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there was an episode of Family Guy where Peter and Chris were talking about Robot chicken. If you don't watch FG, what made it especially funny is that Seth Green is the voice of Chris.
Posted by: wRitErsbLock at October 24, 2007 06:01 PM (0Pi1o)
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Indeed. I love when the Seth Green doll pops up on episodes of RC, too. Or when they do Dr. Evil....
Posted by: caltechgirl at October 24, 2007 09:01 PM (IfXtw)
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In Best Buy the other day, my wife noticed the first volume of Voltron (the real one, with the lion robots). Included as a bonus on one of the discs was the Robot Chicken sketch where Voltron loses a dance-off to one of the giant monsters while everyone chants "SERVED! SERVED! SERVED!" That's crossover appeal.
Posted by: nightfly at October 30, 2007 11:33 AM (PuuC1)
Do I get Extra Credit for this?
Like Ricki, I HATE that phrase. Hate it.
But EVERY student, without exception, seems to utter it at one point or another during the semester. And they'll go the extra mile to get it, too. Troy University Professor Richard Scott Nokes writes:
Why is it that students who wouldn't scratch their bottoms to get a final exam grade will do anything for extra credit? Last week, I had midterm exams, and many students put, at the most, an hour's worth of effort into the take-home project (worth 25% of their grade). This week I gave an opportunity for extra credit, worth only a tiny fraction of the midterm, and the students are meeting after class and going to the Writing Center to work on it. Maybe I should start calling my regular assignments "extra credit."(h/t Prof. Taylor)
I feel your pain, sir. My subject is biology, not medieval literature, but the students approach is EXACTLY the same. They'll spend HOURS collaborating on a tiny piece of crap that is worth maybe 1-2% of their grade (if I'm feeling charitable), but brush off the actual studying. Which is, you know, the basis of 100% of their grade.
Interested, I decided to see if anyone has written a scholarly article on extra credit, and the psychology behind why students prefer it over just doing their work. A quick google search turned up page after page of syllabi with possible extra credit assignments from psychology classes at universities all over the country.
There are only a few articles looking at extra credit, and those look at it as a motivating factor, not why it is preferred.
(I put the rest of what turns out to be a longer piece than I had planned to write below the jump!) more...
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Hello,
I have happened by your site once or twice before but have never commented.
I am an undergraduate student, majoring in Political Science. I earned my A.A. in June and have since transfered to my current university, where I will earn my degree next November.
While I love extra credit, I look at it as a last resort. But I think your theory is right for most of my peers. I try not to look at it that way. When I was a sophomore, I took a class within my major, that should have been an easy A. I had a terrible test day on the mid term and while I earned full credit on all the subsequent assignments I earned a B. The professor, a retired Air Force Lt. Col., was surprised I had not asked for extra credit. It was my fault I did poorly on the mid term, not his. I did not understand why. Now I do.
Posted by: Archerychic at October 19, 2007 01:16 PM (QqM7O)
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You are so right about kids not 'thinking'. Even though I'm at the elementary end of the spectrum, I see the danger of the increased push for standardized testing and ONLY standardized testing as a means of recognizing gains. Kids are being taught to regurgitate facts without any semblance of understanding.
Posted by: Mrs. Who at October 19, 2007 02:39 PM (oHNtt)
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I think the "not knowing how to think" point is correct and quite brilliant. I wonder of some of the resistance to things like timed-testing in math (I remember doing timed tests for things like the multiplication table when I was a kid - they were stressful but you learned your stuff) and homework, and what is sometimes sneered as as "drill and kill" is coming from people who don't comprehend that work done outside of class reinforces what's learned in class.
You know, maybe I need to talk to my students about thinking and the importance of thinking about what you are learning. I kind of took it for granted that they understood that, but I guess now they don't.
I don't offer extra credit. Once in a while, if, as I'm writing an exam, I come up with a question that's really good but I know only 10% or so of the class would get, I put it on there as "extra credit" - it's a reward for the people who are paying attention and making connections that the average student isn't; it's not a way for someone who's slacked to salvage their grade. Once in a while in my gen. bio. class I announce a "homework amnesty" where I will allow people to complete and hand in any homework that they missed doing earlier. That's as close I as come to "extra credit" - giving them a chance to redeem themselves on the actual assignments. (And you'd think the people with Ds would jump at that chance. Nope, it's usually the A and B students who were maybe sick for one of the homework assignments who jump to do it and who thank me for the opportunity.)
Posted by: ricki at October 20, 2007 05:51 AM (qrkix)
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One of my favorite lines was when a classmate asked if there would be extra credit available the professor respond, "You should really be focused on getting your regualr credit done."
Posted by: the Pirate at October 21, 2007 12:46 PM (tM0AO)
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I had a professor one time who, when asked for extra credit by someone in the class actually assigned a 2 page essay for five points. Needless to say, I don't think many people ended up turning it in since the work was not worth the reward. I don't think anyone asked for extra credit again after that.
Posted by: Carmen at October 22, 2007 07:23 AM (9VWj+)
While we're on the subject...
Dafydd laments the loss of honest debate and cross-party friendships. You might disagree with his theories, but you have to admit that a lot of conservatives have lost a LOT of liberal friends to BDS over the last 7+ years....
