Kassia Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Dd is taking two online DE classes this summer. One of her professors wrote in his syllabus that he gives quick feedback, posts weekly updates, wants students to turn in work as they complete it so he doesn't get too many assignments all at once at the end of the semester, etc. And this is exactly what he did in the first few weeks. But there has been nothing from him in almost two weeks now. He didn't post the weekly update, no grades, no feedback, etc. Dd wants to make up a random question about the assignments just to see if he answers but she feels awkward about it since she doesn't really have a question other than wondering what happened to him. He has great reviews on rate my professor - nothing about him bailing on the class. Such a mystery! UPDATE: Dd sent an email with a question last night and received a response. She said it was a weird response but she did get something back from him. So he hasn't disappeared but he has pretty much abandoned the class for weeks - no weekly announcements, grading, participation, etc. UPDATE #2 - he just sent an announcement saying he just returned from two weeks in the hospital! All he said was that it was bad and he had no energy and it will be a long recovery. Poor guy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Dear Professor X, I didn't see an update for the week of June 25th. Was it posted in a different location? I'd like to make sure I don't miss anything important. Thanks, Student Y 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 1 minute ago, Sebastian (a lady) said: Dear Professor X, I didn't see an update for the week of June 25th. Was it posted in a different location? I'd like to make sure I don't miss anything important. Thanks, Student Y That's good! I'll suggest it to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 That seems odd! My son had an online class this past spring that went like that--instructor very visible at first, then nothing. He finally said he had some kind of family emergency come up, but it affected the rest of the class (which was already condensed into 8 weeks instead of the usual 16 weeks)--ds never got feedback on any writing, and the majority of the grade was on two essays. Thankfully he did well, but it was quite unnerving. Not sure what happened with the prof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 3 hours ago, MerryAtHope said: My son had an online class this past spring that went like that--instructor very visible at first, then nothing. He finally said he had some kind of family emergency come up, but it affected the rest of the class (which was already condensed into 8 weeks instead of the usual 16 weeks)--ds never got feedback on any writing, and the majority of the grade was on two essays. Thankfully he did well, but it was quite unnerving. Not sure what happened with the prof. Yes, this is a condensed class, too and we suspect some kind of family emergency but would expect some kind of communication to the class if something came up! It's very weird. Dd doesn't want to turn in any more work at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I would definitely post and or email the prof directly and she can also contact the dept if she doesn’t hear anything. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Something like this happened to me when I was a taking an online class as a grad student. The professor mentioned some non-specific health issues and then stopped posting or responding. I looked up the contact list of the department on the school's website and sent an email to the dean. I said something along the lines that I was concerned about the professor's health since he shared about it in class and mentioned his general availability (how long it took him to answer questions - 2 weeks!). I got responses quickly - both from the dean and the professor. The professor wasn't particularly engaged, but he no longer disappeared from class for the rest of the term. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 If it were me I would send a message to him, but dd feels awkward about it and wants to wait for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 7 hours ago, Kassia said: Yes, this is a condensed class, too and we suspect some kind of family emergency but would expect some kind of communication to the class if something came up! It's very weird. Dd doesn't want to turn in any more work at this point. 2 hours ago, Kassia said: If it were me I would send a message to him, but dd feels awkward about it and wants to wait for now. My ds felt the same way! I do wonder if most profs end up grading more leniently in this kind of case (since the student can't "improve" without feedback). Hopefully her prof shows up soon and doesn't "check out" for the rest of the course! In my son's case, I wondered if it made him study harder since he didn't know if he was meeting expectations! He ended up with an A and did feel he learned a lot--it's just too bad the course went the way it did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 Well, she thought of a question she's comfortable asking so she said she's going to send a message! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Good for her! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I would definitely urge her to continue turning in all assigned work regardless of the feedback (not) received. If something should happen (have happened) with the professor, she can at least show that she fulfilled all assignments. She would have grounds to ask for the ability to revise the turned in work as well to help improve her grade if needed. I think it is totally fine to reach out to someone (professor, TA, department head) if there is concern over what happened to the professor, lack of feedback (therefore difficulty to improve/strengthen subsequent assignments), etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 My son had this happen last semester. After two weeks of no communication, he emailed the prof, posted on the class discussion board asking if anyone had heard anything, and then contacted the department head--who told him that the prof had a family emergency, was out of state and would return shortly. It's not like he had so many classes that the prof couldn't have posted or asked someone else to post for him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 On 6/29/2018 at 10:38 AM, Kassia said: Well, she thought of a question she's comfortable asking so she said she's going to send a message! Good, because I was just going to say that, the longer she waits, the worse position she is in. The time to bring up these things is NOT near the end of the semester, when profs and department heads will be like, why didn't you say something? No one wants to hear concerns after the fact, when it seems like you are only bringing them up bc your grade is perhaps lower than expected. Condensed course, even more important. Rebecca is 100% correct about turning in all work. Not getting feedback is not a reason to not turn in your next assignment. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 32 minutes ago, katilac said: Good, because I was just going to say that, the longer she waits, the worse position she is in. The time to bring up these things is NOT near the end of the semester, when profs and department heads will be like, why didn't you say something? No one wants to hear concerns after the fact, when it seems like you are only bringing them up bc your grade is perhaps lower than expected. Condensed course, even more important. Rebecca is 100% correct about turning in all work. Not getting feedback is not a reason to not turn in your next assignment. She did send a message and no response, but it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. No weekly announcement again - he used to post them on Sunday or Monday morning. She has been turning assignments on time but she has also been working ahead and those are the assignments she stopped sending and is holding on to. She wouldn't not turn in assignments that were due. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 1 minute ago, Kassia said: She wouldn't not turn in assignments that were due. 1 Ah, that makes more sense! Sure, she can just hold onto stuff she is ahead on, and that way she can revise it if she does get feedback on earlier assignments. That's what I would advise in any case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 On 6/28/2018 at 7:36 PM, Kassia said: UPDATE: Dd sent an email with a question last night and received a response. She said it was a weird response but she did get something back from him. So he hasn't disappeared but he has pretty much abandoned the class for weeks - no weekly announcements, grading, participation, etc. UPDATE #2 - he just sent an announcement saying he just returned from two weeks in the hospital! All he said was that it was bad and he had no energy and it will be a long recovery. Poor guy! Oh wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 He disappeared again. Hope he's okay. It would be nice if someone notified students. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 22 hours ago, Kassia said: He disappeared again. Hope he's okay. It would be nice if someone notified students. I think it would be appropriate for your dd to contact the department. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Sebastian (a lady) said: I think it would be appropriate for your dd to contact the department. He's the department head! She's planning on submitting an assignment tomorrow so we'll see if she gets anything back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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