TEACHSOC: Re: late arrivals

[Marty Schwartz]

--On Saturday, September 17, 2005 4:02 PM -0400 Sarah Murray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hi all...
> Here's the down side of a small class -- having more than half the class enter the room 15 minutes late!  

I have used both the carrot and the stick.  One method is that I give frequent quizzes in lower division courses, with the lowest grade dropped.  Just start giving out the 10 or 15 minute quiz when the class starts.  No excuses.  If they miss a quiz, it becomes the one that is dropped.  Actually, if they really have a good excuse, I always work something out - say, a speeding ticket they got racing over from the hospital where the cast was freshly put on a broken arm?  More likely, her face was covered in black and blue marks from where her boyfriend beat her up.  But not for "I didn't hear the alarm."

The carrot?  I build-in part of the grade based on attendance points.  Five minutes into class, but only when attendance is low, I ask for a vote as to whether we should take attendance right now, and count it as an extra credit point.  I have done this about 40 times, and 40 times have had a unanimous vote.  I like the fact that I can blame the entire class for my policy!  I am not sure it helps attendance (my classes are much too big to be sure) but I feel better, and the people who show up on time don't feel like they are suckers.

Marty