Exam Fever

[kerprof]

Here is the email message I got from a student at 10 PM Yesterday.

"I am reaching out because we are to have the written exam tomorrow at 4:30pm. However, I woke up sick yesterday morning. I took a Covid test and got negative, however I am still  not feeling well with a fever up to 102F. I was hoping to feel better but my head was still shivering when even just writing my address when I took the COVID test. I have attached the negative results. Please let me know what you think."

Student also attached doctor note indicating negative COVID test and  images showing 102F temperature from Thermometer.

Please advise how to handle this issue.

[ergative]

I think the Covid test is a red herring. The student has had a fever for two days and is still pretty sick less than 24 hours before the exam. Handle it the way you would any illness during an exam.

(Also, I understand that people who are boosted tend to show symptoms before they test positive, because the body's immune system can kick in earlier, thanks to the booster, which geneates symptoms before the virus has multiplied enough to show up on a rapid antigen test. A negative test this soon after the onset of symptoms isn't necessarily the all-clear.)

[Puget]

Don't make students come to class and take exams sick-- that's basic common sense I would think, even pre-pandemic. If you don't have a plan built into your syllabus for when a student is sick for an exam, you need to fix that.

[clean]

If you don't have a plan built into your syllabus for when a student is sick for an exam, you need to fix that.

My own policy is 'no make up exams'. Instead, the comprehensive final exam will replace the score on the missed exam.  Even if your syllabus does not include that language, you may still implement it unless you have given other students an opportunity to make up an exam this term.

Suggest that the student seek medical attention as a fever over 101 is serious.

I tell them that "your first priority is to get better.  We can worry about the exam issues when you have recovered and your medical advisors indicate that it is safe for you  (and others) to return to academic pursuits. We have a Student Engagement and Success office, and I will refer you to that office to help coordinate with all of your professors about your current difficulties. This will cut down on unnecessary tasks and provide you with one point of contact who can direct you to all of the services you may qualify to receive and coordinate with your professors until you are able to return.  Feel Better Soon!"

[Istiblennius]

If this is an in-term exam, I also use the same practice others have mentioned (no makeups but I'll replace your lowest score, even a zero due to absence for any reason with your final score). If it is a final, an incomplete makes sense.

Another thing I've done which makes my life a lot easier is I have students do their exams through the LMS. There was some front loading to make them cheat-resistant (nothing is cheat proof from what I can tell), but my evidence does not show a significant difference in exam scores between this mechanism and in person on paper exams. Also, between the randomization and autograde features in the LMS and the ability to allow traveling athletes and maybe I have Covid students along with anyone else to take the exam remotely, I am not going back to on paper exams.

[Parasaurolophus]

Don't make students come to class and take exams sick-- that's basic common sense I would think, even pre-pandemic. If you don't have a plan built into your syllabus for when a student is sick for an exam, you need to fix that.

Yup.


I just let them take the test a week later, if they're better. My questions are randomized, so it doesn't really matter when they take it.

[the_geneticist]

My policy is "you are sick, stay home until you are better".  If the exam is online, I can make it available on a different day or time.  If the exam was in person, I can have them take it another day or put it online.  I do not agree with pro-rating exams since they cover different materials and different learning goals.  And because a student who is too sick to take Exam 1 has a better-than-zero chance of also being too sick to take Exam 2 (or Exam 3 or a presentation or some other important assessment).

[kiana]

I have recently started having all makeup tests on the last day of the semester (exceptions if it's something like "I had a flat tire on the way in but I can take it right now") and it has been really good. I don't have to worry about harming the students who have something legitimate happen, and since I don't return those tests it is not a net increase in work because I use them for classroom exams next semester.

[Puget]

I have recently started having all makeup tests on the last day of the semester (exceptions if it's something like "I had a flat tire on the way in but I can take it right now") and it has been really good. I don't have to worry about harming the students who have something legitimate happen, and since I don't return those tests it is not a net increase in work because I use them for classroom exams next semester.

I take this a step further, and let anyone who wants to during the final exam take a make-up exam (new questions, not the same ones) to replace one of the first two exams in the semester, alongside the non-cumulate third exam. I call these "second chance exams". This is one of these humane course policies that make life easier for the instructor as well-- I don't have to decide who is worthy of a make up exam, and I don't have to schedule multiple make up exams, or worry about them getting the questions ahead of time if they take it late. It doesn't matter if you got sick, or had some other life event going on, or just didn't study well-- everyone gets the same opportunity.

[kiana]

I have recently started having all makeup tests on the last day of the semester (exceptions if it's something like "I had a flat tire on the way in but I can take it right now") and it has been really good. I don't have to worry about harming the students who have something legitimate happen, and since I don't return those tests it is not a net increase in work because I use them for classroom exams next semester.

I take this a step further, and let anyone who wants to during the final exam take a make-up exam (new questions, not the same ones) to replace one of the first two exams in the semester, alongside the non-cumulate third exam. I call these "second chance exams". This is one of these humane course policies that make life easier for the instructor as well-- I don't have to decide who is worthy of a make up exam, and I don't have to schedule multiple make up exams, or worry about them getting the questions ahead of time if they take it late. It doesn't matter if you got sick, or had some other life event going on, or just didn't study well-- everyone gets the same opportunity.

Yes. I didn't mention this, but since I am writing a makeup exam anyway people who didn't miss a test can retake an earlier test.

So people who feel that they maybe didn't study well for test 1 aren't incentivized to make up a reason to skip so that they can get a retake; the incentive is to show up anyway so that if you do bomb it and need to repeat it, you've at least seen a preview.

[Hegemony]

Yep, do whatever you would normally do for a student who had a genuine illness and couldn't take the exam. The student shouldn't be penalized.

[Caracal]

I have similar policies to others. The last two semesters, if students are ill, I've given them the choice of taking the exam at the end of the semester or scheduling a make up exam with me. I just don't want to penalize a student who studied for the exam and I don't want to incentivize anyone to come to class sick. It's a bit more of a pain, but its been fine. Most students who have missed the exam have decided to take the end of semester exam anyway.