I agree with Mike here. My syllabi are always laid out as per his example with specific percentages in each category. Typically attendance AND PARTICIPATION get 10%. Participation is a big part of that portion of the grade . Thus, even if they come to every lecture but do not participate (sit quietly and don't bother anyone) they do not get the full 10%. Bing soft-hearted :-), I generally give them a "C" for A&P if they don't participate. If they are a negative influence then they fail that portion. The rest of the grade is similarly laid out. And of course my "first lecture" is spent going over all of this stuff and expectations, and breaking the ice etc. So they don't really have any excuse.
--Mike --- On Wed, 2/18/09, Mike Palij <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mike Palij <[email protected]> Subject: re: [tips] Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes - NYTimes.com To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Cc: "Mike Palij" <[email protected]> Received: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 7:40 AM On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:36:16 -0800, Christopher D. Green wrote: >According to a UC Irvine report covered by the NYT today, about one >third of students expect B's just for attending lectures, and 40 percent >believe they earn B's by doing required reading. > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html?_r=2 > >If I had only known... There are some things that are unclear here. Although the article seems to suggest these expectations are based on student's experiences in K-12, I have to wonder what do the syllabi for courses they take say about how the final course grade is calculated. Consider, if the final course grade is based on a 1-100 point scale with "thresholds" for different letter grades, then how can such expectations be maintained if the student is told this is how the final course grade is constituted: 10% - Attendance, participation, and homework 20% - Exam #1 20% - Exam #2 30% - Final Exam (cumulative) 20% - Papers: 2 Papers (about 10 pages each; 10% each) If one lays out the components of the final grade, I know that a student may still hold unrealistic beliefs ("but I always showed up for class, how could I fail?") but the instructor can point out how and why the beliefs are unrealistic ("attendance at best counts less than 10% of the final course grade"). So, are students' expectations unrealistic because they are "delusional" or carrying over beliefs from high school or is it due to the lack of specificity that some professors have in identifying how a course grade is determined (i.e., the point contribution of specific activities)? -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
