James,
I agree. "Repeating" a lesson for the benefit of an absent student, is unfair to the students that attend classes on a regular basis.
Tremayne Simpson
I will help them before or after class if I have time but they need to realize they are adults and they really need to treat school as a job. Too many of them know on the first day how much time they are able to miss and when they get close to dropping due to attendance they are more likely to be in class. I do go over briefly in the first few minutes of class what we did yesterday, answer a few questions but I cannot repeat the entire lecture.
Jim
Charity,
I agree...using the portal as a course supplement, is an effective method for handling students that do not attend class. However, the primary issue that I have seen at my institution, is that some instructors frequently use the Portal and others, avoid it. This inconsistency can be replicated with the students.
Tremayne Simpson
One of the greatest tools that our school uses is what they call a "portal." A portal is where teachers can upload documents or resource links or notes and much more to a place accessible on the web. This works out great for any of my students who miss the class. There are some projects though that are challenging though to keep students up to date on. In one of the classes I taught, we recorded a band. Unfortunately, activities like that just aren't able to be replicated. However, I can give the absentee students an assignment to do based on the recording so they get some type of credit.
James,
I agree with this approach. Instructors must find the "stimulation" device that can be used to motivate their students. Unfortunately, some students are motivated by negative consequences and not intrinsic value. Therefore reminding them that they may lose an opportunity to earn points, could motivate them to attend class.
Tremayne Simpson
One technique that I have used successfully is to communicate to students via the course syllabus and in lectures that there will be assignments that are strictly "In-Class" assignments, and that missing those will impact student's grades.
I have found that most students GENRALLY respond positively to this kind of "stimulation". I do have to admit though that this does not work with all students, and so I address students that this does not work with on a case-by-case basis.
Donald,
I feel that early intervention is the best method for handling "at risk" students. If the intervention is "too late", than the student may not have an opportunity to improve their performance in the course. Also, if a student is aware that their progress is being scrutinized from the start, then they would be more apt to keep up with assignments and communicate with their instructors.
Tremayne Simpson
The latest plan to help in this area is the risk report, which is an Excel Spreadsheet for the students in the class. It has predefined columns to be filled out for each of the preceding weeks. Week 2, I fill out week 1 risk report [etc.] with risk level, percent grade and comments on what assignments that remain undone for those students at risk.
Part of it is so that others in the Administration can follow up with the students [I teach online Algebra]. But for my part, this report has to be in by Wednesday of the following week, so on Monday, I send out emails to students getting D's or F's with comments to trigger them into action. This seems to help. Many students seem to need a tap on the shoulder early on.
I have this problem as well with my students, and I find that there is no one answer to this problem. My first responce is to always have the student get notes from their classmates before beginning the day, I then aske them to come and see me so we can go over the information together to ensure they got everything. This helps the studnt get the missing information and allows me to check their understanding without spending all of my time trying to get the one student "caught up" because they choose to skip class.
Just a thought!!
-e
Lacey,
This is an effective idea. Enabling "peer-induced" learning is a great way to indirectly assist students in establishing their networking skills, which will be paramount once they enter the career world.
Tremayne Simpson
I also have them go to their fellow student for the information as well as any special skill that they have missed.
In many cases I ask the frequently absent students to meet with me briefly and to complete what we call a "student action plan". I prefer that they get the information from me and not from other students because we are a cooking school where the learning is more tactile. In certain settings there will be group activity where they can get info from other students, but mostly I do not want the performing students to have to deal with getting the absentee caught up.
olga,
It is also important to post all of the course material, onto the student portal. If a student is not able to attend class, they should not have an excuse for not completing assignments.
Tremayne Simpson
I always try to get them in to tutoring sessions, and show them how their performance gets affected for missing lecture days.
Calling, texting, or emailing are just a few ways I have reached out to absent students... I generally do not go over former lessons when a student is absent however what I do is I keep all handouts and will make copies of a fellowstudent's notes (after my student has asked them) so that the student takes responsibility for their own success.
Bret,
Thank you for posting this discussion thread, this is definitely a common issue for most instructors. I usually place the responsibility of "catching up", with the student that missed the class session. All of my assignments are posted on the student portal and the lectures directly relate to the designated chapter of study, so the student is responsible for reviewing these items and learning the concepts. I am willing to assist them (with clarity on a topic, assignment guidelines, etc.), however they have to show that they have reviewed the available resources first. If we are preparing students for the "career world", instructors must take every opportunity to instill basic principles (i.e. responsibility, autonomy, etc.).
Tremayne Simpson
I usually make a phone call to ask why they are not coming to class and that we miss them.
