grades

Ineffective complaining

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog covers the topic of how to complain. Right now, I have two online students (both female) who have different approaches to class. One of them, who has a very high GPA, asks respectfully when she has a question about an assignment. The other one, not so much.

Student A (so-called because that is what her GPA is) sometimes finds the instructions for our assignments a little confusing. When this is the case, she respectfully explains in our Ask the Professor area about the issue, explaining her understanding of the instructions and asking if she has comprehended things correctly. Sometimes I have to guide her to a better understanding, and sometimes I have to clarify instructions that were written by the person who designed the class. She goes merrily on her way afterwards and always writes a superb document.

Student C (there is no Student B, in case you are wondering) fights me tooth and nail. She doesn’t like anything about the class and thinks I am a total incompetent. Sadly, as I explained just today, the course was designed, not by me, but by the chair of my department and we are still tweaking the course because it is brand new.

Can you guess which student brightens my day with her very presence?

Have you ever run into a situation where instructions were muddy and you needed to ask the instructor for help? How did you go about it and what were the results?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Are you trying to fail me Part Two: Nope, you are doing fine on your own

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Remember the recent blog where a student asked me if I was trying to fail him? Well, I have had a couple of students who answered that question for themselves. Here’s how it happened:

At one of the colleges where I teach, we had a final report due this past weekend. The students were required to submit a rough draft so that I could go over it, make comments on how to get a better grade on it, and then re-submit the corrected document for grading within 5 days.  Several students “chose not” to submit a rough draft. Not turning in the draft resulted in a 10 point reduction in their final score right off the top, but I guess that was okay with them. (Mr. Are You Trying to Fail Me was one of those students who did not submit a rough draft.)

The main problem with the failure to submit the rough draft was that they also chose to ignore the required format for the document. They also did not bother to read the grading rubric that I am required to use, so their documents lacked the mandatory components of the assignment. Bad call on their part! One of the students actually turned in a 3 1/2 page essay that was one-half the required length for the business report that she was supposed to be writing (a 3 1/2 page essay does not a business report make!).

I had just spent the last seven weeks teaching them how to write a memo, a business letter, an executive summary, and a body of a report, yet they threw all of that out the window when it came time to write the final document (which incorporated all of those things).

Here’s the deal: pay attention, follow the instructions, ask questions about anything that is muddy or unclear, and do not re-invent the wheel at the eleventh hour. Otherwise, I won’t be trying to flunk you- you will do just fine flunking on your own.

Have you ever experienced turning in the wrong assignment? What did you do to try and save your grade?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Do you want me to fail?

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s college-related post is based on what a student asked me recently, “Do you want me to fail? ” My short answer is “no.”

The person in question is one of my online-only students; I will never met him. Still, it is not my wish to fail the individual. It is my goal to teach him how to write.

He wrote a paper recently that received a 49 out of 100 points, so it certainly seems as if I wish him ill, but let me explain how he went so far astray. First, he did not follow the directions, so his format was totally off base (he had been given an example paper to follow, but he chose to ignore it). Next, he took his research references (he used the absolute  minimum required) and dumped the information into his paper. This lead to almost page-long paragraphs, which are dreadful on the eyes. Next, he made no effort to analyze the information, which was required. The paper had no introduction and no conclusion. Finally, what was supposed to be a APA-formatted Reference page was just a bunch of website addresses, with no format at all.

Was I making him fail? No, he was doing pretty good at that all by himself.

Discussion board postings were another issue. The requirement was for two five-sentence paragraphs as a minimum for both initial threads and replies. I was lucky to get two to three sentences out of him, one of which was usually “good post.” Every one of his postings got feedback from me; none of them were changed, even though I gave him 24 hours per posting to fix them.

Do I sit up at night, working on ways to make him fail? Nope. I would love it if he passed with flying colors. The ball, however,  is in his court.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

What to do when you ask for a favor from the prof

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

With the end of the semester looming for some of my students, and mid-terms just over for others, it seemed appropriate to make some suggestions regarding asking for favors.

One thing: do not ask for repeated favors. Do not use the circular argument that “you did it last time, so you should do this for me this time.” You may have gotten grace from the instructor the first time you asked but that is no reason to expect it every week.

Do not try to strong arm the professor just because you are bigger than he or she is. The instructor is the boss and you aren’t, even if you work full time for boatloads of money and are used to being in charge. The classroom is one place where you are not running the show. A little humility is a great thing and you need to learn to be flexible.

I keep track of how many favors you ask for in a given semester. If there is a question about possibly curving your final grade, I will look in my grade book and see how many exceptions to rules you requested.

One semester, I had an online student who had excuses for every week of class. She was sick, her kids were ill, her Internet failed, her power went out. Every week, it was something new. When she finally showed up for class on week six of an eight week course, ready to excuse her way through that week, I called her to task. She couldn’t make up any work that was later than two weeks late, and everything she turned in late would be marked down 20%. She dropped the course.

Finally, when an instructor makes an exception for you, be sure to thank him or her. I can not count the number of times I curved a final grade upward for a student who was soooo close to the next higher grade and who had shown remarkable progress during the term, only to have the student walk out of the classroom without a word. I am human; I like to be thanked. It also demonstrates that your parents taught you to be well-mannered.

Best,

Dr. Sheri