UMass Boston

Making Up Missed Work

Recordings

Recorded classes

  • "I use a tablet and the projector in the classroom to have all my lecture work on my computer and projected on the screen for students in class. I also open a Zoom room, while sharing that screen, so anyone on Zoom can see and hear the same material from home. I also usually record that Zoom meeting so others can re-watch later."
    -Eric Semple (Associate Lecturer, Department of Mathematics)
  • "Video recording of class sessions should be an option for students who cannot attend classes regularly amid unavoidable circumstances."
    -Nurul Aman (Senior Lecturer II, Department of Economics)
  • Provide access to "recorded lecture videos from last semester using Echo360."
    -Jonathan Frankel (Senior Lecturer II, Department of Management Science & Information Systems)
  • "In-class courses are recorded on Echo360, online courses are always available, & I encourage students in both types [F2F or remote] to correspond & share ideas with classmates."
    -Edw. S. Ginsberg (Associate Professor, Department of Physics)

VoiceThread

  • "Having taught last year remotely, I developed lecture notes and VoiceThreads for every week of my course that coincide with learning that happens live and can make them available for students who have excused prolonged absences... With VoiceThreads, it is also possible to verify whether the student viewed the material."
    -Amy Cook (Associate Professor, Department Chair of Counseling and School Psychology, GPD of Counseling Program)

Lecture Notes

Blackboard

  • "Whether I teach online or on campus, I use Blackboard to store the weekly materials for students to access when needed. The materials can be viewable to all students, or the instructor can choose to make them accessible to only those who had an excused absence." 
    -Amy Cook (Associate Professor, Department Chair of Counseling and School Psychology, GPD of Counseling Program)

Missed Assignments and Labs

Makeup Work for Missed Assignments or Extra Credit to Bolster Low Assignment Scores

  • For more details on Prof. Chen's planning for student absences, see recording from Jan 20 TEACH session
    I provided "extra credit (paper, questions) available to make up to make up for missed weekly assignments or anything else." The information provided in the syllabus was: An optional 5-10 page paper on some aspect of environmental science of interest to the student may be written to increase the course grade. If well-written, the final grade may increase by as much as two-thirds of a letter grade (for example from C to B-). The instructor will be available to suggest topics and provide direction for this project. [Name of TA] must approve your paper topic by [date]. Papers are due by [date], the last day of class.
    -Bob Chen (Professor and Interim Dean, School for the Environment)

Missed Labs

  • "I had over 20 students in EnvSci121 miss required in-person hands-on labs due to Covid-19 and other issues. In Fall 2021, we were live, but in Spring 2021, I'd taught the course virtually using many new virtual labs. Several of these Spring 2021 virtual labs were based on SimBio simulations. For all students with excused absences, we allowed them to make up to 3 labs with SimBio replacements. Of the more than 20 students needing make-up labs, only 13 registered for one, 5 for two, and two for 3."
    -Eugene Gallagher (Associate Professor, School for the Environment)
  • For more details on Prof. Huang's approaches to missed labs, see recording from Jan 20 TEACH session
    "We had a plan each week for how students could make up the lab assignments. The lab part was complicated and required extra work from all (including TAs & lab coordinator) and the plan differed depending on the specific lab & goal of the lab."
    -Linda Huang (Professor, Department of Biology)

Alternatives to Attending

Guidance for Students Built into Course Design

Learning Design Services
Healey Library, 3rd Floor
Monday—Friday
9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Book a Consult Now
 learningdesign@umb.edu