Comments on: Class Attendance on the Decline http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/ My musings on Biblical Studies, Biblical Hebrew, Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Popular Culture, Religion, Software, and pretty much anything else that interests me! Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:50:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Leah JW http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/comment-page-1/#comment-131312 Leah JW Tue, 08 May 2007 14:15:13 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/wp/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/#comment-131312 When I went to UNAM in Mexico City, there was an 80% attendance policy. If you missed more than 20%, you were unable to write the exam. I hated being forced to go to class, but when I returned to Canada, my attendance improved, as did my relationships with my professors. Attendance is important, but I don’t think that making up quizzes helps to judge whether someone showed up – students share notes, and even those who attend still have 3 or 4 other classes to work on, as well as an outside life…

]]> By: Tyler F. Williams http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/comment-page-1/#comment-129911 Tyler F. Williams Fri, 04 May 2007 17:10:55 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/wp/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/#comment-129911 Hey Shawn,

I used to do quizzes, but I found it was always difficult to come up with questions that were a good measure of whether someone actually did the readings. I currently use online textbook quizzes that automatically turn on a week before the connected lecture and turn off the day before the lecture. That way students are encouraged to keep up with their readings. I also don’t like the amount of time quizzes take at the beginning of a class.

]]> By: Blue Cord » Class Attendance http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/comment-page-1/#comment-129872 Blue Cord » Class Attendance Fri, 04 May 2007 14:25:01 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/wp/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/#comment-129872 [...] Heard (Higgaion) and Tyler Williams (Codex) have both blogged on an article in Inside Higher Ed about class attendance.  I encourage my [...]

]]> By: Shawn Flynn http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/comment-page-1/#comment-129815 Shawn Flynn Fri, 04 May 2007 08:47:49 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/wp/2007/05/03/class-attendance-on-the-decline/#comment-129815 For myself, one of the most helpful ways to “encourageâ€? class attendance is a daily quiz at the start of class, equalling 10% of the overall final grade. A simple quiz that deals with basic concepts from the readings for that class. This can lead to points of contact during the lecture with information that is fresh in the students’ minds.
The simplicity of this is rewarding: students are always reading if they wish to do well in the quiz, I am constantly aware of each students’ performance and can choose to follow up on it if needed, students benefit with constant interaction with the material, and their “attendance grade� which I assume in the quiz grade, seems like a justifiable one since they actually earned the 10%. To my surprise, I actually found students treated the quizzes as a healthy competition with their peers.

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