General Syllabus
Please see the syllabus on your course website for policies related to your particular class. General policies governing all my courses can be found here. I reserve the right to modify, change, and supplement the syllabus as needs arise. I am looking forward to an excellent semester with you.
Communication
I ask that you provide me with the respect that I should spend my time engaging with students in meaningful ways, not pointing you to material you can find on your own. Be sure to check the syllabus, course website, course content, and classmates before emailing me. This is important training for life after college – when you have a question, the first thing you do should not be to email your boss. I do not want to discourage you from engaging with me. I love teaching because I love interacting with students. However, I do not want to engage with you in ways that nurture your inability to critically think and prevents me from engaging with other students.
I am committed to checking and responding to email from students within 48 hours Monday-Friday. If 48 hours have passed (M-F) and I have not responded, please forward your email again. It likely got buried in my inbox and I will welcome the reminder. If you email me regarding an assignment less than 48 hours before the due date, you cannot reasonably expect a response before the assignment is due.
If you are ever uncertain about the purpose of an assignment, the learning objectives of an activity, or how an assessment will be graded, please reach out. My goal is to be organized, thoughtful, and transparent. All my assignments were thoughtfully chosen. There is no busy work or unnecessary required course material. If I have done a poor job explaining the motivation for any aspect of my course, please let me know so I can be more clear.
Posting of grades
Once a grade has been posted for five business days, it will not be changed unless there is documented evidence that the student attempted to address the grade with the relevant teaching staff beginning within this five-day timeframe.
Academic Integrity
As your instructor, I am obligated to report suspected academic misconduct.
Vanderbilt operates under the Honor System, established when the University was founded in 1873. All work submitted as a part of course requirements is presumed to be the product of the student submitting it, unless credit is given in the manner prescribed by the course instructor. All students—full-time, part-time, and visiting/transient—are subject to the policies of the Honor System. For more information, complete details are outlined in the Student Handbook.
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/the-honor-system/
Artificial Intelligence
I am excited about generative AI. I think that students are best served by becoming familiar with generative AI. I am interested in allowing AI to be used in many cases in my class, provided it is disclosed, per the Vanderbilt University Academic Affairs Guidance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. When considering using AI, students should ask the teaching staff if it will be permitted on a particular assignment.
Casual rigor
It is one of the greatest gifts of my life to have the opportunity to share my passion for psychology with undergraduates. The energy that I get out of interacting with people at your stage of life is one of my favorite ways to spend an hour. I love getting to know you, getting to cheer you on in and outside of the classroom, and having the opportunity to teach you about psychology. However, do not misinterpret my interest in supporting you and the casual and welcoming environment that I like to cultivate as a lack of expectations and rigor or as an open door for departing from the honor code. My classroom (virtual and in person) is both a warm, welcoming environment and a place of rigorous expectations.
Student Access Services
All reasonable accommodations will be made for students registered with the Student Access Services Department. Any requests that are not approved through their office will not be granted.
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/student-access/
Accommodations not specifically requested by SAS in official SAS letters will not be made.
Although I will accept SAS paperwork at anytime during the semester for future assignments, retroactive accommodations will not be made.
Statement on sexual misconduct/relationship violence
“Vanderbilt is committed to providing a community built on trust and mutual respect, where all can feel secure and free from harassment. Sexual misconduct including sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking, violates a person’s rights, dignity and integrity and is contrary to our community principles and the mission of the college. The University is committed to fostering a community that promotes prompt reporting of sexual misconduct and timely and fair resolution of sexual misconduct reports. Creating a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment is the responsibility of everyone at Vanderbilt.
We encourage all members of our campus community to seek support from the Project Safe Center; 615-322-7233. We encourage community members to report all incidents of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct directly to the Title IX Coordinator (615-322-4705). Staff in these departments will assist in eliminating the misconduct, preventing its recurrence, and addressing its effects.”
Emergency Preparedness
“The safety of students, faculty, and staff at Vanderbilt University is of the utmost importance. As a Vanderbilt student, you are automatically enrolled in AlertVU, which is used in emergencies which pose an imminent threat to the community. If you need to contact the Vanderbilt Police in an emergency, call 911 from any campus phone or (615) 421-1911 from any other phone. Additional information about emergency preparedness is available online.”
https://emergency.vanderbilt.edu/vu/quick-ref-guides/
Inclusivity and Diversity
This class will respect differences in background and identity. One way in which we will endeavor to do so will be to use respect and withhold judgment when sensitive topics occur in the reading and class discussion. Dr. Maxcey is open to any and all conversations offering suggestions on how to better respect differences in background and identity. Please be aware of the below offices and services on campus supporting historically minority groups on campus.
The Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/diversity/
The Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Life: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/
The Black Cultural Center: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/bcc/
The Women’s Center: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/womenscenter/
Get to know me
You can learn more about me from a podcast interview I was invited to conduct with a former student on The Express Podcast found here.
Grades: If your course includes contract grading, keep reading. Otherwise, stop here.
