TEACHSOC: Re: 6-week absence: Confusing process with learning

[Del Thomas Ph. D.]

If I recall my sociology under grads are adolescents... of course my intro text had no pictures and I walked ten miles to high school.... But I still remember my students days.... and how helpful Ivan Nye was. He helped me set up a weekly dance alternative to the drunk frat parties.  I went to Bucknell because I it rhymed with my first name....  Cornell was a problem with phys ed and Brandise did not have varsity sports...  not exactly adult decision making.  One weekend  I turned down a chance to Jam with Pete Seger after he played a concert.  By the time I got to grad school at U of M in the 60's we took over the school and protested...  we set up a legal aid society for the poor with the law school.   All of this was based on the application of sociology...started with my out of class work with Nye.   I think that if I were your student some of you would want me to miss class. I have been lucky, I did not have to play the game.   I was lucky as a student too.  I didn't have to work >30 hours a week.  here have been teachers in the family since the mid  18th century.  My grand father was a member of the board of ed.  I have had a chance to read  their notes  for them it was about learning not teaching.  I will post stuff on my site later. However, for now I suggest taking a sociological approach.  What is learned when you look at the variation in attendance,  class meeting time, format, (lecture studio seminar) subject matter. I long ago  realized that the teacher/preacher model was not productive as far as student needs.  For example,  most teacher/preachers present content to be learned.... memorized.  We deny that it is memory but it is adoptive rather than adaptive learning.  Maybe the students don't know that what they are learning will be of little value in the job they have  5 years after graduation.  A job that is likely non existent now.   I have found that when the students have ownership of class time they attend.   Student ownership of the time will likely mean less lectures, film or guests. Retention is a major problem$. In this area nearly all schools report that the regular school is losing $ the evening and special programs support the school. Sociology may be of value here and make a significant contribution to the school.  Finally, faculty are increasingly vulnerable... but that is another very important topic. Del   James Cassell wrote: As I recall, the student was asking to be allowed to make up work, which violates your "standards are the same for you as everyone else" clause. My attendance policy is precisely what you suggest, for the reasons you suggest. I pay for it with grief from (a) our retention people who see causation in the strong positivie correlation between attendance and retention and (b) students who think being able to "skip at will" is a capital idea until they wind up with a lousy grade. Fortunately, the "contrariness gene" carried by all we Appalachians helps me cope with such annoyances. Cheers, James -----Original Message----- From: Brett Magill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Feb 27, 2006 3:02 PM To: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Subject: TEACHSOC: 6-week absence: Confusing process with learning Why the strong reaction against students who choose not to come to class? I have a few hypotheses that I will withhold. These are college students. They are responsible for their own learning. Why not simply respond, "you may choose to come to class or not, but the standards of evaluation are the same for you as for any other student." If the student can master the material without the benefit of your lectures and participation in the hands-on classroom exercises, then what difference does attendance make? Why make college students jump through hoops? If the student chooses not to attend and fails, that too is their responsibility. ------ James Cassell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---