Getting students to not procrastinate turning in assignments
I teach a medical transcription class. The students and I go over the syllabus together on the first day of term. I explain in detail what the course consists of, and what is expected. I make sure that they understand the number of reports to be turned in and when. They seem to lose any memory of this within 2 weeks! How can I get them to remember? A very few have no trouble turning in all work on time. At the last minute I will receive badly done reports and thery wonder why they get a low grade. This is making me crazy.
I have found that, at least in the beginning of a course, it has been helpful to discuss the assignments and what the expectations are for them. I am fortunate to be working in a classroom environment that stresses teams and teamwork, so I utilize peer pressure whenever I can to make sure that all assignments are completed on time and to the best of the students' abilities.
Working with adults, it is important that we not enable unacceptable behavior. So, where I might suggest timely reminders for young students, adults must learn to manage their own time or suffer the consequences. This probably doesn't help much.
These are important points Jennie! It’s essential segment your students by age, experience and other factors to determine how to appropriately motivate desired behaviors.
I make Activities sheets. This takes a little bit of time to start with, however, once you create the sheets you can make copies to be handed out in each of your classes. I make an ending activity sheet that is to be handed out and completed before the students leave the class. It is very basic and it is like a small quiz that asks questions of what is required of them. I then go over the quiz at the beginning of their next class session. They are graded on the quiz and given credit for it as class work. This helps students stay in class until it is time to leave, as they want to get that credit for the quiz. Also, they will have no excuse why they did not know the requirements of the class and due dates for the project. An Example of the Activity sheet would be.
When is you next assignment due? ____________________________-
What are the requirements for the assignment?________________________________
Are there points that will be taken off the assignment for being late?____________________
What chapters are you to read for the assignment?____________________________________
You get the picture, some simple questions that review your requirements. You can make one for each week of the class or daily. You just modifiy the daily or weekly sheet to review what you want them to remember about the requirements for that day or week.
What a great idea Nanci! Thanks for giving us all of the details. Sounds like an effective method.
I have had problems in the past with students who do not turn in assignments. I have found that students are turning in their assignments because the project or assignment is not that meaningful or really does not serve a meaningful purpose.
Many students will only submit assignments that are not interesting because they are worth a lot of points. If the assignment is not worth a lump sum of points, students will more than likely not turn it in.
Vanessa Stafford
That sounds like a tough challenge Vanessa. Some students are perfectly happy to pass with a C and find ways to do the bare minimum. You might find a new way to structure your final grades so that assignments are more equally weighted. Alternatively, you may structure final grading so that if too many assignments are missed, additional points are taken away. Sometimes, if you want to change people, you have to change performance metrics.
Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely keep this in mind.
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