Previous research has shown that attendance is one of the best predictors of class achievement and student achievement, creating strong arguments for teachers to motivate or need to attend.
However, attaching grades to attendance can present their own challenges, as many students generally want to be more flexible on their schedules and think that what they have learned should be evaluated rather than how often they appear. A student columnist at the University of Washington expressed frustration at getting 20% of weighted participation grades, and the professor graded the exit tickets submitted by students at the end of the class.
“Our grades should be based on our understanding of the material, not whether we are in the room or not.” every dayUW’s student thesis.
Keenan Hartert, a biology professor at Minnesota State University in Mancato, set out to understand the factors that influence students’ performance in their own courses and found that attendance is one of the strongest predictors of their success.
His discovery is not the AHA moment, but reiterates his position that attendance is an early indicator of GPA and class community building. The challenge, he said, is how to apply this principle to an increasingly diverse student body, many of whom work, care responsibilities and their own personal struggles.
“We definitely have different students who go to school with me,” Hartt said. “We do try to be the most flexible people because we have a lot of other things going on that they can’t tell us. We want to serve them.”
Who is missing a class? It is not uncommon for students to miss classes with illness or external conflict, but college students have been more absent in recent years, causing professors to stop.
Based on student experience from the Research University (SERU) Alliance, an analysis of 1.1 million students at 22 major research institutions found that students’ time for classes, discussion sections and laboratories dropped sharply between the 2018-19 academic year to 2022-23.
A 2023 study found that over 30% of students sometimes attend community college courses over the past year. 4% said they often skip classes.
Students say they choose to drop out for a number of reasons, including lack of motivation, competitive priorities and external challenges. A Colorado State University professor surveyed his 175 students in 2023 and found that 37% of students said they often don’t attend classes due to physical illness, mental health issues, lack of interest or engagement, or simply because it’s not a requirement.
Trellis Strategies’ 2024 survey found that sometimes 15% of students miss classes due to a lack of reliable transport. Among working students, a quarter said they often miss classes due to conflicting schedules on their jobs.
High anxiety and depression rates among college students may also affect their attendance. More than half of the 817 students who were surveyed in Harmonious Healthcare in 2024 said they skipped the course due to a mental health struggle. One-third of respondents said they failed to perform the test due to poor mental health.
Case study: Hartert of MSU Mankato collected data on approximately 250 students who took a Level 200 genetic course in several semesters.
Hartert used the semester end survey, classroom activities and his own grade information to collect data to measure student stress, time sleep, working hours, number of office hours attended, class and quiz grades, among other measures.
Hartert’s case study maps various factors to model other findings in the student’s success literature: a large number of hours negatively correlates with students’ course grades, while attending classes and reviewing courses positively correlates with academic outcomes.
Keenan Hartert
The data also reveals to Hartt some of the challenges students face when enrolling. “It is cruel to see how many students are [were working full-time]. Just see a lot [working] More than 20 [hours] There are also people over 30 or 40 who are different. ”
According to Trellis Strategies’ fall 2024 data, nationwide, two-thirds of college students work for salary during admission, and 43% of employed students work full-time.
Hartt also asked students if they had any financial resources to support them in an emergency; 28% said they had no defenders. Among these students, 90% work more than 20 hours a week.
Data analysis of student surveys suggests that in emergencies, students working are unlikely to have financial resources to support them.
These findings illustrate him the challenges many students face in their management shifts while trying to meet attendance requirements.
The teacher next to you
Although some teachers may be less interested in using predictive analytics using their own courses, Hartert found that tracking factors, such as the frequency of a student attending office hours, helps him achieve his career goals, as he can include these measurements in his tenure review.
Interpersonal dynamics: A less measured factor in attendance debate is not the students’ own learning, but the classroom environment in which they contribute. Hartt frames it when students unconsciously motivate their peers. “You probably don’t know the people sitting around you and seeing you, if you go, they might be like, ‘Well, they gave up, why do I keep trying?’ Even if they’ve never talked to you.”
A professor at the University of Oregon found that peer participation was positively correlated with academic outcomes. Raghuveer Parthasarathy reorganized his general education course to create “active areas” or designated seating areas in the classroom to promote engagement, where they would sit if they wanted to participate in classroom discussions and other positive learning conversations.
The course is more comprehensive than the rest of the course even among those who do not choose to sit in the participating area. Additionally, students sitting in active areas are more likely to achieve higher grades in exams and courses.
Classes can also create connections between students and professors, who say what they want and expect.
Student survey in May 2024 Internal Advanced ED Generation Lab found that 35% of respondents believed that by better understanding their professors, they would maximize their academic achievements. In another question, 55% of respondents said they believed the professor was at least partially responsible for becoming a tutor.
The Seru Alliance found that 2023 student respondents were less likely to say that the professor knew or learned their name compared to his peers in 2013. Students are not very confident, and their knowledge of the professor is enough to require a letter of recommendation for work or graduate school.
“You have to show up at that time, so I know who you are,” Hartt said.
Intermediate meeting: To encourage attendance, Hartt adopted an active learning approach such as creative writing or case studies, which helps demonstrate the value of class engagement. His favorite is the situation of the jury, in which the students put their medical expertise into practice. “I really tried to bring them into some grey area stuff and remind them just because it’s a big textbook, and it doesn’t mean you can’t have some creative, interesting ideas,” Hartert said.
For those who can’t do this, all Hartert’s lectures are recorded and watched online later. He said recording the lecture, “is a very tough bridge, after groceries. I was like, ‘No one will show up.’ But every time I look at the data [for] Who is watching the recording, this is all my top students. ” This is enough for him to provide recording as other practices and resources.
Students who cannot hold in-person classes can obtain attendance by sending their notes and answers to any questions broadcast live in the class and proof that they watched the recording.
Hartert also adapted how he used his class time to create more ways for work students to participate. Hartt said his genetics course includes a three-hour laboratory section that rarely lasts full-time. Now, the last hour of the lab is a dedicated review course promoted by peer leaders who use practical questions Hartert designed the question. Initial data suggest that working students left behind in the lab review section are more likely to perform better on the exam.
“The good news is when it works, like when we can make some adjustments, we can figure out our own path,” Hartt said. “But the reality of life is that there are more times and things happening, and you have to choose a few priorities.”
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