I frame attendance, lateness, and participation as matters of learning and courtesy. I do not think of them in terms of training for future jobs. If a student can learn everything in the course without ever coming to class, aces the paper and exams, the student gets an A. I think that as a matter of courtesy, students have obligations to the course as they would to other interactions -- to be present, to listen and respond, etc. But I think grades should be about intellectual performance, so I'm reluctant to use academic sanctions (grades) to enforce social norms.
Using absences to knock down students' grades also puts the professor into the position of making moral distinctions among reasons for absence or lateness, an exercise I prefer to avoid especially since the policy gives rise to questions of honesty and verification. I don't want to see notes from the doctor about their physical ailments or notes from the undertaker about their grandmother's funeral or notes from the mechanic about their wheel bearings. I am also baffled as to how one might quantify these more social aspects of the course. Students have told me of courses where the professor says something like, "Participation counts for 15% of your grade," and I always wonder how professors decides how many points to award for this or that student comment. Do they go back to their offices immediately after class and score each student comment as they remember it? Or do they, at the end of the semester, give a number based on their overall impression? However, like Marty, I will use attendance and participation when scores on exams and papers puts a student's final grade on the cusp. Jay Livingston Montclair State College
