Missing/Late Assignments
I am a new teacher and have had an especially difficult time deciding how to approach late/missing assignments in my class. I teach English Composition in a culinary school and some of my classes are pass/fail. I received complaints last term for outlining a rigid late assignment policy and then not sticking to it. Essentially, one of my stronger students felt that more students should have failed the class based on turning in late work.
I tried to give my students high expectations at the start of class in order to push them to do their best and be punctual, but as the term progressed I felt it was important to also show flexibility on my behalf. Is it possible to push students to turn everything in on time, but later show flexibility when that 10% fails to turn in their assignments? Is it possible to be both firm and flexible or must I choose one or the other? I just find late/missing work especially difficult to deal with when I am teaching a general education class that is graded pass/fail.
Hi Jenny,
Me too...deadlines are crucial in the workplace. I love the point you made, repeat a course versus being fired. Some students really need to be taught a lesson. We are not doing them any favors by being lenient. We are sending the wrong message by being lenient.
Patricia
I would agree with this. Students have a tendency to get lazy as the term moves on. Constantly missing deadlines shouldn't be okay in the classroom because it won't be ok when they get into the "real world." I've found that some students need a wake up call in regards to timeliness of assignments. This may mean that they end up repeating the course, but I would rather have them repeat a course than have to lose a job because of they are late turning in a project for the company they are work for. I believe in tough love when it comes to missing deadlines.
Hi Letisha,
The feelings are mutual when it comes to deadlines. In the real world deadlines are made to be adhered to not broken. I am not a fan of extra credit. A grade can be so cushioned that a student passes, and the student is unable to perform. For some students it really does take a little more time than others, therefore some students may have to repeat a course. Repeating a course is not always a bad thing.
Patricia
I am an instructor in medical assisting/medical billing and I am trying to teach my students that meeting delaines is a MUST! I feel that if I do not prepare them for what is really expected of them once they are out in the field I am not doing my job.
I have yet to meet the employer that bends the rules for that 10%. My experience has been NO show, NO job! Harsh? Yes, but that is what they will be facing.
I also agree with those who have spoken on extra credit. I tried that for a short time and found that students not willing to do the work could still pass if they completed the extra credit. I cringe to think I would be passing these students and that they'd go on to work in a doctor's office with their "lack of" work ethic.
I struggle with the same issues. I also teach composition and I vacilate between feeling like a inflexible beast and a complete doormat. As this term starts off, I believe I am going to be more rigid because I want to be fair.
Hi Walter,
I like your opinion about extra credit. I fully agree. I am not a fan of extra credit. Do it right the first go round and there is not a need for extra credit. Extra credit inflates the grade, we need to give students what they earn.
Patricia
Extra credit? I teach in a motorcycle technology school, In the real world there is no extra credit. I expect work compleated on time all the time,just like a real shop owner and customer would expect. As to the issue of late assignments the student looses 1 letter grade per day late. Exceptions are at my discression can be work,famaly or medical.
If you stated policy to students then it has to followed through with to be meaningful. Of course, life happens & students have circumstaces. I learned the key to being flexible is to have a written agreement between the instructor & student when the assignment will be turned in as well as stating what will be tolerated in the future for missing assignments.
I have a similar philosophy in regards to late work. I teach computer science courses and if a student does not do the work, they quickly fall behind. I am also a firm believer in students doing QUALITY work.
If an assignment is done poorly, I will ask a student to redo it. I don't take points off for this eiter.
One thing that may help is to talk with the student about the consequences of turning work in late--more work next week, easier for the instructor to grade the work when it's due, concepts build off each other, bad habits, etc.
Most students do not take advantage my practices. I have found that the students who do,
usually find other ways to fail my course.
Hi Patricia,
Good point! While I do offer extra credit to recoup a few points, there will still never be enough extra credit points to make up for more than one missed deadline. I cap it at 10% and make it challenging (but not impossible) to earn. If a student loses 10% of their grade for a missed deadline, they could potentially earn that back over the course of the semester, but for any other missed deadlines they would be out of luck once the 10% course cap was reached. Maybe I'm a bit too lenient. I admire your real-world approach and the self-discipline it must produce in your students. Maybe I'll give it a try in the future! :)
Hi Christian,
Wow, you are certainly flexible. I do not give extra credit. I firmly believe that grades should be earned based on the initial assignments. In the workplace...is there such thing as extra credit? Deadlines should be adhered to and not broken because you know you will get an extra credit opportunity.
Patricia
I tend to struggle with the issue of missing assigments. If the assignment is not just "busy work" then I really need them to do the assignment to master the learning objective. However, if I continue to dock points for each day late, then they are less likely to complete the assignment.
Therefore, I tend to take late assignments, usually without decreasing the points. The downside is that I often have a lot of papers to grade at the end of class. I am trying to find a happy medium for myself so that my students get the work done and I don't get overloaded. It is definitely one of my weaker areas in instruction.
Hi Abigail! I feel that a "firm yet flexible" middle ground is possible here. I have strict deadlines set up for assignments, but I allow students to email work ahead of time if they feel they may not meet this deadline to hand in a hard copy. If they do miss a deadline and receive a zero for an assignment, I allow them extra credit opportunities to earn some points to make up for those lost when they didn't turn their work in on time. These extra credit opportunities are also available to the rest of the students, making it fair for everyone who chooses to work hard.
If the student(s) know that they can turn in work late and still receive credit they will begin to test your limits. Once you bend the rules for one student the word quickly spreads and soon you will get "you let so-and-so make up his/her test why cant I?". Unless you have some reasonable excuse you will have no recourse for your decision. Receiving a reduced grade for being tardy IS being flexible, if it were rigid then you wouldnt accept any late work. Not marking them down only lets them know that they can continue to have exceptions made for them in the "real world". Once they make the same mistake on the job and are reprimanded they wont understand the reasoning.
I appreciate your feedback! I think it's best if I come up with a straightforward policy that encourages students to follow deadlines but still allows some flexibility. Karen, I see why your approach works well in a career school. Unfortunately, my pass/fail classes are intensive and 3 weeks in length, so that system might not work for those classes. I'll have to come up with an appropriate system where late work is accepted, but penalized. Ultimately, I may have to experiment a little until I find the approach that works best for myself (and my students). I realize the most important element is consistency.
I take a different approach and give the students until the midterm to turn in their work for the first half of the class. Then I give them until the final to turn in the other half. They appreciate the flexibility because most have jobs and families that take away from their time.
I teach Microsoft Office application usage and find using the late policy illustrated in our learning activity to be a good starting point. One week extension minus 5% per late day with the provision the assignment is completed in whole and not part! The following week the assignment credit is zero! This works for me.
Hi Abigail,
First off all, you have to stick to your guns, otherwise you will loose all credibility. Your students will take you for a joke. Grade them accordingly, don't bend, reprimand them, if they fail, they fail. It is their own fault. Choose firmness, you get from your students what you expect.
Patricia
