Is there something I can do for extra credit?
A question that arises on occasion has to do with extra credit. Although I do include extra credit questions on exams periodically or
for attendance at special lectures, I don't offer extra credit for outside projects or additional papers and the like.
My rationale for this is rather simple: I have never, ever been asked about extra credit on the first day of class. Or right before the
first midterm exam. Very, very rarely before about halfway through a semester. Almost without exception, these questions always come up in about
the last quarter of the term when there is but one exam left, and they never seem to come from students with grades of C or better, or from
students who have come in during my office hours for extra help.
What this tells me is the students in question are not interested in extra learning for learning sake. It tells me these students have dug
themselves a hole, gradewise, and haven't really paid much attention to that fact until recently. And it tells me that only the impending end of the term has
provoked the thought "I'm going to get a bad grade unless I do something!"
If your exam results aren't what you want or expect, the time to "do something!" is immediately following the exam, not several weeks later. I am
more than willing to help you work at improving your grade throughout the term, but don't expect me to take on a large amount of addditional work
assigning, supervising and grading an extra project to save you from your own inattentiveness.
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