There is plenty of evidence that grades are problematic. Grades can stifle the desire to learn and they steer students away from approaching challenges and addressing their flaws. The problem is that in life we often can’t steer away from challenges. College should be a time for growth, a time to address our flaws.
Each semester I re-evaluate my courses to figure out how to reward growth within a system that requires grades. The pressure of grades can cause students to lose their love of learning. I know this is partly the fault of the educational system. Students have had to trade on previous success to get here, and may not know who they are without that A. If you don’t know what else you are besides an A, I hope you don’t get one in my class. Learning who you are, meeting a challenge head on, and addressing your flaws are worth so much more than an A.
Showing up in hard moments and challenges are what make a good life. I have fallen in love with teaching specifically because it is hard. I love research because it requires creativity, and I am not a naturally creative person. I love parenting because it requires patience, checking my own ego, and giving up control, none of which come easy to me. If my courses don’t challenge you to grow, then you deserve your money back. Vanderbilt is not selling you an A when it accepts your tuition money. You are paying for an experience in which you will grow.
Contract grading
The goal of contract grading is to focus more on growth across multiple areas (e.g., course content, responsibility, setting reasonable goals, planning ahead, checking your own progress, communicating maturely with your professor) instead of requiring perfection in the course work. A contract grade is a grade that you and I agree to in writing at the beginning of the semester. I articulate what you must do to achieve each grade in the course, you seriously contemplate the effort you will put into the course, and then you pick one of the grades. Then you agree to do the outlined activities to earn the grade you select. Instead of receiving individual grades for your work, you will complete the outlined work, revising if necessary, until it is satisfactory to fulfill the obligations of your contract. This might involve completing assignments on the first attempt or it may mean you respond to my feedback through revisions or retakes and resubmit. In this way, you can earn an A in a course by completing all work included in the A grade contract to the level of ‘Satisfactory’ rather than perfection. This creates the freedom to wonder and be intrigued, rather than stress to be perfect. To be granted this freedom, students must responsibly set goals and communicate regularly with their professor. Contract grading also gives me the opportunity to address each individual student’s needs, by providing more opportunities to students who need to revise their work, and more nuanced feedback to students who are already achieving above their peers. In this model, everyone should leave the class with value added. Contract grading also helps me understand each individual student’s goals in this course so I can cater my attention and support as efficiently as possible.
What are the benefits to contract grading for students?
· Satisfactory work can earn an A, removing the pressure to achieve perfection and instead cultivating a love of learning, opening students to the possibility of wonder, interest, and intrigue.
· The agreement to earn satisfactory work means revising or retaking assignments until a level of satisfaction is achieved. This places less emphasis on being perfect right out of the gate and more emphasis on rewarding sustained, meaningful effort.
· With the exception of the last month of class, students are not locked into a contracted grade or risk failing. Students are encouraged to reflect and re-evaluate their contracted grade and be in contact with their professor when modifications are necessary. This cultivates more of a partnership between the professor and student than some traditional models of grading, through encouraging regular communication for student success.
· One cannot pass the class without thoughtfully planning their semester, considering how much effort they will allocate to the course, regularly reflecting on their performance, working in partnership with the professor, responding to feedback, and completing assignments to a satisfactory level. Responsibility, self-reflection, growth, and effort are built into the grading system. Developing these life skills is part of the college experience, with contract grading they are better integrated into and articulated as course requirements.
· Contracts are an opportunity, a requirement actually, for the student to be in constant communication with the professor about what they aim to get out of the course. This allows the professor to know how to support each student - expressing concern for students performing below their contracted grade while continuing to support students who are on track to successfully fulfill their contract.
My approach to contracts
In each course I will outline the basics of what would satisfactorily comprise each grade. You will use that information to complete a contract that you will submit for my approval by the date specified on your syllabus.
Your contract must include the following components. Students must use the exact wording here with the exception of personalizing your contract.
1. A declaration of the grade you aim to earn (e.g., “During the Spring 2021 semester I, Ashleigh Maxcey, contract to earn a B in PSY 2100 Quantitative Methods.”
2. A list of the requirements you will meet in order to receive the grade for which you are contracting. This is the information that I have outlined in your course-specific syllabus as the basic requirements of the grade for which you are contracting. You need to include the list here along with due dates that I provide.
3. A declaration that you agree to revise all contractual assignments as necessary until Dr. Maxcey deems them satisfactory within a reasonable amount of time.
4. An acknowledgement that you will not earn a grade you do not contract for, with the exception of a plus (assigned only for B and C grades and not when you have failed to fulfill your contractual assignments), “D,” or “F.”
5. A commitment to be personally responsible for the labor involved in earning the contracted grade, as well as an agreement to reach out to the professor as soon as it becomes clear you need to adjust your contract, acknowledging that this will not be possible during the last month of the course (with the exception of major life events).
6. An acknowledgement that the contractual assignments listed comprise the minimum amount of work necessary to earn the contracted grade. This system allows you to clearly understand the minimum investment in the course necessary to earn your contracted grade. Having the minimum requirements transparently listed ensures fairness across all students and equality across final grades.
