Re: Your Thoughts
I have a policy (that I explicitly put in my syllabus) that I will give make-up exams for "emergencies". However, make-up exams consist only of essay questions & are often a bit longer and harder than the regularly scheduled exam. This technique is effective in my lower level courses that traditionally have exams that contain a mixture of multiple-choice & short answer questions. I've found that most students will do anything to avoid the essay exams, if at all possible. Lisa Harrison, Ph.D. Department of Psychology California State University, Sacramento
Re: Your Thoughts
I require documentation for all makeup work. >Dear Colleagues, > >I wanted to get some of your ideas and opinions on >taking student excuses from their face value. In other >words how do most of you handle situations where >students are absent on the day of exams and when >assignments are due. Do you require some sort of >documentation such as a doctor's visit letter from the >student before allowing the student to make-up an exam >or for not penalizing later work or assignments. How >do you handle cases like this? Do you just take the >student's word or story about the emergency that came >up for them as being valid or do you require them to >provide you documentation of the emergency as to why >they could not attend class on the day of the exam or >assignment due date. Your feedback is appreciated on >this matter. > >Payam Heidary > >__ >Do You Yahoo!? >Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! >Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
Re: Your Thoughts
"In 20 years of university teaching I've experienced about 100 dead grandparents--at least five a semester, depending on class size. They seem to die like flies right when a paper is due, or before exams." --Meredith Small (Professor of Anthropology, Cornell), essay on "All Things Considered," NPR, Feb. 2, 2001 RealAudio: http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20010202.atc.13.ram --Charles Charles S. Harris, PhD[EMAIL PROTECTED] webmaster, The Nurture Assumption home page: http://home.att.net/~xchar/tna/
Re: Your Thoughts [about make-up exams]
Hi All- I seem to be the odd person out on this one. I not only insist that students write every exam, I also insist that they inform me a priori if they are not able to write at the assigned time. From my course outline: Absence from class: It is understood that illness and personal emergencies may sometimes prevent a student from attending class. This becomes a serious matter when the illness/emergency coincides with the date of a test or paper. Should this occur, students have the responsibility to contact the instructor prior to the class to make alternate arrangements. Failure to do so may result in a grade of zero for the quiz/paper in question. Make-up exams, deadline extensions, alternative grading schemes, etc. are entirely at the discretion of the instructor. I see this policy as being consistent with the "real world". What would happen if you missed a week of work, didn't phone in, and then arrived with a doctor's note? Obviously, I make exceptions for those truly rare events when a student could not reasonably have been expected to contact me ahead of time. I find that this policy greatly reduces the number of spurious "illnesses" that emerge later in the semester. -Don. Jeff Ricker wrote: > Payam Heidary wrote: > > > how do most of you handle situations where > > students are absent on the day of exams and when > > assignments are due. > > For examinations: > > I always allow a student to take exams BEFORE the scheduled time. That way, if they >know something > is coming up for them, they can plan on taking the exam a day or two early. > > I also do not worry if a student comes late to an exam (I have no times limits on my >exams anyway), > even if they come an hour or two late. Usually, in such a case, I tell them to take >the exam in a > later section (for intro psych, I have several sections during the day). I rarely >have students do > this consistently and, when they do, it is often because of work-related problems. >It is very > unlikely, with my tests, that they can talk with a student who has already taken the >exam and get > enough information to make a difference on their scores. > > I also allow students to make up ONE exam...for ANY reason (I give between five and >seven exams > during the semester, depending on the course). I don't even want to hear the >excuse--but they often > seem to feel compelled to tell me anyway. I have one day set aside during the last >week of regular > classes for all make-ups. When students realize that they will have to wait until >the end of the > semester to take the exam, many opt to rearrange their schedules or take the exam >even with a sore > throat rather than wait until the semester's end when other assignments are coming >due. > > I explain to students that taking the make-up option should be reserved for major >emergencies since > they probably don't want to take the make-up during a very busy period of the >semester. Perhaps a > quarter of the class takes a make-up exam. The distribution