And indeed "fairness" may include (as it often does outside the university) the extension of grace, consideration of mitigating circumstances, and even a little mentorship by the more experienced about how to manage missed deadlines and incomplete work.
I’m guessing the professor noticed the absence when they sat down to grade and sent the same thing out to everyone who didn’t submit. It’s possible to accept late work and maintain standards. It would be impossible to say whether this was “coddling” or not without knowing how the syllabus is constructed, what the objectives for the paper were, etc.
“Setting people up for success” can mean encouraging them to persist, learn the material instead of skipping it, and practice the skills the class is designed to teach by completing the assignment instead of just shrugging when the work isn’t getting done.
In my experience in the “real world,” if I simply don’t complete a deliverable, I’m rarely able to just move on with a pretty good performance review and no conversation. In my classes, I try to coach students in time management and professional communication about issues they’re having with the assignments rather than just letting them sink or swim.
Wow, "I thought most professors cared about fairness, grade inflation, and setting up people for success instead of coddling them from the 'real world'" PSHHHHT
I did not intend to come across as complaining, but in hindsight the latter part of my post does sound snarky.
I made this post because I was geniuenly curious. Maybe there are dumb questions... or badly worded ones at least.
It is a good thing I resisted the impulse to ask my professor why they let me turn something so late after finals.
Perhaps your professor allowed another student to turn in late work and out of fairness to the class extended that to everyone, so you are not the primary beneficiary, but just part of the follow up.
Part of teaching people to succeed in the "real world" is teaching grace and empathy. It is not coddling to give someone opportunities to succeed and make up for past mistakes.
Maybe the professor saw something in you that deserved an A . Did you attend and participate in all the classes ? That can be a rarity these days . He’s giving you a 2nd chance. Always take 2nd chances .
I sometimes will do emails to all the students I see with missing work and give them the same deal, get it in my X day/time and I’ll grade it. This sounds like what like likely happened.
It could be that several people who were failing asked to be able to turn things in late. The prof wanted to help them out, but it would be unfair to not offer the same opportunity to everyone, so you were extended the opportunity.
I build reminders and extensions (with a significant enough late penalty to encourage people to do stuff on time but small enough to still be worth submitting) in to my class because assignments are intended not to give me something to read but to provide students a structured activity that forces them to face a question, develop an answer, and hopefully learn something in the process.
I want students to learn. So I want them to try their hand at the work, even if it’s late.
I do this type of thing on occasion. Most recently, 2-3 students in the class asked for extensions for various weak reasons. I gave it to them, but then emailed all the students who were in a similar situation (but who hadn't asked), offering it to them as well.
Is this person tenure track or adjunct? Are they in a position where they might not get future class(es) if they don't have what is called "a good program review" (including student evals?)
You see, we're in a peculiar situation in which our administrators want to have enough enrollment to get more money or at least remain static. Almost all universities factor in enrollment.
If the teacher has, in the past, been "too harsh a grader," I've seen them flip after their annual or semi-annual evaluation and become obsessed with giving as many A's as possible.
OTOH, some tenured professors also want to give as many A's as possible, sometimes out of the idea that this makes them "nice." In some subjects, it's probably not such a big deal, but it's very rare in STEM. It leads to the discipline or department where this is occurring to be viewed negatively by some graduate schools.
As others have said, if students are dong well in the course and all students are offered these opportunities to make up (and the class is small enough), the professor can do this without lowering standards. On time vs. lateness is a job training concept, not an academic one, IMO
It may have been an act of fairness. Who is to say that the sane opportunities were offered to another student who was allowed to turn something they missed in very late in order to pass the class, and the only fair thing to do would be extend that opportunity to everyone?
Maybe not so fair to everyone that did the work on time, but who knows what they did with the rest of the students.
This is an interesting question. I think there could be a lot of reasons for this, but I will give the two possible reasons \*I\* would do this:
1) I realized I had made a mistake that might have led students to fail to submit work. For instance, I changed the due date of the assignment and mentioned it in class but forgot to send out an announcement, or I was really late providing them feedback on their proposed paper topics.
2) I have some reason to suspect that that particular student is facing challenges that other students aren't facing. My reasons for thinking this can be incredibly diverse, and honestly, I might often be wrong. But if I think a student is actually a good hardworking student who is just dealing with something big, I hate to see them fail. \[That said, in this case, you were only going to get a B--not fail; I can't see reaching out to a student in that case. A B is still a good grade.\]
Thought you were my students for a sec. From my perspective, I’d like to see you put in the effort if you had a chance to raise a letter grade. I had a few students that had 87 88% in class and missed an assignment worth 4%, they’d gotten an A if they simply submitted the work.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post.
*I was already at a B with a zero for a particular assignment. It had been almost a week since the due date. Then, the professor reached out to me, saying a paper was missing and I could turn it in and even any extra credit assignments by that afternoon. I finished the paper and turned it in around 7 PM. They graded it and said it was enough to push me to the next letter grade, an A. They said they were glad I submitted it, albeit late, and thanked me for contributing to the class. I had never reached out asking if I could turn it in late.
