Today in class we had a clicker quiz. There were a couple of questions that a few students got wrong; a couple of the more vocal ones insisted that their (wrong) answer was correct. I reminded them that, as always, if they could email me after class with evidence from the textbook supporting their answer, I would give them the point.Conveniently for them, the associated page number was displayed on the overhead along with the correct answer. As this was an open-note test, all they had to do was jot down the question and the page number to refer to later.
Well.
Apparently, one of my students wrote down the page numbers but forgot to write down the questions.
So right after class he sent me this email:
Hi Dr. Clicker,
Would you be able to send the questions that we could write an appeal to on page 227 and 298?
Thanks,
Entitled Eddie
Q: Fellow Miserians, what would you do?
And what percentage of the final grade is this quiz worth? I'm all for along-the-way checks of preparation/comprehension, but is there some way we can get students to take them seriously *without* making them part of the final grade, which then means we spend precious time dealing with appeals on what should really be purely informational exercises?
ReplyDeleteIf I read the email correctly, Eddie wants to write an appeal and give it to the questions. And, he wants to write that appeal on page 227 and 298 instead of a regular piece of paper. Good luck Eddie.
ReplyDeleteHe does, indeed, seem to be having some trouble with grammar (prepositions in particular).
DeleteOne of the things that works for me--besides not using Blackboard--is to make sure students exchange email addresses with each other. It's their responsibility to find out what assignments they missed when they were absent, either physically or mentally. If someone like Eddie has a question like this one, then he can ask one of his classmates by email or Twitter or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI would just ignore his email. Too bad for entitled Eddie. If he really wants to pursue this, he'll contact a classmate and get the info from them (as Philip pointed out). But my best bet is that he'll forget all about it in the time it takes you to cut and paste your questions.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably neither here nor there, but I don't understand the point of allowing the students to appeal their quiz answers. I mean, they're wrong, right? So why even allow them the possibility of thinking that they might somehow prove themselves right? Because they're not right ... right? Isn't it kind of a waste of their time? If they're wrong, they're wrong. Right?
If the question is unambiguous, right - they're wrong. But writing unambiguous questions that are still interesting and challenging is a delicate art. Even we Jedi-level Hamster Wranglers err occasionally, especially if we are on a deadline. We don't err nearly as often as the snowflakes like to think, of course, which is why asking for a written challenge saves much pointless arguing in the hallway.
DeleteI think it makes some good pedagogical sense, actually. If they're so confused that they think they're right, it's a good way to motivate them to review the material. I don't imagine that a lot of appeals work, but at least it gets them to open the textbook.
DeleteReminds me of a librarian friend, who was asked by a difficult patron for information on how to sue the library.
ReplyDelete"Fellow Miserians, what would you do?"
ReplyDeleteShoot him in the head at the beginning of the next class.
Exactly.
DeleteEddie is too dumb to be allowed to even hold a clicker.
ReplyDeleteSend him this classic.
ReplyDeleteI'd be strongly tempted to reply "Yes." to this email.
ReplyDeleteMy department is clicker happy. Of course it's created a wildly new set of "my clicker didn't work" excuses. Regardless of the technology, students can always deliver an excuse.
ReplyDelete