5 - The Compassionate Instructor Doesn’t Always Award Extra Credit

Summary

Without fail, during the final week or so of each semester, I receive a small handful of e-mail from students desperately requesting that I offer them an opportunity to earn more points in the course so that they may improve their final grades. On some occasions, individual students will appear in my doorway during my office hours and make their case personally, often with tears in their eyes. Students generally justify their request by an emotional appeal to my sense of empathy, always implying that I am the only teacher who can save them from impending academic doom of great personal consequence. The most common reasons for their appeals include avoiding (a) being placed on academic probation or suspension, (b) losing an academic scholarship, (c) losing financial support from their parents, or (d) facing the disappointment (and sometimes the wrath) of their parents.

It is no surprise that such strong emotional appeals can be successful in inducing a teacher to help students overcome their dire circumstances. Indeed, it is difficult not to feel empathy toward students as they passionately plead their situation, especially in a face-to-face meeting.

When I taught my i rst college course 35 years ago, several students approached me individually and asked for a chance to earn more points so they could raise their i nal grade in the course. They each made their personal appeal, and in each case, I asked these students to write a short (4–5-page) essay on a topic of their choice. They all completed the task, and accordingly, I awarded them the points they needed to make the next higher grade in the course.