of scores is no >different than those > taking the test on the assigned date. > > For homework assignments: > > I do something similar. They can always hand in assignments early. And I let them >hand in ONE > assignment late, for ANY reason. If there were a large number of assignments, I >might even extend > this to two, or I might drop a small number of the lowest scores (such as zeros on >missed > assignments). > > Students seem to find these policies very fair and I almost never have any >complaints. > > Jeff > > -- > Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213 > 9000 E. Chaparral Rd.FAX Number: (480) 423-6298 > Psychology Department[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Scottsdale Community College > Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 > > Listowner: Psychologists Educating Students to Think Skeptically (PESTS) > http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sbscience/pests/index.html
Dropping an exam (was RE: Your Thoughts)
I have a retest policy that addresses this drop-an-exam issue. Incidentally, my make-up exams work the same way -- the points are taken from the corresponding section of the final. In my case, my final exam is optional, but I can't think of reason why this wouldn't work with a mandatory final exam. >From my syllabus: "LIMIT: You may choose to 'retest' only 1 exam. "If you did not do as well on a test as you think you could have, you may choose to do a 'retest'. How this works: Let's say you earn 30 out of a possible 50 on the first test (but earn A's and B's on the other 3 tests). You decide that that 30/50 score is not indicative of what you know. You may choose to 'retest'. The "retest" looks a lot like the make-up test procedure. When you come in to take the final (if you choose to do this), you must hand me a signed slip of paper stating that you are choosing to retest, in this example, test 1. You may choose to answer just the 25 questions that cover that test or you may choose to answer all 100 questions on the final. In either case, when you are finished with your final, I will look at those 25 questions for your "retest". If you answered 20 out of 25 correctly, your score for your first exam will be changed to 40 out of 50 (double the points). If the retest score is higher than your original test score, your original score will be replaced. If the retest score is lower, we'll pretend you never took the retest. "There are times in one's life when Intro to Psych is not a top priority. Subsequently, you may not do very well on a particular test. This retest policy gives you a second opportunity to learn the material and demonstrate to me that you have done so." -- Sue Frantz Highline Community College Psychology Des Moines, WA 206.878.3710 x3404 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://flightline.highline.ctc.edu/sfrantz/ > -Original Message- > From: Payam Heidary [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 9:04 AM > To: David Wasieleski > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Your Thoughts > > > I agree with David about the dropping exam policy not > being a good one. I do not adopt this policy in my > classes mainly because it is sending the wrong message > to students that they will not always be responsible > for learning the information presented in lecture and > text. The student can tell him or herself "well I > didn't study that much for this exam so I will just > drop this one. Who cares." This is NOT the mind-set we > want to implant into our students' head. We have to > teach and send the message to students that they are > responsible and accountable for knowing the course > information and that exams are mandatory and not > optional. Another problem with this approach is that > let's say you give 4 exams and allow students to drop > 1 exam they miss. So what you are doing is really > grading on 3 exams instead of 4. Do you know why? It > is very simple. If a student got A's on 3 exams then > they don't have to study or take the 4th exam anymore > to get an A in the class. Is this right or > appropriate? In my opinion not at all. Students should > be responsible and required to take all exams and > should only be allowed to make-up an exam they miss > with emergency documentation. Otherwise we will be > treating them like elementary and high school students > and not like adults and college students. This is the > "Big Leagues" where there is a lot of work and a lot > of expectations! > > Payam Heidary >
Re: Your Thoughts
Mike Scoles wrote: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>My syllabus always states that the lowest exam will be dropped (at least >in undergraduate classes). A missed exam counts as a zero. This allows >everyone to have a free "bad day", whether it is a death in the family, >the end of a romance, or the common anxiety-related "stomach virus." It >also gives a break to those students who will drag themselves in for an >exam regardless of how lousy they feel. I believe that everyone has the right to develop their own philosophy on this. Personally, I am in the "drop nothing" group for the reasons that others have stated. If a student came to me with any of the problems that Mike mentioned above, I would let them take the exam at a later time. In my world, grades represent 15 weeks of effort, or lack thereof, not 80%. Rip Pisacreta, Ph.D. Professor, Psychology, Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI 49307 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Re: Your Thoughts
