A new semester begins...
I am teaching three courses over the next twelve weeks in educational technology. The first course is a (hybrid) sophomore level intro to ed tech that meets once a week for 75 minutes. The second course is an online graduate course titled Supervised Research that is designed as a culminating experience for students completing their educational specialist degree (Ed.S.). The final course is a hybrid course in instructional technology designed for Spanish language educators traveling through South America over the summer. [Ack!]
The good news is I have tremendous assistance from colleagues in the development of all of these courses. Each syllabus is an aggregation of activities and resources built on a set of communication and broadcast channels that should be rather appealing for both new and experienced users of information and communication technologies. My goal is to assist users/participants/students in leveraging the power of networks and social media to deepen their view of the world and to improve their personal and professional practices. (You know, real lightweight business; nothing substantive here....)
Course development and late assignments
The course development process has been a marvelous exercise in framing my own stance as an educator. It provides a chance to revisit what I think, what I know, and what I wonder.
During a recent team discussion on the undergraduate course, I brought up the notion of not allowing any assignments to be turned in late. In other words, turn your assignment in late, you get no grade, no points for the assignment. Students have three major activities and class time dedicated each week to completing them. I thought to minimize "issues*", we could eliminate the need for "late" grades.
* By "issues" I am referring to both the significant amount of time, energy, and attention expended in tracking and calculating late grades and the emotional/social fallout that occurs when a student attempts to turn in an assignment late with no reasonable excuse.
A handful of my colleagues think I will be in for a shitstorm the size of the women's gym....
I find that difficult to believe, but not unimaginable. It seems if students are reminded on a regular basis that no activities can be turned in late, they will understand and comply. Excused absences are the exception and will be handled on a case by case basis.
Am I missing something here?
Based on my colleagues' previous experiences, it seems turning in an assignment on time can be amazingly challenging for most people. Should a student be penalized for not being able to meet reasonable course deadlines? How might you handle the situation?
Thoughts?
Keywords: community of inquiry, community of practice, course policies, educational technology, grading, learning, networking, networks, pedagogy, social media, teaching
Comments
I agree with awyatt.
Maybe it boils down to being either a Democrat or a Republican?
Love your blog.
Charles.
Just to clarify, I have two questions (with comments) you may want to consider:
1. What particular course content are you measuring when you demand that work be turned in "on time"?
If you have course content that requires that students demonstrate the ability to handle deadlines, work within time structures, complete work on time, etc. and this was accepted by your institution then I think you have grounds for this requirement. If this is just a requirement to make your life easier or more effective then I think you may not have grounds to institute this change.... in a sense all sorts of storms will be at your doorstep.
2. Do you grade on other behaviors? Class participation perhaps?
Again... are these behaviors an integral part of the course content that you are requiring the students demonstrate mastery of while in the course? If not, then again I think you don't have grounds to do so.
We are working very hard to institute this sort of paradigm in our schools. Once we start asking ourselves about what EXACTLY we are expecting mastery of (skills and content) and we focus on measuring just those things, then the whole grading of behavior focuses itself quite nicely.
Great post. I read your blog with great interest often. Nice work!
Chris,
I'm so anxious to see how your experiment turns out. Having just posted discussion ratings for an online course with 48 students, I'm frustrated by the folks who post late. It makes the grading process much more tedious, and it's not respectful of all the students who turn things in on time. I wonder if your policy will have an impact on the intensity of the excuses you get for late work. Please let us know what happens.
Best of luck this semester!!
Wendy
i wonder if those more inclined to accept late work aren't making assumptions along the line that work turned in late is also work that has been in progress since it was assigned. i don't find this to be the case, frequently. there are exceptions (medical emergencies and the like), but my concern is tipping your hand to a behavior you ultimately want to avoid. yes, in part we are grading behaviors, because (in part) we are teaching behaviors--or at least that there are consequences to certain behaviors. we teach content, but also do we not (at least implicitly) teach our students how to be successful students?
too often we let our students develop the view that coursework is a hoop to jump through along the path of being granted authority, expertise, a diploma, whatever. not all the time, and not even most of the time... but sometimes. and in the beginning, with my own teaching, it was difficult for students to come to grips with the hard truth of "no late work." now that we're all used to it, i don't have that problem. at all.