Everyone has known "that student" at one point in time. You know, the student who doesn't follow through, winds up with a bad grade, and consequently blames the instructor. I admit, I've had a crack or two at being that student and I'm willing to bet that everyone has once or twice. So when my students have one of "those days" I try my best to cut them a little grace and do my best to help them accept responsibility for their actions.
But every once in a while I get to meet a student who has made their academic career by being "that student." These types of people are horribly frustrating to deal with because no matter what you do, the student refuses to admit that he or she is in any way responsible for his or her actions. Grrr!
I had to deal with one of these students today. We'll call him Pete. Pete screwed up big time on a recent assignment and when he received his grade, he insisted that it was my fault. I had a hard time being sympathetic because he performed his assignment last and so had numerous opportunities to observe the other students performing their assignment. He also got to see an in-depth demonstration and had everything in writing. So really, there was no reason for the heinous error he made in his assignment.
No matter how many times I explained things to him, though, he refused to believe that it was his own fault and not mine. What makes matters worse is that he has a learning disability, but has not taken advantage of ANY of the resources available to him.
So I'm at an impasse. He wants a higher grade, but I feel like he should deal with the consequences of his lack of attention to the assignment parameters. However, I also feel a bit sorry for him because he is dealing with a learning disability.
What do I do? Should I bow to the desires of my guilt complex and allow him to make up some of the points? Or should I encourage him to "man up" and do better next time?
A little help, please!
2 comments:
I say he needs to man up. It's good that you feel compassion toward him, but you're right in that someone can't just make a scholastic career of arguing for their grade--that won't fly when they hit "the real world". That, plus what you mentioned about him going last and not taking advantage of resources available clearly points to an irresponsibility that he needs to deal with before he can be expected to advance. You can't argue your way out of everything.
People with learning disabilities also often have social skill deficits as well. I would say something like, “I understand that you are not happy with your grade. I’m not willing to change it (unless you re-do it as directed?). In the future, let me know if I can help in any way when you are doing the work; I would be happy to give you feedback along the way.”
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