I have yet to teach a course without one or more students handing in a late weekly assignment or asking for an extension. And this will continue to happen because students are human beings and as such will make mistakes, struggle with organizing time, or have life events that supersede my class.
So how can we structure a class that allows students to be human and imperfect without it derailing their progress in the course? Enter what I have come to call the forgiving schedule.
When I first started teaching at Queens College in 2016, as an adjunct and PhD student, I borrowed the “miss three” approach to weekly assignments employed by my colleagues. It effectively eliminates the reason for late homework (extenuating circumstances aside) by removing the penalty for missing a deadline thus preserving the opportunity for the student to do well in the class. Simply put, a student can miss up to three weekly assignments before it begins to impact their grade.
If you’re an overthinker-tinkerer, like me, you’ll see the possibility for variation in this scheme (e.g., take the top ‘x’ number grades or the first ‘x’ number submitted, drop the lowest three grades…what about allowing extra credit?). Whatever way you slice it, you’re designing flexibility and agency into your course. Students can plan ahead and choose to skip an assignment (e.g., if they have a demanding week) or simply know they have a safety net should the unexpected arise—and it does arise. When explaining this at the start of the term, I always stress that students should strive to complete all assignments.
Yet, I’d still have students asking if they can turn in something late and I’ve had to build up boundaries after too many hours spent keeping straight who had an extension, why, what for, and until when. Furthermore, as much as I want to accommodate and help students, it’s not fair to the rest of the class nor to myself and it is not helping said students learn to manage time and deal with the reality of deadlines (again, extenuating circumstances aside).
The forgiving schedule I’ve employed the last few semesters uses “point-earning opportunities”. For example, a term has 12 weekly homework assignments, each worth 3 points, for a total of 36 earnable points. Of this, I take a max of 30 points, effectively allowing three assignments to be missed. This point-based (versus assignment-based) strategy also supports students who may have done poorly on an assignment granted they take advantage of all the available opportunities. Plus, this system saves me from having to filter out the top-grade or first-submitted assignments.
Yet, I still have students asking if they can turn in something late—maybe the thought of really missing an assignment turns out to be hard to swallow. Fortunately, I now have better boundaries to protect my time and with that can gently remind students of the policy. Additionally, some homework grades release with correct asnwers which would compromise fairness.
Finally, I have an honest “no late work” policy that remains non-punitive and gives students some control!
[For more on this topic please check out my pedagogy statement under Classroom Ethos > Teaching Style > Flexibility and agency.]