We're all desperate for the term to end, no? We've had enough. Time for a life beyond the piles of papers and screwball attitudes. But will they leave us alone now that things should be wrapped up? May we all simply move on now that the final grades are official? Of course not.
I'm besieged by all manner of stragglers who "just want to look over my final exam to see where I went wrong" and who want me to be some kind of Nostradamus who has the power to reveal "how to improve in future." Sorry, kiddos, you're otiose anglers. My mega-rubric already addresses these earnest concerns. The number of inquirers this term is unprecedented in my long teaching history. Utterly unprecedented, and utterly pestilential.
The semester's over, dammit! Over, do you hear me?! Enough. Done. Leave it alone. ACCEPT.
There.
I'm besieged by all manner of stragglers who "just want to look over my final exam to see where I went wrong" and who want me to be some kind of Nostradamus who has the power to reveal "how to improve in future." Sorry, kiddos, you're otiose anglers. My mega-rubric already addresses these earnest concerns. The number of inquirers this term is unprecedented in my long teaching history. Utterly unprecedented, and utterly pestilential.
The semester's over, dammit! Over, do you hear me?! Enough. Done. Leave it alone. ACCEPT.
There.
A student contacted me recently to ask what she can do to avoid failing the course. This student hasn't attended class since the end of January.
ReplyDeleteLast semester this same student contacted me a month AFTER the end of the semester to ask what she could do to avoid failing a course she hadn't attended since September.
At least now she started worrying about the grade before the end of the semester, so there is positive dynamics here.
I've had a student ask, when handing in the final exam, whether there was any way he could avoid a failing grade.
ReplyDeleteI would be thrilled if any students wanted to look at their final exams. I long ago stopped writing any comments on them because students, no matter what their final grade, show no interest in seeing the results of that final exam. I dutifully hold on to them and all they do is clutter my office.
ReplyDeleteMy department (faculty? university? I don't know who sets these rules) requires that the final exams be kept on file with the administrative office, and that students are able to arrange to look over their work if they wish. Is this not common elsewhere?
ReplyDeleteI did poorly on a final last semester. I asked to look at it to figured out which questions I did poorly on and why. I saw my mistakes and noticed a few places where I could've got points if I had done something differently, based on the way the professor marks. So this semester I took what I learned and ended up doing better in the same prof's class.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we genuinely want to know where we messed up. Sometimes I want to know if I bombed the question I think I bombed, or if my crazy idea actually made sense to someone other than myself.
I have so far had about 15 requests that I look into student's participation grades. I used iClickers this year for my huge lecture class (and consider this a product warning: don't use them, it's a nightmare). If they "clicked" at a question at every class, they got 3% for participation; 2% if they missed some, 1% if they missed some more.
ReplyDeleteMany students with 2/3 want to know why they didn't get 3/3. Well, because according to the iClicker records you weren't there all the time, even though you're sure you were, my dear. Maybe the records are wrong; I have no way to know but given the general problems with iClicker I am happy to believe you.
But what kills me is that in every single case it would make no difference to their grade if I gave them the extra point. Why they cannot do this elementary calculation before they email me is beyond me.
Wait the what? Your semester is over?
ReplyDeleteenvy.
Well, yes, my semester's *supposed* to be over (just now) -- but as a practical matter it's not.
ReplyDeleteI should add that all these many inquiries are coming from only one class -- a class that received generally good grades, so a brutal assessment approach isn't the cause for this development.
I do see Sarah's point, and don't mean to come off as uncaring about student success. All I can say is that the number of questions is extraordinary -- far beyond anything I've ever experienced, and, again, all from just one class -- and that usually nothing comes of such inquiries. You'd think more insight would result from such consultations, but I've found that's not typically the case. Students often look for mysteries where none exist -- again, my rubric etc. already provides the means to understand grades (whether bad or good). *Sometimes student bafflement is itself a symptom of the more general "decline of higher ed" problem.* Quite simply: Why are so many of them so easily baffled?
I view this odd development as another instance of the general decline of university education, a decline I started noticing consistently about three years ago.
My life at the end of the semester became a billion kajillion times easier when I stopped commenting on all the final papers. I tell them that, if they want comments back, to paperclip a SASE onto the final draft so I can send it back to them. About two students out of all of my three classes do this.
ReplyDeleteAll the others? Calculate what the student's class grade is, calculate what they would have to get on this paper to change it for better or worse, glance at the paper to see if it's above or below that threshold (you can tell within a few minutes), pour myself a drink.
If there are repercussions to this approach beyond its effect on my liver, I still haven't found them.
You want these people off your back? When they email asking how they screwed up, respond with "that will cost you $30."
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely something different about this semester. I am getting signifncatly more requests to explain my feedback, explain the grades, explain why students lost small amounts of points on large assignments when the missing points are a miniscule percentage...I don't recall having to justify my grading decisions this much in prior semesters.
ReplyDeleteIt's totally understandable that a student would want to look over their final, though most of them don't. However if the semester is over, you are not required to meet with them or deal with their questions until fall.
ReplyDeleteSo, if this happens to me, I always write "I'm sorry but I won't be on campus to discuss this with you anytime soon. Why don't you email me and come by my office hours in the fall? We can talk about it then..."
If they start in with emails trying to get you to write a long and detailed analysis of their work (which would no doubt turn into a detailed email argument about their work), I say "It's better for us to discuss this in person..." and repeat the previous request.