An Examination of Deadline Approaches in an Introductory Undergraduate Geography Course

Abstract:

When preparing an undergraduate course, instructors must specify how and when they will assess the student population. No standard exists, so assessment deadline enforcement is often up to the instructors. Recently, events such as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and shootings on college campuses have motivated some instructors to introduce flexible deadlines into their courses. This study compares the temporal distribution of quiz attempts between firm and flexible deadline approaches for an introductory undergraduate course, Introduction to Meteorology. In both approaches, quiz attempts were administered via an online Learning Management System. When using a firm deadline approach, the course was taught in-person during the Fall 2022 semester with 117 enrolled students. Each quiz was open for approximately two weeks prior to a firm deadline. Each student was allowed to request late access on up to two quizzes. Quiz attempts were distributed throughout the semester with peaks of attempts on the dates of firm deadlines. When using a flexible deadline approach, the course was taught in-person during the Fall 2023 semester with 200 enrolled students. Each quiz was open for approximately two weeks prior to a preferred deadline. Maximum flexibility was built-in with an automatic extended deadline on all quiz attempts set at the end of the semester. Quiz attempts generally increased as the extended deadline at the end of semester approached, with smaller peaks occurring on the dates of preferred deadlines.

Keywords: Geography education, Meteorology education, Higher education, Scholarship of teaching and learning

Authors: