Get Your Students Hired
I find it very difficult to accomodate those students who missed work that was done in class.
Practical assignments are no problem but the lecture material is what I'm having a hard time with. I offer my students a thumb drive of the lecture material but few take me up on that.
Could use some ideas.
Jennifer, best practice is to discuss with them on the first day of class. Discuss your make-up policy and come up with a structure that rewards those that communicate properly. Possibly a policy that includes full points possible for those that communicate within a reasonable period of time with a 25% off any points awarded for those that do not follow the communication policy. Some students have smart phones and text more then they respond to email or phone messages. Some use twitter and some use Facebook. Find the approach that works best for you and your students but have a policy that is discussed on the first day of class then follow through with that plan. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance as you work through your plan.
James Jackson
I give my students a class schedule that outlines each day's activities. Many of my students who know they will be absent on a particular day e-mail me or discuss their situation with me outside of class. I am always happy to give them any handouts or worksheets we will complete on that particular day. I have a problem when students miss several days without communicating with me. I will message them with attachments or explanations about a particular assignment, but usually I do not get a response. I have some students that will take advantage of the class schedule and complete work outside of class while they are gone, but the few that do not contact or respond to my e-mails or calls quickly fall behind because the college is on a quarter system. How can I effectively reach those students?
Rickey,
I do understand and agree with your stance on make-up work but I teach culinary arts and many of their assessments are practical, and make-up work can be difficult to administer because students must supply their own ingredients in order to perform. I always see the same students having to make-up their practical assessment.
At the start of class I always address this matter. Our make up policy is also stated in the syllabus.
I am willing to offer my notes to students that have missed class, but the students will have to be proactive.
If possible the can attend another class overing the same topic as we may have more than one session of the class running. The student however will have to be proactive so that I can set this up with another instuctor.
However I take make up work on a case by case situation.
Rickey, you are also providing your students with great insight into the working world. Being proactive and communicating with your supervisor is always a better policy then just missing work and then expecting no consequences. Great job assisting them making this critical connection.
James Jackson
Stephanie, using school policies is always a good policy to have. I do feel there is room for some consideration in extreme cases but such situations will require assistance from school administration and proof by the student that the extreme situation did in fact exist.
James Jackson
Michelle, many methods exist to ensure students are scored fairly and consistently. Student diversity and the gap of skills each brings into a classroom is widening and this situation requires us as faculty to be understanding and know our students well. Knowing our students allows us to make better assessments between those students looking to get by with minimal performance and those that have real issues that need to be managed and are many times outside of the students control. Thanks for sharing this topic with our readers.
James Jackson
I have a similar policy with my students. Since we are adults, I expect them to take a lot of responsability. If a student calls or emails saying they are going to miss class I make sure I asked a student who is present to email or make a copy of their notes for their class mates. When a student does not contact me ahead of time, it is 100% THEIR responsability to find out what was missed.
It helps that "missed class= no make up quizzes" is the school's policy and when I say "no make up quizzes" I just direct them to the school's policy and not mine.
I generally don't have a problem with make up work.
The process we use here is pretty cut and dry, if the student informs me of a potential absence i'm happy to forward any notes from the missed lecture. in anticipation of absentism the students form buddy groups that are like study groups, and back up for unforseen absence.This in turn helps all students to stay on top of notes missed and assist with study challenges
Marco, what discussions have you had directly with those students? I think the first order of business is to schedule some one-on-one appointments and simply ask them why they are having difficulty with tasks that other students are able to perform without incident. I have discovered that this approach yields incredible results and such students go from being my poor performers to my All-Stars. Give this a try and get back with me, happy to provide other suggestions.
James Jackson
Student neds to email or call and I will gladly give them their makeup work and prepare them for whats ahead. My no call no shows will have to deal with me in person and it may not be a pleasent conversation, but they'll get what they need.
I have been a graduate teaching assistant and an instructor for the better part of 8 years. I find that student attendance is often an issue and that many instructors handle make up work differently and with a varying degree of success. I feel that the more accomodating instructors ("here, let me sit down with you and go over everything we talked about") are generally overwhelmed with absences because students do not feel a personal responsibility to be in attendance or on task. On the other side, instructors who are not willing to answer questions are often too harsh and students are resentful. For me, I have been experimenting for the past year with a variety of techniques and feel I have a working model for my classes.
My school has implemented a "professionalism and participation" grade. If astudent contacts me about an absence BEFORE class, I will gladly email them my personal lecture notes (which is usually just a rough outline) and let them know of any announcements. I will answer questions if they need clarification. I explain to them that the courtesy of contacting me ahead of class is just like calling in to work and they seem to respond well. The more I have done this, the more consistent their response has been. I typically teach four or five consecutive courses with the same students.
If they do not let me know ahead of time about their absence, they are directed to get notes from a classmate. I will still answer questions for clarification when they need it, but I do not sit down and go over the material in detail with them. Those who are absent regularly find out quickly that people will not share if you are always asking.
Additionally, I have a policy about taking late work, even if they are absent, in which I reduce points when work is late (and only up to a week late). If they have been professional and contacted me, then that point reduction is less. If they are absent for a quiz or test, they may take it out of class and on their own time (usually I set this up with our library) without penalty -- but only if they make prior arrangements or reliable, verifiable documentation in the case of an emergency.
I do try to stay away from being too controlling on this. I do state up front that these are the rules and expectations and students have responded well. Additionally, if I have a power point that I have used, or in-class handouts/assignments, I post them on our Portal (the online presence for our class) and let students know that they can access that information at any time. These are always in the form of a PDF. I do not hand over full lecture material. I believe there has to be an incentive to be present and engaged.