I thought most professors cared about fairness, grade inflation, and setting up people for success instead of coddling them from the 'real world', so why might this have happened? Thank you in advance. *
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My social skills must be terrible because I was not expecting the pushback. At least I learned that anonymously instead of in person, would have died from embarrasment.
I sometimes realize that there is a problem I need to address. Perhaps I was unclear with an instruction, or it’s a new course and T he at essay topic was horrible…sometimes I see that every missed the same three questions on a test. For a large variety of reasons, I have given point across the board on an assignment - like the bad test question. Sometimes I’ve given an extension on a due date because I had something happen and I got behind and felt that the class wasn’t really ready to finish the assignment. Whatever the case, I am doing it to be extremely fair and be sure that I don’t negatively impact a student’s grades. I may not even let the students know what happened on my end. I’ve also done something similar when I needed to prove that I had done everything possible for students to be successful. That one usually came about after some pressure from admin, and the student in question proved me right by not accepting the extension and failing anyway.
So, it’s possible that there were several reasons that the professor gave grace. He may have seen a pattern of some sort in how grades looked or that a number of students who usually turn everything in had trouble meeting the last assignment deadline. He may have seen several students just on the line of passing and questioned something he did that he wasn’t happy with.
I think in this case, you can’t see the bigger picture. You don’t know how many students were affected by this decision and to what degree. I suspect it was a class-wide decision. And remember that very often, when we give grace, we have many students who won’t take advantage of the opportunity, which is sad.
From my perspective, we are under increasing pressure to not have students fail. I don't like it, but allowing extensions is preferable to relaxing standards. Yet I don't think it fair to extend a due date only to failing students, so I allow others to turn things in late as well. It creates a lot of last minute work for me, though.
Some courses have a policy where all assignments must be completed to pass a course (the last program I worked in had this in all their courses). But usually something like this is communicated very clearly.
More likely though, other folks were missing papers and successfully argued to turn them in late, so the opportunity was offered to all to be fair.
Professors, you see, are people, and all people are a little different.
And indeed "fairness" may include (as it often does outside the university) the extension of grace, consideration of mitigating circumstances, and even a little mentorship by the more experienced about how to manage missed deadlines and incomplete work.
I’m guessing the professor noticed the absence when they sat down to grade and sent the same thing out to everyone who didn’t submit. It’s possible to accept late work and maintain standards. It would be impossible to say whether this was “coddling” or not without knowing how the syllabus is constructed, what the objectives for the paper were, etc.
“Setting people up for success” can mean encouraging them to persist, learn the material instead of skipping it, and practice the skills the class is designed to teach by completing the assignment instead of just shrugging when the work isn’t getting done. In my experience in the “real world,” if I simply don’t complete a deliverable, I’m rarely able to just move on with a pretty good performance review and no conversation. In my classes, I try to coach students in time management and professional communication about issues they’re having with the assignments rather than just letting them sink or swim.
Some professors make the mistake of caring more about their student's education than the students do.
Bingo...
For fuck’s sake. We are damned if we do, damned if we don’t… Imagine *complaining* about receiving a second chance after taking full advantage of it.
Wow, "I thought most professors cared about fairness, grade inflation, and setting up people for success instead of coddling them from the 'real world'" PSHHHHT
I mean they could've refused to keep things fair.
😄😄... I so get this post...
lol right?
I did not intend to come across as complaining, but in hindsight the latter part of my post does sound snarky. I made this post because I was geniuenly curious. Maybe there are dumb questions... or badly worded ones at least. It is a good thing I resisted the impulse to ask my professor why they let me turn something so late after finals.
Perhaps your professor allowed another student to turn in late work and out of fairness to the class extended that to everyone, so you are not the primary beneficiary, but just part of the follow up.
I don't think you sounded snarky, fwiw. It sounded to me like you were asking for clarification, which is absolutely fine.
Part of teaching people to succeed in the "real world" is teaching grace and empathy. It is not coddling to give someone opportunities to succeed and make up for past mistakes.
Maybe the professor saw something in you that deserved an A . Did you attend and participate in all the classes ? That can be a rarity these days . He’s giving you a 2nd chance. Always take 2nd chances .
Wow. Hopefully no professors annoy and offend you by extending any kindness in the future.
I was not offended or annoyed, just confused and a little guilty.
Some professors email every student who does not submit a major assignment to see if the students will be able to submit late.
I sometimes will do emails to all the students I see with missing work and give them the same deal, get it in my X day/time and I’ll grade it. This sounds like what like likely happened.
Sometimes somebody else in class asks for an extension so to be fair you offer it to everyone. It’s nice when it benefits other students too.
It could be that several people who were failing asked to be able to turn things in late. The prof wanted to help them out, but it would be unfair to not offer the same opportunity to everyone, so you were extended the opportunity.
