Past threads in the Fora have touched upon "Jedi Mind Tricks," (e.g. pedagogical tactics that faculty can use with students to enhance student learning while also deflecting possible resistance to course requirements).
My question for you all has to do with "Jedi Mind Tricks" that faculty can use with administrators who apply soft pressure to faculty members to loosen or tacitly abandon standards for student work. I think that all faculty must always have a certain amount of flexibility with students in the face of life's challenges, and should have been much more flexible with students when the pandemic hit. Nevertheless, both at my uni and in opinion pieces in the academic press I'm seeing an increasing number of calls by administrators for what amounts to individualized open-ended schedules of assignments for students, regardless of class size, course format, or degree programs. In short: Hi-Flex for all. There seems to be a presumption in these administrative calls that most faculty are full-time TT faculty teaching upper-level seminars for full-time residential student majors at selective institutions. There is often a simultaneous lack of acknowledgement that faculty have also been suffering during the pandemic, and that we also have family and personal matters that preclude semester-long stays in grading prison. This goes double and triple for contingent faculty.
Many of us are familiar with direct challenges to faculty decision-making in the area of student assessment, but how can we respond with indirect challenges to our qualifications, especially when an appeal is made to compassion at a time when the empathy meter is running on fumes?
It's actually a kindness to the student not to drag it on too long. I've actually had very poor success at getting lagging students to turn things in, and the more behind they are, the less the likelihood that they will catch up. When students beg me for an Incomplete, I let them know the truth: that despite every opportunity to make up an Incomplete, and a year to do the work, in thirty years of teaching I have never had a single student actually make up the work. Given that students find it so difficult, I think if the administration were pressuring me to accommodate a lot of late work, I'd suggest to them that the simplest way of being student-friendly in the pandemic would be for them to extend the deadline for course withdrawals to [whatever the current date is]. If it's important to be flexible and accommodating, that's one way they could easily do it. And if they're not willing to do that simple thing, it's unclear why I should do the one that's harder for both me and the student.
I agree with Hegemony - incompletes are rarely in the student's best interest. I have never had a student finish an incomplete. For a student with challenges already, they just do not have the time to do the work associated with their new classes and finish the work for their prior classes. In other words, rather than solving the problem, an incomplete usually exacerbates it. I have the same policy with late work in my large gen-ed classes. Just by their nature (not in the student's major), the coursework for these classes is the lowest priority for students. Building up a large pile of late work just makes it more difficult for a student to complete the current work, so they get further and further behind. One of the benefits of academia is that the slate starts clean at the start of the next semester. Sure, if a student has not mastered the material they may need to re-take the class, but I view that as better than stringing out the pain for an extra year just to have the same result.
We only allow incompletes to continue very briefly into the next term, and they tend to only be granted if the student missed work due to illness or some other factor beyond their control. Most at my school finish them fine. Many get D's, but there are some OK grades too (if they were doing well when interrupted).
I've seen emails asking for flexibility and understanding for dealing with student problems from some deans etc.
A little of that need not mean abanoning standards. But a lot of it does make a nonsense of holding students to the same standards.
It does also take up more of my time. My time is limited, so the more time I spend on those kinds of issues means less time on other teaching efforts, such as reading student work carefully.
I am more inclined to encourage students to withdraw if they are struggling. I also make some effort at the start of the semester to scare away students who are hoping for an easy course.
Hegemony pretty much articulated my "Jedi Mind Trick": Just give the Incompletes if the adminicritters insist on them. I'd put my students' Incomplete remediation rate at about 15%, so it doesn't really add much to my workload other than a few forms. If the student completes the work, I'm a hero; if the student doesn't complete the work, then that's on the student and I gave them the chance.
The same goes for extending deadlines and such. I could probably extend all my deadlines to the hour before my death and have about the same number of students complete the work. Give them enough rope and all that jazz.
Not a hill to die on for me (I'm at a CC).
Thanks all. One complicating issue is that there is no option for "incomplete" at my uni.
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 06:05:13 AM
Thanks all. One complicating issue is that there is no option for "incomplete" at my uni.
Hmmm... That might be something to propose. Not pandemic specific, not open-ended, and not outside the norms of other institutions. You don't even need to start from scratch; you just need to find a good template.
If you are in the US, there are lots of reasons to have finite limits on courses. Student success and faculty (and staff!) workload should be the priorities, of course, but other factors to consider include:
* Financial aid. Students start to lose eligibility if they haven't earned enough credits. Students without financial aid will often become ex-students.
