Advising Daughter about Professor Issue

[Consolation]

Personally, I object to evaluations that are basically games of gotcha. Either the professor wants to know what the kids have learned, or not. Enough with the game-playing.

If the system is even faintly functional, it should have been saving the quiz at least intermittently. If the professor is even faintly fair-minded, he or she will grade at least the portion that was saved before the crash. And tell the kid to leave more time to recover from technical problems and other unforeseen events next time.

[oldfort]

I would think a student would know if a bus is unreliable if it is his only form of transportation. It is not even a good analogy because there are many different forms of transportation - private car, taxi, bus, or even walking. In this case, the professor chose how those students should take the quiz, there was no other backup. The professor should have known if there was a glitch with the program, especially if it was a known bug with IT. I am not saying students should take no responsibility, but the professor (someone of authority and knowledge) should take on some responsibility just as well. I have an issue with someone in that position to feel "it is not my problem."

[cobrat]

And yes, you are right. Not all lessons are learned in the classroom. Children need to learn to plan for the unexpected. They also need to understand that some people have a black and white view of the world with little understanding of gray area.

Another lesson is realizing not everything revolves around an individual student and Profs have an obligation to ensure fairness in grading/evaluation not only for her, but ALL students in the class.

Even the perception that a Prof grants "special undeserved favors" for one or a tiny minority of students in the class will undermine his/her credibility in maintaining such classwide fairness not only among the rest of the class, but also his/her supervisors like the Department Chair, more senior departmental Profs, Dean, etc.

A crucial factor in why every Prof/TA friend I know won't grant extensions in cases like the OP's D....especially if only one or a minority of students suffered by waiting to the last day/hour of a weekly assignment.

An additional lesson to learn is that while it is nice if one gets reprieves/extensions, profs/supervisors/authorities aren't always going to be/feel obligated to grant them. Especially if they felt the cause was such that it should have been accounted for to avoid landing in a situation to necessitate asking for them in the first place.

[csfmap]

To EPTR - I admire the approach you and your daughter are taking.

I have a friend who teaches at a local community college. I know that the on-line quizzes she gives come from some outside source. To prevent cheating, there is a large bank of test questions and each student only gets a random subset of those questions. So there might be 100 total questions but each student only gets 25 in a random order. The quiz is also computer graded. There is a test report generated so my friend can see each student's performance but also the group performance. She can make adjustments like dropping a question that most everyone misses. I'm not positive but I have the impression she can also see when students were on the system.

[HarvestMoon1]

While Sandy was obviously of a different magnitude than the situation posed by the OP, it is heartening to observe how accommodating the College Board (SAT) and the various admissions offices were in extending deadlines.

SAT Subject Test Requirement Is Changed for Applicants Affected by Storm - NYTimes.com

[younghoss]

HM1 is quite right. An excellent example of when extending a deadline is fair and reasonable. Good example!

from 138: "Especially if they felt the cause was such that it should have been accounted for to avoid landing in a situation to necessitate asking for them in the first place. "

Based on timelines of events and emails, the prof can certainly have an impression of the level of importance this student attached to the submission of the quiz.

[papertiger87]

@HarverstMoon

You're not a current student and have never dealt with blackboard.
If it is a known IT glitch that they actually posted and stated that an IT glitch happened and if there are several students that complain some Professors MIGHT let up.
At the end of the day it's up to the Professor...obviously.
The thing is if it's stated in the syllabus what his or her stance is on such issues there is nothing the student can do.
If there is nothing stated on the syllabus then yes the student can argue it.

The issue is...how to go about it?
If the student gets A's (maybe a couple of high B's, but no less) on everything in the course then yes do contact the professor w/out being whiney and demanding. Explain the glitch but prove that you get the material since all the other grades prove it. It is all in the way the student approaches/contacts the Professor.
Word of advise for those ever taking online exams always do it early b/c Professors are way more keen to help out those who get ahead on their assignments/exams. Not saying anyone is a bad student for waiting until last day or few hours (I've done this myself a few times) but you need to put yourself in a position that won't screw you over in the end.




Sent from my iPhone using CC

[oldfort]

I don't get online exam concept for collge leve course. How do you write some of those math expressions online, unless online exams are all multiple choice or true/false. It that's the case then it is very sad.

[LBowie]

I have taken exams on Blackboard and there definitely can be a short answer or essay format too. Not all courses are math courses.

[oldfort]

What about CS, art history, econ, engineering...How many college level tests only need short answers? It's not high school.

[romanigypsyeyes]

OF, they have buttons for math symbols. I've done both calc and physics quizzes online and it's never been an issue.

Very, very few of my online classes have had multiple choice tests. They're almost always short answer or essay questions. And personally, I'd MUCH rather type out my essay than hand write them.

I'm taking both macro and micro econ online next semester. I'll let you know.

[oldfort]

I have seen some of my kid's math and econ exams, couldn't imagine how she could have done it online.

[sybbie719]

I don't get online exam concept for collge leve course. How do you write some of those math expressions online, unless online exams are all multiple choice or true/false. It that's the case then it is very sad.

D is in law school. In her experience she has very few pen to paper exams as most are done on-line using exam soft for the final. Many of 2L/3L finals are given on line (where the student can self schedule their final in some courses having up to 24 hours to finish and submit the exam). Most students now take the NYS Bar on computer (you have to make sure that you have downloaded the appropriate software).

I also believe that OP's daughter should casually check to see if other students ran in to the same problem that she did. Going forward, if the professor is going to live and die by an exam being taken at a particular time, he can tell the class that the exam is going to be on-line and have them take it during his/her class time. This way everyone is taking the exam at the same time, if there are any programming glitches, s/he knows about them right then and there.

[LBowie]

Oldfort, I did not say it was only short answer. You can have many types of formats, including essay. The main drawback to Blackboard tests and quizzes is that either you expect students to abide by the honor code and not look at notes, or you just give it as an open book/open notes test.

[romanigypsyeyes]

Most upper level courses for math/science are not online.

Our econ, math, and physics tests aren't online either. Just small quizzes. The tests are proctored in person. Many are hybrid classes.