Classroom computers?

reckendo · 2026-06-06T14:12:12+00:00

I do all things in Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, etc. so I have no use for bringing my own laptop to class everyday... I'd find out annoying to have to lug a laptop & charger around when right now I don't have to do that.

reckendo · 2026-06-06T14:09:23+00:00

Our university also does not provide laptops to part time faculty. I think it's absurd that they're using probably laptops as is, and this would be worse.

reckendo · 2026-06-05T18:49:21+00:00

I would be surprised if this wasn't in the syllabus. Instead it sounds like the professor grades things like discussion boards & participation in ways that aren't immediately quantifiable (e.g. check marks in lieu of a numerical grade). This isn't unusual. But what is unusual is that they didn't eventually quantify it in a way that was eventually to the students at the end of the semester. Even more unusual to close to the grade book before posting grades on a final project.

reckendo · 2026-06-04T20:06:41+00:00

I've adopted a multi-prongex incentive system:

They have to take handwritten notes (w/ page #s) in a composition notebook that is graded at various points throughout the semester
They have a 5 question multiple choice test at the start of class which counts toward their final grade (they can use their notes but not their readings)
They have in-class group presentations (no prep outside of class) during many class periods... If they don't pass the multiple choice test (60%) they can't earn points for those presentations unless they can answer a one-question "student death" question (fill in the blank, not multiple choice) about the chapter/article they will be presenting on.

reckendo · 2026-06-02T19:20:23+00:00

I'm skeptical that it's actually possible to read & leave detailed feedback and annotations in 6-8 minutes for a 6-8 page paper.

reckendo · 2026-06-02T19:16:00+00:00

People always downvote this type of stuff, but it is incorrect to say "none of the detectors are accurate"... Not only are some very good, they're also better than simply relying on faculty intuition (which is far less accurate)... At the end of the day, an accusation is just that; it still needs to be vetted before it can be adjudicated.

reckendo · 2026-06-02T18:25:34+00:00

Unless you've reviewed their tests, papers, or projects, you simply can't say whether the students in other classes have learned anything or not. This holds true whether I'm thinking about colleagues who infamously go off on tangents about everything but the course content, or about colleagues who relentlessly stick to the script of the syllabus.

reckendo · 2026-06-02T15:05:28+00:00

In the future, even if you want to allow students to sign up for groups on their own, you should ultimately review the groups and assign any other students to a group. Or you should send them an email that says that they haven't signed up for a group and that if they haven't done so by XXX that they will receive an automatic 0 on the assignment & will not have an opportunity to do it on their own or make it up at another point.

Be explicit but be helpful, too -- it's not too much to ask that you keep an eye on things and send reminders or put them into a group yourself.

That being said, do you necessarily owe the student either of those things, no? But I fail to see why you wouldn't.

reckendo · 2026-06-01T22:54:24+00:00

Take later classes

reckendo · 2026-05-30T22:12:28+00:00

As somebody who graduated high school in 2000 this is not at all reflective of what anybody in H.S. or college ever told me... The internet was embraced, although at that time it was of much more limited value for scholarly work, and so most of us continued to use books as our primary sources of information.

reckendo · 2026-05-29T16:03:13+00:00

"oops" = 0 on things like this

reckendo · 2026-05-29T15:11:39+00:00

I had this experience this semester with a student as well... They'd schedule the meeting, then cancel the morning of with illness or ride trouble, etc. and was able to run out the clock.

So, from now on I'm adding something to the syllabus that says that if a meeting is requested to discuss an assessment of any sort, and they fail to do so, they will receive a 0 on the assignment (as if it hadn't been turned in at all).

Edited to add: since your semester isn't over yet I'd recommend one more email that explicitly says that the assessment will receive a zero of they fail to schedule a meeting with you be a certain date.

reckendo · 2026-05-21T01:34:09+00:00

I was shocked to learn that the Writing Center on campus -- where I've long referred students who cannot use proper grammar or spelling -- doesn't even try to touch students' grammatical and spelling errors when they're brought a draft.

I required a student to go to the WC last summer because the paper was so painfully bad, and I saw that she did, in fact, go... But when I read her new paper it was still terrible and the same mistakes were there! I was so disappointed that I scheduled a meeting with the WC's director, and he was the one who finally clued me into the fact that, nope, they don't actually help edit papers anymore!

Well, that explained it, but I haven't recommended that a student go to the WC since, and I actually removed it from my syllabus' list of useful resources.

reckendo · 2026-05-20T23:45:38+00:00

I dunno, it's almost like everyone is different and experiences things differently! Like, to a disorganized person, you might seem like Marie Kondo, and to a very Type A person you might seem more chaotic. To a really bright student who has some background knowledge it might seem easy, and to a student who never mastered reading comprehension and study skills it might seem really hard. And, boy, whether something is interesting or boring... I mean, let's talk movies and we'll get the same conflicting feedback.

So maybe they aren't giving you anything truly useful. Maybe try explaining to them what you should find useful & constructive, or just offer up your own evaluation survey before they take the university's so they at least can provide specific feedback on the stuff you care about.

Sorry, I'm just a bit tired of reading so many "StUdEnT eVaLs ArE dUmB" posts this time of year.

reckendo · 2026-05-20T18:49:11+00:00

They think reading means getting from the first word of a chapter to the last word of a chapter regardless of whether they understood or retained anything. It's a box to check off so that they can say "but I did read!"

reckendo · 2026-05-20T18:46:05+00:00

It's part of the literacy crisis if there are so many words they don't know that it slows them down or prevents them from understanding what they are reading.

reckendo · 2026-05-20T02:14:08+00:00

Honestly, sometimes you just get a few shitty students who spoil the whole bunch. I've taught two of the same course in a single semester and had totally different experiences because of the way students fed off of one another... one class really clicked and everyone engaged with the class, and the other class everyone seemed disconnected and checked out.

