The Effects of Poor Student Attendance on Tenure Professors and Fellow Students Attitudes. Does the Age of the Student Matter?
The further I progress in college I have noticed older professors have stricter attendance policies. The first time I entered college I was eighteen years old which resulted in the effect of a failing GPA. This was due to my poor attendance because I was more concerned to socialize during the late hours than to wake up and attend my 7 am classes. I passed the courses but had failed the strict attendance guidelines giving me no credit for the courses which ultimately led to me dropping out of the university. Fast forward fifteen years; I have returned to the university and I look on in pity when I see other freshmen making the same foolish mistakes I once did. Then I feel angry when asked to copy my notes because they just want to skate by in the course. This puzzled me until I pondered on the topic and followed up with further research. I have found that attendance matters whether you’re in high school, college, or in the workplace. I explored additional causes of poor attendance, the view of students and subsequent attitudes professors adopt.
Studies have shown that attendance is an important factor for comprehension, retention, and application of skills. The study conducted by Procedia, an academic journal, released an article on the view of the student's attitudes toward absenteeism. Sadly, few students in the study found my reason acceptable.
“Students expressed their highest frequency reason for being absent the one in cases of emergency (illness or important tasks), The lesson’s not being interesting is expressed as the second-highest frequency reason. Visiting the family being the third.”
Later in the conclusion, the writer of the journal acknowledges that most miss class due to events that aren’t planned. Although, some students realize that the course is easy after they’ve taken the first exam which leads some to undergo academic dishonesty by finding another student that attends to take notes for them. I underwent this obstacle recently; I’m convinced this needs to be a consideration that professors take notice of and put a stop to. Leading me to my next argument.
Professors attempt new methods of teaching to encourage student attendance such as rearrange seating, assigning homework, adjusting the material or calling the roll. In 2014, The Chronicle released an article of two professors from George Mason University with vastly different takes on attendance. The first, Michelle LaFrance, argues that using the first five minutes of class with a “free write,” by assigning a prompt related to that day's course work has been her method for better student attendance. While Steven J. Corbett remarks, “It’s all about professionalism. Every professional -- from athletes to business executives—needs to make sure they do one thing: Show up. If you don’t show up, you can’t play or get paid.” I agree with Mr. Corbett calling roll is the most efficient method. Assigning homework is effective yet troublesome to students that are parents of pre-school age but not when the children are of school-age themselves. Arranged seating can also have negative outcomes for some students with mental illnesses; such as a Veteran with PTSD generally have difficulty talking to classmates and would rather no attention be drawn to or around them. Perhaps a survey the first day of class would be a useful tool to in assessing who are parents, workers, Veterans
The negative aspects a professor might undergo include stricter policies being made, a lack of empathy towards students or occasionally a negative outlook on their performance. The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education highlights this by stating, “negative variables that contributed to poor classroom attendance included the class being either before or after an examination in another course, faculty members who do not supplement their provided notes, personal logistics, and extended breaks of 2 hours or more between classes.” Furthermore, the journal reflects students that don’t attend lowers the morale of professors and fellow students.
I feel that it must be frustrating for a professor to see so many students fail because they didn’t attend the lectures especially when the teacher works so hard to prepare the material, but as an older student, a small amount of stress is added when many are absent. I stress the importance of attendance to my own children stating that “How can you learn if you aren’t there?” My daughter quickly responds to this question by saying she can’t. If a thirteen-year-old understands this why doesn’t a freshmen college student? After many years of wanting to complete what I started has been rewarding in a way I didn’t appreciate in my younger days. Although in today’s culture I believe that with freshmen a harsher policy should be required as they are less likely to have legitimate excuses when older students are aware that attendance matters and have already spoken with the teacher at the beginning of the semester about any possible absences. In conclusion, a student’s attendance is a crude gauge of predicting how well these students will perform in future careers which in turn keeps our society running.
Works Cited:
LaFrance, Michelle and Corbett, Steven J. “A 21st- Century Attendance Policy.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. July 14, 2014. https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-21st-century-attendance/147693.
Stoner, Steven C, and Jack E Fincham. “Faculty role in classroom engagement and attendance.”
American journal of pharmaceutical education vol. 76,5 (2012): 75. doi:10.5688/ajpe76575
. Ugurlu, Celal Teyyar. Koc, Canan. Usta, H. Gonca Sayin. Simsek, A. Sailh. Et. Al. “Faculty of education students’ views on absence attitudes.” Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences vol.46. (2012): 3401-3408. Print.
written in October 2019 for EH101 as a Cause or Effect Essay