* Student visas. Same as the above.
* Accreditation. Time to degree matters, and a lot of open accounts won't help.
* Administrative workload. Somebody has to process all of this data, and it's harder when it dribbles in over time. Many reports (internal and external) either cannot be run, or will be incomplete, if there's a lot of open boxes to tick.
* Staffing and course population. With no sense of when students might pass prerequisites, it's hard to plan rationally.
* Adjuncts and other contract instructors, retirees, deceased/sick faculty. When the last paycheck is cashed, these folks are off the clock. Some of this happens anyway -- people cannot continue, and others pick up the slack -- but extending the time frame compounds the problem.
While Incompletes were the worst thing that I ever discovered in Grad School, they set up a process that is flexible, consistent, humane, and predictable. You don't get forever to complete one, and if you need more time than you probably should consider something else, like a formal Leave of Absence.
Quote from: arcturus on August 05, 2021, 10:32:46 AM
I agree with Hegemony - incompletes are rarely in the student's best interest. I have never had a student finish an incomplete.
Never? I only allow them when the student was passing the course, but some event largely outside of their control keeps them from turning in the final paper or something. I'd say most of the time, students finish within a couple weeks and it doesn't go into the next semester.
Honestly, the message I take from those messages is that some faculty members a-holes who refuse to be at all flexible no matter the circumstances. I didn't need some email from administrators to get me to be more flexible when I could the last couple of semesters. I told students I would be flexible if there were issues and in return asked for their patience if I was slower on grading or things got messed up in some other way.
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 06:05:13 AM
Thanks all. One complicating issue is that there is no option for "incomplete" at my uni.
Are there options other than assigning a letter grade? We have "grade delay", "in progress", and "incomplete". They are for: no grade yet due to alleged misconduct or faculty didn't get grades in on time, course runs over extra time (issue for study abroad), and student is passing but has been granted more time due to an emergency.
I agree that "incomplete" should be granted rarely and only if the student was passing before the emergency. I think there are timing restrictions too. A student that wants to get an incomplete in week 2 should probably take a leave of absence.
Quote from: the_geneticist on August 06, 2021, 07:31:42 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 06:05:13 AM
Thanks all. One complicating issue is that there is no option for "incomplete" at my uni.
Are there options other than assigning a letter grade?
A letter grade must be given. My sense is that some faculty find ad hoc workarounds by changing final grades during succeeding semesters when students have done either some or all of the assigned work missed.
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:12:15 AM
A letter grade must be given. My sense is that some faculty find ad hoc workarounds by changing final grades during succeeding semesters when students have done either some or all of the assigned work missed.
Huh. What do they do when you have something like an emergency hospitalization during finals week? Say, something like appendicitis or a car accident? Just grade based on previous work?
Quote from: kiana on August 06, 2021, 10:59:19 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:12:15 AM
A letter grade must be given. My sense is that some faculty find ad hoc workarounds by changing final grades during succeeding semesters when students have done either some or all of the assigned work missed.
Huh. What do they do when you have something like an emergency hospitalization during finals week? Say, something like appendicitis or a car accident? Just grade based on previous work?
Furthermore, is there a statute of limitations on grade changes? It would seem very fishy for a grade to be changed a couple of terms, or a year, after a course was "finished". (Imagine a scenario where a student due to graduate has several grades from earlier terms changed during their final semester, which allows them to graduate.)
Quote from: kiana on August 06, 2021, 10:59:19 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:12:15 AM
A letter grade must be given. My sense is that some faculty find ad hoc workarounds by changing final grades during succeeding semesters when students have done either some or all of the assigned work missed.
Huh. What do they do when you have something like an emergency hospitalization during finals week? Say, something like appendicitis or a car accident? Just grade based on previous work?
We specifically ban updating a letter grade after the end of the term unless there was a clerical error in calculating or reporting their grade. Otherwise the term never ends! I don't want students from X terms ago begging to turn in a missed assignment.
You place ought to consider Incompletes as an option.
"Huh. What do they do when you have something like an emergency hospitalization during finals week? Say, something like appendicitis or a car accident? Just grade based on previous work?"
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:39:47 PM
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
I've fallen into the habit of requesting specificity within the context of institutional policy when they use the phrase "We need to work with students.
