Dublin Core
Title
2000* - CLPS 100 Email Update: The following has been emailed:
Publisher
Dear Blueno
Date
March 31, 2020
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
2000* - CLPS 100 Email Update: The following has been emailed:
Dear Dean Zia,
I am writing on behalf of my classmates with regard to concerns about CLPS 100: Learning and Conditioning policy changes, which we feel may adversely affect those in home environments that are not conducive to learning. I would also like to clarify that this email is coming from a place of concern about fairness, rather than my own grades, since my grade in the class and home environment at the moment are relatively stable.
There were a few policies I was concerned about:
1. Our second exam, scheduled originally before Spring Break, was postponed to after Spring Break- but we were given less than a week’s notice (the test is asynchronous but closed-book). The test is scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, and we were informed about it only this Sunday. The TAs also did not have enough time to prepare review material, which could adversely impact test performance.
Since this class is heavily lecture-based, this lack of review material and study time could be detrimental to students. For the last exam, I was reviewing material with my friend and we were filling in gaps in each other's lecture notes, which ultimately helped our performance on the exam. This sort of review would not be as easy over a video call, and even if possible, would require more time and coordination as some of my friends in the class are in another time zone.
2. Furthermore, there is a difference between the exams students will be taking if they are expecting a grade, as opposed to the exam they will be taking if they choose to S/NC the class. While this may be necessary for the professor to distinguish between grades, there was no such difference in the first exam (even though there were originally students taking the class S/NC). The new format is unexpected and requires significantly more work.
This also biases assessments in favor of those switching to S/NC. As someone hoping to take the class for a grade, I was slightly more apprehensive about doing so knowing that I would be assessed differently than my peers. This also felt like added pressure to some of my friends who emphasized that they would have trouble being productive in their home environment. It goes without saying that those with difficult home environments and added responsibilities would struggle even more with prepping material for the exam in time.
3. The original syllabus would have allowed room for make-up exams, but the revised syllabus does not, disadvantaging students who prepared for exam 1/ received grades for exam 1 believing they would later have an opportunity to raise their grades.
I have a friend who was extremely stressed about the same and emphasized that she did not want to take the class S/NC, but with the modified syllabus might be forced to.
4. The final exam will be replaced with a final project, which will be extremely time-consuming and in case of group projects, will require coordination that might be difficult between people in different time zones- particularly if they don’t have stable internet access. While I recognize that a final exam is no longer feasible under these circumstances, I worry that a lack of access to reference materials and peers would limit our opportunities to perform well on this project.
As such, we were wondering whether there was any way to address these issues, and to ensure the equitable assessment of all students.
Best,
CLPS 100 Students
Dear Dean Zia,
I am writing on behalf of my classmates with regard to concerns about CLPS 100: Learning and Conditioning policy changes, which we feel may adversely affect those in home environments that are not conducive to learning. I would also like to clarify that this email is coming from a place of concern about fairness, rather than my own grades, since my grade in the class and home environment at the moment are relatively stable.
There were a few policies I was concerned about:
1. Our second exam, scheduled originally before Spring Break, was postponed to after Spring Break- but we were given less than a week’s notice (the test is asynchronous but closed-book). The test is scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, and we were informed about it only this Sunday. The TAs also did not have enough time to prepare review material, which could adversely impact test performance.
Since this class is heavily lecture-based, this lack of review material and study time could be detrimental to students. For the last exam, I was reviewing material with my friend and we were filling in gaps in each other's lecture notes, which ultimately helped our performance on the exam. This sort of review would not be as easy over a video call, and even if possible, would require more time and coordination as some of my friends in the class are in another time zone.
2. Furthermore, there is a difference between the exams students will be taking if they are expecting a grade, as opposed to the exam they will be taking if they choose to S/NC the class. While this may be necessary for the professor to distinguish between grades, there was no such difference in the first exam (even though there were originally students taking the class S/NC). The new format is unexpected and requires significantly more work.
This also biases assessments in favor of those switching to S/NC. As someone hoping to take the class for a grade, I was slightly more apprehensive about doing so knowing that I would be assessed differently than my peers. This also felt like added pressure to some of my friends who emphasized that they would have trouble being productive in their home environment. It goes without saying that those with difficult home environments and added responsibilities would struggle even more with prepping material for the exam in time.
3. The original syllabus would have allowed room for make-up exams, but the revised syllabus does not, disadvantaging students who prepared for exam 1/ received grades for exam 1 believing they would later have an opportunity to raise their grades.
I have a friend who was extremely stressed about the same and emphasized that she did not want to take the class S/NC, but with the modified syllabus might be forced to.
4. The final exam will be replaced with a final project, which will be extremely time-consuming and in case of group projects, will require coordination that might be difficult between people in different time zones- particularly if they don’t have stable internet access. While I recognize that a final exam is no longer feasible under these circumstances, I worry that a lack of access to reference materials and peers would limit our opportunities to perform well on this project.
As such, we were wondering whether there was any way to address these issues, and to ensure the equitable assessment of all students.
Best,
CLPS 100 Students
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