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hiddendragon
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« on: October 14, 2008, 07:23:04 PM » |
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Student A: Shows up every day for class. On day of midterm, was no show. Said hu was sick and had to go to the doc. I said I'd let hu take the exam the next class period if hu showed up with a medical note. Hu showed up with allergy medecine bottles. I'm suspicious, but insist on a note. I let hu take the exam, hu showed up with a note that does not say much, but does look genuine. I'm thinking of calling to check.
Student B: Shows up two days after exam. Has no excuses. My syllabus stipulates that if they just skipped out and have no legitimate excuse, I would not allow them to make up any exams. Hu begged and begged, saying he knew about policy, but was just "stupid" for not showing up. Please, please, just let hu take it late and hu will take point deductions (that was the easier case, but I hate that I have to bend my rule about no make-up).
Student C: Did not show up for exam either, but let it slied until today, a week later. Now wants to take exam. By this point deduction penalties would give hu a zero. I don't think I'm going to let hu take exam, but I let student B take it for 20% deduction (10% per day), so should I let student C take it as well and impose penalties? Again, by the time student B turns it in, it would be a negative score. Why do I feel guilty that lazy students think that taking college courses is merely a game and they don't have to stick to the syllabus and can make their own deadlines and exam schedules? Why do I care about this and feel bad for not letting them slide? I said to the student today, "If you disappeared from your job in the real world for a week without calling your boss, what would happen to you? This class is a job."
Student D sent me an email attachment of hu's exam three days late. I opened it, it had nothing in it--blank page. Hu actually called me in my office with an excuse the day the test was due back (it's a take-home)--hu can't print it and can't come to class either so will email it to me. I said I don't take email attachments (precisely because I've had students lie to me in the past about having emailed it to me and then tried to squeeze for me to allow them to turn in their exam weeks later. I'm done with the lying, so no email attachments--hard copy only). Hu said hu had a virus and blamed the university for giving it to hu. I told hu that assuming hu did get a virus and found that hu's paper was gibberish on the day it was due, it would have not taken that long to retype the paper (perhaps loosing only a day, and 10% deduction). So, why did hu wait a week to turn it in? No sympathies.
I just love students who have all the excuses in the world. How do I keep myself from dying in disillusionment?
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carebearstare
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« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2008, 07:25:07 PM » |
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You are a pushover. Do not give make up exams. Even in the case of student A, unless hu was in the emergency room, hu could have the decency to send an email.
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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mountainguy
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« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2008, 07:42:54 PM » |
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I probably would have let Student A take the exam, with the stipulation that he/she needed to provide evidence of some sort of being at a doctor's office beyond just medication bottles.
Student B wouldn't have won any sympathy from me, but I might have used your solution if I didn't feel that I would be backed up by my superiors.
I would have failed students C and D.
Before we judge hiddendragon as a pushover, I think it's important to keep in mind that how these situations are handled will vary widely based on institutional policies and culture. On my campus, I'd probably have administrative support to automatically fail students B, C, and D, but not A.
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anthroid
Annoying bad luck snails
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 16,002
No happy socks because nobody gets Manitoba.
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« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2008, 07:45:56 PM » |
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No communication=no makeup. I wouldn't have cut any of the four any slack. A sounds like hu was a little more on top of things but hu would have earned deductions nonetheless. I would have recorded the big fat goose eggs that the other 3 so richly earned.
But MG is right: institutional culture and administrative support has much to do with this.
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Do you hail from Planet Hello Kitty? It's like an action movie, but boring.
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the_myth
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« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2008, 11:02:43 PM » |
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In the future, try this strategy, which I have used to good effect:
Give *NO* make-up exam *until* the end of the semester.
Make a cumulative exam from Hell to give to *everyone* who ever missed *any* exam during the semester. Give it once, and if they have a schedule conflict ----> zero!
You look like you "really, really tried" to be helpful, and their failures rest solely on their heads.
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anthroid
Annoying bad luck snails
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 16,002
No happy socks because nobody gets Manitoba.
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« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2008, 07:27:57 AM » |
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In the future, try this strategy, which I have used to good effect:
Give *NO* make-up exam *until* the end of the semester.
Make a cumulative exam from Hell to give to *everyone* who ever missed *any* exam during the semester. Give it once, and if they have a schedule conflict ----> zero!
You look like you "really, really tried" to be helpful, and their failures rest solely on their heads.
I do like this idea very, very much! |
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Do you hail from Planet Hello Kitty? It's like an action movie, but boring.
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svenc
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« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2008, 08:38:07 AM » |
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A -- With a doctor's note after the fact, I'd put the weight of the exam on the next/final exam (not a makeup).
B, C, D -- 0's all around without batting an eyelash. To do otherwise would be unfair to both the students who did manage to show up for the exam (or get it in on time -- was D a take-home exam?) and these students' future professors and employers.
Why are you offering B the makeup?
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« Last Edit: October 15, 2008, 08:43:31 AM by svenc »
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In foris veritas.
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zuzu_
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« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2008, 09:03:51 AM » |
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You are a pushover. I consider myself to be a fair and reasonable person; I would not have provided a make-up in any of these scenarios. In the future, try this strategy, which I have used to good effect:
Give *NO* make-up exam *until* the end of the semester.
Make a cumulative exam from Hell to give to *everyone* who ever missed *any* exam during the semester. Give it once, and if they have a schedule conflict ----> zero!
You look like you "really, really tried" to be helpful, and their failures rest solely on their heads.
This is a brilliant (passive-agressive?) solution to reduce your stress on this issue and be fair to truly earnest students with legitimate excuses. |
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cc_alan
is a wossname
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,242
Caution! Nekkid zamboni driver ahead.
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« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2008, 09:10:52 AM » |
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In the future, try this strategy, which I have used to good effect:
Give *NO* make-up exam *until* the end of the semester.
Make a cumulative exam from Hell to give to *everyone* who ever missed *any* exam during the semester. Give it once, and if they have a schedule conflict ----> zero!
You look like you "really, really tried" to be helpful, and their failures rest solely on their heads.
I do like this idea very, very much! About 2 years ago I started this makeup policy and it's wonderful (for me). It really seems to encourage students to think about their progress in class and whether it's worth it to take a very difficult makeup exam. It dropped my stress level due to missed exams drastically. I will allow the occasional exception but I don't announce it and it's very rare. Alan |
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Excuse me... which aisle would I find the unicorns and rainbows? No, Alan is a man among men, striding the Earth like a Colossus with a really big bladder, wearing a tool belt.
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