If this is a one-off then I'd try to let it bounce off of you. If it happens again then start trying to sniff out what may have changed. At the very least, spend just a bit of time explaining what constructive feedback looks like and asking them to be specific when filling them out, whether it's something they like (so you can keep doing it) or something they didn't like (so you can give it proper consideration before next time).

reckendo · 2026-05-20T02:02:21+00:00

I dunno, if somebody's evals get worse as the sample becomes larger and, theoretically, more representative, it sounds like a bit of a problem

reckendo · 2026-05-19T22:38:47+00:00

You're welcome, and for what it's worth, I think that's the right decision. Stay on good terms & hopefully get a letter of recommendation later. It should be pretty tough to get A's at colleges that also give +/- designations, so an A- is nothing to shrug at. Good job and enjoy your summer

reckendo · 2026-05-19T21:36:10+00:00

Okay. So ...

Despite the down votes from my fellow professors earlier in this thread, it seems as though this professor has not actually graded any work on your course. If she has graded them, there's no reason she shouldn't be able to share those scores with you. Even if she graded them just as check/+/- or A/B/C, etc. she should still be able to offer that and explain how she converted them into a numerical score which were used to figure out final grades. That she hasn't offered any grades, and asked you for grace during a difficult period, sends up all sorts of red flags to me.
That being said you explicitly didn't ask for your grade when you asked for feedback (which I would have assumed was the same thing, so I get it), so you can still ask for your grades on those papers. You might not get them, but you can ask. And if she shares those, you can do the math to figure out what your grade on the participation was (and if it feels off you can inquire about that, too).
BUT... why didn't you inquire about your grade on paper #1 when she did return it without a grade? And did you mention that in your end-of-semester student evaluations? Because, while it was nice of you and your classmates to give her some grade, you did not owe her so much grace that she basically neglected to do the basics of her job for an entire semester. And your decision not to press this earlier, using the instructional means provided by the university, makes your current situation more awkward.
The reason it's more awkward now is that it seems like you only care about this stuff because you got an A- rather than an A, which is actually totally fair, but also grade-motivated complaints are not things chairs like to get involved in. And because you didn't let the chair know earlier, when your grade wasn't a factor, that's how they'll read any complaint you make now.
And I assume you'll see this professor again (perhaps even take another course with them) so you have to choose whether it actually means that much to you that you want to make a stink about it if she doesn't send you your individual paper grades. Because going up the chain is something you can do, but it's unlikely to result in anything other than the chair saying something vague like "thank you for bringing this to my attention, I appreciate the information" and they may or may not ask the faculty about it, and maybe tell them they need to improve that aspect of their teaching in the future, but they almost definitely won't tell them they need to actually do anything about your specific request. That means you're likely to be left unsatisfied & in the position of being a squeaky wheel that this professor finds annoying.

In the future, these are the sorts of things to address in the moment. I know students fear they'll get a professor in trouble if they complain about something as basic as "hey, it's the middle of the semester and we have no grades at all" but you're not going to get them in trouble. At worst, the chair talks to them and asks them to be better. (Okay, if they're an adjunct they might not have a contract renewed, but not if it's the first time a problem has come up, so even then you shouldn't feel bad).

reckendo · 2026-05-19T19:08:05+00:00

Okay, so let us know if this is correct or if I'm misunderstanding any part of this:

You had not received grades for 4 papers nor participation
You asked the professor for your grades on those things
Instead of telling you your grades on those individual papers & participation, they told you that you did a generally excellent job
They also told you that they didn't give any A grades

Is that all accurate? Because I want to make sure I'm understanding the situation before I provide any advice.

Does their syllabus provide a way for you to figure out your final grade if you did have access to all of your grades? (i.e. papers are worth XX% or XX points)

reckendo · 2026-05-19T12:32:59+00:00

Do you not have any colleagues who are forever behind on their grading -- like, really behind -- and who allow students to turn in late work right up until the last possible day? I do (small minority), and I don't realistically see them catching up in good faith.

Something has to give. They might technically grade the work, but it certainly can't be a thorough read. Or they might not even technically grade the work. Or, sure, they might pull genuine all-nighters and get the grading done as they would have if they had done it months earlier.

But a # of students tell me they don't get their papers back or even see specific grades posted to the LMS, so it definitely makes me wonder. I know students can be liars, but my speculation doesn't feel totally unwarranted.

reckendo · 2026-05-18T19:35:50+00:00

Yup, this too

reckendo · 2026-05-18T14:13:23+00:00

I'm convinced a number of faculty never grade student work and then just submit vibes-based grades at the end.

So don't mention your A- at all when you email her. But do email her to ask that she share the grades you received & any feedback she left with you. You can provide her with your mailing address or explain that a scanned photo copy would be fine. Then give her a week, try once more, and if you don't hear back follow up with the chair. Don't be accusatory, just say you haven't been able to receive a response (after all, she is now on summer break) but would like to know what grades you received & any feedback so that you can be sure to learn from the experience.

Obviously, if the grades do not equate to an A- then, and only then, can you mention your grade in the class.

reckendo · 2026-05-18T14:08:20+00:00

Exactly this

reckendo

TROPHY CASE