tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post4382221724247601150..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: The Credibility Gap - A Weekend ThirstyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55113011235852917192013-03-11T10:56:01.936-04:002013-03-11T10:56:01.936-04:00*HMP . . . sorry.*HMP . . . sorry.Lucy, Countess of Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181713706519539554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29454250368981194272013-03-11T10:55:16.437-04:002013-03-11T10:55:16.437-04:00I make a point of telling students about past expe...I make a point of telling students about past experiences: a student whose father murdered hir mother; a student whose father was dying of pancreatic cancer in the hospital a few steps from our lecture hall; the student who began chemotherapy the day of the final exam. In all these cases, the students refused proffered accommodations.<br /><br />HMF, your experience makes me wonder why they Lucy, Countess of Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181713706519539554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-86324575121560754052013-03-11T07:04:09.498-04:002013-03-11T07:04:09.498-04:00SB: I'm sorry, we don't allow swearing in ...SB: I'm sorry, we don't allow swearing in the comments.College Miseryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371354682300032653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-90921028844848997372013-03-10T23:37:34.097-04:002013-03-10T23:37:34.097-04:00Monica, I bet you take cookies to class. Monica, I bet you take cookies to class. Sarcastic Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01407507896787403097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88884093771382174682013-03-09T17:29:52.215-05:002013-03-09T17:29:52.215-05:00In that case, how is the exam any different from a...In that case, how is the exam any different from a paper to be written at home at the student's own leisure, as long as the deadline is respected? For all intents and purposes, as long as the student is not admitting that the 2-hour limit was exceeded, this amounts to the same thing. In fact, since the exam is supposed to measure learning, the student could simply "cheat" by doing Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08103879727877816655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-38011902421992334032013-03-09T17:22:39.713-05:002013-03-09T17:22:39.713-05:00Beauty in the system, the story, and the telling o...Beauty in the system, the story, and the telling of the story.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-61425578827885141362013-03-09T17:18:12.122-05:002013-03-09T17:18:12.122-05:00There is beauty in this.There is beauty in this.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63512047141490323382013-03-09T17:05:48.974-05:002013-03-09T17:05:48.974-05:00The student whose father got married did provide a...The student whose father got married did provide a few days' notice. It's not as if it was the day before. If he was a serious student, he may have thought that it was better to make a request once the professor knew that and would likely have been more flexible. He may have thought that a random student reporting potential problems from the very beginning is more likely to be refused Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08103879727877816655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8136860677144177622013-03-09T16:52:53.010-05:002013-03-09T16:52:53.010-05:00I once had a conversation with student A in a publ...I once had a conversation with student A in a public hallway (not my choice; that's where s/he opened the conversation). <br /><br />S/he asked for an extension on a required piece of work. "My policy is no late submissions," said I. It's an emergency, s/he said, and showed me a summons to court regarding the murder of hir roommate. (I had also seen the incident in the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-80082780679890326812013-03-09T16:45:33.811-05:002013-03-09T16:45:33.811-05:00The final exam is likely to be comprehensive or ba...The final exam is likely to be comprehensive or based on the most recent, and usually more difficult, part of the course. Rather than reward students, having to rely heavily on the final exam grade may, in fact, end up penalizing them. I never missed an exam on purpose when I was a student but, if I had to choose, it is the midterm, not the final, I would have preferred to take. It is true that IMonicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08103879727877816655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67383073510250693792013-03-09T16:43:46.076-05:002013-03-09T16:43:46.076-05:00In an honor system, the student is given the param...In an honor system, the student is given the parameters and is on hir honor to keep within them. Believe it or not, it *can* work (as F&T's example makes clear). It's also not too hard to tell if a student does cheat (proving it, on the other hand. . . .) Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-57252091931962368362013-03-09T16:32:16.067-05:002013-03-09T16:32:16.067-05:00How exactly was the professor supposed to know whe...How exactly was the professor supposed to know when you started and when you finished the exam and that you did not use any notes or books?Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08103879727877816655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-65042801216496376812013-03-09T16:28:41.981-05:002013-03-09T16:28:41.981-05:00I think you handled this reasonably well. As othe...I think you handled this reasonably well. As others have said, it is a just decision by you.<br /><br />However, Peter K brings up a good point that gets to an issue that is equal in importance to "fairness." That is, "the appearance of fairness" to students, which is always clouded by their own circumstances and limited experiences in life. I hope you avoid this coming Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13828981531806409702013-03-09T16:00:18.628-05:002013-03-09T16:00:18.628-05:00While I agree with the reasoning behind treating A...While I agree with the reasoning behind treating A and B differently, and that the differential treatment is JUST, we all know that student B, being a "player" could and would use this as an example of his or her being treated unfairly (since Defunct Adjunct's reasons for the differential treatment are subjective and hence difficult to justify in a complaint inquiry). I'd offer Dream-Killerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899352252923649504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9519249274481636532013-03-09T15:20:49.184-05:002013-03-09T15:20:49.184-05:00I understand your reasoning.
