Lee,
I have issues with lateness. If I submit my report late at work, there are consequences. Do you have consequences?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kara,
You make a great point; we are not doing well by our students and they will lose a sense of continuity and engagement. Also, this should be a "class" which means there are more than one person that depends on you and others.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Chastity,
What an interesting term, over understanding. I think you make such good points in making the student work with your parameters.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Stephen,
I agree we have to make sure we are honest with our students. I have told students before that everyone has a story to tell. You are right, we have to equally which means being equally unfair to all!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yvette,
What a great point. You make a great point about it being a disservice. We have to honest and upfront with our students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
We must remember that each time we permit one student to have extra time to turn in their assignments we are being unfair to those who worked hard to meet the deadline.
That being said, if a student encounters a situation beyond his/her control (hurricane Sandy, etc.) that makes him/her unable to meet the deadline and can provide documentation to prove it, an extension should be granted.
I think that allowing students to submit work late is okay. I think that students should always be encouraged to submit assignments late as this is the only way students will meet the course objectives. On the other hand, I have only seen a couple students able to complete several weeks of assignments that show a mastery of the material.
Life gets in the way for so many of us, students and instructors. An empathetic instructor helps create a successful learning experience for our students, yet, some boundaries are needed to establish accountability and encourage time management skills. I explain the expectation that students must plan ahead and have backup strategies in place to manage all the "life" circumstances that might interfere with their ability to meet an assignment deadline. I introduce students to the late policy at the first course meeting and let them know that makeup work is accepted only with a prior request ahead of the deadline because I have found that an open ended acceptance of late work burdens instructors and students alike. Students lose a sense of continuity and engagement with course units and the online class experience when the course becomes an "occasional" thing.
That's a hard one, Yvette...and I definitely struggle with it because I too have a lot to juggle so sometimes I OVER-understand.
I used to accept late assignments at anytime...I didn't want to hear the reason...simply email me once it was submitted. There were penalties that ranged from 10-35% depending on how many days late.
However, then our university adopted the policy where professors couldn't accept any late DBs and could only accept 1 late IP assignment during our last week of class.
What I then learned was that students were VERY rarely late with the DB posts...huhm...they simply made it happen. And students typically caught up with their late IP assignments prior to that last week of class.
What I learned was that students will work around the parameters set.
I think it is a disservice because it sets them up to fail. When a student thinks that they can avoid the same deadlines that everyone else has to uphold, it adds to their poor time management. Everyone, I mean, everyone is juggling many things ~ whether they are the student or instructor ~ and to give them an "out" when there is no extenuating circumstances gives them the concept that they can do this in every online course. Because instructors often only have a student for one course, he/she does not know the history of the student coming in to class in terms of timely submissions. We have no way to know if the student is being honest about needing to submit make-up work without the need for extenuating circumstances. Being firm as an instructor teaches students to be more studies, more responsible, and more ready to take on greater challenges in education (e.g., Masters, Doctorate).
Hello,
When students are juggling school, work and family, it is a disservice to allow and accept make-up work without the need for extenuating circumstances. The expectation for timeliness and punctuality should be set fairly early in the course. Therefore, when a student turns in a late assignment then points should be deducted. It sets a standard and the student is prompted to manage their time.
