Weekly Teaching Note

from the Faculty Center for Professional Development

May 12, 2008

A Radical Approach to Procrastination

Here's a weird idea you might consider for next quarter, especially if you teach upper division classes that have a significant writing component. Warning – there is no lifeguard on duty at this beach, so swim at your own risk!

A professor in an education department at a state university decided that he was tired of nagging procrastinating students, especially in his upper division courses in which students really should be taking charge of their own learning and time. So, he decided to create course policies that reflected his beliefs about student responsibilities.

In a class with three short papers and a longer writing project, the professor crafted a “no deadlines” policy. He provided some suggested early deadlines, but students could turn in any of the papers at any time, up to the final exam date.

The catch was this:

Papers that were turned in by the suggested early dates received extensive commentary and could be rewritten without penalty. Students could essentially work for any grade they wanted if they got on the job and handed things in.
Papers that were turned in before the final week of the term were not eligible for rewrites and re-grading, but the professor would comment on them and make suggestions for future work.
Papers received during or after the last week of the term received only a grade – no comments, no suggestions, no rewrites. Grades could not be appealed.

The professor found that his grading load during the term was better distributed; he received a few papers at a time that he could easily attend to. He did receive a load of papers at the end of term, but because he was merely grading without commentary, the workload was significantly lower at that time as well.

After a few terms of doing this, he found that about half the students took the rewrite option on at least one paper. Only about 10% of the students completed all their work in time to rewrite, and of course these were students who did not need much reworking anyway. A few “trait,” or habitual, procrastinators turned everything in at the last minute and took their chances.

Student feedback, he discovered, was mostly positive. Students appreciated the flexibility to plan their own work and the implied trust that he placed in them to manage their own schedules and lives. A few students, though, really wanted deadlines.

Pedagogically speaking, the plan has some benefits. First, it's much more like the “real world,” in which projects usually can't be revised if they are not handled early. Second, students rarely benefit from comments on work that they cannot revise; there is no use in giving extensive comments on papers that have received a final grade. Third, it does remove the responsibility for planning work from the professor and puts it on the students, where it belongs.

Obviously, this plan can be risky. Don't use this tactic with younger students, who are coming from the highly managed and directed environment of high school – with them, try bonuses for turning things in early.

If you try the no-deadlines policy, make sure your students understand the consequences. Give reminders and supports along the way for the work, and make the most compelling and useful assignments possible.

Reference:

Conners, K.J. 1995. Do it now! College Teaching 43(1):16-17.

Available as an electronic journal through the Cal Poly Pomona Library.

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