For me, there are b...I understand your reasoning. <br /><br />For me, there are battling priorities here. On the one hand, I don't like dealing with make-up exams. On the other, however, I also don't like allowing the students to get away with not completing all of the course requirements. For me, the mid-term is an important part of the course, a time when they demonstrate their mastery of the material that Defunct Adjuncthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954331373226016090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46500356174282200142013-03-09T15:14:50.753-05:002013-03-09T15:14:50.753-05:00Absolutely.
Things like weddings and vacations re...Absolutely.<br /><br />Things like weddings and vacations <em>really</em> annoy me, because they are things that are generally planned well in advance. The students know the exam dates from the very beginning of the semester, and it's just incredibly annoying when they come to you a week before the exam and tell you about a wedding that they've known about for months.<br /><br />I'm Defunct Adjuncthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954331373226016090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22900392716135415702013-03-09T14:24:33.460-05:002013-03-09T14:24:33.460-05:00I had two students miss the midterm. The first stu...I had two students miss the midterm. The first student let me know a few days in advance that he had to go to his father's wedding and that it involved a long plane ride that could not be changed. The problem with that is he had known about this problem since the start of term but had not said anything. He didn't as much ask for a request as tell me what I was going to do.<br /><br />Sarcastic Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01407507896787403097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67978328461698053102013-03-09T13:41:07.520-05:002013-03-09T13:41:07.520-05:00@Defunct Adjunct-
Maybe so, but I no longer NEED ...@Defunct Adjunct-<br /><br />Maybe so, but I no longer NEED to decide what is a "good" excuse, claims of "you aren't fair, HE/SHE got a makeup", etc.<br /><br />This policy is on the syllabus, so EVERYONE gets the opportunity to either (1) screw one exam up or (2) miss an exam. I really don't give a rat's ass WHY they miss anything - it is their choice. This I_am_not_nicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12164044353299362252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6960451039306085052013-03-09T13:27:45.064-05:002013-03-09T13:27:45.064-05:00Several students missed the mid-term Friday (the l...Several students missed the mid-term Friday (the last day before spring break) without any warning. It will be interesting to see what their excuses are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-42981586559613671882013-03-09T12:31:41.323-05:002013-03-09T12:31:41.323-05:00Cassandra and I_am_not_nice, I understand your ide...Cassandra and I_am_not_nice, I understand your idea about increasing the weight on the final exam to make up for the missed exam, but it seems to me that this policy actually has the effect of rewarding all students who miss an exam, including the ones with no credibility.<br /><br />I was damn good at exams as a student, even though I didn't actually like them very much. I far preferred Defunct Adjuncthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954331373226016090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19861142328387907232013-03-09T12:00:58.726-05:002013-03-09T12:00:58.726-05:00I'm there, too. No make-up exams at all, ever;...I'm there, too. No make-up exams at all, ever; one exam score is dropped. Students may take exams <strong>early</strong> if they have a documented reason for doing so, but never late.introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-75603406204899654292013-03-09T11:30:02.289-05:002013-03-09T11:30:02.289-05:00The make-up waters are always murky and rife with ...The make-up waters are always murky and rife with BS. I adopted a no-make-up-for-ANY-damn-reason policy, and it works well. If a student misses an exam, or does poorly on 1 exam, I'll replace the student's lowest test score by what they earned on the final.<br /><br />I still get the occasional "I have a good reason", but it is always countered by "All reasons are good I_am_not_nicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12164044353299362252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14148998674899064972013-03-09T11:10:21.049-05:002013-03-09T11:10:21.049-05:00I think you handled it well. I have to admit, I&#...I think you handled it well. I have to admit, I'm very glad that I don't give in-class exams (the course I teach doesn't lend itself to them), precisely because they have the capacity to create just this sort of headache (and because students' willingness/tendency to miss and then make it your problem seems to be increasing). If I were teaching a class with several in-class Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17472716622897595492013-03-09T11:10:15.160-05:002013-03-09T11:10:15.160-05:00I have a slightly different take on this. Of cours...I have a slightly different take on this. Of course we treat students differently based on subjective criteria like "credibility"; as pointed out above this is "just". But to get away with making subjective calls we need to make sure the treatment looks uniform <i> on paper </i>.<br /><br />Student B is exactly the kind of person who, on getting wind of the fact you bent the Peter Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754472537710161295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83072871275486860072013-03-09T10:08:30.566-05:002013-03-09T10:08:30.566-05:00I agree with your treatment of the students. In t...I agree with your treatment of the students. In the first semester of my freshman year, I did a take-home midterm for a class I loved. My college had an honor system, and we were given 2 hours to take this exam, no notes or books allowed. I got really absorbed in the exam, which was actually really interesting -- I knew the stuff but was engaged enough to push past the obvious answers. I Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.com