One component to the third FLC-CIC project was to identify something global that we wanted to change about our teaching or our professional environment. Since I have been interested in learning about anonymous on-line student assessment for some time, I viewed this project as an opportunity to gain knowledge about the TooFast on-line survey tool. Conveniently, I also had something I wanted to ask the students about.
The timing of this assignment coincided with the end of term. Like many others, I had a handful of students ask me for extensions, some with grounds, and others without. I believed that in the interests of fairness, students asking for extensions without extraordinary circumstances should either be denied the request for more time or should be significantly penalized for the extra time granted. However, as I pondered this, I became interested in how students viewed the issue of extensions. Was the issue of fairness only in the minds of professors or did students feel this way as well?
In order to answer this question, I devised a short anonymous survey and gave it to (a) my students and (b) the students in the Psychology Student Society. I therefore sent the survey out to 379 students. Ninety-two students responded even though the term was over.
Since I was learning how to use the TooFast tool I first sent out a small survey to my senior class. Unfortunately I cannot share the specific results from this survey because one student identified himself using his full name in his response to one of the questions. However, the students in my class did not differ significantly from the students in The Psychology Student Society (PSS).
I have made the detailed PSS responses available for those who are interested. Here, for those who would like a snapshot are the key findings:
- 65% of students have never submitted a paper late
- 73% said that they had handed in a paper wishing that they had more time
- 44% handed in a paper wishing for more time only to discover that other students had been given more time
- How did this make them feel? Check it out J
- 71% think that papers should be accepted by the professor after the due date
- 93% feel that there ought to be a penalty if a paper is accepted late
- The majority (35%) felt that the penalty ought to be 5%/day with another 20% opting for 10%/day
- Students had a number of interesting comments about this as well
- 38% of students said that they would change their paper writing strategies if they knew they would be granted an extension; another 38% said they would only use this option if something unexpected occurred
- 42% of students responded with additional feedback when asked if they had “any other feedback”
- The majority (35%) felt that the penalty ought to be 5%/day with another 20% opting for 10%/day
The TooFast tool allows students to express their thought without fear of reprisal and therefore allows professors to make decisions with this feedback in mind. I am convinced that this is an essential tool for anyone genuinely interested in their students and in their teaching.
If you are interested in viewing my survey click here: Psyc Society TooFast