Can we submit grades later? (no). Can we lower the requirements for an incomplete? (no). Will faculty--especially adjuncts--be compensated for additional work beyond our contract dates? (hah!). Are you suggesting that faculty don't generally try to "work with students" in their day-to-day interactions with them? What have we not been doing that you want us to do now? (um, well). They love me at meetings. Sorry if I'm not being helpful here.
Quote from: fishbrains on August 07, 2021, 10:22:46 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:39:47 PM
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
I've fallen into the habit of requesting specificity within the context of institutional policy when they use the phrase "We need to work with students. Can we submit grades later? (no). Can we lower the requirements for an incomplete? (no). Will faculty--especially adjuncts--be compensated for additional work beyond our contract dates? (hah!). Are you suggesting that faculty don't generally try to "work with students" in their day-to-day interactions with them? What have we not been doing that you want us to do now? (um, well).
They love me at meetings. Sorry if I'm not being helpful here.
I get the impression from students that there are significant numbers of faculty who are unsympathetic jerks. Most of us are nice, reasonable people, but I can certainly think of plenty of academic who these emails are probably actually directed to.
Quote from: Caracal on August 08, 2021, 05:06:53 AM
Quote from: fishbrains on August 07, 2021, 10:22:46 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:39:47 PM
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
I've fallen into the habit of requesting specificity within the context of institutional policy when they use the phrase "We need to work with students. Can we submit grades later? (no). Can we lower the requirements for an incomplete? (no). Will faculty--especially adjuncts--be compensated for additional work beyond our contract dates? (hah!). Are you suggesting that faculty don't generally try to "work with students" in their day-to-day interactions with them? What have we not been doing that you want us to do now? (um, well).
They love me at meetings. Sorry if I'm not being helpful here.
I get the impression from students that there are significant numbers of faculty who are unsympathetic jerks. Most of us are nice, reasonable people, but I can certainly think of plenty of academic who these emails are probably actually directed to.
Typically, the people to whom these emails are directed will ignore them, while the conscientious self-reflective recipients (like fishbrains) will feel the implied criticism is unjustified (which it is).
Quote from: marshwiggle on August 08, 2021, 05:44:00 AM
Quote from: Caracal on August 08, 2021, 05:06:53 AM
Quote from: fishbrains on August 07, 2021, 10:22:46 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:39:47 PM
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
I've fallen into the habit of requesting specificity within the context of institutional policy when they use the phrase "We need to work with students. Can we submit grades later? (no). Can we lower the requirements for an incomplete? (no). Will faculty--especially adjuncts--be compensated for additional work beyond our contract dates? (hah!). Are you suggesting that faculty don't generally try to "work with students" in their day-to-day interactions with them? What have we not been doing that you want us to do now? (um, well).
They love me at meetings. Sorry if I'm not being helpful here.
I get the impression from students that there are significant numbers of faculty who are unsympathetic jerks. Most of us are nice, reasonable people, but I can certainly think of plenty of academic who these emails are probably actually directed to.
Typically, the people to whom these emails are directed will ignore them, while the conscientious self-reflective recipients (like fishbrains) will feel the implied criticism is unjustified (which it is).
Yeah, that's certainly true.
Quote from: fishbrains on August 07, 2021, 10:22:46 AM
Quote from: Zeus Bird on August 06, 2021, 09:39:47 PM
Final exams can be rescheduled within a very short window immediately after the semester, but that is about it. No incompletes, but a number of administrative calls to "work with the student" in whatever circumstance arises, without any specificity as to what that entails.
I've fallen into the habit of requesting specificity within the context of institutional policy when they use the phrase "We need to work with students. Can we submit grades later? (no). Can we lower the requirements for an incomplete? (no). Will faculty--especially adjuncts--be compensated for additional work beyond our contract dates? (hah!). Are you suggesting that faculty don't generally try to "work with students" in their day-to-day interactions with them? What have we not been doing that you want us to do now? (um, well).
They love me at meetings. Sorry if I'm not being helpful here.
I think this is my likely course of action. Thank you for the input.
I feel that sometime early this year, some sort of national conference/workshop for Higher Ed administrators took place, and one of the fad takeaways was to create insta-empathy initiatives.
Big Urban College was subjected to this last Spring. Out of nowhere, unrequested and perplexing, our leaders decided that every class needed to have its own pick-me-up to make students feel better about themselves. Or something like that? There really wasn't any detail or guidance provided, nor any real rationale. But it was a blanket policy for all courses, and all of the professors were given six weeks to design and implement something.