I agree with David about the dropping exam policy not being a good one. I do not adopt this policy in my classes mainly because it is sending the wrong message to students that they will not always be responsible for learning the information presented in lecture and text. The student can tell him or herself "well I didn't study that much for this exam so I will just drop this one. Who cares." This is NOT the mind-set we want to implant into our students' head. We have to teach and send the message to students that they are responsible and accountable for knowing the course information and that exams are mandatory and not optional. Another problem with this approach is that let's say you give 4 exams and allow students to drop 1 exam they miss. So what you are doing is really grading on 3 exams instead of 4. Do you know why? It is very simple. If a student got A's on 3 exams then they don't have to study or take the 4th exam anymore to get an A in the class. Is this right or appropriate? In my opinion not at all. Students should be responsible and required to take all exams and should only be allowed to make-up an exam they miss with emergency documentation. Otherwise we will be treating them like elementary and high school students and not like adults and college students. This is the "Big Leagues" where there is a lot of work and a lot of expectations! Payam Heidary __ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com
Re: Your Thoughts
My syllabus always states that the lowest exam will be dropped (at least in undergraduate classes). A missed exam counts as a zero. This allows everyone to have a free "bad day", whether it is a death in the family, the end of a romance, or the common anxiety-related "stomach virus." It also gives a break to those students who will drag themselves in for an exam regardless of how lousy they feel. -- * http://www.coe.uca.edu/psych/scoles/index.html * Mike Scoles *[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Department of Psychology *voice: (501) 450-5418 * * University of Central Arkansas*fax: (501) 450-5424 * * Conway, AR72035-0001 * * *
Re: Your Thoughts
Not to be critical to Mike or anyone else who favors the "drop one exam" policy, but I've never been a big fan of it. I think i sends the message that one does not need to master all of the material for a course in order to achieve a high grade. In addition, in practice, it can also promote difficulty, as some students (granted, they're often students who would struggle anyway) will use that drop as an excuse for missing an exam or being unprepared. I've heard students approach other faculty after missing one exam (figuring they have a drop) and then having a potentially legitimate reason for missing a second one! Again, there's no perfect solution to this issue (my method is saying everyone's allowed to make up one exam if missed for any reason, but it has to be done at the end of the term, typically the same day as my final; that tends to weed out the legitimate vs. casual excuses for missing an exam), so to each their own, but the dropping policy is not one I've ever been comfortable adopting. My 2.5 cents... David W. At 10:10 AM 9/27/2001 -0500, Mike Scoles wrote: >My syllabus always states that the lowest exam will be dropped (at least >in undergraduate classes). A missed exam counts as a zero. This allows >everyone to have a free "bad day", whether it is a death in the family, >the end of a romance, or the common anxiety-related "stomach virus." It >also gives a break to those students who will drag themselves in for an >exam regardless of how lousy they feel. > >-- >* http://www.coe.uca.edu/psych/scoles/index.html >* Mike Scoles *[EMAIL PROTECTED] * >* Department of Psychology *voice: (501) 450-5418 * >* University of Central Arkansas*fax: (501) 450-5424 * >* Conway, AR72035-0001 * * >* David T. Wasieleski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychology and Counseling Valdosta State University 229-333-5620 http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski "There's a lot of people saying we'd be better off dead. Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them..." --Neil Young "Rockin' in the Free World"
Re: Your Thoughts
