As I recall, the student was asking to be allowed to make up work, which violates your "standards are the same for you as everyone else" clause.
My attendance policy is precisely what you suggest, for the reasons you suggest. I pay for it with grief from (a) our retention people who see causation in the strong positivie correlation between attendance and retention and (b) students who think being able to "skip at will" is a capital idea until they wind up with a lousy grade. Fortunately, the "contrariness gene" carried by all we Appalachians helps me cope with such annoyances. Cheers, James -----Original Message----- >From: Brett Magill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Feb 27, 2006 3:02 PM >To: [email protected] >Subject: TEACHSOC: 6-week absence: Confusing process with learning > > >Why the strong reaction against students who choose >not to come to class? I have a few hypotheses that I >will withhold. > >These are college students. They are responsible for >their own learning. Why not simply respond, "you may >choose to come to class or not, but the standards of >evaluation are the same for you as for any other >student." > >If the student can master the material without the >benefit of your lectures and participation in the >hands-on classroom exercises, then what difference >does attendance make? Why make college students jump >through hoops? If the student chooses not to attend >and fails, that too is their responsibility. > > ------ James Cassell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
