tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529647435872563341.post1058810165525202044..comments2023-07-05T06:55:53.577-04:00Comments on College Ready Writing: What's Your Attendance Policy?Lee Skallerup Bessette, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12243750156552824701noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529647435872563341.post-16532245950744060692011-01-24T14:42:56.734-05:002011-01-24T14:42:56.734-05:00I agree with JoVE that free-riding students are a ...I agree with JoVE that free-riding students are a drain on the class. I, too, have kicked students out for not being prepared but I'd love to have a few more carrots in my arsenal than that stick.Andy Rundquisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04900696452285397726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529647435872563341.post-45486413828015389922011-01-18T14:26:16.504-05:002011-01-18T14:26:16.504-05:00Hear Hear. I used to make it clear at the beginnin...Hear Hear. I used to make it clear at the beginning of the course that I didn't care if they attended but that I designed the content of the lectures and seminars so that it would help them learn and do well. I also said that if they didn't attend, I wasn't going to replicate class content in office hours but that if they attended regularly and had problems, I'd spend as long as it took helping them.<br /><br />I have also kicked students out of a seminar class for not coming prepared. I had designed the reading and discussion so that students would be sharing what they'd read with other students who had read something different and thus they'd all cover more material. About half the class hadn't done their reading and I told them that their time would be better spent in the library reading what they should have read before class, and the students who had done the work could have better discussions amongst themselves.<br /><br />They didn't believe me but I made them leave. As I recall, students came prepared after that.<br /><br />I guess that means while I see Andy R's point about attendance that affects other students learning, I'm not sure that having unprepared students in a discussion seminar is helping the prepared students. I'm not a fan of encouraging free-riding.JoVEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16680602039278597976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529647435872563341.post-41174138804719476682011-01-17T23:39:29.666-05:002011-01-17T23:39:29.666-05:00I only have attendance policies in classes where o...I only have attendance policies in classes where other students' learning is affected by an absence. An example is my First Year Seminar class where there's a lot of discussion and team work for their projects done in class. In my physics classes, I do happen to have a quiz every day but I've had lots of students get up and leave after the quiz. It's their tuition, so I don't usually say anything. <br /><br />One time, though, I was able to show the students a graph of their performance on a recent exam versus their attendance. Needless to say there was quite a strong correlation to be seen. I don't think it actually changed the attendance rate but I didn't get as many excuses after that for poor performances.<br /><br />I do have some colleagues who take attendance as a matter of course in all their classes. I think they are most often thought of as you thought of your Editing professor.Andy Rundquisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04900696452285397726noreply@blogger.com