should we grade attendance?
When I was teaching at a university in Tijuana, I went to a workshop where we talked about giving students a certain grade for perfect attendance. Some professors didn´t agree. It was a complex issue.
In my teacher training we have some issues about students coming in late. When trainees practice, they have to let students come in late. We reflect on our teaching practices every morning. One of the trainees mentioned that even in the input session, they come in late sometimes. I told trainees that a lot of those issues have to do with schools policies.
My question is..should we reward those students who go to class and are in time all the time or should we just take that for granted and focus on participation instead?
looking forward for some input
Rodolfo
Rodolfo:
If I were the Instructor, I would reward for punctuality, attendance, as well as participation, with a higher weighting on participation. i would also deduct points for being late and far than desirable attendance with these two having a higher weighting than participation. I will have to take into consideration the student's overall profile before I decide how much to deduct for participation.
I surely welcome other comments on this question Rodolfo has raised.
Satrohan
I completely agree about the fact of rewarding as a whole during the course, if learners feel that their effort is being acknowledged, I think that they would strengthen their commitment and thereby they would understand that if they stop, they know they will lose everything they had strived for.
Moreover, we can revise the intitution's policies and take the necessary actions whether deducting points or penalizing tardiness in any other permitted way. However, I firmly believe that if learners are highly motivated by effective teaching, their learning is being enhanced, and the teacher is teaching active and engaging classes, I think this is the best way of disarming learners from being late and thus maximizing their participation toward a good learning atmosphere.
Marc Del Alto
Marc:
You have mentioned some excellent strategies for encouraging participation in the online environment. We should keep in mind that implementing strategies for maximizing learner participation could lead to an increase in the workload of the instructor. One Instructor in this course mentioned what I would consider an extremely high student to instructor ratio in her school. Strategies fo increasing student participation would be very successful if the student to instructor ratio is low, for once students increase their participation, the instructor must provide constructive feedback in a timely manner to maintain the momentum.
Satrohan
I totally agree. There are many things that we can do to improve the students´performance in class. However, many teacher don´t have the time or the energy to implement those strategies in the classroom. Actually, a lot of them in my country work for many hours to make ends meet.
They are my unknown heroes, but that is a different chapter. The point that I´m trying to make here is that there are external factor that affect our performance and the students as well.
Rodolfo
Rodolfo:
Your observation that external factors can affect the performance of students as well as instructors is acknowledged. These factors can affect the level of student participation in an online course. we should try to identify those factors that we have control over, and see what can be done to help the students as well as ourselves---the instructors.
Satrohan
I think attandance should only be used as a reward and not punishment. In other words, maybe as extra credit for perfect attendance?
Libby:
I believe most students would consider this as a fair proposal.
Satrohan
One concept that we have discussed is the alienation that one feels when they cannot physically be near others. One way to prevent that is to participate in the classroom as much as possible. However, students will not participate on their own. So I would award points for participating in the discussion forums and in the chats. I would also reward those who participated a great deal. Letting students know that the more they participate the more they can gain from the course.
Quiana
Quiana:
I hold two opinions. The first is that as humans, we are gregarious; so learning in thephysical presence of others might be preferred by many.
The second is that humans tend to follow the lines of least resistance; and this is somewhat reinforced by the "what's in it for me" expectation. Many students are not likely to complete learning activities that do not contribute to their final grade or would lead to a better grade.
Satrohan
As an instructor, when students are repeat offenders I find it to be distruptive to the class and other students in the traditional evironment. When students do not suffer consequences it allows them to think that their behavior is acceptable. If you set the policy upfront in the course outline I believe any student who fails to live up to their responsibility knows the outcome. Grades should reflect what the student puts into the course.
Rhonda:
I share your position on this subject. Moreover, what you have stipulated here applies also to an online environment.
Satrohan
The whole issue of grading for participation has been a big point of debate where I work. Some instructors like it and some don’t. Generally I do not give participation points, since I have found it difficult to find an entirely objective method of doing this. Is there some type of rubric that can be used to allocate participation points in an equitable manner?
Josefer:
lease advise whether participation in Asynchronous Discussion forums fall into your category of "participation" or you are referring only to participation in Chat sessions.
Satrohan
Both, or whatever is required in the class.
Attendance is so important, how can one learn if not present. If a student is not going to attend class how are they going to prepare for the workforce. If there are ground rules stated from the start and consistant with all learning, I see the student who wants a good grade adhering to attendance also.
Colleen:
Please share with us how you would track "attendance" in an online environment.
Satrohan
I agree with the fact that attendance should count for something. While demonstrating mastery of the content or at least proficiency is key, the fact that the effort is being put forth should also count. However, I understand the that "how" we should do it may be difficult to work out. Although, I find it hard to believe that with all of the elaborate technology we have today, that there isn't someone out there who has already figured out a way to do this (other than looking at the content of assignments to gauge understanding).
I think grading attendance is importnant. When a student is late, it is very disruptive to the whole class. I have had classes where you were counted absent if you were more than 5 minutes late and if you were absebsent x number of classes you failed the class. We were all in class and we were all on time :)
Students who are in class and on time are more likely to understand what is actually going on....you may have already gone over something vital that that student needed to hear. I believe they should be graded on attendence ....as in the real world- if you come to work late everyday , your likely to be fired, right??!!! That should make then think!!
