Steven D. Krause, professor of English at Eastern Michigan University, says he used to be stickler for deadlines and attendance. He deducted letter grades for assignments every 72 hours that they were late and failed students who didn’t contribute to virtual class discussions. Then COVID-19 happened.
Now, he says, “I’m starting to really rethink the value of being such a hard-ass instead of trying to be like an empathetic human.”
Why the shift? Krause says he uncharacteristically spent a few hours trying to track down students who hadn’t checked in or who missed deadlines during the pandemic.
