Choosing whether to accept late work can be a tricky and touchy subject among online educators. Many instructors abide by the philosophy of grading any work submitted throughout the course as long as it is submitted before the course officially ends. Others do not accept late work at all. And some have specific late policies in place. The late policy varies based on the instructor and in some cases is based on an individual universities policy.
Personally, I am not a fan of allowing late assignments – at least not for an extended period of time, such as over the course of the class. For me, going back to grade late assignments can be very time consuming and I don’t want to take away from the time I have to grade final papers by grading an abundance of late work at the end of the course. I also feel that students truly should submit their work on time in order to learn responsibility and understand how deadlines work in the “real world”.
Many schools are eliminating late work entirely by allowing students to turn in assignments at any time during the course for full credit. Personally, I think this is a grading nightmare and does little to emphasize responsibility and timeliness in students.
Some colleagues that I work with do not accept late assignments at all. I understand this philosophy and it would definitely make grading easier. In this situation, students are encouraged to work ahead to ensure that materials are submitted on time.
I have found a middle area that I feel comfortable with in my own classroom. I allow students to submit assignments up to 4 days late with a grade reduction of 10% per day. Assignments submitted more than 4 days late are not graded and receive a zero. This allows me to only go back in to grade late assignments one time (5 days after the assignment was originally due) and gives students a bit of flexibility if they experience issues due to illness, work, or life commitments.
I am a very timely person myself, and therefore late submissions are an aspect of online courses that can easily get under my skin. Despite my 4 day late window, I constantly have students asking if I will grade an assignment after their opportunity to submit late work has passed, usually accompanied by a lengthy and elaborate excuse as to why they have not been able to submit their assignment. Personally, I am very strict regarding my policy and I do not budge regarding the late policy – no matter how sympathetic I might be to their plight. Applying the same late policy to all students seems to be the most fair in my mind, and it eliminates the need for students to develop lengthy excuses, because my late policy will always be the same no matter what their excuse may be.
My hope is that students who miss the late window or receive a significant reduction in their grade due to the late policy will keep this in mind throughout the rest of my course and in their other courses in the future to help them remember the importance of timeliness.
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
