Sigh, I told him he should do it anyway, but it didn't matter

[DawnM]

My son is taking 2 online CC classes this summer to get some additional GEs.  He was taking an Anthropology class and had an A going into the final assignment.  My son said, "Hey, even if I don't do this assignment, I will get an A in the class."  

I encouraged him to do it anyway, just as a safeguard.

Well, I guess the professor noticed that he had enough points to get an A and so he didn't even bother grading the last assignment.

Sigh.

[Kassia]

Ds did the right thing and the professor should have graded the assignment (IMO) even if it had no effect on the final grade.  

 

 

[Garga]

Remember: He’s not there to get a grade.  He’s there to get an education.  Doing the last assignment helped to meet that goal.  ?

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, Garga said:

Remember: He’s not there to get a grade.  He’s there to get an education.  Doing the last assignment helped to meet that goal.  ?

 

While I am understanding what you are saying, this class has no bearing on his major at all and these particular chapters were not new information.

Oh well.

[yvonne]

If the student went to the trouble of completing the assignment, the professor should have gone to the trouble of giving feedback on it. Good for your son for doing it!

 

 

[livetoread]

My daughter had the same experience. The professor announced to the class, after they had turned in their last project, that if you had an A, she wouldn’t be grading it. My daughter wasn’t impressed, and neither was I.

[yvonne]

1 hour ago, livetoread said:

My daughter had the same experience. The professor announced to the class, after they had turned in their last project, that if you had an A, she wouldn’t be grading it.

 

That is almost unethical.... lazy instructor.  If the assignment/project/essay wasn't important enough for the instructor to bother with, it shouldn't have been assigned in the first place.

[Bootsie]

I have mixed feelings about this--especially since I teach economics.  Everything has an opportunity cost.  If the student who already has enough points for an "A" in the class has other choices of what to do with their time.  It can be extremely rational and wise to spend that time doing something other than another assignment for the class.  Just because the student could learn something from doing the assignment, isn't enough to do the assignment, because the student may learn MORE doing something else with that time.  

[klmama]

My dc have had professors tell them that if they have already earned the points required for an A, they don't have to take the final exam or they don't have to turn in a last assignment.  One of dc's professors even said if they had earned enough points for a grade they were satisfied with, they didn't have to take the final.  

 

 

[chiguirre]

16 hours ago, livetoread said:

My daughter had the same experience. The professor announced to the class, after they had turned in their last project, that if you had an A, she wouldn’t be grading it. My daughter wasn’t impressed, and neither was I.

 

1 hour ago, klmama said:

My dc have had professors tell them that if they have already earned the points required for an A, they don't have to take the final exam or they don't have to turn in a last assignment.  One of dc's professors even said if they had earned enough points for a grade they were satisfied with, they didn't have to take the final.  

 

 

It's fine to tell students that they don't need to do the last project if they have the grade they want, but do it before they turn it in. Telling them after that you're not going to bother looking at their work is disrespectful of the effort they put into doing it.

[Bootsie]

25 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

 

It's fine to tell students that they don't need to do the last project if they have the grade they want, but do it before they turn it in. Telling them after that you're not going to bother looking at their work is disrespectful of the effort they put into doing it.

I think this really depends upon what the assignment is.  Was it a multiple choice quiz that the student can self-check?  Was it a reflection paper in which the major objective is for the student to reflect on his own learning?  Is it a project that the student will only learn something if the professor gives meaningful, detailed feedback?

IME, most students do NOT come back by to see and learn from their final papers.  As a professor, I can spend hours providing feedback on those assignments just to have the sit in a drawer.  Some semesters I have hundreds of final assignments to grade and must have final grades (so not just the papers graded but final grades calculated) to the registrar's office in less than 48 hours.  In those situations, I provide little feedback on the papers, and little time with the students' papers that their grade will be no different if they make a 0 on the paper or a 100 on the paper.  If a student contacts me and wants to go over the paper, I will then provide more thorough feedback.  

[katilac]

He did the right thing, particularly if he had the time and just not the inclination. It makes a better impression, he might have been mistaken about the exact number of points, presumably he learned something, and, well, it was an assignment and he wasn't told not to do it. I think he could have asked for the prof's policy with no harm done, but I can't get on board with skipping an assignment without permission just because you don't need it for points. If he desperately needed that time to finish an assignment for another class with a lower grade, that would be different. 

I do think the prof should have graded it, and I wouldn't be so sure he's not going to unless he explicitly said that. My kids have gotten assignments and feedback after the semester has ended. Sometimes the profs get in a time crunch and they triage final assignments so they can submit grades on time. 

On 7/16/2018 at 5:59 PM, Garga said:

He’s not there to get a grade.  He’s there to get an education.   

 

I love this. It's true whether or not the class is directly related to his major. 

[yvonne]

nm

[daijobu]

These days with so many low paid adjuncts teaching these classes, my sympathy tends to run to the prof's who are so mistreated by the CCs.  (Not sure if that's the case for this class.)  

[Kassia]

11 hours ago, daijobu said:

These days with so many low paid adjuncts teaching these classes, my sympathy tends to run to the prof's who are so mistreated by the CCs.  (Not sure if that's the case for this class.)  

 

I agree about the low paid adjuncts ( I feel bad for them!) but I do think the student should receive feedback for completed assignments.  

[yvonne]

12 hours ago, daijobu said:

These days with so many low paid adjuncts teaching these classes, my sympathy tends to run to the prof's who are so mistreated by the CCs.  (Not sure if that's the case for this class.)  

 

I agree that low paid adjuncts are in a tough spot, but that is a completely separate issue from the instructor's responsibility to his/her students.

 

[DawnM]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:13 PM, jdahlquist said:

I have mixed feelings about this--especially since I teach economics.  Everything has an opportunity cost.  If the student who already has enough points for an "A" in the class has other choices of what to do with their time.  It can be extremely rational and wise to spend that time doing something other than another assignment for the class.  Just because the student could learn something from doing the assignment, isn't enough to do the assignment, because the student may learn MORE doing something else with that time.  

 

That pretty much sums up my feelings on this, and you said it better than I did.

Anyway, he got the A.  He actually only needed a C to get it to transfer so the grade is ultimately irrelevant in that regard (transfer classes don't count towards the GPA), but it was important to HIM.  

He got a B in the other CC class he took over the summer.  It was a communications class and holy, moly, that professor was SO confusing.  He would email 10 different "helpful videos or write ups" of the assignment, all saying different things.  For a communications professor he sure didn't communicate well.

But again, it is ok.....a B is fine for the class.

[elegantlion]

I recently had a discussion with a professor over this sort of thing. This is why he weights assignment with percentages instead of points and nothing is worth less than 10% of your grade. Then theoretically all assignments need to be done to get an A. 

I've had classes where I didn't need to do the final assignment, yet I still did it and the professor still graded it. 

I think the onus is on the professor to grade and provide feedback whether it's needed for the grade or not.