Vignette 11: Mean or Median?

In this case I think that it would only be fair to calculate Joy's mark based on the median. I think this because it would best show Joy's achievement level in the course. It is not Joy's fault that she needs ESL support and that her family took her back to China for a few weeks. Joy is doing very well in the work she is able to complete that I do not think she should be punished with a low mark due to missed marks.

Even though this is how I would evaluate her if it came to that I think it is important that she try and make up the work before I considered the idea of using the median for her. I would try to work with Joy and her family to see if there were ways we could work around some of the obstacles so that she does not get behind and has the knowledge to succeed in her remaining school years. Especially for the big assignment that she ends up missing. In today's world, one would hope that there was a way for Joy to keep up and not miss the big project. Thoughts I have on this is if the time change is not too great then why not see if she can Skype with the class during school time? Or if it would be too hard then to give her help through email and let her and her family know what she could do to stay caught up. The reason I would push to try and get a mark for the big assignment is it would show me that she really does understand the material. It would be another form of proof that she is meeting outcome requirements. The only reason I hesitate to only use the work she has completed is that maybe she is just a really good test writer. I would want to get her to demonstrate in as many ways as possible for me that she truly does have an excellent grasp on the outcomes. So in conclusion I would make sure that the incomplete assignments did not affect her if there was absolutely no way for her to make them up.

If I was asked how I came up with the grade I would explain that there are extenuating circumstances in this case. I would explain that all the work that I have seen the student do leads me to believe that she has an excellent grasp of the material and is achieving the outcomes. I would then show them how I came up with the grade and make sure everyone understood how I came to the final mark. In all of this I would try to find a solution that was fair for the student. I would not want to punish them for something that is out of their control.