Payem I agree with Harry Avis that students - most of the time - do about the same on late exams. But I still hate them and have always worried about the comparability of the original and the make up. Lately I have adopted the "drop the lowest" exam score, in lieu of make ups. To make it work, though, you have to hammer home the point that it does not matter _why_ they missed. There is no difference between a "valid" excuse and an "invalid" excuse. The precious few rare cases of missing 2 exams can be handled on an individual basis (if someone is missing that many classes they should be counseled to take a semester off). Some students might complain that if they have a "valid" reason to miss an exam, they are being penalized vis-a-vis the other students because their lowest score is a zero and the other students get to drop a non-zero grade, but here we are splitting hairs. I like the "drop the lowest score" policy from the standpoint of fair grading guidlines, because you are applying one rule equally to all students. Whether they miss one because of sports, theatre, illness, or whatever, they all have one opportunity to "write off" one exam. Since I have a comprehensive final, I tell them the studying they did for the exam they miss will pay off at semesters' end. Having to play "King Solomon" and pass judgments on excuses is (to me) an aversive activity and frought with pitfalls. John K Payam Heidary wrote: Dear Colleagues, I wanted to get some of your ideas and opinions on taking student excuses from their face value. In other words how do most of you handle situations where students are absent on the day of exams and when assignments are due. Do you require some sort of documentation such as a doctor's visit letter from the student before allowing the student to make-up an exam or for not penalizing later work or assignments. How do you handle cases like this? Do you just take the student's word or story about the emergency that came up for them as being valid or do you require them to provide you documentation of the emergency as to why they could not attend class on the day of the exam or assignment due date. Your feedback is appreciated on this matter. -- --- John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468 Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412 --- "What a man often sees he does not wonder at, although he knows not why it happens; if something occurs which he has not seen before, he thinks it is a marvel" - Cicero.
Re: Your Thoughts [about make-up exams]
Payam Heidary wrote: > how do most of you handle situations where > students are absent on the day of exams and when > assignments are due. For examinations: I always allow a student to take exams BEFORE the scheduled time. That way, if they know something is coming up for them, they can plan on taking the exam a day or two early. I also do not worry if a student comes late to an exam (I have no times limits on my exams anyway), even if they come an hour or two late. Usually, in such a case, I tell them to take the exam in a later section (for intro psych, I have several sections during the day). I rarely have students do this consistently and, when they do, it is often because of work-related problems. It is very unlikely, with my tests, that they can talk with a student who has already taken the exam and get enough information to make a difference on their scores. I also allow students to make up ONE exam...for ANY reason (I give between five and seven exams during the semester, depending on the course). I don't even want to hear the excuse--but they often seem to feel compelled to tell me anyway. I have one day set aside during the last week of regular classes for all make-ups. When students realize that they will have to wait until the end of the semester to take the exam, many opt to rearrange their schedules or take the exam even with a sore throat rather than wait until the semester's end when other assignments are coming due. I explain to students that taking the make-up option should be reserved for major emergencies since they probably don't want to take the make-up during a very busy period of the semester. Perhaps a quarter of the class takes a make-up exam. The distribution of scores is no different than those taking the test on the assigned date. For homework assignments: I do something similar. They can always hand in assignments early. And I let them hand in ONE assignment late, for ANY reason. If there were a large number of assignments, I might even extend this to two, or I might drop a small number of the lowest scores (such as zeros on missed assignments). Students seem to find these policies very fair and I almost never have any complaints. Jeff -- Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213 9000 E. Chaparral Rd.FAX Number: (480) 423-6298 Psychology Department[EMAIL PROTECTED] Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Listowner: Psychologists Educating Students to Think Skeptically (PESTS) http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sbscience/pests/index.html
Re: Your Thoughts
