A (not so) Hypothetical Situation

The instructor requires peer review attendance/participation and an instructor-commented initial draft needs to be included with the final packet of drafts/materials. The particular assignment discussed here also ends with a reflective writing component about the assignment.Of the 22 students, 10 included an instructor-commented initial draft, and 12 did not. 10 included the reflective writing, and 12 did not. Finally, only 2 students included all components of the assignment, so it was not a case of the same 10 students getting things wrong. This was not the beginning of the semester, so including multiple drafts is not a new idea. Also, the instructor's syllabus allows for an F if all components of an assignment are not included, but does not mandate an F.


If I thought there was any possibility that I could have made a mistake by not reminding them enough about the various things due in the final packet, I would give every student until the next class period to bring in the missing elements—with no penalty. I would collect what they had brought that day, however.

If I thought that it was simply a very busy time of the semester and students had sincerely forgotten to bring the elements, I would probably let them bring them by later that day and turn them in to my box. Or perhaps I would once again give them until the next class period.

However, if I thought they had simply been careless and neglected these parts of the assignment for no good reason, I would probably take off points. I would certainly not just give these students Fs for missing parts of the assignment. But without worrying about late points or waiting to receive these elements, I would grade the papers as is. I use a rubric for grading (cringes)—shameful, I know—and I would have a section on it for the reflection component. The student would lose a certain number of points for not having a reflection. And I have a section called “Improvement”; a student receives these ten points by clearly revising based on instructor and peer comments. If comments are not included, the student loses these points.

Very few of my students neglect to turn in these elements because they know this omission will hurt their grades. I don’t feel that by this method I am simply grading them on the final “product.” Rather, I am using the grade I put on the product to show how important the process is.