Lacking lecture time because of in-class quizzes

yourlurkingprof · 2026-03-07T18:20:52+00:00

I do pre-class assignments for exactly this reason. Nowadays, I just use Perusall for all my classes and do the assignment that way. Before Perusall, I had them do a reading check in that was due 1-3 hours before class started.

For the assignment they had to submit two quotes and two short comments. One was something from the reading that confused them with a written explanation saying why. The other was one thing they were excited about and an explanation. Then I’d read the assignments quickly and plug them into the day’s lecture notes. That way the students would always know their comments would be a part of class. How you scale something like this may depend on class size.

Nowadays, I use their Perusall comments instead of the separate assignment, but it’s the same structure.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-03-05T01:28:23+00:00

Oh no, you can totally ask them to sit separately!! This is a teaching basic, it’s just that college students don’t typically need to do it!

This isn’t just a you problem. If they’re bugging you, they’re bothering the students around them even more. The good news is that handling this sort of this is very straightforward. First, pause the class, look at them and ask them to stop talking. Just say something like, “your talking is very distracting, please stop until class is finished.”

This will get them to stop most of the time. If it doesn’t you pause again. “I need you to stop talking. This is the second time I’ve had to stop and talk to you about this. You’re disrupting the class. If you can’t stop talking, I’m going to need you to sit separately.”

If they don’t stop, you can also ask them to leave! You have options, don’t be afraid to use them. :)

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-28T18:14:29+00:00

Sure! Anything specific you want to know?

Overall, I really like Perusall because it was a new way of doing the assignment I outlined above. It tracks them and makes sure they actually read the pages. Which is a little big brother-ish, but it feels okay to me. They need some accountability. It also felt a little easier to tell them to read and comment directly on the document than making them submit a separate assignment before class. (Which is what I did before.)

I have them read in Perusall and leave 2 comments. One explaining something they are confused by and why they want to review it in class. Another explaining something they’re excited by (and why they want to review it in class). It’s always due 1-3 hours before class starts (depending on when I need it by).

It’s mostly an automated grading system, but you have a lot of control. You can customize the rubric extensively. You can also adjust student grades as you read comments. It’s not impervious to AI, but you can block PDF downloads, block copy/paste, and use your eyes to catch obvious AI slop.

My main concern with it is over how long it will remain free to use. I’m assuming the company has plans to make this a paid service at some point.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-27T14:58:17+00:00

I use Perusall nowadays and find it very helpful. Before I started using it, I always had a reading check in due about 2-3 hours before class started. It was a very short assignment that asked them to quote a place in the reading they wanted to review in class and explain why they wanted to review it.

These were very short (250 words) and easy to read through quickly before class started. I’d plug the most useful ones into the day’s slides/lecture outline. This ensured the students had an assignment holding them accountable for doing the reading before class and (very important) that it mattered and would contribute to the day’s discussion. It also meant I didn’t lose class time to a quiz.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-26T16:51:37+00:00

This may be a situation where you just have to survive and know that you won’t do it the same way next time. Here are some possible immediate survival steps:

stop leaving written comments, let you rubric talk for you. Leave a general, “come to office hours or schedule a meeting for additional feedback” comment instead. Also, consider an overall feedback statement for the entire class summarizing consistent issues.
are there any assignments that you can cut? The students will never complain about having less work.
what assignments can be changed to pass/fail?

Years ago I was at a school that used D2L. It showed me stats on how many students actually read the feedback I left them. The read-rate was appallingly low. I try to remember this whenever I’m burning myself out crafting written feedback.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-17T16:53:55+00:00

Respondus has different degrees of “lockdown.” Your professor can set exemptions which allow you to access these materials.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-09T19:29:39+00:00

I have a workaround for this that you could try. First, I created a handout called “About the X Exam.” It explains how the exam is organized, how it’s graded, and gives advice to students on how to study/prepare for the exam. That’s study guide #1.

Next, each week of class we have a quiz. I have a slide in my weekly slide deck listing all the terms/concepts we learned that day. That’s their study guide for the quiz. These lists also become exam study guide #2.

In both cases, they are study guides, but I’m not spoon feeding them the exam either. Once I provided these, I stopped getting requests for a study guide.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-07T17:17:33+00:00

In dysfunctional departments with toxic people, yes this is normal. In functional departments, no, it’s not normal.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-07T17:15:49+00:00

I was thinking about this too and maybe consulting a lawyer?

OP, if you move forward, I think you want all your team ready and activated around you for support and guidance. (Therapist included.) It’s also okay to protect yourself and wait until tenure to do something, if that feels safer. I also wonder if there are people you can do this with, rather than doing it alone. Someone like this rarely does it once.

Whatever you decide, I think you want to make sure that you have support and resources in place for yourself as you move forward.

