At one of the APA meetings years ago, I talked to a presenter in the Poster section about his work on how well students do on makeup tests. (Not very well, in general, mostly due to some assumed variables: the students who routinely miss tests aren't the best students.) Part of his presentation was to also point out that the best way - and easiest for an instructor - is to give the makeup tests all on the same day. He suggested the day of the finals, so everybody who missed a test throughout the semester can take it then.
I have used this method ever since and it's saved me a lot of grief - and extra trips in to school to give a makeup. I give one sheet with all the makeup questions for each test on it, with 5-7 essay questions for each test. I run off a bunch of them and students stay after the final if they have to make up a test. I also allow them to retake ONE test if they've blown it. Anyone can miss a test and take the makeup - which I grade pretty stringently, which is only fair. I leave it up to the students to keep track of tests they've missed. Unbelievably, I occasionally have a student who needs me to check to find out which test he/she missed! (Predictably, they don't do very well...) The down side for students is that I also allow them to skip the final if they have an average of 90% or better for all the tests. If they've missed a test - for whatever reason - they're out of the running for skipping the final. It's a huge incentive for students to do well on the tests AND not to miss them. Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