7. An acknowledgement that additional resources, content, conversations, assignments, mentorship, office hours, suggested readings, advice, and opportunities are available to each student, but are not being forced on to you to earn a grade (nor will requesting them have any impact on your grade) and are thus your responsibility to request. This system removes optional assignments from the course requirements and teaches interested students to proactively engage with their education.
8. Two spaces for signatures, yours and mine.
You must submit one signed contract to me by the due date on the syllabus. I may respond with revisions to your contract or I may sign the initial submission.
Your grading contract will be considered fulfilled when you submit your final self-assessment at the end of the semester, demonstrating that your work has met the agreed upon requirements, by the date outlined on the syllabus. Be sure that this assessment includes (1) your signed grading contract, (2) a list of all assignments required by the contract and whether you completed each at the satisfactory level, (3) a self-assessment regarding whether you believed that you earned a plus (not available for ‘A’ grades at Vanderbilt) or other final grade (only ‘D’ or ‘F’ are available) if you did not fulfill the contract, (4) a reflection on your growth this semester, and (5) an evaluation of the course. Please combine all files into one submitted PDF. None of the sections need to be longer than one paragraph.
What other grades are available at the end of the semester?
Exceptional work, labor, community membership, and strength of character may be rewarded with a plus added to the contracted B or C grade. The Vanderbilt grading system does not include A+. Minus grades are inappropriate in this system because contracted grades are the minimum amount of work required. You either fulfill the requirements of your contracted grade or you do not. Therefore minus grades will not be used. Failure to fulfill your contract will not result in a minus. Failure to fulfill your contract will result in a ‘D’ or ‘F.’
Contract Adjustments
Throughout the semester I will encourage you to evaluate the work you have completed against your contract. At such times, you can request an adjustment to your contract in either direction. If you discover that you will be unable to meet the obligations of your contract, you may request to move to the next lowest grade and its requirements. If you find that you have been performing above the obligations of your contract, you may request to fulfill the requirements of the next highest grade. Some adjustments may require more in-depth conversations to ensure we both agree that the change is in your best interest. Other adjustments will be straight forward. Remember, just as you and I both had to agree to your initial contract, you and I both have to agree to any contract adjustments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I earn a grade that is higher than I contract for?
No. You can earn a plus for your contracted grade in recognition of additional, exemplary effort. You can not contract for a B and then expect an A. Remember contract grading requires responsibility and growth, and that means honestly taking responsibility for the effort you intend to put in to the course. If you are not willing to commit to the effort required to earn an A through your contract, then you do not deserve the grade of an A. If you contract for a B and do most or all of the work to earn an A, then that extra labor will likely be deserving of a B+ assigned at my discretion. If you are putting in the effort of a higher grade, and you intend to sustain that effort, then you are welcome to contact me to revise your contract until the last month of the course. You will, of course, need to fulfill all the requirements of that higher grade by their posted due date.
Can I earn a grade that is lower than I contract for?
Yes, but the lower grade will be a D or F. If you contract for an A, you will not earn a B or C. Remember one purpose of contract grading is to reward labor and effort, as well as responsibility, growth, and self reflection. If you contract for an A but you do not put in the effort to earn the A, and you do not reach out to modify your contract, then you have not shown reasonable effort, growth, responsibility, or self reflection. Such behavior would not deserve even a B or a C. If you are unable to fulfill the obligations of your contracted grade, then contact me to revise your contract.
What happens if I realize that I will not be able to fulfill my contracted grade requirements?
One purpose of contract grading is to engage the student in the evaluation of their work, reward effort, promote responsibility, and encourage growth. To this end, I welcome the opportunity to work together to revise your contract, in either direction, if you determine that your effort aligns with a different grade. This does require open and honest communication throughout the semester and not just after several weeks of failure. Ongoing, mature self-assessment is a necessary pre-requisite for me to agree to contract modifications. Contracts will not be revised in the last month of classes (or last week of Maymester and Summer Session), with the exception of major life events.
What are the most commonly encountered misconceptions of contract grades in your courses?
There are two recurring issues that I have encountered with contract grades in my classes.
The first is a lack of confidence. When a student does not contract for an A, it’s almost always a female-identifying student in my statistics course. I typically respond to these contract grades by encouraging the student to complete all the assignments of the A and re-contract for the A if they are able to complete the A work satisfactorily. All students at Vanderbilt are able to earn an A in my classes. I wish they all had that confidence coming into the semester.
The second is a misunderstanding of the lack of wiggle room in these grades. The nature of contract grading in my courses is that I have outlined the minimum amount of work required to earn the contracted grade. That means there is no wiggle room if a student does not meet the deadlines or expectations. Students should endeavor to work ahead, set higher goals than the minimum requirements, and effectively manage their time to earn the contracted grade. Falling short of the requirements for a contracted grade has the consequences outlined in the contract.