This question has been asked of me by a Tutor at UWCI
"I asked the question at the L&T workshop the other day about giving
students extensions on essays etc and you advised not to.
I have since checked that against the Ed Psych's reports on students he
advises extensions for assignments as well as examinations...
please help clarify!!"
My reply is written below, does anyone have other opinions on this?
Mark Boyce
Dyslexia Support Tutor(UWIC)
Extensions on essays should be through a process of negotiation and
therefore have to be taken on an individual basis.
Where time-management strategies have been developed through the support
given by a Dyslexia Tutor the question should not arise. However, if the
student has only received minimal support or if the time between questions
handed out and their completion dates are very short then essay extensions
may be given.
What we have to judge is whether reasonable adjustments have been made to
ensure that students are given an equivalent opportunity to demonstrate
their knowledge. Ed Psychs generally offer recommendations that may assist
us in doing making these judgements.
It is then down to us to decide what would truly benefit the student. As
was mentioned at the meeting, extensions can often have a negative effect
for the student, in that the time has to be made up somewhere else,
generally to the detriment of other modules.
It's a complicated area and one where there are many differences of
opinion. Mine is that unless there are extenuating circumstances such as
those mentioned above, then an extension will do more harm than good.
However, I will explore this further with Dr Richard Cook, our resident Ed
Psych and get back in touch about it.
I Hope this helps clear up your point.
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