Student Thrilled to Receive Incomplete On Credit/No Credit Assignment, Will Learn More This Way

As the semester wraps up, students are rushing to turn in assignments and prepping for final papers and exams. Anthropology major, Max Turner (C 23), is no exception. One of his classes, ANTH 008, requires students to write 8/12 write-ups that are graded for completion. On Monday, Turner got a Canvas notification informing him that he had received no credit on his completed course write-up. 

Thinking it must be a mistake (0 and 5 are near each other on the keyboard, after all), he emailed his TA, hoping to correct it. In response, the TA wrote "It's not a mistake, I just thought you could have done better on it," as if Turner was really trying on the write-up anyway. While at first, he was angry about his TA's decision to grade a credit/no-credit based on quality, Turner soon saw the light and realized he would get a lot more out of the class if he did an extra assignment to make up for the incomplete. 

"I started thinking and I said to myself, 'Max, you signed up for this class, don't you want to learn as much as you can?' and I answered myself, 'not really, I'm just taking this for the History and Tradition sector requirement,'" reported Turner in an interview. "After a while, I talked myself into not being angry using a strategy I like to call lying," reported Turner. 

While the TA has taken over the curriculum opting to select his own required readings and essay prompts leaving the students unprepared for the exam, Turner is sure that the extra write-up prompt which the TA wrote will really help the course material fall into place. "I may not get an A in the class, but I sure am thrilled to have the chance to get a complete on next week's pass/fail assignment!"