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Crossposted on my blog.
Science Goddess is discussing the idea of giving Incompletes in secondary school (thanks to Joanne Jacobs for pointing it out--I'm not sure how I missed it on my first read through the Carnival this week). In the comments, I said that I'd have to think about it, but that my first reaction was that this was a remarkably bad idea.
The more I thought about it, the worse it seemed. It would have been bad enough if it were assigning an Incomplete for the whole class, but it's even more disastrous because it's assigning Incompletes for assignments. So if little Jimmy doesn't do his homework, instead of getting a zero for it, he gets an Incomplete (and we'll ignore the fact that Jimmy has earned an F, or perhaps leave it for another day).
We university types know something about Incompletes. Students ask for Incompletes all the time, and nearly always, the answer is "No," and for very good reasons. I've had this conversation with so many faculty members and grad students that I know it's not just my, or even a minority opinion. Incompletes are bad all the way around, for lots of different reasons. And the best example that the university--not just me or a handful of us--knows that Incompletes are bad is your nearest university policy on giving Incompletes. The typical university states that they should be given only in extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the student. As another example, many universities also have policies that convert Incompletes into Fs after a specified time limit, usually a year.
Certainly, there are a handful of faculty who hand Incompletes out like candy, but they are a very small minority (or newly-minted PhDs who have next to no teaching experience). Incompletes are trouble all the way around, for the faculty member, for the university administration, and most of all, for the student.
Several commented that giving Incompletes sends the message that deadlines aren't important, and that's a valid objection, though by no means the only one, or even the major one. More importantly, it sends the message that deadlines--and assignments--aren't to be taken seriously, that work isn't important, and that managing time isn't important. Worst of all, it is grossly unfair to those students responsible enough to have done their work and turned it in on time--unforgivably unfair. Any teacher who would have handed out Incompletes in any class where I was a student to others who couldn't be bothered to do their work would have earned my undying, intense, cold hatred, the type of hatred that makes fantasizing about that teacher's gruesome, painful, tortuous death and screams of pain an erotic experience. And if I had children in a class and found out that the teacher was giving lazy little Jimmy an Incomplete instead of an F, you had better believe I would be in that teacher's office raising hell until he changed the policy.
But all that aside, there are other excellent reasons not to give Incompletes under these circumstances. A student gets an Incomplete because he is behind. If you could wave a magic wand and stop the passage of time so Jimmy could get caught up, it wouldn't be a problem--but you can't. What invariably happens is that as the class moves on, Jimmy either forgets about the Incomplete and stays behind, or doesn't, and gets further behind the rest of the class.
Most of the time, Jimmy forgets about the Incomplete, and never finishes it. This is why universities have implemented time limits on Incompletes, turning them into Fs if they aren't completed within a specified time. Or if Jimmy doesn't forget the Incomplete, he invariably turns in the paper or report or project at the very end of the semester, when the instructor is snowed with many hours of grading, recording grades, and turning in grades.
Jimmy assumes that his Incomplete will be given highest priority, but reality is the opposite (for obvious reasons). His report is put on the bottom of the already huge stack, or in a drawer so it won't get lost, and all too often, the instructor is so snowed with grading and end of the semester duties that, well, Jimmy's report falls through the cracks and turns into an F.
Jimmy's Incomplete then becomes an administrative nightmare. Rarely is the problem going to be noticed by the instructor; after all, had the instructor remembered, he would have graded the report. No, Jimmy or his parents will discover the problem when the grades come, and then (pardon the French) seventeen different kinds of hell will explode. The administration will call the department chair onto the carpet, and the department chair will then chew out the instructor. The instructor will then have to find Jimmy's report (where did I put that?), grade it, calculate a final course grade, file a change of grade form, and then explain to Jimmy that it can take the university up to a year before the grade change will be reflected on his transcript (ain't bureaucracy wonderful?)
And those are university Incompletes, given as a course grade. The proposal under discussion is giving Incompletes as assignment grades. Say the teacher gives twenty assignments. Multiply the problems mentioned above by twenty.
The best thing I can say about this idea is that any teacher who implements it will drop it after he recovers from his nervous breakdown.
