Advocate Online

The Dialogue Question:
Should professors consider student absences when determining grades?

Yes, student-centered, participatory learning requires attendance.

Participatory learning has been found to produce positive learning outcomes, creating an environment that improves rote memory, the assimilation of material, and the application of information to new situations. This synthesis and creative application of new material obviously can’t take place without the student’s presence.

As Janzow and Eison state in “Grades: Their influence on students and faculty,” (The Changing Face of College Teaching, 1990) students will focus on what the educator indicates is of value, and that value is defined by what is graded. Grading attendance reinforces attendance as important; for the educator to say participation is important and then to ignore attendance sends a mixed message.

Another reason to grade attendance is that it is a behaviorally specific means of determining involvement; it avoids the inherent problems of monitoring and recording involvement, judging the quality of participation, and grading the “shy student” who may be processing the information but does not speak up.

In addition to enhancing the learning atmosphere, requiring attendance prepares students for the workplace. Poor general employability skills have been found to be the primary reasons for employee discharge, rather than the lack of job specific knowledge. If educators want to provide an environment that translates into continuous employment we need to emphasize attendance and other job skills to prepare students for the world of work.

In the end, while grading attendance is important, it is only a measure of classroom involvement. It remains the responsibility of the educator to involve the student in exciting learning and create the best possible learning atmosphere.

* Gregg Jozwik, is an instructor at Waukesha County Technical College, Wisconsin, teaching human services and addictions studies. He is a clinical substance abuse counselor and an active member of the Waukesha County Technical Educators Association/NEA.

No, attending class is behavior that should be expected, not required, of college students.

Jim Peitersen *

In my opinion, we should not consider attendance when calculating student grades. This is a disputed issue in academe, so I only hope to add some insight to the larger debate. I do not take daily attendance in my classes, nor do I include attendance points in my grade calculations.

Why? The most compelling reason for my decision to ignore attendance in my grading considerations is that I teach at a college. I’ve always believed colleges and universties are institutions of higher learning serving adults—no matter their age—who voluntarily attend classes. What purpose is served by forcing these adult students into a mandatory attendance scenario in our classes? Most instructors place at least some of the responsibility of “learning” on the students—studying, assignments, projects, assessments—yet some relieve them of the responsibility of attendance by mandating it in their classes. Are these not contradictory ideals?

I realize that the stock argument for attendance policies is the history of studies that indicate better attendance is directly correlated to higher information retention and grades—which I do not dispute. Whether this enough of a reason to justify a mandatory attendance policy, I am not sure. I believe that each instructor should feel duty-bound to make their classes as interesting as possible, thus encouraging attendance through positive means. How are we teaching personal responsibility by mandating attendance?

Instructors could ask the students to assume the responsibility of attendance in their classes, while reminding them of both the positive and negative consequences of their actions. I choose to treat my students as adults and respect their decisions, good or bad!

* Jim Peitersen, an American Studies Instructor at Walla Walla Community College in Washington, has been an active member of the Washington Education Association for 11 years, serving as a past president of his local Association, and a two-term vice-president of the WEA-HE.