University of Idaho Psychology of Personality
Makeup Policy
 
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Department of Psychology

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  University of Idaho
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  University of Idaho
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Here is a fuller explanation of why I do not allow make-up exams in on-line courses. Assessing whether or not an on-line student is honest and deserving of another chance is difficult for two reasons. First, whereas we have standard means of verifying emergencies for on-campus students (i.e., note from a medical professional or from our Dean of Students office), our means of verifying emergencies for distance students are inadequate. Second, the most common type of problem for on-line students is not personal or medical, but technical (typically being unable to complete an exam due to problems with your computer, Blackboard, or the internet connection); but once again it is usually impossible for me to verify that an unavoidable technical mishap was the reason why an exam was not completed.

For those of you who are philosophically inclined, the fundamental issue here is that only an omniscient being can create a perfectly fair system. Alas, I am not all-knowing. So, I designed a policy that recognizes that students will have legitimate problems, but I will not know which specific ones are or are not legitimate. Having now taught over 1,000 students on-line, I am confident that while it is common for a student to have a legitimate reason for missing 1 or 2 exams, it is extremely rare for a student to have a legitimate reason for missing more than 3 exams, especially when all assignments can be completed days or weeks ahead of time. Therefore, my (in my humble opinion, fair and generous) policy is that every student can miss 3 exams for whatever reason before it starts to influence their grade.

I really do understand how frustrating it is when you have worked to prepare for a test and then you encounter obstacles that are out of your control. Such things happen to me, too! But to make any exceptions to this for any one student would be unfair to the many many other students who have been unable to complete exams due to problems out of their control.

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please e-mail me.