Picture this: Days before your semester begins, your students are messaging each other about how excited they are to begin your class. Then, during the semester, they show up to every lesson curious about what they’re going to learn that day, even enthusiastic about doing
I’d like to begin with the main reason I offer extra credit. I offer it because I am an imperfect grader when it comes to assessing what is impossible to grade.
Where do you stand on extra credit? All but one of the more than 20 faculty who shared their views with us endorsed it. By contrast, in a 1989 survey of faculty across a range of disciplines, only 28 percent believed that extra credit should
These extra credit assignments were submitted in response to our request for samples. We’ve organized them by the goals they seek to advance. In some cases, they are condensed versions of the assignment descriptions submitted, but we’ve worked with the authors to make sure the
Extra credit can be an overused classroom tool. As a learner, I always viewed extra credit as teachers bribing students to work for points instead of cash. And as a new teacher, I thought the same and acted accordingly. We’ve all done it! You need
Students who transition to online learning often feel apprehensive about and frustrated with the unfamiliar format. To better support these students, I created a “letters to successors” intervention akin to the presidential tradition of an outgoing president’s leaving a letter for the incoming one. My
It’s time to hand back the exams, and no one has done well. You’re as disappointed as your students will be when they see their grades. How do you get the class back on track? Offering extra credit assignments is one approach, but will that
Not everyone is in favor of offering extra credit and those who are opposed object most strongly when it’s the students who aren’t working hard or who are hoping they won’t have to work hard in order to do well are the ones asking for
I remember being surprised when I first read the results of a survey on extra credit published some years ago in Teaching of Psychology. Almost 20% of the 145 faculty (across disciplines) reported that they never offered extra credit and another 50% said they offered
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