On Thu, 03 May 2001 23:36:43 -0400 (EDT) Stephen Black
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> What's the downside? Well, if students can download a complete
> lecture any time they like, they don't have to come to class. So
> a professor might want to withhold information from the slides to
> ensure attendance. I used to think like this. But I decided it
> was more of a trick to induce attendance than a technique with
> sound educational justification.
>
> So I withhold information no more. Skeletal slides are gone,
> replaced by the well-nourished, plump with detail. I even include
> a complete reference for every experiment I discuss. Undoubtedly,
> attendance has decreased. But if students can learn the material
> without attending class, why should they be compelled to be
> there?
>
First, let me suggest that Stephen's theoretically-possible
state of affairs is not true in the main. Students already have
a fleshed-out set of notes from the beginning of the semester. It
is called the textbook. Stephen's possible students should be
able to read the relevant chapter and pass the test without ever
needing to come to class. So why should we ever lecture or hold
formal meetings?
I used to hold to Stephen's view but began to change my thinking
on the issue after one comment-note in a course evaluation.
This student complained that I did *not* require and take
attendance. This led me to question several students on
attendance policies, and, now, I view the issue as much more
complicated.
There may be many reasons why a student enrolls in a class;
a required course, catchy title, popular professor, and so on.
But the student begins without a framework for organizing the
material. Literally, the student can't just read the textbook
or read the Powerpoint slides and understand the material. The
student looks to the instructor to help him or her bring order
to this stream of factoids.
When I questioned my students about attendance policies, their
view of a policy that suggested that attendance was not required
was that the instructor would not be doing much to help them
understand the material in class. In other words, if class
attendance was not required then there would be little benefit
to attending class.
Secondly, my students wanted it to be known that they were
fulfilling their part of the implied bargain of enrolling in a
class. They wanted me to know that they were working hard to
understand the material. They did this by coming to class,
taking notes, and asking questions. One example benefit for them
was that if I knew their attendance rate was decent then they
felt more confident in asking questions out of class or asking
me to re-explain material in class.
So now I have a compromise attendance policy. I stress the
importance of attendance. I record attendance on an irregular
basis. I note the attendance pattern of a student in informal
interactions with that student ("I'll be glad to help you with
that material because I see that you are coming to class and
trying to understand the material").
And the consequences of nonattendance remain the same, the exam
scores...
Ken
----------------------
Kenneth M. Steele [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept. of Psychology
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
