Yesterday a former teacher told us a story about an unreasonable parent, but listening, I didn’t feel like the parent over-reacted.
She taught 7th grade, and her policy was to deduct 10% off a student’s grade if he or she forgot to put their name on their paper. Does that seem reasonable to you? I could see up to 5%, but 10% seems harsh to me. FTR she says kids were informed of this policy ahead of time(though the kid in question told her dad they hadn’t been), if that factors into your opinion.
For a final, that’s about right. In my classes (10th & 12th grades) failure to put your name on a paper means it’s wadded up and trashed. Zero credit. It’s not my resposibility to figure out who the work belongs to…that’s their job.
I had teachers that did that in junior high and high school. I think it is fair because it is a stupid thing for a student to do then as well as any later point in their life. It triggers an investigation on the teacher’s part as well to match up who it belonged to. As an adult, if you manage to send off important paperwork off without the right identifying information, don’t be surprised if you have some kind of penalty sanctioned on you then too.
Provided the policy is well pulicized ahead of time I don’t see a problem. Seventh grade is plenty old enough to remember to put your name on the final and face the consequences if you don’t.
I think it’s completely reasonable. More than fair, really. Like silenus, I don’t think any credit should be given at all for a no-name paper. If one student does it, it’s a process of elimination to determine whose it was; if two students do it, you have no idea. Either way, it’s extra effort for the teacher.
No NAME on it. If it had a grade, it’d be easier for ya.
I don’t see how it’s extra work. If anything, the onus is on the teacher. That’s a silly rule designed to enforce some discipline, but it’s just being a prick.
I’m inclined to agree with LOUNE. What if that 10% was making the differance between passing the class and failing the class? Would any of you really sink a kid like that, just for some petty power move? If I tried to pull something like that at my job, arbitrarily rejecting incoming data just because it violates something that’s nothing more than my own personal policy I’d be skidding on my ass through the parking lot in a matter of hours.
I say fair. If you let it slide, they’ll end up in college with the professors having to make a “nameless homework” pile and wasting time as people shuffle down to find their assignments even when the were told to do so after class. Learn to put your name on your shit, people!
I say it’s generous. My teachers would have likely failed me. Middle school and up there is absolutely no excuse for not putting your name on a paper. Especially one as important as a final. Extra work for the teacher or not, it’s a responsibility issue on the student’s part. If they are made aware of the rule ahead of timem, it’s fair.
I think that’s a horrible policy. I might consider making the student(s) take the test over again if there was any serious question of whose test was whose, or if I felt I really needed to make a point. But the purpose of the test is to find out if the student knows the material, not if they are good at filling out paperwork.
As a student, if this happened to me and it seriously affected my grade, I’d be extremely pissed. Maybe pissed enough to write my name on all future tests but leave the rest blank. I doubt it would permanently cure me of making the occasional absent-minded oversight, either. :rolleyes: When someone does come up with that cure they should bottle it and sell it. Until then, may people’s petty power trips buy them instant karma.
That’s right. And they do. And I deduct 10%. I also deduct 10% for spelling my name wrong or their own name wrong. The instructions say to put your name on it and to spell my name and their name correctly. The penbalty is the same as the penalty for any other failure to follow directions: Failure to run spelling check, failure to use the assigned reference style, failure to use capital “i” when referring to oneself, failure to use black ink, etc. That I have to do this at the college level astounds me.
Ten percent on homework is much different than ten percent on a final exam. A seventh grade final exam, at that.
No amount of punishment is going to stop someone from legitimately forgetting to sign their name to their paper. I don’t think I’ve ever done it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not impossible.
In my case, I might not grade it, as I make my people sign a protocol that is part of the test.
I could see if the idea was to make the student recite something backwards in Latin, but still, come on: it’s putting your name on the test…That’s like wiping after the loo.
At some point, you’ve got to drill attention to detail into the students: failure to do so reaps problems down the line.
The bottom line: if an instructor posts the requirement, spend more time meeting the requirement than helping the student weasel out of it.
Broadsiding teachers as having some sort of hydro or megalo-cephaly, it’s one thing to arbitrarily impose sanctions without warning; quite another to impose sanctions per a publicised protocol.
It’s a bit like me knocking off credit for not showing the details of solution, or for omitting discussions when required: full points require full compliance.
