class, a large lecture with 60.  When the administration moved it up to 80, I made the essays optional.  I told them they could do an essay as a replacement for a low test grade, but they had to sign up for it by about the 3/4 point of the semester (thus preventing the last-minute Hail-Mary crappy essays).  They used to complain bitterly about the essays (even though it helped their grades), but now they love it.

[francie_]

Nothing to add, but this is an awesome thread with an awesome title, Scienceprof.

I agree, and I nominate for a Sticky.  It should stay at the top of this forum.  Mods?

[cc_alan]

I think I am joining (or am I President and charter member of?) the Alan fan club.  Just last week, I told a senior she could graduate if she could snatch the pebble from my hand.

Also, summers-off, positive psychology is obviously the worse, not better,  way to put it - would I have had 28 reponses in 2 days if I had titled the thread "Positive psychology"?  I think not.

Heh. You need help. :)

I love "Grasshopper" lines and I use them at various times in class. I always get someone who wants to keep jumping forward while I'm developing a concept. One the one hand it shows the student is thinking ahead (which I love) while on the other hand the student doesn't realize that it's next in my notes. But, we need to develop the current topic before we can go to the next one! So, they get "patience Grasshopper" or the pebble line.

And what's funny is that many of them know where it comes from! That amazes me.

Nothing to add, but this is an awesome thread with an awesome title, Scienceprof.

I agree, and I nominate for a Sticky.  It should stay at the top of this forum.  Mods?

I agree. I love that Scienceprof started this thread and I second the sticky request. There have been quite a few useful tips shared by people.

Alan

[concordancia]

My brain hurts. I just give a bazillion quizzes, add up the points, not to exceed the specified percentage on the syllabus and voila. If you didn't do the reading or come to class, you are just out of luck. Although I do note the difference in my grade book. A zero means you didn't read, no notation means you didn't show up to class.

Okay... someone didn't do their homework and follow the intent of this thread.

<image of some dork standing in front of you and looking constipated while loudly whispering for some strange reason>

You will share some of your mind f... err... games.

So, Nomy, what do you do in class to "encourage" students to want to take their medicine?

Alan

Well, as simple as the system seems to me, the students don't get it. A single no credit anywhere along the way keeps most of them in line. Students hate zeros as much as they love extra credit.

As for the essay thing, my students this spring opted for one out of two prompts. For most of the semester I was kind. For the last essay exam, I wrote one that asked what their favorite part of the last section was, how it could be categorized and why it was important. Then I asked a question about the topic they all hated.

[francie_]

Nothing to add, but this is an awesome thread with an awesome title, Scienceprof.

I agree, and I nominate for a Sticky.  It should stay at the top of this
forum.  Mods?

I agree. I love that Scienceprof started this thread and I second the sticky request. There have been quite a few useful tips shared by people.

Alan

Some of whom may, in fact, be Jedi.  Ya never know.

Plus, the cool thread name should not be allowed to sink into oblivion.

[dr_evil]

I don't have any good mind tricks to share, but I want to thank everyone for the great ideas.

I also want to ask about that Alan Fan Club.  I didn't know there were others like me.

[conjugate]

I joke that one semester, I'm going to open a class with the news that there will be no tests, homework, or quizzes; everybody gets an F.  But I will be nice and allow extra credit work, in the form of homework, quizzes, and the occasional exam.  I have never done this, of course; I might be fired if I tried.  But the temptation is there.  I like this thread, and will consider trying some of these things.  I especially like the "attendance as bonus points" notion.  It might help.

                 <<Irony Alert>>

I regularly drop some of the lowest grades rather than give makeup work or take late homework.  It is the policy here that teachers (who after all are a relatively unimportant part of the major purpose of the University) must give way to the important events such as away-games and sponsored activities, which after all are what the institution is all about (right?).  We can't let math interfere with a cheerleader's going to a volleyball game.

I am considering "voluntary test preparation exercises" which would consist of a far number of problems to be worked during class.  These would be entirely voluntary, and work in lieu of quizzes.  A certain number of test questions would come from these.  Come to think of it, this sounds much like my quizzes as currently instituted, except that the quizzes are a predetermined percentage of the grade.  I'll report back how that works, though it'll be first tested in Summer Session, in about a week or so, which might not be a fair test.

[crowie]

I almost always set the due date for the final paper as the last day of semester on the syllabus I give out at the start.  As the semester comes to an end, though, I have invariably changed the due date to a later date, whether a couple of days or a week later, often for my convenience (to move the grading to a better date for me etc.).  They are always grateful and I find that I have gotten fewer or zero requests for extensions when I do this.  Indeed, when I change the due date I usually phrase it as a "group extension" and say,"as a result, no further individual requests for extensions will be entertained."

[kmellendorf]

I give workout tests, four per semester.  Each test has five one-page problems.  Each student selects which four s/he wants me to grade.  A student that has a "good picture" of what s/he does and does not understand, or a student that just can't bring one individual concept to mind, usually does four and does well.  A student that didn't study well usually does five and has no idea which to choose.  In a way, each student chooses which test to take.  It eliminates the complaint about how one question was too hard.

[siduri]

In writing-intensive classes, I let the students help make up the rubric.  I list the 3-4 items that I'm going to grade on, then they can list a few more that they want on the rubric as well (although I do reserve the right of refusal).  This actually has a pedagogical purpose beyond making me seem so much nicer than I really am.  It forces them to evaluate their writing, as they have to identify what they have done well.  And there is also half a chance that they might actually pay attention to what's on the rubric.

[psychdiva]

I always postpone the due date of the paper, but I don't tell students this until two weeks beforehand. There is a huge collective sigh of relief and they think I'm so kind. Little do they know that I don't want to grade the damn things until the end of the term anyway.

[concordancia]

I tried this with a draft this semester. I told them a week before it was due that they had three extra days, since I wasn't going to grade their drafts and their colleagues' comps on the same day. I got two drafts that were less than half the length than the assigned paper and I didn't get another two drafts at all. So much for being nice.

[kmellendorf]

Psychdiva,
An EXCELLENT method!  If you know they're going to beg for it anyway, beat them to the punch.  It IS nice to eliminate a standard strategy of complaint.

[psychdiva]

Psychdiva,
An EXCELLENT method!  If you know they're going to beg for it anyway, beat them to the punch.  It IS nice to eliminate a standard strategy of complaint.

They don't call me PsychDiva for nothing.

[tt_finally]

On the day a paper is due, I sometimes (especially if I'm not going to be able to get to the grading for a few days anyway) allow students time to read over their paper and self-evaluate based on the rubric.  Then they get time to discuss the paper's strengths and weaknesses with a partner and plan how they would improve it.  Then I tell them that they can turn it in next class period, without late penalty, provided they have the paper with them for the current class. 

My students hate peer review, but love this (which is, of course, peer review . . . .)  Those who choose to submit that same day have less room to complain if they get a poor grade, especially if they have weaknesses due to hastiness and sloppiness ("you had the chance to revise it before turning it in . . . ).  Those who revise/edit are happy for the chance to do so and sometimes correct sloppy errors, making my grading a bit less arduous.  Everyone is happy.