Topic C: Academic EthicsQuestion 1:Read the scenario below c…
Topic C: Academic EthicsQuestion 1:Read the scenario below carefully. Apply course concepts about grading, extra credit, college functions, and fairness to analyze the situation. Your response should identify relevant ethical issues, explain which arguments from the course material apply, and recommend a course of action with justification. If you’re unsure about a concept, explain your reasoning as best you can. Partial credit is available for thoughtful attempts. (400-500 words)Professor Thompson has a strict no-extra-credit policy based on Pynes’ arguments. A student who has maintained a B+ average suffers a serious medical emergency three weeks before finals, missing crucial review sessions and performing poorly on the final exam, dropping to a C+ in the course. The student requests an extra credit opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the material after recovery. The professor must decide whether this situation justifies an exception to the no-extra-credit policy, and if so, whether this creates a slippery slope.Your task: Should Professor Thompson make an exception? If so, how can this be done without undermining the reasons for avoiding extra credit? Consider the alternatives to extra credit discussed in class and whether any would be more appropriate here.Question 2:Instructions: Choose ONE of the following prompts. Take a clear position, construct your best argument for that position, anticipate the strongest objection someone could raise, and respond to that objection. Then consider whether there’s a remaining weakness in your position and address it. If you’re unsure about a concept, explain your reasoning as best you can. Partial credit is available for thoughtful attempts. (400-500 words)Option A: The Priority QuestionPrompt: From society’s perspective (not just as a student or future employee), should colleges prioritize their sorting function (identifying and certifying capable students) or their educating function (developing student abilities)? Take a position and defend it. Then anticipate and respond to the strongest objection to your view.Option B: The Effort vs. Achievement DebatePrompt: Should grades primarily reflect student effort or student achievement? Take a position and construct an argument that goes beyond “both matter” to identify which should be prioritized when they conflict. Anticipate the strongest objection to your position and respond to it.Option C: The Fairness StandardPrompt: Consider this claim: “Extra credit is unfair to high-achieving students because it diminishes the value of their accomplishments—it’s a form of ‘theft of credit.'” Do you agree with this characterization? Take a position, defend it with argument, anticipate a strong objection, and respond.Option D: The Credential Inflation Trade-offPrompt: Some argue that being generous with grades (through extra credit, curving, etc.) helps current students but harms past graduates and future students by making degrees less valuable. Others argue this concern is overblown and that we should prioritize helping students currently in our classes. Which consideration should matter more to professors when setting grading policies? Take a position, defend it, anticipate an objection, and respond.Your Day 1 AnswerQuestion 1: In examining this difficult dilemma, I believe there is a clear answer; but first let’s lay out some common ground. Extra credit is most certainly theft against other students, past, present, and future, no matter what circumstances may lead to it. We could use the analogy of a poor family stealing food and supplies to live, things that may be considered necessary to life. Does the fact that they are in need provide a pass for theft? No, stealing is stealing and they would likely still be prosecuted by the store owner from which they stole. The store owner is suffering a loss, plain and simple. Now, we could also bring up that poorer families are often granted government assistance, EBT comes to mind. To explain easily, EBT is government funded resources for unfortunate families to be able to buy food and necessities. Another notable thing to point out, is that it may not be the family’s fault that they are poor, just an unfortunate circumstance.Now let’s dig in, a relatively good student suffers an unfortunate circumstance in the most crucial part of the semester, the end of it. Does this excuse the student to steal points through extra credit from the other students that may or may not have suffered any medical emergencies but still are able to come to class as required? No, however, there are some better approaches. The professor would be contradicting his previously stated rule of no extra credit to allow the student extra credit, even if it feels well deserved, but there are a few workarounds to this. To use some examples from class, an easy first argument against theft is allowing the student to retake the final exam after receiving and reviewing the instruction material they missed. This would remove any extra credit, and to ensure maximum fairness, the professor could allow all students to re-take with risk to their grade if they please. A second and slightly more forgiving alternative for our main student, would be to replace their bombed final exam grade with an average of all previous tests taken throughout the semester. This would remain clear of theft and extra credit, while also giving a true letter-grade value to the mastery of course content exhibited in the past months.All in all, Professor Tompson should not make an exception for extra credit. Doing so would not only lower his grading standards but contradict his rule. I believe that arguing for extra credit in this scenario is arguing for theft, which is really just a victim mentality disguised in a justified argument. Again, if I were to steal for my family to eat because I have been laid off and cannot find another job, I still risk being arrested for theft, even if being poor is “not my fault.” Just because you are poor it is not okay to steal, even if being poor is out of your hands.Question 2 (Option D):Prompt: Some argue that being generous with grades (through extra credit, curving, etc.) helps current students but harms past graduates and future students by making degrees less valuable. Others argue this concern is overblown and that we should prioritize helping students currently in our classes. Which consideration should matter more to professors when setting grading policies? Take a position, defend it, anticipate an objection, and respond.When looking at this prompt, the overbearing thought in my mind is the saying: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.” I would like to apply this logic to the topic, like so. With “being generous” to students by giving extra credit, there is a parallel to good times creating weak men. The generous courses are a clear good time as opposed to strict non-extra credit courses that don’t have such a cushion. Weak students are then created in the “easy classes” which go on to harm our workforce and the overall quality of students graduating with degrees. These weak students go on to create hard times for the future students which want to obtain the same degrees that no longer hold the same value, since they would be watered down by letting the mass of students pass and graduate with the crutch of extra credit.To take such a victim approach and say, “help me because I have to pass this class”, arguing for extra credit, is completely selfish. Is it not true to say that every student feels that they must pass every class?Additional Question for Day 2: You argued strongly that extra credit constitutes “theft” and recommended instead that Professor Thompson could “replace their bombed final exam grade with an average of all previous tests taken throughout the semester.” However, consider this: According to our class’s definition, extra credit is “an assignment that has the intention of increasing someone’s grade” with “no risk to your grade.” The replacement policy you propose would increase the student’s grade (from the C+ earned on the final to something higher) with no risk (since you specified it would replace the poor final grade, not average with it). In 150-250 words, explain whether your proposed solution is actually a form of extra credit according to the course definition. If it is, does this undermine your position? If it isn’t, what’s the principled difference between this grade replacement and extra credit that makes one acceptable “theft” and the other unacceptable?