I was reminded very much of those fast food restauarants where you walk in and all of the employees were required to scream, "Welcome to Arbys!". The forced, artificiality of it has always bothered me and made me feel embarrassed for the workers.
Quote from: Aster on August 09, 2021, 09:35:46 AM
I feel that sometime early this year, some sort of national conference/workshop for Higher Ed administrators took place, and one of the fad takeaways was to create insta-empathy initiatives.
Something similar has evidently occurred in the K-12 world. At a recent presentation by several of our local school administrators, they talked mostly about some initiative that sounded like it was along those lines. It's supposed to start in Kindergarten and continue all the way through 12th Grade. Since K-12 initiatives are generally gone within two years or so, I'm skeptical.
The admins I'm talking about aren't a bunch of phonies or incompetents. They're all good people, as far as I know. But in their line of work you seem to get pushed to follow a new fad every couple of years.
Quote from: apl68 on August 10, 2021, 07:22:05 AM
The admins I'm talking about aren't a bunch of phonies or incompetents. They're all good people, as far as I know. But in their line of work you seem to get pushed to follow a new fad every couple of years.
When you're trying to solve problems that you don't have the resources to make even the slightest dent in, you end up injecting yourself with bleach quite often.
Quote from: quasihumanist on August 12, 2021, 04:48:23 PM
Quote from: apl68 on August 10, 2021, 07:22:05 AM
The admins I'm talking about aren't a bunch of phonies or incompetents. They're all good people, as far as I know. But in their line of work you seem to get pushed to follow a new fad every couple of years.
When you're trying to solve problems that you don't have the resources to make even the slightest dent in, you end up injecting yourself with bleach quite often.
Hall of Fame!
Quote from: apl68 on August 10, 2021, 07:22:05 AM
The admins I'm talking about aren't a bunch of phonies or incompetents. They're all good people, as far as I know. But in their line of work you seem to get pushed to follow a new fad every couple of years.
This phenomenon is undoubtedly true. It is one manifestation of many people running after any shiny new thing.
Some administrators recognize that this happens and learn to subvert the continuing string of new fads. They know what the inner workings of the programs need to be for its long-term success. They keep making sure those operations are happening. They are also adept at packaging their solid programming as the latest fad, so they can continue funding it and so that they appear to be current. They are willing to accept that continuous funding for the right thing is an unrealistic goal, recognizing that funding has to come from initiatives with ever-changing priorities.
A lot of faculty thankfully have a strong intellectual bent that prioritizes providing accurate representations of how the world works. That tendency can work against an administrator. Faculty who move into administration and don't make the switch end up pure and poor. At the other extreme, administrators who don't see the big picture solely chase fads and end up with low performance and frustrated faculty. Finding the great dual-purpose faculty to move into administration is a hallmark of schools that succeed.
The
The...what?
Good, thoughtful post...bookmarking and hanging on to see the rest of it!
Mm
OMG! Did they get to Hibush? Did Hibush click "Post" right as they burst through the door? Is "The" the beginning of a name or an acronym for some organization? Terrors of Higher Education? Maybe something about Engagement?
[starts moving towards the safe room (AKA inside bathroom)]
Or did the empathic robots kidnap him and make off with all his devices so he could never complete that thought?
Alas, poor Hibush, we knew you well...
...or maybe we just thought we did.....
《 ...Hey....psst.....Move over and make space in the safe room, I'm coming in after you》
M.
It's the bathroom the teenage boy uses, so I'm using the term "safe" very loosely.
I just added to a couple of syllabi a paragraph saying that except for certified disability or student illness, I will not be making any accommodations for student problems except in extraordinary circumstances.
I guess that goes against the spirit of flexibility that the administrations are calling for. I've send the syllabi off to the chair, so I will see if I get any comment about that. I want to avoid lots of students saying they want online options half way through the course.
Quote from: downer on August 15, 2021, 11:27:06 AM
I just added to a couple of syllabi a paragraph saying that except for certified disability or student illness, I will not be making any accommodations for student problems except in extraordinary circumstances.
I guess that goes against the spirit of flexibility that the administrations are calling for. I've send the syllabi off to the chair, so I will see if I get any comment about that. I want to avoid lots of students saying they want online options half way through the course.
Seems like you could accomplish your goal by just saying that the course is going to be in person unless the school says otherwise and students should be aware of that. It seems unpleasant and unnecessary to have a blanket statement expressing your general inflexibility.
