Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[darkstarrynight]

Right after I wrote this, a student emailed me to check her citation for a chapter in my syllabus reference list. I referred her to the syllabus.

[bopper]

I am slightly dreading my Spring quarter.  I'm teaching a Freshman class.  On the plus side, they've had a year of remote classes in high school and 2 quarters on online college so they should be comfortable with online classes.  On the minus side, the prerequisite classes were all asynchronous and many were self-paced.  This one is taught "live" on Zoom.  I'm pulling out a lot from my bag of tricks to make the materials more interactive and fun.

What if you asked them what has been effective for them so far in remote classes?

[the_geneticist]

I am slightly dreading my Spring quarter.  I'm teaching a Freshman class.  On the plus side, they've had a year of remote classes in high school and 2 quarters on online college so they should be comfortable with online classes.  On the minus side, the prerequisite classes were all asynchronous and many were self-paced.  This one is taught "live" on Zoom.  I'm pulling out a lot from my bag of tricks to make the materials more interactive and fun.

What if you asked them what has been effective for them so far in remote classes?

That is an excellent idea!  I know that my previous students have liked watching videos, working in teams to make slides in Google Drive, and having more interactive activities in Zoom like brief polls.

[Langue_doc]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

[the_geneticist]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

Maybe modify the assignment and tell them that they need to send the revised version, the original version, and a list of the changes they made.  The added effort of making them list the revisions is probably enough of a deterrent to stop them from just turning in the same thing again.

Got the love the student who changed the font!  "OK, so submitting in Ariel was so-so.  Curlz?  Too silly.  Book Antiqua?  Too serious.  I need something modern yet timeless.  I bet you'll LOVE it in Calibri!"

[AvidReader]

I require students to submit a list of changes with any revisions they do for me. They can also explain why they chose not to apply a particular piece of feedback.

I also make heavy use of the "track changes" function in Word when I grade revisions that are lightly or not revised. I open both in "Compare documents" view and can see immediately what is different. If something is a PDF and I the changes are unclear, I will paste it into Word for the comparison.

I had a mentor quite some time ago who used Turnitin the same way but for revision activities where the goal was substantial revision(s). He would make the percentages visible and encourage students to resubmit if they were above a certain threshold.

AR.

[apl68]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

Do they really think that they're going to get a higher grade just for submitting the same thing a second time?  Are they really that clueless about what "revision" actually means?

[downer]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

Do they really think that they're going to get a higher grade just for submitting the same thing a second time?  Are they really that clueless about what "revision" actually means?

Maybe they found that it worked sometimes in the past, and there's no cost in giving it a try. It's like playing the lottery.

[Langue_doc]

Playing the lottery sounds more like it.

I'm sneaky--I use two computers to grade revised assignments so that I can compare both assignments. I have no idea what the students were thinking when the directions referred them to the handouts on the differences between global and local revisions, and that revisions had to be substantial rather than cosmetic in order to earn higher scores. I have never had so many students submit identical assignments thinking that I wouldn't catch the absence of revisions.

the_geneticist, all the assignments are on Canvas. The assignment folders are very specific: for example, "topic1" followed by  "topic1 Revise and Resubmit" once I have completed grading "topic1". The directions for the revised assignments require students to read my comments and revise accordingly.

Thanks, all for your suggestions. I will be requiring students to upload a document explaining how they revised their assignments. This is a writing course, so revisions are mandatory.

[AvidReader]

Student who has never attended class and has not turned in a single piece of work all semester, large or small, decided last week that it would be nice to take the midterm. I don't know why.

The midterm was open last week from 8 a.m. Monday to 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Stu emailed at 11:40 p.m. Friday with a sob story about how Stu had lost internet and couldn't take it after all. Ten minutes later, Stu logged in to the midterm and failed to submit anything before 11:59 hit.

Since Stu had already seen the midterm, I said Stu could come to any of my four blocks of office hours (8 hrs. total) with a blue book and write a make-up exam in person. Stu was most grateful. I sent a list of my office hours: before classes even begin on Mon and Wed and immediately after Stu's class meets on the same two afternoons.

Yesterday, Stu emailed me in the middle of Stu's class (not attending) to explain that Stu couldn't make it to campus for my last available office hour block (that afternoon). Could Stu take it next Monday instead? No. Could Stu take it today? No. New email from Stu suggests tomorrow instead. No. Somehow I am confident that Stu's inability to take the exam will all be my fault.

Stu has missed 7 weeks of work. Stu cannot pass even if Stu takes the midterm. If Stu wants credit for doing something, Stu could come to class or submit a different assignment. There are dozens of other available items.

AR.

[apl68]

Stu has missed 7 weeks of work.

Why, after all these years of being post-college, do I still have nightmares about being in that situation?  Including the one just last night!  And I never, ever let that happen to me in real life.

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks, all for your suggestions. I will be requiring students to upload a document explaining how they revised their assignments. This is a writing course, so revisions are mandatory.

I do this, but almost nobody follows my instructions. They also struggle with local vs. global revisions.

[bopper]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

I wonder if you told them "Imagine it is the last day of classes. You are not happy with your grade. You ask me, "What can I do to improve my grade?" This, this is what you can do to improve your grade."

[the_geneticist]

Student who has never attended class and has not turned in a single piece of work all semester, large or small, decided last week that it would be nice to take the midterm. I don't know why.

The midterm was open last week from 8 a.m. Monday to 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Stu emailed at 11:40 p.m. Friday with a sob story about how Stu had lost internet and couldn't take it after all. Ten minutes later, Stu logged in to the midterm and failed to submit anything before 11:59 hit.

Since Stu had already seen the midterm, I said Stu could come to any of my four blocks of office hours (8 hrs. total) with a blue book and write a make-up exam in person. Stu was most grateful. I sent a list of my office hours: before classes even begin on Mon and Wed and immediately after Stu's class meets on the same two afternoons.

Yesterday, Stu emailed me in the middle of Stu's class (not attending) to explain that Stu couldn't make it to campus for my last available office hour block (that afternoon). Could Stu take it next Monday instead? No. Could Stu take it today? No. New email from Stu suggests tomorrow instead. No. Somehow I am confident that Stu's inability to take the exam will all be my fault.

Stu has missed 7 weeks of work. Stu cannot pass even if Stu takes the midterm. If Stu wants credit for doing something, Stu could come to class or submit a different assignment. There are dozens of other available items.

AR.

Ugh.  Better document all of this just in case you have to kick it up the chain of command.
I'd tell Stu to chat with their academic advisor since if they are having this much trouble completing one class, it is most likely true for all of their classes.  And say that it is not mathematically possible for Stu to pass the class - they should withdraw or drop.

[marshwiggle]

Students were given the opportunity to revise a couple of assignments for higher grades. Guess how many of them were actual revisions? One student was creative enough to use a different font for the same assignment.

I'll have to start taking off points for submitting so-called "revised" assignments.

The head bang is for the time I spent comparing the "revised" assignments with the original ones.

I wonder if you told them "Imagine it is the last day of classes. You are not happy with your grade. You ask me, "What can I do to improve my grade?" This, this is what you can do to improve your grade."

How much of this is just the Dunning-Kruger effect? If they understood what it was supposed to be, they would have done that originally. The less specific the feedback, the less likely it is that there will be appropriate revisions. (And what counts as "specific" to the prof isn't remotely what counts as "specific" to students, especially the weaker ones.)