EDITORIAL: Attendance should be factor for withdrawl
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion
As adults, college students should be old enough to make decisions for themselves. Yet, on the first day of every semester, these adults have a paper shoved in their faces dictating the maximum number of days they can miss from every class before being dropped. This does not seem appropriate for a service students are paying for.
If a person buys expensive concert tickets and decides not to actually go to the concert, should he be fined for his seat not being filled? No. Yet, in a way, this is what the university is doing when students are withdrawn from classes solely for a lack of attendance.
If a student can pass a class and never show up except for test days, it doesn't seem as though the student should be penalized for it. It seems as though the professors aren't doing all they can to encourage student attendance.
It is understandable that attendance is a big issue for professors who develop a lesson plan for a class of 30 and only 10 show up. Yet, there are ways for professors to ensure students attend their classes regularly without threatening withdrawals.
For instance, make attendance necessary to pass the class by having daily class assignments. Show the class a film and then tell the students to write a short essay on what they thought. Pop quizzes are another idea. Also, instead of lecturing straight from the text book, why not give additional notes outside of the text which students will need to pass exams?
Some teachers just make skipping class to easy. Teachers who tell students the first day f class that all grades will come straight from exams, make it easy for students to feel safe sleeping in, knowing there will be now pop quizzes or daily assignments to risk missing.
Then there are professors who post all their PowerPoint assignments to pipeline. While this is, of course, a nice gesture, it does not encourage students to come to class because class is coming straight to them whether they attend or not.
Students should not be penalized for passing and not coming to class. These classes are a service students are paying for. As adults, students know they take a risk for every day they don't show up in class. The "F" they receive should come from bad test scores and essays and incomplete class assignments, not from a simple lack of attendance. If students are passing classes without showing up then the students should get a pat on the back, and the professors should ask themselves what they could do to further challenge students in the classroom.
If a person buys expensive concert tickets and decides not to actually go to the concert, should he be fined for his seat not being filled? No. Yet, in a way, this is what the university is doing when students are withdrawn from classes solely for a lack of attendance.
If a student can pass a class and never show up except for test days, it doesn't seem as though the student should be penalized for it. It seems as though the professors aren't doing all they can to encourage student attendance.
It is understandable that attendance is a big issue for professors who develop a lesson plan for a class of 30 and only 10 show up. Yet, there are ways for professors to ensure students attend their classes regularly without threatening withdrawals.
For instance, make attendance necessary to pass the class by having daily class assignments. Show the class a film and then tell the students to write a short essay on what they thought. Pop quizzes are another idea. Also, instead of lecturing straight from the text book, why not give additional notes outside of the text which students will need to pass exams?
Some teachers just make skipping class to easy. Teachers who tell students the first day f class that all grades will come straight from exams, make it easy for students to feel safe sleeping in, knowing there will be now pop quizzes or daily assignments to risk missing.
Then there are professors who post all their PowerPoint assignments to pipeline. While this is, of course, a nice gesture, it does not encourage students to come to class because class is coming straight to them whether they attend or not.
Students should not be penalized for passing and not coming to class. These classes are a service students are paying for. As adults, students know they take a risk for every day they don't show up in class. The "F" they receive should come from bad test scores and essays and incomplete class assignments, not from a simple lack of attendance. If students are passing classes without showing up then the students should get a pat on the back, and the professors should ask themselves what they could do to further challenge students in the classroom.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
hypnosis
posted 11/25/09 @ 10:34 AM EST
Hate the ways that professors use to encourage student attendance.
online assignments
posted 11/27/09 @ 1:12 AM EST
Thanks author for such an interesting article!
Dr. Angela Bratton
posted 12/01/09 @ 3:24 PM EST
What the author of this piece fails to understand is that paying tuition is not the same thing as paying for a concert, although in both cases it is up to the individual to take responsibility to make the most out of the opportunity. (Continued…)
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