Get Your Students Hired
I deduct points for students who are continuly absent. With online students having different schedules do you feel it appropriate to deduct points if a student misses the chat sessions, even though assignments are in on time?
I disagree with your point deduction system. Each instructor should abide by the university policies on late assignments, attendance, and point deductions. The policies should not be adjusted per individual instructor and course.
Without rules the student actually doesnt get the same experience as one that has rules and the rules are followed, students like the structure and understand that it is to make them a more employable person
I believe that it depends on the structure of the class. If the chat session is recorded and the student has access to listen to the recording at his/her convenience, points should be deducted. Important information is reveal in the chats and I feel that student participation should be mandatory.
Jo Anna:
I interpret your answer to mean that we can be lenient when it comes to participation in Chat sessions because there might me extenuating circumstances for not being able to participate in all sessions. There could be extenuating circumstances contributing to late submission of assignments. shouldn't we be lenient in these cases too?
Satrohan
Lisa, you make a good point. One of the purposes of online is convenience for the student to find time to do a course. There are so many factors to consider with online chats. But no excuses should be permitted for late work, if assign with enough time to complete the project.
Maybe offering a bonus for students who particapate in 95% or more of the sessions.
Lisa:
My take is that if points are awarded for the activities to which you refer in your first sentence, points should be deducted when the expectations is that students should participate in those learning activities. When a student fails to participate, the other students are "short-changed" by his or her lack of contribution for that learning event. Of course, there may be extenuating circumstances that prevented the student from participating; so you will have to use your discretion. The same applies for late submission of assignments.
Satrohan
I don't feel it's fair to deduct points if they miss a class or chat session. I do, however, feel that points should be deducted for late assignments..no matter what the reason.
I do not use a point system. However, chat sessions are not the sole way that I need to get my course across. Once I lecture I can put that lecture in an archieve for the student to view at a later date. Perhaps if chat sessions were the only way to get my course to the student then I might need to reconsider.
Michele,
Ido not think that I would dedcut points if the students were doing their assignments properly. It might also depend on the nature of the chat session as well.
Yes, Tom. Setting rules and applying them in a consistent manner are very important measures to maintain your authority and credibility as an Instructor.
Satrohan
If part of the expectations are to attend those sessions, you are absolutely right in deducting points for absences.
If you don't you, lose your credibility with your students.
I think it is appropriate to deduct points if you have made it clear from day one that there are required chat sessions and have also been specific as to the times when these sessions will occur.
Joel:
Throughout my academic life, I remained a silent student in the classroom; unless I had to do a presentation. By nature, I am a quiet person. Most of my Instructors gave marks for class participation. I am sure I lost many of those. I cannot really say whether my low level of participation robbed other students of knowledge; as that was certainly not my intention. In primary and secondary school in my native country, I was an excellent participant in classroom instruction. When I began my studies in Canada, everything was new to me; so that made it difficult for me to engage in active participation. For example, I could not relate to the kinds of experiences a typical Canadian would mention.
Satrohan
I believe that at some point we need to move on and so I would think that deducting points would be fair.
joel
Joel:
This is a remarkable recommendation. Let's assume an instructor has done all of this and a student's participation is still low; do you think that deducting points would be unfair?
Satrohan
"Attendance" is critical no matter what forum we utilize. Perhaps finding ways to stimulate participation and perhaps adjusting some projects / discussions to facilitate this may be more beneficial than deducting pints
Joel
Pamela:
The importance of participating in all chat sessions is a factor that should influence your decision. If it is not mandatory to participate in all, then the students should be advised of the minimum sessions in which they are required to participate. Providing a sechedule of the chat sessions in the course syllabus should enable students to idnetify the sessions in whcih they would be able to participate. Perhaps including the topic of each session would be of additional help for them to select the ones in which they would like to participate. In addition, providing access to the archived results of all of the chat sessions to each student should compensate for the ones they missed.
Satrohan
Nori:
This is a plausible alternative; however, as you rightfully put it, this would increase the workload of the Instructor. Scheduling synchronous chat sessions across time zone would also add to the challenge.
Satrohan