Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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muppet hi fi
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by muppet hi fi »

Bit off-topic, but I just read this article in 'The Atlantic' (on why US higher education is so much more expensive than other Western nations) and immediately thought of Doc. (I, too, work on a college campus - apparently the most expensive private liberal arts university in the US Midwest [$70,000 a year] Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. And, no - I'm not a proff or even staff :disshame: ).
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
Did your admin not give guidance for this weirdo situation we're in? Here, our instructions are that students have the option of not writing the final. If they decline, whatever their grade is going into the final is their final grade. And if they write the final, their grade can only go up, not down. The only thing that remains steady is that the final has to be weighted the same way and the due date unchanged.

That said, I've only ever had take-home finals, and I have always given students one week to do two 1500–2000 word essays (albeit informally written; if you've gotta cuss, go for it). Three pages (750–1000 words) in two days seems perfectly fair to me, but I'm a bit taken aback by how much leeway we've been instructed to give students.
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
I would prefer an open book multiple choice, with maybe some fill in the blanks for extra credit.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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revbob wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:20pm
Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
I would prefer an open book multiple choice, with maybe some fill in the blanks for extra credit.
I've had you in my classes before, you lazy prick. Thanks for never coming to lectures.
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:33pm
revbob wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:20pm
Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
I would prefer an open book multiple choice, with maybe some fill in the blanks for extra credit.
I've had you in my classes before, you lazy prick. Thanks for never coming to lectures.
I actually love lectures, as long as it isn't some boring shit like economics. I just kind of hate writing. History was one of my favorite subjects but fuck all that writing. Give me a math or physics problem to solve.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:48pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:33pm
revbob wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:20pm
Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
I would prefer an open book multiple choice, with maybe some fill in the blanks for extra credit.
I've had you in my classes before, you lazy prick. Thanks for never coming to lectures.
I actually love lectures, as long as it isn't some boring shit like economics. I just kind of hate writing. History was one of my favorite subjects but fuck all that writing. Give me a math or physics problem to solve.
I've admitted to students that I'm more than a bit hypocritical in setting up courses where not coming to lectures means digging yourself a major hole in terms of passing. I hated lecture courses and my attendance was … poor. But I never missed a seminar ever. I love that interaction, but not so much being talked at. Even being in front of a class, I prefer seminars because I love that interaction with students. They might think I'm just fucking with them—which I am—but I learn a helluva lot from their interpretations of stuff. Lecture classes are just me yakking away. There just isn't that dynamic because students tend to be so passive.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by Inder »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:18pm
Inder wrote:
24 Mar 2020, 8:04pm
Q for the teachers/profs/etc here: I'm replacing my classes' final exams with take-homes, which is basically going to have students write a 3-page essay — given the circumstances, how should I set a deadline for this? I was thinking giving them two nights then due by noon on the third day. Does that sound about right? Too generous? Too punitive?
Did your admin not give guidance for this weirdo situation we're in? Here, our instructions are that students have the option of not writing the final. If they decline, whatever their grade is going into the final is their final grade. And if they write the final, their grade can only go up, not down. The only thing that remains steady is that the final has to be weighted the same way and the due date unchanged.

That said, I've only ever had take-home finals, and I have always given students one week to do two 1500–2000 word essays (albeit informally written; if you've gotta cuss, go for it). Three pages (750–1000 words) in two days seems perfectly fair to me
Thanks, Doc! 😎

Uni listed options for finals (online exam w invigilators, take-home, replacement assignment, cancel exam), didn't really provide any details on how they wanted us to administer them.
I'm a bit taken aback by how much leeway we've been instructed to give students.
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Inder wrote:
25 Mar 2020, 10:53am
I'm a bit taken aback by how much leeway we've been instructed to give students.
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"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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So, I basically podcasted my remaining lectures, plus a bonus one, and uploaded them to the course space. The system lets you see which students have downloaded course content and when, so out of curiosity I checked last night. No lecture has received more than four student downloads (out of forty-one possible), and only one student has dl'd them all. Yeah, I get everything is fuckity fackity right now and people are freaking out and trying to finish off the term, but, damn, it's hard not to take that as a rejection.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by Silent Majority »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
27 Mar 2020, 10:33am
So, I basically podcasted my remaining lectures, plus a bonus one, and uploaded them to the course space. The system lets you see which students have downloaded course content and when, so out of curiosity I checked last night. No lecture has received more than four student downloads (out of forty-one possible), and only one student has dl'd them all. Yeah, I get everything is fuckity fackity right now and people are freaking out and trying to finish off the term, but, damn, it's hard not to take that as a rejection.
Could it be some have streamed rather than d/l'd? The numbers may not show people who have played it without downloading.
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Silent Majority wrote:
27 Mar 2020, 10:48am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
27 Mar 2020, 10:33am
So, I basically podcasted my remaining lectures, plus a bonus one, and uploaded them to the course space. The system lets you see which students have downloaded course content and when, so out of curiosity I checked last night. No lecture has received more than four student downloads (out of forty-one possible), and only one student has dl'd them all. Yeah, I get everything is fuckity fackity right now and people are freaking out and trying to finish off the term, but, damn, it's hard not to take that as a rejection.
Could it be some have streamed rather than d/l'd? The numbers may not show people who have played it without downloading.
It's not streamed. It's a zip file with the mp3's that make up the "album" of the lecture (each song's cover art is the slide that goes with what I'm talking about).
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by gkbill »

Hello,

I'm very late to this conversation - didn't know it existed until I stumbled onto it from checking the message about the board being down. For what it's worth, I zoom lectures live. I have students type hello or something into the chat window when I open the lecture, I make them enable their video so I can see them (they can't just open the lecture and walk away), and I'll ask questions which they answer in the chat section so I know who's still with me. Wingate is a traditional school with everyone currently sent home. I have taught asynchronous classes (upload stuff;students do it on their own time). Even with those classes, I set up webinars so we could all see each other and talk about material. Students really appreciated that. Grad students are much better at online material in my experiences. The undergrads need to be asked to speak whereas the grad students will chip in and ask questions without prompting. My discipline is Kinesiology with a lot of Sport Psychology classes. I think that material may lend itself to be more interesting for discussion - plus I have a lengthy athletic and coaching career so I tell a lot of stories.

Many faculty here have no online experience and they're struggling to get their classes online and - more importantly - get their students engaged.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Lotta people trying Zoom as we've been pushed to the distance education model. I'll be taking a webinar on it this spring, as it's entirely possible that this fall will also be online, in whole or in part. I'm more than cool with the idea for discussions—something interactive—but lectures leaves me cold. Mainly, I think because of how passive students are. If they're just going to sit there, It gets boring and if I'm yapping at a webcam, awkward.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by Flex »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
31 Mar 2020, 9:10pm
Lotta people trying Zoom as we've been pushed to the distance education model. I'll be taking a webinar on it this spring, as it's entirely possible that this fall will also be online, in whole or in part. I'm more than cool with the idea for discussions—something interactive—but lectures leaves me cold. Mainly, I think because of how passive students are. If they're just going to sit there, It gets boring and if I'm yapping at a webcam, awkward.
you can set artificial backgrounds tho, so you could make each lecture look like you're doing it in front of the subject matter in question. the future is now!
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