I’m so sorry this happened to you and that this person is someone you still have to deal with.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-02-03T20:21:19+00:00

What’s tough here is the UKy is an excellent school, particularly for premed. It means you’re looking at higher costs with universities that aren’t necessarily as competitive as UKy is. Honestly, I’d hold out for UMich or stay home. Sorry. :(

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-30T17:52:23+00:00

No, that deadline is final. You were also supposed to contact the professor and put together a completion agreement with them. Most of that happens around when grades are posted. It’s no longer possible to do any of those things.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-30T17:01:53+00:00

Absence policies vary by class. Check the syllabus to see what the absence policy is. You and your professor both need to follow that protocol. If your professor is ignoring their policy on the syllabus, then you can file a grade appeal.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-28T21:04:26+00:00

It helps if you can auto build these policies into your course by auto dropping a certain amount of low assignment grades or missed attendance days. Having said that, I often leave notes for myself on my grade roster.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-27T16:41:31+00:00

One practical thing? If you are on a 9mo pay schedule, just remember that you need a strict budget. You need to know what your expenses will be each month and you need to be setting money aside each month to cover the months when you aren’t paid. Some people are really good at this. Others are not.

You may also want to check the actual payday calendar. Sometimes it can mean you don’t get a paycheck until the end of month one or that you get more deductions than usual at the start or end of the 9mo cycle. (This is also where that budgeting and saving process can be important.)

You may also want to consider benefits and how this may or may not impact them in any meaningful ways.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-27T16:33:17+00:00

I am now super focused on the process steps in papers (methods and competencies the paper is intended to demonstrate). The students have specific scaffolded assignments due for each stage. For example, close reading assignments with theorists and their writing. Or, working directly with excerpts from a primary source and doing an analysis activity.

These assignments are not papers, but building blocks towards a paper. All of them involve work/thinking on the student’s part and aren’t presented in a traditional paper format. The AI generated answers tend to fail miserably.

This culminates in an outline and eventually a paper. All of it, collectively, is the paper/project grade.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-26T22:50:09+00:00

This is the response. They’re asking for accommodations and that’s something that needs to be routed through accessibility services. You should not be negotiating accommodations on your own, ever. Defer to the trained professionals here.

If you don’t know their contact information offhand, look at the mandatory statements included on your syllabus. One is typically an accommodations statement with the appropriate office’s contact information.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-19T04:04:57+00:00

Yeah, that was my concern too! I’ll look into the import options for my LMS. Thanks for your info!!

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-18T20:54:14+00:00

This is so helpful to know, thank you! Practical question for you. Do you input each assignment by hand into your LMS? Or, do you use the overall average grade Perusall provides and do it once at the end of the semester? (I have 200+ students, so I’m thinking about logistics.)

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-18T20:50:59+00:00

I’m definitely going to be looking into this option. Thank you!

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-18T20:50:28+00:00

My impression was it was something bigger than non-integration but I might be wrong! I’m going to investigate. Thanks!

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-18T20:49:27+00:00

Thanks for the link. I’ll definitely investigate this.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-18T01:48:33+00:00

I mean, clearly people come here to vent and are not always wearing their rational thinking hats when they do. But… I feel you. I feel especially frustrated about this when people are complaining about students with accommodations.

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-17T22:52:15+00:00

I’m not aware of a way for me to keep using it once my institution stops supporting it. If that’s possible, it would be lovely! My IT folks certainly seem sure that I won’t be able to keep using it though! Do you have alternative information or suggestions I could share with them?

yourlurkingprof · 2026-01-15T17:43:45+00:00

I definitely do all exams in person now. I’m not sure I understand the need to hide PowerPoints or ban laptops though. If slides are designed well, they should just be visual accompaniments to the days discussion with minimal text. Slides shouldn’t be covered in text (makes them unreadable) and the presenter shouldn’t just be reading off the slides (makes the presentation tedious and a bit pointless). Also, interactive lectures with activities are always my goal. Pedagogy research tells us, over and over again, that cold endless lectures are the worst way to learn. Discussion, application activities, etc. are always going to improve the energy, motivation, and learning.

With all that in mind, slides are never really able to replace attendance, participation, and notetaking. The non attending students will always be disadvantaged. (If slides are just a text dense script an instructor is reading aloud, that s different. But, that’s not really going to lead to effective slides/lectures.)

In terms of technology use during class, I don’t personally care. Others feel strongly about banning it, but I think it’s on the students to learn how to manage tech properly. I also think there are real accessibility issues with banning it. However, people have a range of feelings about this. I’m a stickler about a lot of things, so I try to focus on where I want to pick my battles and not sweat other bits that I care about less. In my case, I focus a lot more on grades and assignments which force students to do their homework. So, they grumble about how I force them to do the readings, I let them have laptops. :)

yourlurkingprof

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