Attendance Challenge
Attendance is by far my biggest challenge. I have a general education class in computer science where classes are 4 hours each for 10 weeks. If a student misses a class it is nearly impossible for them to make up the work. I spend a lot of time in the first class reviewing the syllabus and the importance of being in every class. I spend more time helping them to understand the reliance that society and every workplace has on computers. I use real current examples across many fields including theirs, but it does not always help. The problem is that they are adults with jobs and families and school in most cases comes in 3rd.
I agree with an institutional attendance policy. There has been one implemented here at my campus that states if the student misses 25% of the class, the system automatically drops them from the course, in other words if they miss 10 hours of the 40 hours they are required to attend,they are dropped and automatically scheduled to take the course again.
This reminds me of my school, we have to call the missing student before lunch, which usually means on our lunch break.
Then we have to report it in the attendance record. I have been told this helps.
I use texting with most of my students, this saves me a trip to our phone bank, and I find the students are more likely to text me back or text me if they know they won't be coming to class.
I get all their numbers and take a picture for my phone on the first day, and give them my number so they don't have any excuse not to let me know what is going on.
Attendance is a major issue at my school as well. The students know that they can miss up to 14 hours before they are un-enrolled in the class. This creates an issue at the end of the grading period. Students were asking how many hours they had missed so they would know if they could still leave early. I tried explaining that although it did not hurt me personally, it might hurt them professionally. Some seemed to care and took it to heart, while others did not. I think it has to do with the maturity of the student.
This is most definitely a challenge! At my school, we utilize "early alerts". If I'm concerned that a student is missing class or is habitually tardy, I will fill out an early alert form, and hand it into the program director. He will call the student the next day to see what the situation is. This is really helpful, and provides another layer of accountability for the student.
I think an institutional attendance policy can be most useful. However, as you noted, focusing on the reason they enrolled and what is necessary to pass the class could certainly be helpful. It might be helpful to review this purpose throughout the course as well.
Hi Wilbert,
I too have seen this scenario many times where school comes 3rd. You have to help them stay focus on the real reason they enrolled. Also try offering incentives to encourage attendance. At my institution students get 5 points toward their overall average if they have perfect attendance. We also have an institutional attendance policy to discourage missing.
Patricia
