What About 79.2?

  

Knowing that teachers at all levels of instruction struggle with the same issues that I do keeps me sane. Because we teach in the United States, we all come across students with a feeling of entitlement. You know who I’m talking about, right? The student who feels that he deserves a good grade, an EXCELLENT grade, because, well, just because. He always has made A’s. Plus, he really tried. And he only missed four classes. Then too, he produced some extra credit work during the last week of the semester.

Does this happen in other countries, or is it unique to America? As Kelly wisely stated in an earlier blog comment, “Society in general seems to be teaching kids that instead of working hard the first time they will always have a second chance to try to fix their mistake.”

As I mentioned in an recent blog, the era of Ms. Nice Gal is over, finis. I will no longer offer study guides or extra credit. However, since these two offerings were still in place for the summer semester, I couldn’t very well renege on them. Wish I could have because the extra credit caused an issue.

 Here’s the scenario. A student with a solid B average asked about extra credit during the last week of class. When I responded that posting on the psychology blog was the only extra credit option, he asked if there was a limit to how many he could post. There is no limit. Students are free to post their hearts out, and posts are something that I look at when a student is so close to the next letter grade that he could touch it with a little tap.

Students and teachers have a vastly different view of what extra credit is all about. They think it’s to pad grades and to compensate for adequate, okay, or inferior work. They think it’s meant to bring a C grade up to a B grade…or even a failing grade up to a C. Teachers see it differently. We see it as something that might or might not give the necessary nudge to the next letter grade.

If a student is conscientious, has consistently high grades, and appears to be putting forth the effort necessary to be successful, then MAYBE some extra credit would help. But maybe not. In fact, probably not. If an average is 75, no amount of extra credit will bring the average to 80, a B in most college settings. What about 79.2? Maybe. Depends on several factors.

The above mentioned student posted 24 responses on the psychology blog in one day, a remarkable number, especially when you consider that he had made very few posts on the course online discussion board throughout the entire semester. Why then, he demanded to know, didn’t he get an A for the course. By his calculations, his average was 90. Huh? How’d he come up with that calculation? Easy. He gave himself a point for each post. I was astounded. He had assumed my role as instructor, granted himself the points, averaged his grades, and told me his average. By my calculations, his average was 88 AFTER extra credit was added.

I kind of like having the psychology blog as a forum for students. It keeps them in the digital era in a way that doesn’t involve texting or game playing. It motivates them to think about the issues and concepts we discuss in class and to share ideas and opinions with their classmates. I want to keep it going, but I don’t want to grant extra credit. Dilemma. Maybe I could announce upfront that a maximum number of EC points (say, 10) could be earned. Or maybe I should do away with it altogether.

I like what Dr. Haynes tells her students. “When you are having trouble excelling in the work you already have to do, I don’t think I should add to your burden by giving you extra things to do. Instead you might put extra effort into the assignments you already need to prepare for your courses.” But I don’t want to give up the psychology blog. Suggestions???

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