DE Oracle @ UMUC

Case Study 1: Using the WebTycho Gradebook - Academic Director Feedback Transcript

Laurie Hulcher

Assistant Director for Graduate Student Relations

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: July-August 2007

Category: » Fac-resources » Faculty-development

Feedback from the Academic Directors

Academic Director 1:

This situation is an example of the problems that can come up when there is an excessive delay in posting grades. Here we have a sincere instructor and student, who are both balancing multiple time demands. The student’s anxiety level was raised because he was not aware of his academic standing in the class. The student is clearly upset, so I wouldn’t focus on defending the situation. I would express some understanding and concern for the student’s problem. Then, I would look at what might be done to maximize the opportunities for this student, as well as the other students in the class, to be successful with little time remaining in the semester.

Academic Director 2:

The first step would be for the faculty member to post all the grades for all students previous assignments, with feedback. This should be done right away, so that students can prepare for the final exam. It would also be helpful for the faculty member to post an announcement in the on-line classroom, inviting questions about the end-of-semester assignments. An on-line conference could be opened where the faculty member would answer these questions, so that the responses would benefit all the students.

Academic Director 1:

There are also two potential scenarios that we need to consider. The first is that the student might request extra credit or permission to re-do some earlier work. To be fair, if extra-credit, or the option to resubmit assignments, is available, then it should be available to all students in the class; not just the one who asked. The second potential scenario is a grade appeal. When students don’t understand how they have been evaluated, then the grades may appear arbitrary, and this could lead to an appeal.

Academic Director 2:

Yes. Timely feedback is essential to classroom management. An excessive delay in providing feedback may generate complaints from students. The professor should follow-up with the Program Director, who is available to work on grading strategies for future semester.