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7 comments:
I agree that incompletes are a real hassle, I rarely give them out (certainly not for homework that should have been done weeks ago--yuck, what a mess). In English grad courses, it's different, however. Giving incompletes routinely is a way for the instructor to assign papers that one could not reasonably expect someone to complete in the time allotted. Not a great improvement from the student's perspective...
I think it's important to remember that the "Power of I" is a school-wide implementation for middle school---not colleges and universities. Teaching 12-year olds responsibility for their work is not the same as expecting adults to do so at a university graduate level.
Sure, there are good reasons for giving them, particularly in grad school--it's one way to do an independent study course where none exists, for one thing--but they are quite a burden for everyone, particularly the student.
As to responsibility, well, that was hardly my major objection. Fairness is a big problem with incompletes (though rarely are schools these days worried about being fair to students who actually do what they're supposed to do). And what will you do when you end up with ten students who have more Incompletes at the end of the year than grades?
Try it, but I predict you won't be doing it long.
Our lower and middle schools have something like that, but more. They are called "do-overs". This includes the idea of incomplete. The problem is that the solution is not more time. The incomplete was caused by other issues. If these issues aren't addressed, the problem will get worse, not better.
Perhaps someone mentioned it, but a timed loss of credit has always been popular. Sure, you can hand in your project late, but there will be a percentange loss in grade for each day.
It's always nice to be a little bit flexible in the lower and middle grades, but all of this has to go away by high school. High school teachers really complain about do-overs and the allowability of late homework. They also like to give new students a dose of real-life grading.
I will note that I have seen two types of middle schools; those that really turn up the heat on students (perhaps with little support from the school or teachers), and those that continue on with the lower school philosophy of low expectations, leaving the students completely unprepared when they get to high school. Our middle school falls into the latter category.
Over the years, our middle school has had to tighten up do-overs, incompletes, and easy grading. First, it was the implementation of "sunset laws", and then then there were increasing penalties for late homework. Low expectations don't do the kids any favor when they get to high school.
If a student is lazy, then incompletes will make the problem worse. If a student has other issues, then incompletes don't address the real problem and will make the problem worse.
If you want to just give the kids a break (assuming that all kids have too much homework on occasion), then schools could give each student a certain number of "delay day" cards at the beginning of the year. If kids get into time crunches, they can give the teacher one of their delay day cards. The number of cards that the student gets at the beginning of the year should go down to zero by the time they get to 8th grade.
But this is really a different problem than an incomplete. Consistent lateness means that there is something wrong and that extra time won't help. Identifying and helping kids with problems does not require incompletes. Incompletes (a large amount of more time) are only for major issues, like a death in the family or extended illnesses.
Do-overs are perhaps a little bit better because the idea is that you want the student to do good work, not give up because the deadline has come. Like the incomplete, however, more time doesn't solve the underlying problem unless you have a plan. For example, if you want students to do better work, send the homework back with specific instructions for improvement and a new deadline.
I teach in middle school, and I am the only one who allows students to re-take the tests (orally this time). I do not accept late HWs nor Give projects home. Deadline is always there - no matter what grade it is. That's life.
So I accept the re-testing for only one reason: I need the student to KNOW the material before the Regents come. Regents is the deadline that will settle everything. But if there was no final cumulative exam - I wouldn't do it.
I don't believe in incompletes, and don't like the middle school practice of pampering the students..
We looked at a private high school that had an interesting policy -- students have a set of rights, one if which is the right to have no more than two projects due on the same day. If more than 2 are assigned the student has the right to request a new due date for the 3rd or 4th . . .
This gets around teachers not knowing what everyone else's schedule is and gives kids flexibility if they get into a crunch out of their own control. It's fair, because everyone has the same right.
Incompletes are not allowed.
Late assignments are penalized.
"We looked at a private high school that had an interesting policy -- students have a set of rights, one if which is the right to have no more than two projects due on the same day. If more than 2 are assigned the student has the right to request a new due date for the 3rd or 4th"
We have a similar policy wrt final exams. If a student has more than three on a day, he can have one of them moved. The problem is that there is no policy to decide which gets moved and it's left up to the student. So what typically happens is that he asks prof 1 who says can't do it, ask another one, and the same thing happens with prof 2, and so forth.
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