By Emma Hawkins
The months of October through December can pose a great stressor for professors as they scramble to get grades in from the semester as it comes to a close. Students can often put pressure on them to finish grading so they can evaluate where they stand in that class and how well they have to do on their final to get a decent grade.
Each professor has their own flow of things, and some are more aligned with students’ expectations than others. Some may give you a total of two grades all semester and not let you know until the last day of class, while others may give you three assignments a day and grade them immediately with strict due dates.
There are different perspectives when finals are near — one from professors and one from students. Students potentially feel intense anxiety about when grades will be posted, begging their teacher to put them in soon and hurry their process. On the other hand, professors have dozens of students’ work to grade across multiple classes. With a combination of being asked repeatedly when grades will be put in and balancing lesson plans and home life, it can be difficult to find a happy medium and please everyone in a timely fashion.
Seminar professor Raegan Harris has a goal to be noticeably organized with her grading schedule, with precise due dates for assignment and extended research projects that authentically improve writing skills and personal findings. She does not feel immense pressure from students to put in grades because of her well-thought out and time efficient schedule.
“I am pretty honest about how long it takes me to grade, and I try to be transparent about when they should get grades back,” said Harris.
One must also take into account what the class’s finals look like. Each class’s final also greatly impacts student grades. This could be a project, presentation, paper or cumulative test on all the information from the semester. To study accurately, students prefer using a study guide and reviewing past tests so they can determine what knowledge they have not fully acquired yet and they need to concentrate on the most. The grand idea of a final has a natural sense of imploring students to be stressed about grades, making a chain connecting to professors to put grades in as quickly as possible. This pressure can create a disparity in the relationship of teacher to student, making an unharmonious environment in the later months.
Students like to know where they stand in a class. Professors like to go at their own set pace, leaving room for angst from both parties when finals are around the corner. Have you started studying yet?
