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[irinabaker]

This is on my syllabus from the beginning, and I stress it when I have my video orientation that students must watch to continue in the course.  My chair is fine with it (as is pretty much everyone else in the department).

I also have it in my orientation + my students have to pass the syllabus quiz with 100% score. One of the questions on the quiz is about passing the course and the final exam requirement.
Do the other instructors have the same policy regarding the final exam? Do you have departmental and college policy on the finals?

[polly_mer]

Since it's now clear to me that either you are trolling or more confused than I wish to straighten out, Irinabaker, the only question I'm going to answer is

3. Are you talking about online classes? How do you proctor the tests?

I teach some hybrid classes (one meeting per week face-to-face, the rest online) so all my students are expected to be able to get to campus.  Thus, I proctor the tests myself by administering them during the face-to-face meetings.  My colleagues who have completely online classes make arrangements with testing centers convenient to the students and have the students take 2-3 proctored tests through the semester and then a proctored final.

[irinabaker]

Since it's now clear to me that 1. either you are trolling or more confused than I wish to straighten out, Irinabaker, the only question I'm going to answer is

3. Are you talking about online classes? How do you proctor the tests?

I teach some hybrid classes (one meeting per week face-to-face, the rest online) so all my students are expected to be able to get to campus.  Thus, I proctor the tests myself by administering them during the face-to-face meetings.  My colleagues who have completely online classes make arrangements with testing centers convenient to the students and have the students take 2. 2-3 proctored tests through the semester and then a proctored final.

1. I'm just interested in the experience of the other online instructors. I'm sorry I sound confusing and not clear for you.
2. WOW! Our students are unhappy to have even one proctored (Final) exam. I was the first in my department who has started to give the proctored exams for online class students.

Anyway, thank you for your replies and sharing your experience.

[hulkhogan]

Students *always* expect that they can take online classes without having to make adjustments to their personal schedules. They never (and I mean never ever) understand that an online class "saves" them three hours of class time per week plus the commuting time if any and that that time gets added on to the time to be devoted to the coursework. Instead, they expect to keep their lives unchanged and fit the coursework into the bits and pieces of time their have or care to make available here and there. A proctored exam violates these expectations, and you probably remember the saying that people are the most angry not when something bad happens but when their expectations are violated.

Putting information like that in the syllabus makes no difference because it's not a matter of having the information. Whether it's an email or an assignment sheet or the syllabus that violates expectations is immaterial.

[jolov76]

I believe the expectations of students taking Online Classes should be set when they decide to enroll into the school. Many students that are enrolling into online courses do not have personal access to a computer half of the time so that in itself is an issue. Many of them haven't been to school in years, and I am not talking about a college or a university. The problem is that the expectation of the online class is not being presented at the time of enrollment. Students are told by admissions that you will be able to balance work and your personal life by taking online courses. Which is true if you had the necessary means and understanding to take the course.  Online courses are very intense because you have to be self dedicated to complete the assignments and to interact with an online class forum. I found that many of the things posted on a discussion board in a online forum have no relevance to what the question or topic is being discussed in the forum. I believe there is twice as much studying that is required for online courses because many of them are just for a few weeks. Admissions representatives should be held more accountable for the kind of student they are enrolling to the school. The admissions representative know when they are speaking or meeting with a student that they may not be suitable for a online course. Admissions sole purpose at a for-profit school is to sell the product of the company and what is happening on the front line is misrepresentation. Students are not told that online classes require, I believe twice as much time and dedication as a traditional classroom. So what ends up happening is unsuitable students end up in the online classes that you teach. The more unsuitable students that attend the classes I feel eventually discredits the school altogether in the long run.

So the expectation needs to be set at the point of entry into the school itself, which is enrollment. A potential student should be required to have a personal computer in the home that they live and be required to take an introductory course, which many online schools are offering now, to determine if the potential student suitable for the online course.

That's just my take on the issue. I work closely with admissions. Many of them don't care for me because I am the first to address them when it is evident that the student they enrolled is not suitable for the online course at the time. I tell them that the student should be attending a ground class or a community college because the student is not ready. They are setting the student up to fail. If a student is having trouble completing enrollment paperwork and financial aid paperwork online just imagine how they will be when they log into class.