Downer, I don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class. That could backfire for the rest of you. "Extraordinary circumstances" sounds as if regular illness will not be excused and they'd have to be in the hospital with both legs broken to be excused — or maybe not even that? So maybe you need to define "extraordinary circumstances" more clearly. To me it sounds as though you are saying "I am hardass so don't even ask, just show up to class no matter what." And when students may pass on a potentially dangerous disease, I'm not sure that's what you want to be saying. Remember that in many universities, numbers of students live with their families, including people with health vulnerabilities children under 12 who can't be vaccinated, etc. So even if you think the odds are good for the students, allowing further transmission endangers people.
Quote from: Hegemony on August 15, 2021, 04:46:48 PM
Downer, I don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class. That could backfire for the rest of you. "Extraordinary circumstances" sounds as if regular illness will not be excused and they'd have to be in the hospital with both legs broken to be excused — or maybe not even that? So maybe you need to define "extraordinary circumstances" more clearly. To me it sounds as though you are saying "I am hardass so don't even ask, just show up to class no matter what." And when students may pass on a potentially dangerous disease, I'm not sure that's what you want to be saying. Remember that in many universities, numbers of students live with their families, including people with health vulnerabilities children under 12 who can't be vaccinated, etc. So even if you think the odds are good for the students, allowing further transmission endangers people.
You make a strong point Hegemony. Yes, the aim is definitely to discourage students who committed to the classroom from retreating to online for less than medical reasons. Then the issue is: what counts as a medical reason?
So when students say that they are worried about catching and spreading the virus, and don't want to come to class any more, what to do?
Options:
1. Be a hardass and say you have to come to class until you actually get the virus. (Dangerous for everyone.)
2. Be flexible and provide online options for them so they don't need to come to class. (More work for me.)
3. Move the class online. (Against university rules, certainly unpopular with some students).
4. Cancel classes and give everyone an A. (Possibly questionable academic practice).
Right now I'm thinking of some combination of 2 and 4.
It will also depend on the particular classroom set up -- how much ventilation is possible will be a big factor. If the school doesn't provide a good set up, then I will lean more towards 4.
Quote from: downer on August 16, 2021, 03:46:44 AM
Quote from: Hegemony on August 15, 2021, 04:46:48 PM
Downer, I don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class. That could backfire for the rest of you. "Extraordinary circumstances" sounds as if regular illness will not be excused and they'd have to be in the hospital with both legs broken to be excused — or maybe not even that? So maybe you need to define "extraordinary circumstances" more clearly. To me it sounds as though you are saying "I am hardass so don't even ask, just show up to class no matter what." And when students may pass on a potentially dangerous disease, I'm not sure that's what you want to be saying. Remember that in many universities, numbers of students live with their families, including people with health vulnerabilities children under 12 who can't be vaccinated, etc. So even if you think the odds are good for the students, allowing further transmission endangers people.
You make a strong point Hegemony. Yes, the aim is definitely to discourage students who committed to the classroom from retreating to online for less than medical reasons. Then the issue is: what counts as a medical reason?
So when students say that they are worried about catching and spreading the virus, and don't want to come to class any more, what to do?
Options:
1. Be a hardass and say you have to come to class until you actually get the virus. (Dangerous for everyone.)
2. Be flexible and provide online options for them so they don't need to come to class. (More work for me.)
3. Move the class online. (Against university rules, certainly unpopular with some students).
4. Cancel classes and give everyone an A. (Possibly questionable academic practice).
Right now I'm thinking of some combination of 2 and 4.
It will also depend on the particular classroom set up -- how much ventilation is possible will be a big factor. If the school doesn't provide a good set up, then I will lean more towards 4.
My uni is trying to get faculty to do #2. Admins won't put that in writing, but in one-on-one conversations they are strongly pushing that.
Quote from: downer on August 16, 2021, 03:46:44 AM
Quote from: Hegemony on August 15, 2021, 04:46:48 PM
Downer, I don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class. That could backfire for the rest of you. "Extraordinary circumstances" sounds as if regular illness will not be excused and they'd have to be in the hospital with both legs broken to be excused — or maybe not even that? So maybe you need to define "extraordinary circumstances" more clearly. To me it sounds as though you are saying "I am hardass so don't even ask, just show up to class no matter what." And when students may pass on a potentially dangerous disease, I'm not sure that's what you want to be saying. Remember that in many universities, numbers of students live with their families, including people with health vulnerabilities children under 12 who can't be vaccinated, etc. So even if you think the odds are good for the students, allowing further transmission endangers people.
