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

[Caracal]

The final exam was last week Friday.  I contacted the handful of folks who missed it, but still showed as registered for the class.  All except 1 got back to me to say that they had filed for a late withdrawal & still waiting for the form to be proceeded.
The 1 student emailed me YESTERDAY to say they "didn't realize" the class had a final exam and were "completely unaware" that they'd missed it and could they please take it on Friday after they finish the rest of their exams. 

I'm so tempted to let that 0 stand.

Assuming that you had alerted students about the exam and made it clear from the start that there would be an exam, the NO answer seems straightforward. A student would have to work to win me over to let them take it. I had a slightly similar case last semester and eventually the student's tale of woe was enough to convince me.

It was on the syllabus on the first day of class.  I posted a study guide.  I sent out reminder emails. 
The student claims that they thought that they had already taken it since they remember taking an exam that day.  I checked and they did have a midterm in a DIFFERENT CLASS. 
The student has now emailed to apologize, begged for a second chance, and promised to buy and use a paper day planner from now on.

I'd just let them take it. My feeling about boneheaded mistakes is that a basically conscientious student will learn their lesson from something like this. If the problem goes beyond organization and attention to important details, the student is going to reap the consequences of that. You don't have to impose a punishment.

[the_geneticist]

The final exam was last week Friday.  I contacted the handful of folks who missed it, but still showed as registered for the class.  All except 1 got back to me to say that they had filed for a late withdrawal & still waiting for the form to be proceeded.
The 1 student emailed me YESTERDAY to say they "didn't realize" the class had a final exam and were "completely unaware" that they'd missed it and could they please take it on Friday after they finish the rest of their exams. 

I'm so tempted to let that 0 stand.

Assuming that you had alerted students about the exam and made it clear from the start that there would be an exam, the NO answer seems straightforward. A student would have to work to win me over to let them take it. I had a slightly similar case last semester and eventually the student's tale of woe was enough to convince me.

It was on the syllabus on the first day of class.  I posted a study guide.  I sent out reminder emails. 
The student claims that they thought that they had already taken it since they remember taking an exam that day.  I checked and they did have a midterm in a DIFFERENT CLASS. 
The student has now emailed to apologize, begged for a second chance, and promised to buy and use a paper day planner from now on.

I'd just let them take it. My feeling about boneheaded mistakes is that a basically conscientious student will learn their lesson from something like this. If the problem goes beyond organization and attention to important details, the student is going to reap the consequences of that. You don't have to impose a punishment.

I'm letting them take it.  I also hope they have learned the lesson of "know what is due in your classes".

[mamselle]

The part I'm boggled about is, don't you have to study differently for a different test?

Wouldn't you remember which test you studied for?

Wouldn't you want to be sure you studied for the right one to begin with?

I think I'm more confused by this, possibly, than they seem to be, or to have been...

M.

[the_geneticist]

The part I'm boggled about is, don't you have to study differently for a different test?

Wouldn't you remember which test you studied for?

Wouldn't you want to be sure you studied for the right one to begin with?

I think I'm more confused by this, possibly, than they seem to be, or to have been...

M.

I would have thought so too!  But I'm learning that will 500+ freshmen students in a class, you just get more of the rare & unusual things. . . .

[mythbuster]

My money is on this student being a borderline passing student at best anyway. Good students get their calendar se in the first week. It's easier all around to just let them take it, and let the chips fall where they may.

[waterboy]

I would let them take it, but with some % penalty right off the top. Just to get their attention a bit.

[Caracal]

My money is on this student being a borderline passing student at best anyway. Good students get their calendar se in the first week. It's easier all around to just let them take it, and let the chips fall where they may.

I certainly never did that, but I obsessively checked what was due in the last couple of weeks.

[kaysixteen]

What if the student takes the test and gets a very solid A, esp if he has not been carrying anything resembling an A average to date?   What then?

[KiUlv]

Seriously?! Seriously?! This is graduate school. I don't think I should have to even say "don't plagiarize." I'm pretty sure you should know that by now, but in order to make sure that you know what is expected in this course and that I'm not making assumptions about what you do or do not know after two semesters of graduate school (and because of all the crap that when down last semester, when I had 3 academic integrity cases in a class of 20 graduate students), I have:
1. put the academic integrity policy on the syllabus
2. conducted a paraphrasing exercise during the 1st day of class for the relevant citation style for this course
3. put on the assignment--summarize the article "in your own words" as a reminder
And still! STILL! You copy and paste entire sentences! Did you not think I would notice? Did you not think I would care? Are you really going to fail this class because you could not bother to write a brief summary of 4 articles?
I would have thought the rumor mill about how much I am a hardass about this would be enough to clue you in that I am actually series, but apparently not because this is just egregious and now I have to spend my holiday documenting this crap so I'm ready to have a meeting this and give you an opportunity to explain what the heck you were thinking before I take this to student conduct. Gah!

I know that pain! A colleague of mine just had the same (graduate) student I had earlier in the year. The same student that you seem to be describing here. When the student was (again) caught plagiarizing, commented that they had gotten the same feedback in another class. Then they asked if the prof could again explain what plagiarizing was. I walked them through it the first time. Did I mention this is graduate school?

[the_geneticist]

What if the student takes the test and gets a very solid A, esp if he has not been carrying anything resembling an A average to date?   What then?

I've only seen that happen once. And it's because the student was not great at molecular bio, but was fantastic at stats.  He switched to a math major.

The student this Spring got a C+ on the final exam, same score as on the midterms.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Not my problem, but it's still aggravating... I have recorded, in no less than three different places, the correct file format for lab reports. Miraculously, 95% of the class follows the directions, but there are always those who do not. Why, student, are you sending me a file with a 'pages' extension? Why?

[peitho]

We are approaching the last week of summer online classees, and suddenly Miss Mediocrity s constantly emailing with important questions that are answered in the syllabus, such as what is due today, and where is the reading. Although student does not have time to zoom or read my comments on their work, I sent screenshots of the syllabus and relevant tabs in the LMS, then resorted to a hotlink, but they still can't be bothered.  I suspect they never purchased the reader, and only the extra readings are posted online, by that's a different issue.                                                                           Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                           

[Larimar]

We are approaching the last week of summer online classees, and suddenly Miss Mediocrity s constantly emailing with important questions that are answered in the syllabus, such as what is due today, and where is the reading. Although student does not have time to zoom or read my comments on their work, I sent screenshots of the syllabus and relevant tabs in the LMS, then resorted to a hotlink, but they still can't be bothered.  I suspect they never purchased the reader, and only the extra readings are posted online, by that's a different issue.                                                                           Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                           

But that would mean actually reading, something that many college students go to great lengths to avoid!

[FishProf]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

[dr_codex]

                                                                         Why, oh why, can't they read the syllabus?                                                                                                         

Wrong question.  Why WON'T they read it.  They choose to not do so.

Which is why I have a syllabus quiz.

Hmmmm.   Even then, some don't even read the announcements enough to know there IS a syllabus quiz.  I had a student last week (week 4of7) asking when he would see a quiz to take and why his grade was showing up as a Zero.

I would be lying if I said it was the first time I've seen this happen.

This is why we need Administrative Drops. Notifications from the Registrar that you've been removed from a course tend to get a response.