H1N1 (Widespread Absences) Lesson Plan

Strategies you can use for your classes when large numbers of students are likely
to be absent or even when they are not.

 

• Give more and smaller quizzes: missing a quiz does not impact as much content. Make-ups are quicker. Also gives students feedback more often. 
• Drop the lowest test/assignment grade(s). (See our tutorial on advanced gradebook functions in Excel) .
• Offer "amnesty" quizzes, tests, or papers later in the semester as replacements for any missed assessments earlier.
• Record your regular lectures as podcasts and put on your course Web site or the Knight’s E-Mail’s SkyDrive.
• Record alternative lectures "after-the-fact" as podcasts.
• Optional make-up exams:  Students can request a make-up instead of dropping the lowest grade (must schedule within 24 hours of exam and take it before next class meeting).
• Provide online testing rather than face to face testing.
• Be flexible with deadlines:  Each student gets one or more Free Late Assignment passes.
• Provide lecture notes online via Webcourses, Knight's Email SkyDrive or other external Web site such as a wiki.
• Use multiple versions of tests with equivalent but different questions.  You could use Question Sets in Webcourses or test banks that come with many textbooks for this.
• Create online resources (readings, modules, activities) through a Web page or within Webcourses
• Faculty teaching the same course or in the same department could serve as substitutes for each other in case they become ill.
• Encourage students to notify faculty if they are ill rather than just not showing up in class.
• Visit the Faculty Center or email fctl@mail.ucf.edu for more ideas.