LSU assignment feedback?

[cinderly]

I know a number of us have taken LSU courses to meet the odd requirement here or there. Maybe someone else has experienced this -- if so, how did you resolve it?

I'm currently enrolled in 3 LSU courses. I'll take the final for 1 of them as soon as my exam proctor reopens her doors after the New Year. The other two are in-progress and I'm getting increasingly frustrated.

Both courses are reading- and essay-heavy, so the grading is generally subjective.

My assignments are being returned with a letter grade, a numerical score (points received of total), and NO COMMENTS. My emails, notes, calls, letters, and smoke signals begging for feedback are being ignored.

I can't figure out what the instructor wants if s/he won't tell me, and apparently, that's not going to happen. (I've placed a call to Independent Study, but the folks I talked to this morning were of little help.)

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, did you resolve it (how?) or just power through and FINISH the stupid course?

I'm definitely wishing I could test out of the remaining requirements for my major and, at this point, I doubt I'll take another LSU course. Ever.

[cinderly]

OK, well here's an update -- I spoke to the Head of Independent Study at LSU.

There is no standard method of grading nor is there any requirement for instructors to offer feedback to students. I am unusual in my experience that college-level instructors will give students useful feedback and it is, essentially, unreasonable to expect that trend to bear out in LSU Independent Study courses.

I am rather unhappy with this outcome, but am relieved (if not pleased) that my courseload just got 6 credits lighter for the time being.

It remains to be seen whether I will wring some value from the courses by submitting nonsensical assignments for grading. Or perhaps high-resolution photos of my cats.

Alaska teacher certification renewal is on a five-year basis. Each renewal requires 9 credits of college-level work. I plan to teach for at least 20 years and will likely keep my certificate active for 10 years beyond that.

Guess LSU doesn't need my business.

[cannoda]

Originally Posted by cinderly

OK, well here's an update -- I spoke to the Head of Independent Study at LSU.

There is no standard method of grading nor is there any requirement for instructors to offer feedback to students. I am unusual in my experience that college-level instructors will give students useful feedback and it is, essentially, unreasonable to expect that trend to bear out in LSU Independent Study courses.

Bear in mind that most universities would NOT have a standard method of grading. There are two many differences across disciplines and even within a department/discipine, the tenets of academic freedom gives instuctors great flexibility.

To a lesser extent this is also true for feedback on assignement. The grade is the feedback. I can tell you that at many institutions, a dean wouldn't necessarily be able to tell a tenured instructor how much additional feedback to provide. The Independent Study Department? Not a chance. Their only available option is to not assign students to an instructor in the future.

[ShotoJuku]

I had a similar experience with the English Composition instructor (very little to no feedback) and never a kind word. On the other hand, the Music appreciation instructor was very generous with both praise and positive feedback making the course more enjoyable. Good Luck!

[cinderly]

Originally Posted by cannoda

Bear in mind that most universities would NOT have a standard method of grading. There are two many differences across disciplines and even within a department/discipine, the tenets of academic freedom gives instuctors great flexibility.

To a lesser extent this is also true for feedback on assignement. The grade is the feedback. I can tell you that at many institutions, a dean wouldn't necessarily be able to tell a tenured instructor how much additional feedback to provide. The Independent Study Department? Not a chance. Their only available option is to not assign students to an instructor in the future.

This is the opposite of my experience with the four other institutions I've done business with (UAA, BYU, EC, and UN Lincoln.) In my experience, the grade may be the record but the instructor provides additional feedback. Of course, the instructors I've dealt with at the other institutions have still been interested in helping students learn rather than expecting to collect a paycheck for minimal effort.

A standard rubric may not apply across an entire institution, but there are generally department-level standards. Even tenured instructors report to a Department Head and/or a School Dean. Or has that changed, as well?

Whether traditional univerisities want to recognize it or not, post-secondary education is a business transaction. I am paying LSU for a service that I am not receiving. I am not paying $229 per course for someone to tell me which books to read -- I can collect information for the cost of books, alone. I am paying for instruction, including feedback and clarification of my understanding.

If LSU is uninterested in providing the service I hired them for, there's little I can do to change their behavior. It's the first institution I've encountered where a request for feedback and clarification of an instructor's expectations was responded to as if it were unreasonable. As a consumer of distance education services, I find this response unacceptable and will choose other vendors in the future.

I chose to take courses through LSU because of the singularly positive feedback I read here and on other distance learning forums. It was because of this positive reputation that I continued to try to resolve the issue with the university. I am disappointed in the outcome, but, since LSU already has my money, I have little recourse but to withold future funds.

I would have appreciated knowing of others' less-than-stellar experiences prior to forking over my hard-earned cash.