Extension Penalties

Before applying an extension penalty, you should understand how each penalty method affects your student's assignment score.

Three extension penalty methods are available.

% unearned: A percentage of the point value of the questions answered correctly after the extension is granted. No penalty is applied if no more questions are answered correctly.
% total: A percentage of the total possible points for the assignment.
points: The specified number of points.

Each penalty method affects your student's score differently.

Example

For example, your student has earned 100 out of a possible 200 points. They then receive an extension using one of the three penalty methods and correctly answers questions worth an additional 50 points.

	Penalty Method: 20% unearned	Penalty Method: 20% total	Penalty Method: 20 points
Score before extension	100	100	100
Points earned after extension	+50	+50	+50
Penalty	-10 (20% of 50)	-40 (20% of 200)	-20
Final score	140	110	130

Important Because % total and points penalties are deducted as soon as a manual or automatic extension is granted, first ask your student to accept or decline a manual extension that imposes these kinds of penalties.

Best Practice Set the penalty to 30% unearned to balance the needs of discouraging late work and encouraging students to finish their work even if it is late.

Some instructors set a penalty that is based on how many days after the due date the assignment is submitted — for example, to deduct 5% for each day. You can replicate this behavior with manual extensions. Ask your student how much time is needed and manually calculate the penalty points based on the new due date.

Important Because granting an extension changes the student's due date, automatic point adjustments are based on each student's due date with any granted extensions. If needed, manually adjust the student's assignment score after the extension period ends.