Hi Catherine:
It's a very good idea to let the students know as soon as possible what the expectations are and not change things around in the middle of a learning session. Changing things around may be okay if that's you're intention, but if you do it all the time, might lead to distracting the student.
Regards, Barry
Hi Margaret:
Another consideration is providing extra credit to students who have earned it, not as a method for students to pass the course without really trying.
One participant mentioned they only use it for students who have attended the lecture.
Regards, Barry
Hi Scott,
In addition, the student who has become the expert of sorts can then be asked to assist with speaking on that topic with other students who may not be getting it as well.
Regards,
Barry
In the school I'm presently at, we cannot give extra credit. Before that policy came into effect, you had to be very careful about allowing extra credit because it allowed for possible "busy work" to take the place of points not earned on tests.
We are not allowed to offer extra credit at our facility. But I have to say this section was pretty eye opening.
Extra Credit should be give if students want to strive to learn more outside the regular curriculum, and not as a way to help out the students that aren't doing well in class. It should be part of the final grade depending on the class but not a major role.
I never give extra credit.I think the student should make up missed work if it is an excused absents, if not excused then a 0 for the day.
We have a policy against extra credit at our school. At other schools, I did allow extra credit so long as the project enhaced the students' learning experience.
I teach AutoCAD which is a very lab oriented class. I assign 3-4 lab projects at the end of each chapter; I have some students that fly through the projects and others that take a little longer. So what I do in an effort to keep everyone on the same schedule is I offer extra credit projects for each chapter.
I have mixed feelings in regards to giving extra credit. Instead I make sure there are enough categories for the student to succeed incase they are weaker in certain areas. The college I teach at has a no extra credit policy that we must uphold.
Since extra credit work should be given to student who want to above what is already expected of them. Then if this student is very close to receiving a higher grade, the extrat credit should count toward the higher grade
I no longer use extra credit in my class. I found the students were depending on the extra credit to past the class. I tried bonus questions but found out that bonus questions is a form of extra credit.
I am very in favor of extra credit questions on assessments. It gives a student a chance to show enthusiasm and pride in their knowledge. Students are often on the cusp of two grades at the end of the term. Many factors are involved in this "difficult" decision on the teachers part. I look for every possible chance to give the student a higher grade, as long as they've displayed a genuine entusiasm for the material and a thirst for knowledge!
Many of my students show ambition and willingness to take on extra projects.. assuming they are completing assigned projects and doing well, extra credit helps them solidify their learning experience.. and helps their grade.
Good call....that is what extra credit is all about. We have small classes and so are keenly aware of the students abililty to perform. Illness and personal problems sometimes get in the way of performance. That student should not be penalized.
I agree. Extra credit also required more time on the part of the instructor to develop new assignments. I put a lot of effort into the course content and give them the grading rubric before they take the assignment so they have no excuse.
My school has a policy of not awarding extra credit so I just follow that policy. I think the policy works well. I don't like it when students say another instructor gave them exra credit because this is a violation of school policy. I just stick to the policy of the school. I usually tell students that are struggling to focus on the remaining graded items. This may seem harsh but I think it's the best approach.
I only give extra credit opportunities to those students who have completed all assignments. With that being said, if extra credit is assigned then it should have an equal role as all of the other grades would have as the student would have earned it.
In my mind...NONE. There is no extra credit in the working world. Yes, you may get kudos for a job well done or you may even get a promotion for doing a continued good job. At no time, did I receive a bonus, salary increase or anything tangible for doing a good job on a certain assignment or project. Students know the grading policy on the first day of class and they often use the excuse, "Oh, I will make up something special later on and the teacher will change my grade." This is not elementary school anymore.
I don’t usually do extra credit assignments. What I like to do is give bonus points on tests. When I am lecturing I will tell the students about a possible bonus question and what the topic it may be on. I find this works in two ways. One, it encourages students to come to class if they think they may get information about bonus points and two if they answer the question correctly they get extra points on the test. Plus if you only do little bonus points here and there it really doesn’t affect the balance of your grading system.
