Needs A Re-sit Reset

(A student on the course has failed to turn up to a class test, insisting it clashed with another module. I email him informing him that he has to take it or he won’t be allowed to do the final exam. I offer him the chance to re-sit it during a period when I’m not lecturing. He agrees and comes along.)

Student: “I can’t stay long, so could you just give me the questions and I’ll fill it in at home?”

Me: “You can’t do that. You have to do it here.”

Student: “But I have to catch the train home in ten minutes!”

Me: “Get a later one. The records need to show that you’ve done it in the hour we give you.”

Student: “Can’t you just mark me as here?”

Me: “No. That would be a breach in the rules.”

Student: “Well, I’ll just write my name and hand it to you. You can submit that.”

Me: “I wouldn’t feel comfortable wasting the marker’s time like that.”

Student: “But no one else is here!”

Me: “They’ve already done the test.”

(At this point, my boss happens to walk past.)

Boss: “Look, [My Name]’s gone to a lot of effort to arrange a re-sit and come here to observe. The least you can do is fill it in for him.”

(He mutters something, takes the paper, and goes to sit down. I sit at the front doing paperwork for an hour then go to check on him. I find that he’s written his name and filled the answer sheets with doodles.)

Me: “Why did you bother coming here?”

Student: “Well, it’s a stupid test. And I’m never going to use any of this stuff in real life. I shouldn’t have to do it.”

Me: “What do you think my boss would say if I came to the office and said ‘I’m just staying ten minutes today; it’s pointless anyway. You can just pay me for the whole day.’”

Student: “Well, you’re not doing real work, are you?”