Hi Kristin:
I'm with you. There are way to adjust that evenly distribute any changes. I feel that extra cedit is about points and grades, less about learning.
Regards, Barry
I have always had issues justifying extra credit assignments as part of my teaching philosophy. My feeling is that extra credit is not always fair and it can inflate grades so that the grade doesn't accurately reflect the student's grasp of the course goals.
I don't even mention extra credit in my syllabus or offer it. I would rather curve grades on assignments for the whole class when the grades are poor rather than create additional work or assignments for "extra credit".
I have created my assignments to assess particular learning goals and extra credit is just feels like busy work. I use participation or some other class behavior to adjust final grades for students that did not do well on some of the assignments and therefore had a grade that didn't reflect their learning or mastery of the course goals.
Kristin
Extra credit should not be awarded to an individual student who is seeking to raise a grade. All students should have the same opportunity to earn extra credit. That extra credit should be meaningful to the course content and further the students' knowledge or check their understanding
Our school has established evaluations or assignments for each course. The instructor may assign additions activities or assignments to focus student learning and award a maximum of 5 points for an assignment. A maximum of 3 extra credit assignments can be awarded for an given module.
The point effect the grade by adding to the total points earned from the regular assignments. The total points are then divided by the number of established evaluations or assignments.
Hi Phillip:
For me, I choose not to give extra credit at all.
When a class begins, I believe it should contain all of the elements of the class including assignments, grading, grading scale - in short, it's all done in the beginning of the class. Adding something extra (unless it's given to all students and graded the same way) can be viewed as unfair, particularly by the better performing students who may feel slighted for slackers who get extra chances to bring their grade up.
Extra credit is about points and grades, and less about learning required material.
Regards, Barry
Extra credit should be given to those who earn it and not to those who want to improve their"poor grade."
Hi Sabrina:
If anything beyond what is stated at the beginning of class is given, it better have to do directly with course assignments requied by all, and graded in the same way.
Good students who do all required work can feel slighted if they feel other lower performing students earned points they were not offered. They may even feel it's unfair to give any extra credit at all.
It's a balance. Sometimes it's a policy. For me it's a simple concept: learning and teaching vs points and grades. Both are used, but where should the enphasis be?
Regards, Barry
Hi Bonnie:
Many teacher prefer not to give EC, for many different reasons. I personnaly choose not to.
Regards, Barry
I am cautious of extra credit. It can so easily be misunderstood by those who really don't need it. On the first day of class I cover class rules and explain that I do not award extra points if they fail a test and need a few points to boost their grade. I tell them I use it as an extra opportunity to re-enforce the skill sets they've been exposed to in the class.
Hi Dennis:
Sounds like a good activity and should be regarded as extra credit but as supplentary instruction. The more independent and involved the student is with their own work, the more meaningful that material will be to them. I would only add if it's offerred to some, it should be offered to all (which it may be in your case - if so, that's great).
Regards, Barry
Hi Sara:
Bonus questions or similar methods that assess knowledge, are given to all students, and graded in the same way is great. That's different from extra credit, that just gives points for nothing or in substitution for failed or poor performance of the regular assignments.
Regards, Barry
Hi Grace:
I'm with you. If it's important enough to consider giving credit for then it should be a part of the regular curriculum, and graded appropriately.
Regards, Barry
Hi Grace:
I'm in your camp - I don't eith for resons stated througout this thread.
Regards, Barry
I do not award extra credit
Grace haines
Dayton ohio
I do not do give extra credit because If they do what their reguirements are they will pass the course
Grace Haines
National College
Dayton Ohio
I always tell my class at the beginning that I do not do extra credit. Most of the time students use extra credit as a back up plan. I have learned that they think they can slack off all quarter and then do some extra credit work. If they know right off the bat that they will not be able to do extra credit then they will do all the work expect of them. I will, however, give extra credit questions on quizzes and exams. I have found that students think that extra credit on tests and quizzes is fun and rewarding.
I will sometimes offer students an extra credit assignment that I add to their homework/classwork grade. The assignment is always related to what we are doing in class. Sometimes an article will come out in the newspaper related to business technology and I will ask students to write an article review relating the article to their particular career field. I only allow this once per term, if at all. It is a good way for students to see the relevancy of my course to their field.
I grade the assignment carefully using an established rubric, so just because a student turns something in doesn't mean they are getting X amount of points for it.
My school lets each individual instructor decide to offer or not offer EC. I do not offer EC to my students.
Extra credit should be available to all students, and how students can earn extra credit should be published at the beginning of the module. Also the value of any extra credit should not detract from the mandatory assessments.
Extra creedit should be given only to students who want to do additonal work on projects of their interest.
