Should instructors offer extra credit?

June 29, 2011 By Joanne 4 Comments

Should college instructors offer extra credit? If so, is it OK to offer grade-raising points for community service, donating blood or attending a cultural event?

Also on Community College Spotlight:  Not just anyone can judge the quality of Kansas City barbecue. Would-be barbecue judges must pass a certification class before taking the oath.

-->Filed Under: College Tagged With: barbecue judges, Community College Spotlight, community service, extra credit About Joanne
CommentsMark Roulo says: June 29, 2011 at 8:35 am

“If so, is it OK to offer grade-raising points for community service, donating blood or attending a cultural event?”

It all depends on what we want the grade to mean.

If ‘A’ means ‘is a good person,’ then sure.

If ‘A’ means ‘knows the material to mastery’ (or whatever), then clearly allowing blood donation to move the grade up is a form of lying.

My guess is that for many K-12 courses grades have a large ‘is a good person’ component rather than being a pure ‘knows the material’ measure.

I would personally prefer that the grade be a measure of ‘knows the material,’ but I don’t know that I’m in the majority on this one.

Mike says: June 29, 2011 at 12:47 pm

From the linked article: A developmental math instructor offers to meet with students to go over problems they’ve missed on an exam. Students who can explain “why the previous solution for each missed problem was wrong and why the correct solution is correct (with a demonstration on blank paper)” can earn back half the points lost, up to a maximum of 10 percent for the whole test.

That’s not extra credit; that’s just extra (and very good) evaluation.

Peace Corps says: June 29, 2011 at 3:32 pm

I don’t like the extra credit where the student comes up and asks for it. The student usually hasn’t done all the regular credit stuff. For my Algebra 1 class I realized that most of my students didn’t know how to study, so I came up with a way to help them study. They could earn up to 10 Bonus Points for each unit by completing the study guides at the end of the chapter. Only correctly worked problems with all steps (not done in their heads) shown earned credit. This was due at test time. I only had 3 students that regularly completed this work. The others just had better ways to spend their time, I guess.

lee says: June 29, 2011 at 4:13 pm

On exams with particularly dismal results, I’ve tried giving extra credit (1/2 the original point value, all or nothing) for students who redo the problem, show the work, and get the answer right. I don’t do that any more, because it seems like the students who could benefit most from the extra credit don’t bother, and the ones who don’t really need it take advantage of it.

Extra credit is so not worth it, for those reasons. As I’ve read somewhere else in the blogosphere: No extra credit will be given. There are enough regular credit points available – work on earning those, instead.

Speak Your Mind Cancel replyName *

Email *

Website

Please leave these two fields as-is:

Protected by Invisible Defender. Showed 403 to 58,967 bad guys.

The BookSubscribe

Recent Commentslee on Peace Corps on Deirdre Mundy on Should homework count?Peace Corps on Should homework count?bandit on Should homework count?Recent PostsCarnival of HomeschoolingSilver bullet: More time teaching at kid’s levelA costly way to identify intelligenceShould homework count?Ads
(a) EdBlogsAnswer SheetBrainstormBridging DifferencesClass StruggleCollege PuzzleCommon CoreCommunity College SpotlightConcord ReviewCore KnowledgeCritical MassCurriculum MattersDaily RiffDana GoldsteinDiscriminationsDropout NationEarly Ed WatchEarly StoriesEd BeatEd ReformerEdspressoEducation GadflyEducation NextEducation OptimistsEducation Policy BlogEduFlackEdutopia BlogEduwonkEdWizeEIA InterceptsFIRE’s TorchFlypaperFutures of School ReformGotham SchoolsHechingerEdHighered IntelligenceHome EducationInside School ResearchJay P. GreeneKitchen Table MathLarry CubanMinding the CampusNAS BlogNational JournalOut in Left FieldPolitics K-12Pretty Darn QuickQuick and the EdredefinEdRick Hess Straight UpRock the SchoolhouseSchool Law and ReformShanker BlogSherman DornStuart BuckTeacher BeatThe Educated ReporterThis Week in EducationTOP-EdTurnaround ChallengeUniversity DiariesWhitney TilsonWhy Boys Fail(b) TeacherBlogsA Teacher’s EducationA Teacher’s ViewAssorted StuffBiology and BlueberriesCoach BrownCoach G's Teaching TipsCurmudgeonDaily GrindDeTocqueville's DaughterDy/DanGently Hew StoneHistory is ElementaryHuffEnglishLightly SeasonedMathNotationsMildly MelancholyMiss BraveNot All Flowers and SausagesNYC EducatorOrganized ChaosPractical TheoryRight on the Left CoastShrewdness of ApesSiobhan CuriousStories from SchoolTeach for America BlogsTeacher in a Strange LandTeacher VoicesTeacher, I Don't Get ItTeacherLingoTeaching NowThe LineUrban Teacher's EducationWhat It's Like on the Inside(c) Blogroll11DAnn AlthouseBetsy’s PageBuzzMachineHit & RunI Speak of DreamsInkwellInstapunditIowahawkJames Lileks’ BleatJim MillerJust One MinuteKausfilesMegan McArdleRoger SimonThe CornerThe PlankTim BlairVirginia PostrelVolokh Conspiracy(d) News/InfoBest of the WebCalifornia WatchCity JournalCommentary MagazinePajamas MediaReasonSlateTCS DailyThe OnionWeekly Standard(e) CollegesCalifornia business schoolPennco TechLinksApidexinArtificial Christmas TreesAsbestos Lung CancerChicago CollegeChristmas DecorationsColleges in IllinoisColorado Nursing SchoolsEducatorFacebook EmoticonsMesotheliomaPhlebotomy TrainingScentOnline EducationAccredited Online CollegesBachelor Degrees OnlineBachelor of AccountingCNA Duties and ResponsibilitiesCollege OnlineDay TradingElementary & Secondary EducationEngineering Programs OntarioHealthcare Management DegreeIO PsychologyMassage Therapy ProgramsMedical Billing and CodingMedical Billing and Coding TrainingOnline College EducationOnline Courses AustraliaOnline Courses in AustraliaOnline Criminal Justice DegreesOnline MBAOnline Psychology DegreesOnline Trading EducationOnline UniversityPhlebotomy CertificationPhlebotomy TrainingPhlebotomy TrainingReal Online Degrees BlogUMATX-Ray TechnicianSiteMeter

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2011 · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in