How To Ask For Makeup Quiz From Professor

Guest Blog Mail service by William S. Altman, Ph.D.

One difficult decision we face as instructors is what to practice when students miss a test. At 1 farthermost are instructors who simply refuse to give any make-up tests, relying on diverse work-arounds to deal with the missing grade. Some drop the lowest of several test grades, which means that a missed test volition be the ane dropped. Others double-count another exam or a portion of the terminal.

At the other extreme are instructors who will give any test at whatsoever time. Some instructors besides require students to provide documentation, such as doctors' notes, hospital access slips, or obituaries, to prove the absence was for a legitimate reason. To discourage students from using make-up tests to gain actress study fourth dimension, many instructors create make-up tests that are more than hard, longer, or in a less pop format than the in-grade exam (east.g., an essay test for the brand-upwardly, when the in-class exam was multiple option).

Each of these approaches has its advantages and disadvantages, affecting students' learning, grades, motivation, and course satisfaction, too as course management strategies (especially for large classes). Some choices may raise ethical concerns such every bit justice (e.g., non-equivalent testing methods, or extra time for pupil preparation).

Dr. William South. Altman

Source: William Altman

My own thinking on make-up exams has evolved a lot over nearly iv decades of teaching in both large and modest classes at large universities, modest liberal arts colleges, and customs colleges. I believe we should consider why we give tests at all before nosotros brand whatsoever judgments or policies near make-up tests—and nearly all of the variables that might contribute to a pupil's need to take a make-up.

For me, testing has two purposes. Get-go, we use tests to assess students' knowledge and thinking skills. Second, an every bit important purpose of testing is to reinforce the data and thinking skills that we've taught (or hope we've taught). To this cease, all tests—including concluding exams—are didactics tools. This aspect of testing every bit an agile learning exercise is oftentimes neglected.

To ensure that nosotros maximize the assessment and teaching value of our tests (the principle of beneficence), we must provide well-designed tests for all of our students and requite them the opportunities to take those tests, regardless of any circumstances that might interfere. To preserve justice, make-upwardly tests must be equivalent in length, difficulty, and format to the tests we administer in class.

Because tests are a necessary part of the learning and assessment I do, I need all of my students to take all of the tests. Therefore, my testing policy is different from those of many of my colleagues. For example, in my full general psychology classes, I give four exams and count only the all-time 3. If a student misses an exam, they have i calendar week to arrange a make-up test. I don't need to know why a educatee missed the exam, and I don't need to judge practiced from bad excuses. My make-up tests use different items from those on my in-class tests, simply they are equivalent in the material covered, their length, and their difficulty. I'thousand not interested in punishment, and have no problem with grading a few late entries.

Simply wait, there'due south more! I requite my students the opportunity to correct their errors on the outset iii tests (there's no fourth dimension at the end of the semester to practise this for the final). They accept until the next course to turn in their corrections. In addition to the correct answers, they need to provide references for their answers from the textbook or class notes, and the reasons why they fabricated each error for every item they correct. Items on these exams are worth ii points each. Correctly corrected items earn dorsum i of the lost points. Items that they didn't correct or changed to new wrong responses lose i more than bespeak, because I reward everything appropriately—including errors.

In general, my students really appreciate this approach. Even the ones who lose points support it because it'southward fair, because they've been given the chance to earn a better course, and because I've explained the goal—to give them a risk to relearn material they'll demand in subsequent lessons. It's not just empty memorization. Although this correction opportunity is optional, well-nigh all of my students generally have advantage of information technology.

My make-up exam philosophy is related to the daily ungraded quizzes I give, which are designed to aid my students notice what they understand or what they need to restudy at home (and to move beyond empty reading). I don't grade these quizzes, although I do collect them at the stop of class. I give the quizzes at the beginning of grade, and provide the correct answers at the end. This style the quizzes serve three purposes. They are advance organizers for the lecture, they're guides to the topics we cover during the day'due south discussion, and they help students consolidate their memories almost the day's topics at the end of the session. An interesting thing happens once my students empathize that these quizzes are given for their do good. They begin competing to see who will become the best scores when I denote the correct responses. In fact, my students have consistently listed the quizzes and exam policy equally highlights of the grade, considering these techniques aid them larn and bear witness that I'm taking their learning seriously.

Incidentally, all of this has had a nice (and sometimes enthusiastic) affect on my student evaluations. And so, my students learn and recollect more, I become slightly more accurate data about their learning, and they like it. What'due south not to love? Of class, your mileage and philosophies may vary.

Exist well,
Bill Altman

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William S. Altman, Ph.D., is a professor in the Psychology and Human Services Department at Broome Customs College in Binghamton, New York. His groundwork is in Educational Psychology and Measurement, and his current research interests are effective teaching and learning, creativity, and intelligence. He has written for both scholarly and non-scholarly publications, has spent over a decade sharing information about education, technology, and psychological science on local radio, has been a professional photographer, and has performed in theaters and as a standup comic—ostensibly to work on classroom presentation skills, but mostly considering it'south fun.

Mitch Handelsman is a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. With Samuel Knapp and Michael Gottlieb, he is the co-author of Ethical Dilemmas in Psychotherapy: Positive Approaches to Decision Making (American Psychological Association, 2015). Mitch is likewise the co-writer (with Sharon Anderson) of Ethics for Psychotherapists and Counselors: A Proactive Arroyo (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), and an associate editor of the 2-volume APA Handbook of Ideals in Psychology (American Psychological Association, 2012). Simply hither'southward what he's most proud of: He collaborated with pioneering musician Charlie Burrell on Burrell's autobiography.

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© 2016 past Mitchell M. Handelsman. All Rights Reserved

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-ethical-professor/201601/hey-prof-can-i-make-the-exam

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