Ed 105 Extra Credit
I found it very interesting reading about extra credit. I'm interested in hearing what everyone thinks about extra credit. Do you give it in your classroom? Why or why not?
I personally don't give extra credit. I think some students look at it as a way to skip other assignments.
Rochelle F.
I do not give extra credit either. I make sure that I allocate points carefully and fairly over the course so that students have every opportunity to pass if they want. Yes, some students waste time and rely on extra credits. I tell them at the beginning of the course that I do not give extra credit but I am always available to assist for advising and tutoring.
Jacqulin Myles
I'm not a big fan of extra credit as it's unfair to the students that don't need it, in my opinion.
I have given extra credit in the past, but I don't in the class I am currently teaching. In previous classes, there were very important vocabulary words to each chapter. I gave them extra credit points if they hand wrote them and turned them into me with their homework. If and only if they scored 100% would they even be extra credit towards the midterm or the final. I felt like it was effective because they always wanted the extra points so they did the words and I felt it helped them to learn those terms.
Is giving extra credit considered grade inflation if it is not factored in the determination of grades on the syllabus?
I am totally negative for extra credits or make up tests. Even some are absent on the test day, I will give more questions (10%) with the same grade points.
I am totally against extra credit, if there is one such question which might be worth 2 points such as true or false,if the answer is false and the student gives the reason why it is false,I may add 2 more points to such a question,but prefer not to do this all the time.
I'd like to make a plug here for the use of extra credit. I do use it, but only allow it up to a maximum of 20 points, which is 2% of the overall course grade. Earning this bonus is tough and requires a typed critical analysis of something related to class content, but done outside of class. Only a very strong essay of a certain length (& fulfilling certain requirements) earns full bonus. I feel very good about offering this bonus because there are a number of assignments I have which cannot be made up if a student is not in class that day. There is often a student who is very upset because they had a real emergency and could not make it to class, but they don't think it's fair to lose the points. This way they have an opportunity to make up the points. It affects their grade only slightly, so I do not feel it is grade inflation. They work hard and learn a lot for this small amount of bonus, so I feel it is deserved.
@rochellef :I give extra credit, but only up to 10 points and students must complete the extra credit very early in the term. This way, by the end of the term when they may be failing, they are not coming to me asking me for extra credit. I point them to the extra credit I assigned within the first month of the term that they could have done to help them. Makes a student think twice about not taking advantage of given opportunities.
