Can A Professor Give A Different Question For Makeup Test

Guest Web log Post by William S. Altman, Ph.D.

1 difficult decision we face up as instructors is what to practice when students miss a test. At ane extreme are instructors who simply turn down to give any make-upward tests, relying on various piece of work-arounds to deal with the missing grade. Some drib the lowest of several examination grades, which ways that a missed exam volition exist the one dropped. Others double-count another exam or a portion of the final.

At the other extreme are instructors who will requite whatsoever exam at any fourth dimension. Some instructors also require students to provide documentation, such equally doctors' notes, hospital admission slips, or obituaries, to prove the absence was for a legitimate reason. To discourage students from using make-upwards tests to proceeds extra study time, many instructors create make-up tests that are more than difficult, longer, or in a less popular format than the in-form test (e.grand., an essay examination for the brand-up, when the in-class test was multiple option).

Each of these approaches has its advantages and disadvantages, affecting students' learning, grades, motivation, and course satisfaction, as well every bit class management strategies (especially for large classes). Some choices may raise ethical concerns such as justice (e.m., non-equivalent testing methods, or extra time for student training).

Dr. William S. Altman

Source: William Altman

My own thinking on make-up exams has evolved a lot over nearly 4 decades of educational activity in both large and small classes at large universities, small liberal arts colleges, and community colleges. I believe we should consider why we give tests at all before we make any judgments or policies almost make-upwards tests—and nearly all of the variables that might contribute to a student'southward need to accept a brand-up.

For me, testing has two purposes. First, we utilize tests to assess students' knowledge and thinking skills. Second, an equally important purpose of testing is to reinforce the data and thinking skills that we've taught (or hope we've taught). To this cease, all tests—including concluding exams—are teaching tools. This aspect of testing as an active learning exercise is oftentimes neglected.

To ensure that we maximize the assessment and teaching value of our tests (the principle of beneficence), we must provide well-designed tests for all of our students and give them the opportunities to have those tests, regardless of whatever circumstances that might interfere. To preserve justice, make-up tests must be equivalent in length, difficulty, and format to the tests we administrate in class.

Because tests are a necessary part of the learning and cess I practice, I demand all of my students to take all of the tests. Therefore, my testing policy is unlike from those of many of my colleagues. For case, in my full general psychology classes, I give four exams and count only the best three. If a student misses an exam, they take one week to arrange a make-up exam. I don't need to know why a student missed the examination, and I don't demand to judge good from bad excuses. My make-up tests apply different items from those on my in-course tests, but they are equivalent in the fabric covered, their length, and their difficulty. I'm not interested in punishment, and have no problem with grading a few belatedly entries.

Just wait, there's more! I requite my students the opportunity to correct their errors on the first three tests (in that location'due south no time at the end of the semester to do this for the final). They have until the next course to turn in their corrections. In improver to the correct answers, they demand to provide references for their answers from the textbook or form notes, and the reasons why they made each fault for every detail they correct. Items on these exams are worth two points each. Correctly corrected items earn dorsum one of the lost points. Items that they didn't correct or inverse to new wrong responses lose one more signal, because I reward everything appropriately—including errors.

In general, my students really appreciate this approach. Even the ones who lose points support it because it'due south fair, considering they've been given the risk to earn a improve grade, and considering I've explained the goal—to give them a chance to relearn material they'll need in subsequent lessons. It's not just empty memorization. Although this correction opportunity is optional, about all of my students generally take reward of it.

My make-up exam philosophy is related to the daily ungraded quizzes I give, which are designed to assist my students discover what they understand or what they need to restudy at home (and to move beyond empty reading). I don't grade these quizzes, although I do collect them at the end of course. I give the quizzes at the beginning of class, and provide the correct answers at the end. This way the quizzes serve three purposes. They are advance organizers for the lecture, they're guides to the topics we encompass during the day'southward discussion, and they assist students consolidate their memories about the mean solar day'south topics at the stop of the session. An interesting thing happens once my students empathise that these quizzes are given for their benefit. They begin competing to encounter who will get the best scores when I announce the right responses. In fact, my students have consistently listed the quizzes and examination policy as highlights of the course, because these techniques help them acquire and show that I'm taking their learning seriously.

Incidentally, all of this has had a dainty (and sometimes enthusiastic) impact on my pupil evaluations. And so, my students learn and call back more, I get slightly more than accurate data near their learning, and they similar information technology. What's not to love? Of grade, your mileage and philosophies may vary.

Be well,
Bill Altman

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William S. Altman, Ph.D., is a professor in the Psychology and Human Services Section at Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York. His background is in Educational Psychology and Measurement, and his current research interests are effective teaching and learning, creativity, and intelligence. He has written for both scholarly and not-scholarly publications, has spent over a decade sharing data almost education, technology, and psychological science on local radio, has been a professional photographer, and has performed in theaters and as a standup comic—ostensibly to work on classroom presentation skills, but mostly because it'south fun.

Mitch Handelsman is a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. With Samuel Knapp and Michael Gottlieb, he is the co-author of Ethical Dilemmas in Psychotherapy: Positive Approaches to Decision Making (American Psychological Association, 2015). Mitch is also the co-writer (with Sharon Anderson) of Ideals for Psychotherapists and Counselors: A Proactive Arroyo (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), and an associate editor of the ii-volume APA Handbook of Ideals in Psychology (American Psychological Association, 2012). Simply here's what he's most proud of: He collaborated with pioneering musician Charlie Burrell on Burrell's autobiography.

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© 2016 by Mitchell Chiliad. Handelsman. All Rights Reserved

Can A Professor Give A Different Question For Makeup Test,

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-ethical-professor/201601/hey-prof-can-i-make-the-exam

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