At 11:07 AM -0600 12/2/02, Paul Brandon wrote: > >2. We can rely on natural contingencies -- those inherent in the behavior itself and >not requiring someone's planned intervention. Again, there are two categories: > a. Making attending reinforcing in its own right > (lectures as 'dog-and-pony shows' -- see "PowerPoint"). > b. Assuming that attendance has or will acquire conditioned reinforcing > properties through its association with better class performance > and grades. > or through a general conditioned reinforcing value of learning > (acquiring new behavior has become a generalized conditioned > reinforcer because it has been paired with many other reinforcers.
Because of the delay between attendance and its effect on learning and grades, the conditions for learning that attendance affects grades are far from ideal. Perhaps it can be improved if after exams you identify questions that were only available by attending lecture. This at least would provide specific feedback about the value of attendance and note-taking (compared to other exam-prep activities). I don't currently require attendance in any of my courses. One of my undergraduates mentioned to me that he works (nights, I think) and requiring attendance would provide that extra boost for him to come to class (as he knows he ought to do). If I am remembering correctly which student it is (I have pairs of students who are confusable), then he has, since making that comment, become a more regular attendee. Still, it's a thought, although I lean less toward a requirement than for making it something for which I could award extra credit (the ol' discretion to increase grades a notch) so that all I would need to determine was who was attending regularly. Speaking of what needs to be done to fulfill class requirements, I notice some new articles in the Chronicle, as well as an accompanying Colloquy topic (http://forums.chronicle.com/colloquy/read.php?f=1&i=768&t=768), on the lack of time spent studying by college students. I also coincidentally happened to hear from a former TA for graduate stats about the student workload for stats last year. The students were claiming it was (too) high, but when he polled them about how much time they spent outside of class, few spent more than nine hours a week, which apparently was less than they perceived it to be, but more than they had been accustomed to as undergraduates or perhaps even in some of their other classes. Before anyone flames me about how much time that is (yes, up to 12-13 hours per week), let me say that I know it's high for a 3-credit class, and when I was an undergraduate (at a school which used course units, which were expected hours per week), most 9-unit classes (the approximate equivalent of 3 credits) were in fact about 8-9 hours, for me anyway, some were a little less, and everyone understood that some methods-heavy or project-heavy classes were actually more like 12 units, although not necessarily so rated. We knew not to take two of those in the same term. So in short, I wonder if students are gradually expecting that less and less is actually necessary in order to obtain a college degree, including, that attendance is not necessary to the purposes of college. Charlotte -- =============================================== Charlotte F. Manly, Ph.D. Psychological & Brain Sciences Assistant Professor 317 Life Sciences Bldg ph: (502) 852-8162 University of Louisville fax: (502) 852-8904 Louisville, KY 40292 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/psychology/ http://www.louisville.edu/~cfmanl01 USE 40208 ZIP CODE FOR FEDEX --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
