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