You make a strong point Hegemony. Yes, the aim is definitely to discourage students who committed to the classroom from retreating to online for less than medical reasons. Then the issue is: what counts as a medical reason?
So when students say that they are worried about catching and spreading the virus, and don't want to come to class any more, what to do?
Options:
1. Be a hardass and say you have to come to class until you actually get the virus. (Dangerous for everyone.)
2. Be flexible and provide online options for them so they don't need to come to class. (More work for me.)
3. Move the class online. (Against university rules, certainly unpopular with some students).
4. Cancel classes and give everyone an A. (Possibly questionable academic practice).
Right now I'm thinking of some combination of 2 and 4.
It will also depend on the particular classroom set up -- how much ventilation is possible will be a big factor. If the school doesn't provide a good set up, then I will lean more towards 4.
You seem to be really going for the dramatic options and skipping the obvious things you can do without too much extra work.
1. Allow more no fault absences than you usually do. Usually in a MWF class, I give students three absences before it starts effecting their grade. TR, I do two. This semester I'm going to up that to six and four. I don't want to encourage students with minor cold type symptoms to come into class.
2. If it works, have some sort of scheduled make up exam. I've been doing this for years and it saves a lot of trouble. Miss one of the first three exams? Just take a standard make up right after the final. It's slightly more work to make something extra but much easier than having to create custom exams for everyone.
Alternatively, just have online exams.
3. Perhaps, think about organizing the students to do some of this on their own. Often students create groups to communicate about classes. Perhaps ask on the first day of class if someone wants to set something like that up and make sure everyone gets in. Then suggest that it might be a good idea for students who take good and detailed notes to post those on request there. Then you can tell students that they should look at those notes and if anything isn't clear, or they have follow up questions, or even if they just want to go over it, you are available (online or in person) to do that. That way, you aren't disengaging, but you also aren't in charge of making sure all the information gets to absent students.
4. Some flexibility, like offering dual modalities, is hugely time consuming. However, there are lots of things where being flexible doesn't really cost much. Letting students turn in assignments late when necessary is probably not going to increase your workload much.
5. You can do all this and still make clear at the beginning that you can't offer the course in an online format and that you can't change that. If a student has concerns about that, it might be a good idea to take another class.
Thanks for the suggestions, Caracal. I use some of those ideas already. I might try the scheduled make up exam option, though I'd have to think about how that would actually work.
My main emphasis right now is on your #5. I want to encourage those students with unrealistic hopes to drop the class.
QuoteI don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class.
^This.
I added a statement to the syllabus explaining that I didn't want them to come in if they (or their family members) had symptoms. They have to let me know, and they can still get notes from classmates and participate on the discussion boards (in a way that is more work for them, but easier to grade for me).
Quote from: Morden on August 16, 2021, 10:38:02 AM
QuoteI don't think you want to pressure students with symptoms of illness to come to class.
^This.
I added a statement to the syllabus explaining that I didn't want them to come in if they (or their family members) had symptoms. They have to let me know, and they can still get notes from classmates and participate on the discussion boards (in a way that is more work for them, but easier to grade for me).
I'm having to remind myself that this is also going to mean I have to cancel classes more than usual. We have some at home rapid test kits, and I may use those for really, really minor symptoms, but even if I test negative and it seems very unlikely something is Covid, I don't want to come in with a really runny nose or cough like I have in past semesters. Students would reasonably be alarmed-nobody wants their instructor up there blowing their nose-and putting aside Covid, I don't think anyone needs to be infected with anything else right now.
There are other options as well. For instance, design the course so that those who miss class sessions have simple ways to learn the material. If they do the reading, they can pass the tests. If they come to class, they get discussion and an in-depth exploration of the reading, but it doesn't mean the difference between passing and failing. This was the British system when I went through it, and I appreciated it. At this point in history, it's not only simpler for you, it's safer for everyone. Grade on mastery of the material and not on having shown up in person.
We are already down to just 8 class sessions for my lab class - that's what you get when you're on quarters & lose 2 weeks due to holidays. Missing just 1 lab is the equivalent of missing 12.5% of the class. It's not like you can do a molecular lab at home. But I could post the raw data & students who are absent could do the analysis. At this point, I'm willing to bet good money that we'll start in person and end online. There are too many variables that could tip the class into having to be offered remote - sick students, sick lab prep, sick TAs, reduced room capacity, etc.
