A complaint, reviews, and how to prepare for the exam

Professor,

I’m having a hard time understanding how you set up the homework assignments for the week (I thought homework was due the next week after we covered it). A few days ago you said 10.5 would be due on Friday, and there were some other miscellaneous chapters that needed to be removed. Today I log on to start 10.5 to finish it before the due date tomorrow, and now there are not only 3 assignments due tomorrow night, but two more assignments due 2 days later on the 3^rd, and our exam is on the 6^th. I feel like I’m doing my due diligence to keep up with what needs to be completed, but it’s not fair that you added these assignments out of nowhere. I’m only frustrated because I thought 10.5 was due this week, and I planned for it, now there are 3 total assignments to complete which will take anywhere from 6-8 hours, and two more assignments due on Sunday, another 4-6 hours, and we’re expected to study for the exam three days later.

The other part that is frustrating is that the due dates aren’t located anywhere else other than webwork (and since the dates have been wrong, I just look at what’s active and what makes sense to what you’ve been teaching in class), I tried to use the syllabus to see what will be due this week because of the webwork errors but could not find anything.

This also happened the other week for me, I logged on to see what would be due and there was 1 assignment from what webwork showed, but when I went to complete it Friday night, you had added another assignment ( which I’m okay with you adding homework but there was no sort of notification to let us know). It’s very frustrating because I’m trying to succeed in the class since I dropped this class last semester in session A, then failed session B.

I feel like the only way to track what assignments are due is to log on to webwork every day to ensure you didn’t make any changes to it. I also read over the syllabus and couldn’t find anything to answer my questions which is why I’m emailing you now.

Syllabus
“Homework: Homework will be performed using the (free!) WebWork online homework system (NOT the WebAssign system that accompanies the textbook).   Assignments will be due every Friday at 11:59PM.  No late homework will be accepted.  Homework assignment will reflect the material covered up to the *previous* Friday.  Assignments will be announced in class, here on this website and on your mat267 blog. “

Well, you raise some good points.
So, yes, we've fallen behind, due to my being out sick Wednesday (last week I think), and also my being sick but not out the Monday of that week.  And as you point out there is an exam to be taken next Wednesday.  And while I have some ability to shift the exam material, I think you will understand that it's also not ideal to add very much extra material in addition to that scheduled to the second exam.

Tomorrow I'd like to get input from the class (briefly!) on whether you would prefer to have sections 10.8 and 10.9 on the first test or the second test.

Allow me to bring the very first line of the syllabus to your attention:

Note: All items on this syllabus are subject to change. The instructor reserves the right to modify any of the following (including the dates of the tests) to meet the needs of the class or university policy.  Any in-class announcement, verbal or written, constitutes an official addendum/modification to this syllabus. It is the student responsibility to attend class regularly and to make note of any change. 

I said the very first day of class that we may push up the due dates before the exam, which constitutes an "in class announcement".

Some considerations:

• I  hadn't changed the due dates other than 10.5, because they were about where they needed to be for the exam.  I changed 10.5 because someone in the class requested it and it was reasonable. 
•  I understand the frustration though, so in response I've changed the due dates slightly. Perhaps I'll change them again depending on what I decide, based on class feedback, about material to be covered on the exam.
• I could announce the due dates and their changes on the blog, and I used to do that in the past. What seems to happen is that people wind up looking only at the webwork anyway, so I've fallen out of the habit.  
• The syllabus also about the studying you must do "continuously throughout the semester,"  which means that it's really a fine idea for you to be looking at the webwork every day.     
• It looks like I'll only get in one review day for exam one, sorry about that.  My preferred teaching strategy, in response to student feedback over the years, has become is to push a little harder on covering the course material early and then have a couple of review days before the exam.  The university has no policy at all about review, and is fine with teaching new material up the last minute of the last day before the exam, and I did that for years. 
• Likewise, people usually do better on the exam problems if they've done the homework problems first. I really don't mind having the homework due on Friday after the exam, and I'm happy to go with the class consensus on this.