Category: Cram Session
One of my online professors is tough as far as posting to the discussion
boards. We need to be online several times a week so we can answer any
questions that anybody asks on our posts in the discussion board. That is
understandable; it's an online class you're supposed to be on a lot. The
thing is, the week begins on Sunday and ends the following Saturday at
11:59. He said in his discussion board rules that if we wait until Saturday,
or Saturday night to go on and respond to the discussion board, we will get
penalyzed. I do not think this is fair because if we have the entire week to
do it, we shouldn't get penalyzed as long as we do the discussion board
within the given time frame. I can see where he is coming from though
because if we wait until Saturday night, we do not have time to respond to
classmates or they won't have time to ask questions or anything like that.
I could understand losing points if we don't respond to classmates, but if
we do our discussion post, we shouldn't get penalyzed for waiting until the
last minute. What do you all think about this?
Hey,
I think that's ridiculous; that professor is being fussy just for the sake of it. They can't just set out a timeframe, and then penalize you for doing the work *within* that timeframe.
Wish I could offer you some advice on how to fix this, but all I can say is I agree and feel your frustration... good luck!
Wile I do see where he is coming from, it doesn't make much sense from a fairness standpoint. A time frame is a time frame.
I kind of see it though. Take the zone, for example. We can be loged in, but not really be here, so people might be able to do that on this class board as well. The professor wants the students to stay online, and this is his way of seeing if they're really there, or if they've just parked their browser. Or are you able to just do one discussion post and that's it? If he's only requiring you to do one post, I agree that it shouldn't matter when you do it, as long as it's in the timeframe. However, if this is supposed to be an interactive experience, I fully see what he's doing.
Exactly. If the work is late, I understand. But if he's giving a time frame and
we do it within that time frame, then we shouldn't get penalyzed. We have
to respond to the discussion and then respond to at least 3 of our
classmates' posts. Then we have to check the db often as students or the
professor may ask a question requiring a response. But even if we reply to
the db within the given time frame and wait until Saturday night, we shouldn't
get penalyzed; I could understand if he penalyzed us for not responding to
classmates though; that is fair.
I think that the instructor is well within his right to set up criteria for how he assesses his
students as far as participation grades is concerned and that if he chooses to penalise
someone for lack of participation then it's his prerogative to do so. In fact, I think that it's
good that he penalises for a lack of participation. After all isn't the point of having an
open discussion that can be contributed to throughout the week just that... to discuss the
class material throughout the week, thus enriching the learning process and explore ideas
that you might not have come up with?
If I were in your class and contributed to the discussions on a regular basis (i.e. 2-4
comments every few days) and not just show up late on Saturday night, I'd be pretty
angry that I put in the time and effort to keep up with the discussion and make
meaningful contributions yet you only show up for class just before the deadline to make
three responses that don't necessarily contribute to the discussion and still receive the
same participation grade that I got.
Penalising for not participating in an open discussion is, in my opinion, fair. I'm pretty
sure that he set that Sunday to Saturday timeline so that everyone would have an equal
understanding of the intended timeframe he's allowing the class to discuss the week's
subject matter. When I took an online course a few years back, we had a similar set up
whereby interactive discussion was to happen on a week by week basis... one topic one
week, a new topic the next and for the avoidance of doubt, the instructor indicated from
the start that the week started at right at one second after midnight on Sunday morning
and ended at 11:59 pm the following Saturday evening and that regular and consistent
participation in the discussion was required to receive a full participation marks, which in
turn counted towards 5% - 10% percent of our final course grade.
That's the difference between being a responsible adult student and a child who needs to
have their hand held while attending to their responsibilities.
You are in college where certain things are expected of you and if you cannot cope with the
workload or expectations, you cannot expect to get full credit or any credit at all for what
you did not complete.
As the student you got it pretty easy. Imagine having to keep track of all that as a professor, for each student did they start a topic and respond to three other topics. Sounds to me like the professor is giving *themselves* the bum rap, not *you*.
But my sister-in-law is a professor of marine biology. She posted to Fakebook recently that students now constantly try to renegotiate their grades. Not clarify, not ask what happened, renegotiate. You know, when I was in college in the early 90s, that just never crossed my mind.
Oh good lord people, stop and think about this for a second. You post a
thought, like me posting this, and other people are required to ask questions
about your post that you are then supposed to answer. How in the world are
they supposed to read and respond to your post, let alone you answering their
questions, if you make your post five minutes before the deadline? This is
standard operating procedure for online classes. You have deadlines throughout
the week to insure that you're actually doing the work and so that you have
enough time to facilitate online interaction with your classmates. I'm kinda
disappointed I'm the only one who noticed that. Did no one else realize that the
first sentence of the op was that they have to answer questions asked about
their posts?
actually, several of us have said as much. We might not have used your only style of correct wording, but...
Yo, Silver.... clearly you didn't read my post at #6... I told OP that I'd be pissed off if I kept
up with the flow of discussion throughout the week and she only showed up late Saturday
night and still got full participation grades.
She should be penalised for not putting in the same amount of effort as other people in the
class. If her excuse is that she has a life outside of the cleass, well so does everyone else in
the class yet they manage to log in to participate. Even if she spent 10-15 minutes two or
three times during the week, it's really not that hard.
This just made me laugh, particularly Cody's post.
ApplePeaches, your professor hasn't sprung this on you mid-game. He's told you about this in more than enough time that you now understand his secondary criterium. Either you go with it, or you lose points. Seems pretty simple to me. And it makes sense. Kate said what I was thinking when I read your objections.
Y'all are being so unfair. This is her only class. She doesn't have time for anything else. Every time she wants something to eat or drink she has to open up every single pop-top can in existence until she finds the one she wants. That takes HOURS. Then she has to abuse her dog.
Here's a tip. If you don't want to worry about "participation" grades, whatever
that actually means, start taking STEM courses instead. Because your
"participation" is getting shit done.
This is in large part how I have been unsuccessful with any help for my
daughter in her social work type courses when she asks about things. I'm like,
"Ok what's your project? What problem is it you have to solve?" Lol
But I'm afraid our original poster would not like STEM work either.
I understand where you guys are coming from.
That dog story was made up by the way.