Hi Folks I responded to this conversation a few weeks ago, albeit privately (to Eby, I think).
My approach to attendance is to simply tell my students that they are entitled to miss one-tenth of the course without penalty. On a Tu/Th schedule, I allow 4 absences. On a MWF schedule, six. After these limits, each additional absence is associated with one letter grade being deducted from their final grade. In the syllabus I explain something about certifying all students as college educated and ready to assume leadership roles in the labor force, and I also explain that excused/unexcused is not important to me. I also link attendance to participation - if you are not attending, you are not contributing to the learning process,... As you can see, my approach has been in the realm of punitive, with a legitimate rationale. The results? Last semester (which is typical), I have five or six students (out of about 130) who were notified early that they were on the cusp. At the end of the semester, two students had missed more days than permitted. In each of those two cases, a letter grade was deducted. Another result is that my student evaluations have been very high over the past three or four years. My hunch is, most students appreciate high expectations, just as the Wisconsin School studies (Haller, Hauser, Portes, Otto, etc.) told us three decades ago. Yes, some of my students on any given day are weary, and "not really there" in spirit. But they are there physically, and are learning more at 8:00 than students who would otherwise be sleeping in. Finally, in my personal note to Eby, I said I also feel compelled to make my classes entertaining, so that they might actually want to come to class. My favorite model is to say "its like being on the Letterman show, and I get to be Dave!" I drink lots of coffee while I am in my office prepping, I come into class running, I am loud and bounce around for a while. In other words, I work to wake them up, and to engage them as best I can, knowing they would prefer not to be there. So while my policy is punitive, I try to make sure the learning process is not. Peace to all Robert Robert J. Hironimus-Wendt, Ph.D. Sociology and Anthropology Western Illinois University 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455-1390 phone: (309) 298-1081 fax: (309) 298-1857 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." -- John Wesley -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Scheitle Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 6:49 AM To: Teaching Sociology Subject: TEACHSOC: Re: 8:00 Classes I understand that we should try to be as nice as possible, but at the same time I don't think we should be so hesitant to have punitive policies. I doubt their employers would provide rewards for showing up on time to promote "adaptive working". Why reward something that should be expected when signing up for a class (i.e. being there on time)? Chris Robert Greene wrote: > What about you single moms? Have have no control over their children who operate on "kid" time,not grown-up time. I had a Saturday 8:00 AM class one semester where every student but one was single mom and having raised three myself, patience and tolerance seems less stressful. > > >>> "Del Thomas Ph. D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 01/31/06 8:22 AM >>> > > Hi, > > Isn't this punitive? Why not reward those who come on time and promote > adaptive learning? > > Del > > Theodore Wagenaar wrote: > > >I teach Intro at 8 as well. I've found that I need to have a strict > >attendance policy.More than5 mins late = 1/2 absence, more than 15 = 1 > >absence. Students dropped at 4th absence. > > > >I also do a lot of discussion, but it is focused around specific > >readings and videos. Variety is the key. > > > > > > > >
