Students!!! AAAAAGH!

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Quote:
While I understand your perspective and fully accept that my students are my customers, my students also have responsibilities. Any student who contacted me within the 24 hour period with a problem was accommodated, often at a great deal of difficulty on my part.

This was practically a gift for these students. It was the same test they would have been given in class. It took the majority of them, that I have spoken to, about half an hour to do the test at home. With more than 24 hours to notify me if you were having problems the onus falls on them.

The school has already sided with me on this and has been clear about it. The due date and time were clear and fair and posted in writing both at the exam time, on the students' e-mail accounts and as an announcement to each member of the class on their primary home page.

A student who showed up at the school 24 hours AFTER the deadline and handed the exam to the department secretary was shown the door very swiftly. You cannot ignore a boss' request, reasonable or otherwise, and then expect them to accept your late. work.

You can be furious and you can complain - you still need to do the work.

 

[Wifezilla]

I can't even begin to imagine my school siding with the professor in a situation like this.

Seriously???​

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Citychicker and Chickerdoodle- the difference in you and the average student is that you likely would have contacted the professor BEFORE the due date/time if you were having scheduling conflicts due to work/other tests/etc. It's the kids who just don't do the work and then whine because it "wasn't their fault" that most of us are fussing about. I bend over backwards and kill myself trying to accomodate students having scheduling issues WHEN THEY TALK TO ME BEFORE THINGS ARE DUE. I bet most of your professors are the same. I understand that you have a life outside of my class. I understand that things come up in your life unexpectedly. That's just how life works. Works that way for professors too.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Truly, I would like to hear from others exactly what other options you think I (or the other three professors who were also not able to get to the school that day) could have done.

My options as I saw them:

1.) Cancel the exam and let the students grade stand where it was.
I rejected this because several students really needed another chance to pull up their grades. Since not being present was my fault I thought they should still get this chance.

2.) Reschedule the exam
I rejected this because it would have been all but impossible for the students to agree on another time, not to mention we had little time.

3.) Give them longer to complete the exam??
Just my experience, but no matter how long the lead up, there are still many who will wait until the last minute to do something. Besides if they had studied, the material should be fresh in their heads now and it was better to get it over with. Not to mention that final grades are due Tomorrow.

So, in the name of improved future performance and customer service - what else could I have done?

Edited to add: I offered to have the exam e-mailed to the dept, they refused to print it out or proctor the exam.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I was a college student for many years, and I suspect the ones who were having all the problems where those who were lax in keeping their grades up. Most of the time, if there is a problem and you use good communication skills with your prof. and you have shown you are commited to your education, you can work something out.
I had a problem one year where my mother died during finals on semester and I spoke to my profs. and excepted the grade I had going in, it was a 3.8 ok, they worked with me. The next semester my dad died during finals, again I worked with my profs. and still received a 4.0.
Life happens and if these students expect to make it in the outside world they need to learn to deal with people and take responsibility for their own actions, not whine and blame someone else. They need to learn to work things out, to adjust to ever changing situations. At the time of my problems, I was a single mother, working 2 jobs, so my time was very limited. That was no excuse not to speak with my profs and work out a solution.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

One option that I really like when professors give me is to choose whether or not I want to take my final. Some of my professors give us the option to keep our grade where it stands, or to take a final to try and pull it up. I have A's in most of my classes and typically even a bad grade on a final will not pull it down. Therefore, the only real reason for me to take a final is to study the material we've done in class all semester, which doesn't really help me much anyways.

So what I probably would have done in your situation is give the option to take it if needed but not to if they were happy with their grades. Therefore, the studious kids are rewarded, and those who may not be so studious still have to take the test.

I'm glad you were able to work things out though. I do know a lot of lazy students...and I mean a LOT! I would probably be thrilled if any one of my other classes were cancelled, but when it is a test of final and the test is cancelled, that makes me angry, especially if I've spent valuable time studying for it!

You're saying you're extremely busy, but you're on here, aren't you?

Haha, I'm on here now, but I'm also out of school for the summer! I don't post very much during the school year and when I do, its usually because I'm procrastinating from a paper I have to write or something else I have to do!

And to whoever said we don't have work during finals...I know most of us have MORE work during finals. Final papers are due, final lab reports, final homework, projects, presentations, etc. These are all on top of the actual finals I have to study for. The end of the semester is my least favorite time...even if it means I am going home!​

 

[Judy]

OP, sounds to me like you and your institution were more than fair. I would have been delighted to take an exam at home that was designed to be given in a classroom and took 30 minutes to complete.

Also sounds to me like those who voiced "legitimate concern" would not have had a problem in this situation anyway, because they would have contacted you within the 24 hours if they really did not have 30 min to spare.

I imagine most of your students were born around the time I last attended college. I have watched the work force deteriorate so severely that it is really not surprising to me that jobs are being exported at the speed of light. Employers of course expect some bang for their buck, but are increasingly having to put up with this baseless sense of entitlement because real employees simply aren't available.

As for the one who kept emailing a blank exam... sheesh.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I allowed my public speaking students to submit a tape from the learning lab as one of their graded speeches. This gave them the chance to tape as many "takes" as they wanted to get the best grade possible.

One student submitted a tape of Battlestar Gallactica. I called him on his "error" and gave him 24 hours to bring in his *real* tape. Do you thing I ever heard fom him?????

BTW: This mentality that students are our customers infuriates me. I waited tables for years. I do not step into the classroom to provide a product or outcome. This only perpetuates the students' expectation that instructors are there to make learning happen for them. I can only lead the ponies to the water...

 

[jonathansenn]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

3.) Give them longer to complete the exam??
Just my experience, but no matter how long the lead up, there are still many who will wait until the last minute to do something. Besides if they had studied, the material should be fresh in their heads now and it was better to get it over with.

You mean, you're not supposed to wait until the last minute

I always tell my students, if you are early you are on time. If you are on time your late. If you are late, you are in trouble.

 

[CityChicker]

Wow, lots of great comments!

I am on here because I am done for the semester and on summer break. I am not a student that is in a scramble the last part of the semester anyway because I learned early on in undergrad to be proactive. I almost always have an A going into finals.

I am reluctant to say anything negative about my professors because most (like 99.999%) are just exceptional people. I am an honors student and also very involved civically. A book could practically be written about students these days. I try to take only honors level courses whenever possible so that I don't have to be in a class with the average "low-achiever".

I think our instructors do not get nearly the respect they deserve and they are paid about a third of what they should be. THAT SAID, I stand by what I said earlier. There is NO way that my school would side with the instructor on this (like it or not). The instructor would be expected to accommodate each and every student. If they failed one for missing a test that the instructor wasn't there for, the instructor would be in deep hot water.

The instructor would be expected to make the exam available to be proctored at our testing center for probably anytime up to two weeks. If the professor opted to give the exam as a "take-home", the students would be given, at a minimum, a week to complete it. If the student did not have the capability of scanning the document for email, the instructor would be expected to be available during their office hours for the student to bring in the exam.

At *my school*, every resource possible is given to help the student succeed (and many still don't, LOL) and they are *never* penalized for something out of their control. That said, students are expected to attend every class, submit all assignments, be on time, etc... and, they are given the grade THEY earn (not just an A-B for mediocre performance).