Background provided by Instructor: I teach an online class. The last exam was open for one week.  A reminder was sent out the day it opened, again mid-week, and then the day before it was due.  The exam closed at midnight on the last day.  At 11:00pm on the last day – with only one hour left – I emailed three students who had yet to take the class.  One of these students wrote back to me at 11:55pm (5 minutes before midnight when the exam and class were to close), after taking the exam in the final hour, to ask if I could reopen it for her to try again because she had not done well….. here is her email explaining her reasoning.  [I replied that I was not willing to reopen her exam.]

Student’s email: When taking the test on campus, I had an extremely difficult time staying focused on my exam due to a lot of noise being caused by a group of students coming in… resulting in my lowest prelim grade by far. I was wondering if it would be possible to retake it? I understand if it is not possible, but I’m sure you understand my frustration with at the situation. Thank you for all of your help.