{"id":26389,"date":"2017-02-21t15:01:40","date_gmt":"2017-02-21t20:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?page_id=26389"},"modified":"2022-04-05t13:29:16","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05t18:29:16","slug":"dealing-with-the-unexpected","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/dealing-with-the-unexpected\/","title":{"rendered":"dealing with the unexpected: teaching when you or your students can\u2019t make it to class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
by stacey m. johnson
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cite this guide:<\/strong> johnson, s.m. (2021). dealing with the unexpected: teaching when you or your students can\u2019t make it to class. 瑞士vs喀麦隆走地 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分. retrieved [todaysdate] from \/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/dealing-with-the-unexpected\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\"\"<\/a>at a residential college like vanderbilt, the time instructors and students spend together in the classroom is invaluable. for much of the academic year, scheduled classes meet at the appointed time without incident. a small percentage of students may have to miss any given class period, and most faculty have systems in place to prepare for such absences.<\/p>\n

yet, there are times when instructors or students cannot make it to class despite their best intentions because of illness, natural disaster, or other circumstances. some reasons faculty and students may be unable to make it to class include:<\/p>\n

academic travel<\/h3>\n

there may be times when a conference or other academic obligation requires a faculty member (or students) to miss class. even if you plan to arrive back in nashville in time to teach, what should you do in that rare case when cancelled flights or unpredictable obstacles keep you from your classroom?<\/p>\n

inclement weather<\/h3>\n

nashville\u2019s nearly annual snow or ice storm often wreaks havoc on face-to-face classes. if classes are officially in session, but many students (or even the instructor) are unable to make it to campus, how will faculty ensure that everyone has access to the course content?<\/p>\n

outbreaks of communicable illness<\/h3>\n

adjusting our courses in response to illness and disease has always been part of our reality as a residential college.\u202f a\u202f2017\u202f<\/span>statement by the provost about the mumps<\/span><\/a>\u202fon campus and the 2021<\/span> coronavirus<\/span><\/a> information page\u202f<\/span><\/a> reinforce the potential for illness of many kinds to affect attendance in our courses. planning ahead for the potential course impact of illness will help minimize departmental and classroom disruptions even if the professor or students find themselves in quarantine.<\/span><\/p>\n

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policies for attendance<\/h2>\n

attendance policies <\/span>can be <\/span>a controversial<\/span> and complex in the best of times.<\/span> <\/span>this blog post<\/span><\/span><\/a> by erin baldwin<\/span>, class of 2014,<\/span> explores fair attendance policies from<\/span> a student perspective.<\/span> erin describes how in her experience at vanderbilt, she saw three different kinds of attendance policies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

come when you can<\/h3>\n

professors who use this approach generally leave it to students to decide when and how much to attend class, usually with the warning that missing class will have negative effects on the students; learning and test scores.<\/p>\n

participation points<\/h3>\n

this might mean that the instructor takes roll at every class session and then assigns a certain percentage of the grade as a formal participation grade. this might also mean that the professor uses clicker questions, polls, exit tickets, or other in-class work from students to assign a grade for that day. if you are not in class, you cannot get the day\u2019s grade.<\/p>\n

maximum number of absences<\/h3>\n

erin also mentioned in her blog post that some of her instructors had policies regarding the maximum number of absences that students could incur in one semester, usually 3-5. after that number is reached, the student\u2019s final grade is penalized for subsequent absences.<\/p>\n

for instructors who are grappling with how to set fair, useful attendance policies in a pandemic year, the issues raised by the aforementioned blog post are even more salient. how do we motivate student attendance without unfairly penalizing people in quarantine or who feel sick? often, the policies in a syllabus represent ideal circumstances, not exceptions or worst-case scenarios. even more than in previous years, many instructors find themselves grappling with how to set attendance policies that take into consideration how and when students will attend class. some possible alternatives to traditional attendance policies include:<\/span><\/p>\n

no-penalty policies<\/h3>\n

a no-penalty absence policy would lay out clearly what the attendance policy is for the class, but without any grade deductions or other penalties associated when students fail to meet the requirements. such a policy starts by assuming that students want to attend class and want to be successful and then seeks to remove any pressure that would cause students to attend class even if they have been exposed to covid or are feeling sick.<\/p>\n

alternative forms of participation<\/h3>\n

if your attendance policies include taking roll or monitoring participation, are there alternative ways that students can participate in class even if they are not in the room? for examples, the section below explores different ways to facilitate participation remotely. how many ways are there for students to get credit for their participation? will these alternatives keep students safe while also ensuring that everyone is keeping up?<\/span><\/p>\n

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participating in class<\/h2>\n

a high absentee rate could interrupt the flow of your course, hinder the ability of students to complete assignments, or delay group work. so, providing alternative ways of participating in class is an important consideration. here are four ways professors can facilitate student access, some of which might already be part of your teaching repertoire, and others that might require some preparation, flexibility, and perhaps even some additional technology. (keep in mind that the cft is always happy to help with the technology piece. you can email us at cft@vanderbilt.edu<\/a> to connect with a consultant.)<\/p>\n

1. get the notes<\/h3>\n

perhaps the most common approach to dealing with student absences in pre-covid times, this approach might be best described as: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cif you miss class, check the syllabus and get notes from a classmate.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

check the syllabus, get the notes! there are lots of ways to make this approach even more effective.<\/p>\n