I am taken aback by the number of excuses I receive from students. I was always afraid to ask for leniency from my instructors, even when I knew my disability made the assignments longer to complete. The only time I asked for more time was when I learned my mother was dying and spending time with her was more important than any class or assignment.

Some delays, because of illness or technical problems, are easy for me to forgive, allowing students to make up work. But some students have been bold enough to say “I just spaced on this assignment” or “I had the wrong due date.” I place due dates in the syllabus, in an assignment summary, and in the directions of the assignment itself. That’s three different places. I think that should suffice.

In addition, my students are not undergraduates inexperienced in time management: They are adults, and most teachers themselves. Sometimes I want to ask what he or she would say to a student who had given the excuse he or she had just given me. I am also tempted to make my forgiveness contingent upon his or her forgiving a student for a reason just as pitiful, but that can’t be enforced after I turn in grades.

I do take off points for items that are late without good reason, but I try not to be too much of a hard-ass. In a sense, I may even reward students for attempting an excuse. I also find assignments in the dropbox after the due date with no explanation whatsoever. I really ding scores on those!

In her book, Discussion-Based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning: Theory, Practice and Assessment, Tisha Bender argues that students should not be allowed to make up discussion posts because the class has moved on and the opportunity to learn through the interaction is lost. While I agree, I have had students who would fail the class if I enforced this policy, since discussions represent 30% of the final grade.

I have not taught students face-to-face, so I wonder if this is as much a problem in those situatations. Are online students gutsier about giving excuses? I am anxious to hear comments of other online instructors about accepting late posts and excuses in general. Do you have an all-time favorite excuse from a student? Please share.

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