Late Work from Students?

Do you accept late work from your students?

Here is a very recent Facebook Post from a former professor of mine:

“Cue that point in the semester where students who neglected to hand in assignments for the past 13.5 weeks want to know what they can do in the next 10 days to get an A. 🙄”

So what do you think?  Should a student turn in all assignments on time, teaching them a valuable lesson of deadlines?  Or should they be able to turn assignments in late so they can show mastery in the subject?

Is work rushed and not as polished if hard deadlines are kept?  Are students complacent if they don’t have deadlines?

I want to know what you think.  Please take part in this poll, and in the comment section, let me know why you gave your answer (and give an example if you have one).

I’m looking forward to seeing your response!

2 comments

    • Joe Liddle on May 3, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    The problem with it is that other students also missed the deadline and did NOT ask for an extension. Further many students misse dout something else in order to meet the deadline on time. If you give it to the late student that DID ask for the extension, but not the others, then you are not only rewarding lateness, and students that make demands like this, but you are also punishing the students that got it in on time and had to skip something else.

    One way that I handle this is I have one or two amnesty style events (ie Thanksgiving Weekend) where ALL students are allowed to turn in anything they did not hand in before. That is a potential benefit to all types of students. Also by being late in the smester you are only offering it to students that have a realistic chance of passing the course.

    In general my motto is to be strict about dealdines early in the semester and lenient later on.

    • Lisa Sadleir-Hart on May 4, 2018 at 9:56 am

    I accept late work up to 3 days past the due date with a 10% deduction off the top per each day late. Students have life issues that arise and need some flexibility AND that said in the workplace missing deadlines has real life consequences. I discuss my policy up front and routinely will remind students who miss assignments of the policy to encourage them to turn in work. I find that most students submit missed work within the 3 days and those with serious issues will reach out to me so we can develop a plan if need be.

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