My very fast four-week online strategic writing course through CSU Global wrapped up this past Sunday night, with two students not submitting the researched recommendation report at all, thus earning Ds for the course. When students earn less than a C, there is the likelihood that the course doesn't count toward graduation (though I'm certain there are ways around this... there always are).
Another student emailed me (as "Dr. Kennedy," demonstrating that he had not read my personal introduction) and expressed shock that he had forgotten to take the final exam, despite it being open for three entire days and despite my course announcement reminding everyone of the final exam "window." The student asked if there was anything to be done, or "is that just the way the cookie crumbles?"
The zero on the exam left that student with a B- and that's where it remains. I only estimated the effect of the exam grade, but I don't think the student would have earned more than a B+ even with a perfect score. CSU's system does mean that plus and minus marks do affect the GPA.
I have not responded to the email and probably won't. What would be the point? The student passes and will soon push this little blip into a half-formed memory.
I will likely spend more time thinking about how I MIGHT have reopened the exam for a day, and considering how unfair (or fair) that might have been. After all, I don't grade on a curve and have never met the student other than through his work for one month.
But last night I was thinking of all those Trump voters (not to mention the people who didn't bother to vote at all in the last election) and how a common story now about American is one of regret. "Gosh, I never thought he would really... (fill in blank with whatever personally affects the source)."
We all love second chances and I have enjoyed any number of them over many years. But I also have had to live with all sorts of bad decisions or mistaken decisions or just "non-decisions." Life went on.
It will for my latest forgetful student, just as life will go on for other students who ignored my repeated pleading for using professional tabular formatting... built-in to Word. Or who ignored my step-by-step on how to use hanging indents for their reference lists.
I know. I know. Following the recipe is not a reflection of intelligence and is certainly unrelated to quality of writing. But a lot of life consists of following some basic "recipes," and I honestly don't know how I could have made the required recipes more clear.
More annoying is that many times I make what turns out to be the correct choice but find myself in the minority. I have to live with 42 more months of Trump, for instance, and WWIII may be on the horizon.
My last task for the semester is properly inputting final grades for the completed course. No creativity is required or even tolerated. There is a clear deadline and missing it might mean that CSU would stop asking me to continue as an "academic slave."
My preference is to keep going. Some day my forgetful student may also find that simply following the clear directions is his best choice.
I will never know.
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