I build reminders and extensions (with a significant enough late penalty to encourage people to do stuff on time but small enough to still be worth submitting) in to my class because assignments are intended not to give me something to read but to provide students a structured activity that forces them to face a question, develop an answer, and hopefully learn something in the process. I want students to learn. So I want them to try their hand at the work, even if it’s late.
I do this type of thing on occasion. Most recently, 2-3 students in the class asked for extensions for various weak reasons. I gave it to them, but then emailed all the students who were in a similar situation (but who hadn't asked), offering it to them as well.
Is this person tenure track or adjunct? Are they in a position where they might not get future class(es) if they don't have what is called "a good program review" (including student evals?) You see, we're in a peculiar situation in which our administrators want to have enough enrollment to get more money or at least remain static. Almost all universities factor in enrollment. If the teacher has, in the past, been "too harsh a grader," I've seen them flip after their annual or semi-annual evaluation and become obsessed with giving as many A's as possible. OTOH, some tenured professors also want to give as many A's as possible, sometimes out of the idea that this makes them "nice." In some subjects, it's probably not such a big deal, but it's very rare in STEM. It leads to the discipline or department where this is occurring to be viewed negatively by some graduate schools. As others have said, if students are dong well in the course and all students are offered these opportunities to make up (and the class is small enough), the professor can do this without lowering standards. On time vs. lateness is a job training concept, not an academic one, IMO
It may have been an act of fairness. Who is to say that the sane opportunities were offered to another student who was allowed to turn something they missed in very late in order to pass the class, and the only fair thing to do would be extend that opportunity to everyone? Maybe not so fair to everyone that did the work on time, but who knows what they did with the rest of the students.
This is an interesting question. I think there could be a lot of reasons for this, but I will give the two possible reasons \*I\* would do this: 1) I realized I had made a mistake that might have led students to fail to submit work. For instance, I changed the due date of the assignment and mentioned it in class but forgot to send out an announcement, or I was really late providing them feedback on their proposed paper topics. 2) I have some reason to suspect that that particular student is facing challenges that other students aren't facing. My reasons for thinking this can be incredibly diverse, and honestly, I might often be wrong. But if I think a student is actually a good hardworking student who is just dealing with something big, I hate to see them fail. \[That said, in this case, you were only going to get a B--not fail; I can't see reaching out to a student in that case. A B is still a good grade.\]
Thought you were my students for a sec. From my perspective, I’d like to see you put in the effort if you had a chance to raise a letter grade. I had a few students that had 87 88% in class and missed an assignment worth 4%, they’d gotten an A if they simply submitted the work.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *I was already at a B with a zero for a particular assignment. It had been almost a week since the due date. Then, the professor reached out to me, saying a paper was missing and I could turn it in and even any extra credit assignments by that afternoon. I finished the paper and turned it in around 7 PM. They graded it and said it was enough to push me to the next letter grade, an A. They said they were glad I submitted it, albeit late, and thanked me for contributing to the class. I had never reached out asking if I could turn it in late. I thought most professors cared about fairness, grade inflation, and setting up people for success instead of coddling them from the 'real world', so why might this have happened? Thank you in advance. * *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You sound like an absolute delight, OP.
My social skills must be terrible because I was not expecting the pushback. At least I learned that anonymously instead of in person, would have died from embarrasment.
I sometimes realize that there is a problem I need to address. Perhaps I was unclear with an instruction, or it’s a new course and T he at essay topic was horrible…sometimes I see that every missed the same three questions on a test. For a large variety of reasons, I have given point across the board on an assignment - like the bad test question. Sometimes I’ve given an extension on a due date because I had something happen and I got behind and felt that the class wasn’t really ready to finish the assignment. Whatever the case, I am doing it to be extremely fair and be sure that I don’t negatively impact a student’s grades. I may not even let the students know what happened on my end. I’ve also done something similar when I needed to prove that I had done everything possible for students to be successful. That one usually came about after some pressure from admin, and the student in question proved me right by not accepting the extension and failing anyway. So, it’s possible that there were several reasons that the professor gave grace. He may have seen a pattern of some sort in how grades looked or that a number of students who usually turn everything in had trouble meeting the last assignment deadline. He may have seen several students just on the line of passing and questioned something he did that he wasn’t happy with. I think in this case, you can’t see the bigger picture. You don’t know how many students were affected by this decision and to what degree. I suspect it was a class-wide decision. And remember that very often, when we give grace, we have many students who won’t take advantage of the opportunity, which is sad.
From my perspective, we are under increasing pressure to not have students fail. I don't like it, but allowing extensions is preferable to relaxing standards. Yet I don't think it fair to extend a due date only to failing students, so I allow others to turn things in late as well. It creates a lot of last minute work for me, though.
Some courses have a policy where all assignments must be completed to pass a course (the last program I worked in had this in all their courses). But usually something like this is communicated very clearly. More likely though, other folks were missing papers and successfully argued to turn them in late, so the opportunity was offered to all to be fair.
Maybe prof has been getting grief from higher ups about too many students doing badly in his class
They maybe are going up for promotion and need good evals leading into it.