Quote from: Hegemony on August 16, 2021, 02:10:16 PM
There are other options as well. For instance, design the course so that those who miss class sessions have simple ways to learn the material. If they do the reading, they can pass the tests. If they come to class, they get discussion and an in-depth exploration of the reading, but it doesn't mean the difference between passing and failing. This was the British system when I went through it, and I appreciated it. At this point in history, it's not only simpler for you, it's safer for everyone. Grade on mastery of the material and not on having shown up in person.
Some students will still want to be able to do better than pass. I'll make some adjustments, but I'm strongly opposed to having to develop some version of hyflex because students and administrators expect it despite the fact that the class is officially designated as in-person.
Quote from: Hegemony on August 16, 2021, 02:10:16 PM
There are other options as well. For instance, design the course so that those who miss class sessions have simple ways to learn the material. If they do the reading, they can pass the tests. If they come to class, they get discussion and an in-depth exploration of the reading, but it doesn't mean the difference between passing and failing. This was the British system when I went through it, and I appreciated it. At this point in history, it's not only simpler for you, it's safer for everyone. Grade on mastery of the material and not on having shown up in person.
Paring the class content down to only what can be done in the reading seems to reduce the leaning in the course substantially, and specifically the education that a university education offers over a mail-order/online program. How do overcome that?
Quote from: Hibush on August 16, 2021, 07:30:12 PM
Quote from: Hegemony on August 16, 2021, 02:10:16 PM
There are other options as well. For instance, design the course so that those who miss class sessions have simple ways to learn the material. If they do the reading, they can pass the tests. If they come to class, they get discussion and an in-depth exploration of the reading, but it doesn't mean the difference between passing and failing. This was the British system when I went through it, and I appreciated it. At this point in history, it's not only simpler for you, it's safer for everyone. Grade on mastery of the material and not on having shown up in person.
Paring the class content down to only what can be done in the reading seems to reduce the leaning in the course substantially, and specifically the education that a university education offers over a mail-order/online program. How do overcome that?
Sadly, the standard in mathematics throughout K-12 and even much of undergraduate is that the teacher reads the textbook and explains everything step by step to the students, so that the students never have to read. Hence students never learn to read mathematics (and textbooks are frequently not written with learning (rather than reference) in mind). All but my best students understand very little from the reading that I require them to do before class, though having seen the material once does help them understand what is happening in class better.
Quote from: Hibush on August 16, 2021, 07:30:12 PM
Paring the class content down to only what can be done in the reading seems to reduce the leaning in the course substantially, and specifically the education that a university education offers over a mail-order/online program. How do overcome that?
You don't have to give them an A if there are some parts of the material they didn't master well. But I'd guess that a dedicated student who has the materials in hand can learn enough to pass the course respectably. What is this course content that can't be written down, but can only be conveyed by word of mouth in person? If it's a dance class or something, maybe they can film themselves and submit it. But most subjects can be learned to a substantial degree without in-person access to a professor. We're not magicians, we're just guides. And if the student is eager to avoid exposing a class full of students to a dangerous disease, why not support them in this effort?
Quote from: Hegemony on August 18, 2021, 01:50:11 AM
Quote from: Hibush on August 16, 2021, 07:30:12 PM
Paring the class content down to only what can be done in the reading seems to reduce the leaning in the course substantially, and specifically the education that a university education offers over a mail-order/online program. How do overcome that?
You don't have to give them an A if there are some parts of the material they didn't master well. But I'd guess that a dedicated student who has the materials in hand can learn enough to pass the course respectably. What is this course content that can't be written down, but can only be conveyed by word of mouth in person? If it's a dance class or something, maybe they can film themselves and submit it. But most subjects can be learned to a substantial degree without in-person access to a professor. We're not magicians, we're just guides. And if the student is eager to avoid exposing a class full of students to a dangerous disease, why not support them in this effort?
Clearly this depends on how the students are learning. Even in STEM courses, intellectually engaging with the material and the other students--all that active learning stuff--is necessary with students in my school.
I don't see this students options as A) Taking a pale imitation of the course they signed up for
vs B) infect the class. I see the choice as being the same as ever: If external conditions prevent you from taking the course, take it when those conditions have changed.
Or — engage less, and pass with a C or so. Right?