{"id":20803,"date":"2018-09-24T08:09:03","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T12:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/edc\/?p=20803"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:08:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:08:21","slug":"boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n

From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen attendance in their classes. But regardless of the methods used to keep students coming to lectures, Professor Maria DeRosa will tell you that sometimes \u201cthings happen\u201d that make it impossible for a student to get to class.<\/p>\n

DeRosa, a professor in Carleton\u2019s Department of Chemistry and Institute of Biochemistry, teaches a number of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her typical class size ranges from small seminars of about 40 students to larger lectures of 150. She stresses that while attendance is beneficial to all of her students, it is necessary for the success of the upper-year courses she teaches, although she says she doesn\u2019t take attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to make the class engaging and I hope that the students will attend,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

DeRosa uses lecture capture for her second- and third-year courses because she says it is beneficial for all students, regardless of whether they were in class. She says it\u2019s an excellent review tool for the students who were able to attend, and it fills the gaps for those who couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, I\u2019ve left information off of slides and said that you have to come to class to figure out this or that. But I\u2019ve stopped doing that because it didn\u2019t affect attendance and students just suffered,\u201d says DeRosa. \u201cNow, I provide the captures, and I find that the class is still full and when they come to me with questions it isn\u2019t, \u2018Tell me what I missed last class.\u2019 It is, \u2018I\u2019m not clear on concept x<\/em> or y<\/em> because of z.<\/em>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

DeRosa says she uses in-class polls for engagement that show about 60 per cent of her class is present at any given lecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat hasn\u2019t changed now that I post the captures,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Another instructor who makes use of a polling system is Andrew Robinson, who teaches first-year introductory physics to engineering, science and information technology students.<\/p>\n

Robinson says he uses the Poll Everywhere<\/a> clicker system as a pedagogical tool in some classes to \u201cstimulate peer-to-peer learning,\u201d while in other classes use of the clicker is mandatory to determine four per cent of a student\u2019s participation mark.<\/p>\n

Like DeRosa, Robinson says there has to be some flexibility when it comes to attendance. He says in some cases there are students who cannot get to his 8:30 a.m. class in time to hand in the assigned question which goes towards their participation grade. In the rare case of someone who deals with issues of finding childcare, for example, Robinson allows students to submit their question by email.<\/p>\n

Another tactic Robinson employs is posting lecture slides online prior to class. He says while the slides are not a perfect substitute for coming to class, they have helped to boost attendance, contrary to \u201canecdotal evidence\u201d amongst faculty that suggests posting slides beforehand suppresses attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI consider the lecture to be live theatre to some extent, and attendance is preferred,\u201d he says, adding that he considers his classes to be fairly well-attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not have midterm exams in my courses; we have a short test every two or three weeks instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Robinson says that attendance is markedly worse when students are taking midterms in their other classes.<\/p>\n

The best way to support his student\u2019s learning, even if they are absent from class, is by providing ample material in addition to the information introduced in the lectures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to recognize that not all students may be able to attend,\u201d Robinson says.<\/p>\n

What techniques do you use to keep students coming to class? Leave a comment below or let us know at oavptl@carleton.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen attendance in their classes. But regardless of the methods used to keep students coming to lectures, Professor Maria DeRosa will tell you that sometimes \u201cthings happen\u201d that make it impossible for a student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBoosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t - Teaching and Learning Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CCMS Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/\",\"name\":\"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t - Teaching and Learning Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-24T12:09:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-13T14:08:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad\"},\"description\":\"By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/category\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/\",\"name\":\"Teaching and Learning Services\",\"description\":\"Carleton University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad\",\"name\":\"CCMS Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CCMS Editor\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t - Teaching and Learning Services","description":"By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CCMS Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/","name":"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t - Teaching and Learning Services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-09-24T12:09:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-13T14:08:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad"},"description":"By Lauren Sproule, TLS staff writer From participation marks to in-class quizzes, post-secondary educators have tried a number of tactics to strengthen","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/boosting-class-attendance-works-doesnt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/category\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Boosting class attendance: what works and what doesn\u2019t"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/","name":"Teaching and Learning Services","description":"Carleton University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad","name":"CCMS Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CCMS Editor"}}]}},"acf":{"Post Thumbnail Icon":"","Post Thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39944,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20803\/revisions\/39944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}