Very interesting story Marc. I think you can sometimes tell from non-verbal cues if a student is not telling you the truth also. I had this one girl come to me and say that her mother was in the hospital for 2 weeks and that she could not get any documentation about this to me. The interesting part was that the whole time she was explaining this "emergency" story to me she was trembling, shaking, and eye contact was not neutral. All non-verbal signs of someone lying. PH --- "G. Marc Turner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have to tell a story that happened to another > professor here last spring. > Shortly before the 2nd exam, he received a phone > call from a student. The > student was very apologetic and said that his > brother had been in an > accident the previous day. He had driven to the > hospital (about 150 miles > away) since he was the closest family member. He > understood that there was > a no makeup policy, but was trying to see if under > these circumstances he > could take the exam later. The professor, who knew > the student had already > missed several days of the class, was hesitant. The > student said he would > do his best to make it in time for the exam. End of > the phone call. > > About 2 minutes later the professor's phone rang. It > was a professor from > the another department on campus who had just heard > a student on his cell > phone outside her office... yes, the student made > the excuse up and was > calling on his cell phone outside of another > professor's office on campus. > > That being said... I actually tend to trust students > unless I have a good > reason not to. > - Marc > > At 07:25 PM 9/26/2001 -0700, Payam Heidary wrote: > >I wanted to get some of your ideas and opinions on > >taking student excuses from their face value. In > other > > > > G. Marc Turner, MEd, Net+ > Lecturer & Head of Computer Operations > Department of Psychology > Southwest Texas State University > San Marcos, TX 78666 > phone: (512)245-2526 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > __ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com
Re: Your Thoughts
In 34 years of teaching I have changed my mind on this subject about 33 times. In the last few years, I have been less skeptical. My thinking on this is that students rarely do better on late exams than on the other exams they take on time, so they probably aren't gaining anything. It is not really any skin off my nose, and they often do have legitimate reasons. Many times they are making it up, but if I refuse to give in, it hurts the ones who aren't lying. My favorite was a message I receive from a student saying that his mother had been mugged and was in the hospital. He had to be at the hospital with her until she was out of danger. It was s good. It contained all the elements, mothers, hospitals, unforseable accidents and crime that I figured he probably couldn't have made it up and if he did he deserved to take it late because it was absolutely unique. Harry Avis PhD Sierra College Rocklin, CA 95677 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Life is opinion - Marcus Aurelius There is nothing that is good or bad, but that thinking makes it so - Shakespeare >From: Payam Heidary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Your Thoughts >Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 19:25:11 -0700 (PDT) > >Dear Colleagues, > >I wanted to get some of your ideas and opinions on >taking student excuses from their face value. In other >words how do most of you handle situations where >students are absent on the day of exams and when >assignments are due. Do you require some sort of >documentation such as a doctor's visit letter from the >student before allowing the student to make-up an exam >or for not penalizing later work or assignments. How >do you handle cases like this? Do you just take the >student's word or story about the emergency that came >up for them as being valid or do you require them to >provide you documentation of the emergency as to why >they could not attend class on the day of the exam or >assignment due date. Your feedback is appreciated on >this matter. > >Payam Heidary > >__ >Do You Yahoo!? >Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! >Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
Re: Your Thoughts
I have to tell a story that happened to another professor here last spring. Shortly before the 2nd exam, he received a phone call from a student. The student was very apologetic and said that his brother had been in an accident the previous day. He had driven to the hospital (about 150 miles away) since he was the closest family member. He understood that there was a no makeup policy, but was trying to see if under these circumstances he could take the exam later. The professor, who knew the student had already missed several days of the class, was hesitant. The student said he would do his best to make it in time for the exam. End of the phone call. About 2 minutes later the professor's phone rang. It was a professor from the another department on campus who had just heard a student on his cell phone outside her office... yes, the student made the excuse up and was calling on his cell phone outside of another professor's office on campus. That being said... I actually tend to trust students unless I have a good reason not to. - Marc At 07:25 PM 9/26/2001 -0700, Payam Heidary wrote: >I wanted to get some of your ideas and opinions on >taking student excuses from their face value. In other > G. Marc Turner, MEd, Net+ Lecturer & Head of Computer Operations Department of Psychology Southwest Texas State University San Marcos, TX 78666 phone: (512)245-2526 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
