Rod wrote: I've pasted a copy of my attendance policy below. I would like to switch to a policy that doesn't deduct points for being absent. That seems awfully parental to me and not something that optimally prepares students for the adult world that awaits them after graduation. I'm thinking of developing a policy that reinforces good behavior (attending class) rather than punishes bad behavior (skipping class). Anyone have any good ideas for doing this? I would be interested in reading your attendance policies if you feel inclined to share. Looking forward to your responses.
************** Rod, I used to be at a school where we were not allowed to have an attendance policy. There, I used pop extra-credit quizzes. I told students that they would never know when there would be a quiz, but that there would be one at least once a week. I gave these at the very beginning of class; latecomers could not take them. They were just 4 MC-questions and were on either the assigned reading for the day or the previous lecture. (I was also trying to reinforce good study techniques.) Each quiz was worth 1 extra credit point toward the final course grade. After taking them, students would trade papers and we would go over them. This also served as review of previously covered material. (Then, someone complained about trading papers, so I stopped that part.) Even though there was up to 10 points worth of extra credit to final grade, it never worked out that I gave that much (usually, it would be 3-5 points). And, I never had problems with a grade distribution being too high. Now, I am at a school that encourages attendance policies and I have gone to a policy much like yours. However, I am rethinking that. Of course, you would think that if material covered in class is substantially different from the book, that would be reinforcement enough, but it doesn't seem to be. Students seem more tied in to points than knowledge (which shows up as points later on). I look forward to hearing about other ideas. Marcia Marcia J. McKinley, J.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology Mount St. Mary's College Emmitsburg, MD 21727 (301) 447-5394 x4282 [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
