A recent tweet by Hannah Snyder has me thinking about academic deadlines. I love them as an instructor, and I did as a student. So do most of the 220+ in her comments; mostly by teachers. However, some noted a move away from deadlines at their schools. Others noted allowing more flexibility.
I've been seeing some posts from well-intentioned faculty about eliminating all deadlines in their classes. I study #ExecutiveFunction, #stress and #mentalhealth in college #students, and I'm here to tell you this will hurt the students you are trying to help. . . 1/buckle up
— Hannah R. Snyder (@Hannah_R_Snyder) January 20, 2023
IMHO, my assignments (with set deadlines laid out in the syllabus) have a lot of flexibility in terms of what students choose to do under the umbrella of an assignment. Pick your chosen topic, context, etc. I work only with graduate students, so my learner audience isn’t representative of all college students. I’m sure the Sunday scramble to wrap up a deliverable is irksome to some, but I don’t think they would like the alternative.
Certainly, I work with students in times of unforeseen circumstances, but I don’t buy into deadlines giving students a taste of ”how it is in the real-world” as work deadlines are notoriously squishy. Instead, assignment deadlines help our collective workflows as I attempt to scaffold their progress through the semester. Most of the assignments I design are project based with lots of interim deliverables as checkpoints for my feedback and opportunities for iteration and improvement toward their aims. With set deliverable deadlines, we also have a fighting chance of having a meaningful conversation in asynchronous discussions versus voices passing in the night. It’s always sad to see a reply appear in a discussion forum that wrapped up a few days prior. No one will see it or reply to it; like giving a presentation in an empty room.
Deadlines allow us to have peer reviews at similar stages of the development process when the feedback received can be incorporated into the next iteration of their work. I can suggest students pair up or network with others chewing on a similar issue. I can better manage my availability to offer detailed feedback that informs their edits and the next stages of work.
Maybe I am making everyone conform to my preferences, but it is interesting to skim the paper Hannah links offering support for deadlines as an approach to reducing academic procrastination. As a teacher, I don’t view my deadlines as an aid in procrastination, but I suppose I did as a student. Ultimately, I feel assignment deadlines allow me to give everyone a well-scaffolding learning experience that provides flexibility in other important ways beyond only a due date.
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