*John, *This is one of the FAQ's on the TBL web site. My views are very
similar to Sandy's (see below).
*Question #8* What should I do when students are absent"
In general, I try to create a situation that is similar to what students
will experience in the workplace. Thus, I say something like:
In the workplace, when someone is gone, the group has to pick up the slack
but the absent member still benefits from the group work. If the absent
person has a good reason for being gone, explains the reason to the group,*
and* does their best to make amends, most groups will gladly extend the
benefit. If, however, members have doubts about the reason for the absence,
feel like the member is trying to “freeload” or both, then the absence is
likely to be a black mark that may not be forgotten when the peer
evaluations come around. So, if you have to be absent, let your peers know
in advance and make sure that you do your best to make up for it.
Otherwise, you are at risk.
Then, if they do need to miss a RAT or some other graded activity, I give
them the team score and also allow them the opportunity to take the
individual test using one of two options. One is to take the test early so
that I can let their team have access to their individual answers during
the team test. The other option is to take the test later. Some professors
are uncomfortable with the idea of giving make-up tests. They worry that
allowing some students to take a late exam will give them an unfair
advantage over other students but see the task of creating comparable but
different exams as extremely time-consuming. It turns out that neither of
these problems are as big as they seem.
In my case, I do not create an alternative exam. If a students misses a RAT
when it is given in class (and few do), I leave a copy of the regular exam
with the departmental secretary. Then, any student who needs to take a
make-up RAT contacts her to make arrangements to take the exam in a nearby
room. In the many years I have done this, the vast majority of students
taking such make-up exams get scores that are lower than their average on
the RATs they take at the normal time. This means I can simply use the same
exam for the make-up exam, and doing so does not give students any
significant, unfair advantage.
If allowing make-up RATs turns out to be too much of a problem, another
option is to set up the grading system that allows students to drop one
individual RAT score. When students calculate their overall score for the
individual RATs, for example, they would only count the best 5 out of 6. If
they have no absences, they get to drop their lowest score. If they have
one absence, they simply have a “0″ for that score and drop it. If they
have more than one absence, they get to drop one of those but they have to
calculate the other “0′s” into the total. The advantage of this approach is
that it reduces the hassles associated with giving make-up exams. The
disadvantage, and one that I personally feel is important, is that it tends
to eliminate the opportunity to reward students who are willing to put in
the effort to be prepared on every test.
On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Sandy Cook <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> It is a bit of a challenge but what we typically do (as students also get
> sick – not just travelling).****
>
> **1. **Student must inform faculty and team of absence.****
>
> **2. **Student can make up IRAT (at time and place set by faculty –
> can be before or after). Student will get team scores.****
>
> **3. **Or – in some cases (when we have many of them) we permit
> student to drop lowest TBL session from calculations.****
>
> Part of this depends on how many TBL sessions you have, what percent of
> the grade, what is most important – learning and scores, and finally how
> the team feels – as Peer evaluation can play a role in how the team feels
> about missing their team-mate. ****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Sandy ****
>
> ** **
>
> W: (65) 6516 8722****
>
>
> Administrative Executive: Belinda Yeo | [log in to unmask] |
> 6516-8511
>
> Important: This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you are
> not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify us immediately; you
> should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any
> other person. Thank you.
>
>
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
> Behalf Of *John Lowry
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 22, 2011 3:24 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* TBL and course policies****
>
> ** **
>
> I am implementing TBL in an undergraduate course this winter semester, and
> I had some questions for the group about some policy issues.
>
> I have at least 1 university athlete in the class, who will miss a class
> here and there due to traveling. Given that it is university-sponsored
> travel, I don't have a problem with this. How have you structured a class
> to accommodate absences? What are some other course policy issues that you
> have experienced? Responses are appreciated
>
> John
>
>
>
> ****
>
> John Lowry, MS, ATC, CSCS
> Instructor of Kinesiology
> Saginaw Valley State University****
>
--
*******************************
Larry K. Michaelsen, Professor of Management
Dockery 400G, University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO 64093
660/429-9873 voice/cell phone, 660/543-8465 fax
For info on:
Team-Based Learning (TBL) <www.teambasedlearning.org>
Integrative Business Experience (IBE) <http://faculty.ucmo.edu/ibe/home.html
>
*******************************
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