Setting Deadlines for Student Projects

There are deadlines in every aspect of our lives. Some we create for ourselves, and others are imposed upon us. In preparing students for professional practice, interior design educators can make the deadline more than a Doomsday Clock; we can harness it as a teaching tool. To do that we need to understand the different types of deadlines at our disposal.

Hard Deadlines

Hard Deadlines are graded deadlines that incur some meaningful and immediate penalty if not met. Hard deadlines are useful in that they (1) provide students with concrete time management objectives, and (2) reflect the realities of our profession. Situations that may call for a hard deadline:

• Window of opportunity (e.g. Teacher has set aside two days for red-lining draft of construction documents)
• Interdependence with other people / projects / components (e.g. Project team needs the perspective by tomorrow to finish presentation)

Hard deadlines can create a healthy sense of urgency about the work to be done. Student feedback in my own course evaluations suggest hard deadlines offer tangible incentives to keep pace with coursework. The challenge, then, is not to let hard deadlines become a crutch. Soft / target deadlines provide opportunities to learn how to self-motivate without external incentives.

“You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish once you start focusing on results instead of time and effort.”

- Professor Peter Munton, Florida State University

Soft Deadlines / Target Deadlines

Soft Deadlines, or Target Deadlines are flexible deadlines that incur little to no immediate penalty if not met. Soft deadlines are useful in that they (1) provide low-risk opportunities for students to learn how deadlines work and (2) allow for timeline flexibility for both student and teacher, especially helpful the first semester you teach a course. Situations that may call for a soft / target deadline:

• No interdependence with other people / projects / components (e.g. Task is minor, will not impact other people, projects, or components)
• Safety net (e.g. Student will want to finish by this deadline to leave 48 hours for printing)
• Multitasking time management (e.g. Student has a test on the day the project is due, needs to finish early to study)

Soft deadlines allow students to learn to self-motivate and manage their time. Student feedback in my own course evaluations suggest soft deadlines are less effective than hard deadlines for major project milestones. Further, too many soft deadlines can create the illusion of vapor deadlines, setting students up for failure when a real deadline doesn’t just *poof*.

“I can’t grade what you wanted to do, only what you did accomplish in the time that was given to you.”

- me

Vapor Deadlines

Vapor Deadlines, borrowed from vaporware, describe deadlines that magically disappear whenever students fall behind. This is not the same as soft deadlines, see above. Vapor deadlines are toxic to students’ work ethic, time management, and ability to differentiate fantasy from reality.

I do not recommend the use of vapor deadlines. Sometimes deadlines have to change, I’ll grant you that, but teachers who habitually use vapor deadlines may find it difficult to prepare students for the realities of hard deadlines in professional practice.

Setting Deadlines – Hard or Soft?

So which is better, hard or soft deadlines? The answer is both (or, maybe, it depends). Both hard and soft deadlines have their place in the classroom. Like so many aspects of course planning, the question becomes “what are the desired student learning outcomes”? Refer to the hints above as you plan your deadlines. Is someone or something relying on that deadline? Is the deadline more of a guideline than a rule? What role does this deadline play in the overall project pacing?

I just finished a semester in which the deadlines of the final project were very well timed, resulting in a much higher success rate than the first project in the same semester. Student feedback, in conjunction with my own assessment, resulted in the following plans for next semester…

Integrate hard and soft deadlines. Pair an instructor-created schedule of hard deadlines with a student-created schedule of hard and soft deadlines. Students will receive graded evaluations to help them understand how well they meet instructor-set hard deadlines and un-graded peer-evaluations to assess how they’re meeting soft deadlines.

Set them up for success. We’ll spend a little time at the start of the semester by discussing the types of deadlines we’ll be using, what resources are available to help them meet deadlines, and what the penalties are for missed deadlines. This information should also be included in the syllabus and/or course policies.

It can be tempting to think that someone else, somewhere down the line, will teach them about time management. It’s possible, but the longer they go down that road the harder it will be to change course. It’s time to pay it forward with the hope that students take what they’ve learned about time management in one course and apply it to other areas of their lives. To do this they need to understand what influences their personal productivity and what motivates them. This requires some self-education. Discussion starters:

• Scott Young’s, How to Motivate Yourself Without Hard Deadlines
• Erin Falconer’s Time is All We Have: 3 Ways to Increase Return on Investment

What are your thoughts?

• How have you used deadlines as teaching tools?
• What resources have you used to facilitate student success in meeting deadlines?