I think we've all see students come to us, after the fact, and expect us to accept missed assignments, change grades, etc. I also don't accept missed work and do explain about consequences. However, I must lay the blame for these faulty expectations on their secondary education and school systems that set up students to have little regard for deadlines and the consequences for missing them.
My own experience, especially teaching in the community college system, and dealing with dual-enrolled students (and as a parent of a high school student - who horrified me when he said that as soon as he turns in some late work, the D would be an A - and it did!), is that, at least in some schools, students regularly receive Fs and Ds pending late work, which, if turned in, results in a grade change. Unfortunately, when these students hit the college system, they are in for unexpected surprises. I think that its important for us to mention to the class up front that, if they've experienced grade changes for late work in the past (e.g., in High School), that this is not the typical college practice, and don't count on it. That way they can start to change their expectation. I think that, much of our work in the lower level courses naturally includes shaping some new behaviors and setting up new expectations. At least, if I make a few announcements (and include it in the syllabus), it greatly reduces the number of students coming to me to beg. You should see the surprised faces and the nodding heads when I give them the high school scenario and then explain that they are in new territory and they should not expect this at the college level. Haydee -----Original Message----- From: Hetzel, Rod [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 12:51 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: RE: Rescue me I never cease to be amazed by the requests that students bring to me. I had one student who took a course with me in the summer, failed the course because he only came to class about 25% of the time and didn't complete any assignments, never responsed to my requests for extra help, and then came to see me 3 weeks after grades were turned in expecting me to take his late assignments so I could turn his F into a higher letter grade. The part that shocked me was that he was genuinely surprised--and then angered--when I would not accept his late work. Unless there are some dire circumstances that would qualify the student for an Incomplete in your class (according to your university policies), I would tell your student that you cannot allow her to complete extra work for a grade. If you allowed her to do this, then you would also need to allow all of your other students the same opportunity. Rod ______________________________________________ Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D. Department of Psychology LeTourneau University Post Office Box 7001 2100 South Mobberly Avenue Longview, Texas 75607-7001 Office: Education Center 218 Phone: 903-233-3893 Fax: 903-233-3851 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage: http://www.letu.edu/people/rodhetzel > -----Original Message----- > From: sylvestm [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 11:47 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Rescue me > > > I am not referring to the r&b classic by Aretha Franklin > but to a student who came to me to try to rescue her > from an academic problem.This student has missed lots of > classes and his barely passing the course. Anyway,she feels > that it is essential that she gets a C in the class to maintain > her financial good standing. So she wants me to give her > extra work. > Michael Sylvester,PhD > Daytona Beach,Florida > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
