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[ufo_tofu]

Attendance is always something I worry about.  My current strategy, which is working well for me, is to not take attendance in my upper division classes but to give lots of low point value quizzes and in-class activities (which can't be made up).  I also put questions on the final that are easier if you were in class to hear the discussion and explanation but are quite difficult if you weren't.  And there are several students who never came to class who are getting Ds and Fs while those who came to class have a much better shot at doing well.  I feel pretty good about this strategy, even though I dislike grading and recording quizzes, etc. 

However, I do have a pretty strict attendance policy for my freshmen compositions classes.  I've tried it many ways but I've found that when I don't have an attendance policy for this class, they don't show up, don't hear about the various elements and strategies for the papers, and end up with an F on the paper.  Since I believe the only way to learn to write is through revision, then I end up either getting an endless series of not-the-assignment and usually not-very-well-written papers OR I'm expected to reteach the paper in my office hours.  I don't mind catching a student up on a paper during office hours but it does bother me when I have to do it 15 times.  Often, students I fail for attendance are also failing for the paper grades.  Their lack of attendance becomes my problem so I made an attendance policy.

I'm still rethinking it, though.  On a different thread, someone mentioned only giving comments/opportunities to revise to those who came to class.  I'm definitely thinking about this option for next year. . .

[anthroid]

I'm surprised that OP's institution doesn't have an attendance policy  At this point, federal law mandates that we have to keep some kind of record of attendance so that students don't take Pell grants, loans, and so forth and use them for purposes other than that for which they are intended.  We have a FN grade especially to indicate an F for lack of attendance, and if they stop showing up that's the grade they get.  Financial aid really gets on their case and, I've heard, will start dunning no-shows for the money back.

[smart_e_pantz]

I instituted an attendance policy simply because I found that students did better when they came to class.  When they did better, I got fewer PITA complaints at the end of the semester--and I got to keep my job!

[ufo_tofu]

instituted an attendance policy simply because I found that students did better when they came to class.  When they did better, I got fewer PITA complaints at the end of the semester--and I got to keep my job!

Smart-e-pantz this is my reasoning for my comp attendance policy but you said it much more succinctly!

[msparticularity]

instituted an attendance policy simply because I found that students did better when they came to class.  When they did better, I got fewer PITA complaints at the end of the semester--and I got to keep my job!

Smart-e-pantz this is my reasoning for my comp attendance policy but you said it much more succinctly!

I totally agree with both of you that students do better when they attend, and that too often they don't seem to realize this. The problem is, when we have attendance policies that do nothing more than reward "seat time," attendance becomes one more site of mindless resistance for them. This reinforces their idea that our classes are just one more barrier to be surmounted on their way to the degree that is meaningless but vital. 

[cgfunmathguy]

Any thoughts on how I should deal with this?  I don't plan on changing the grade because my policy is clear but I would like advice on how to get this student to accept it and leave me alone.

As others have said, stand by your policy if the administration will support you. In my division, we have an attendance policy that allows instructors to assign an F to any student who misses at least 25% of the classes. No excused/unexcused delineations--that's it. The policy also states that the instructor must put their attendance policy in writing and distribute it to the class. The division policy is considered the most strict policy we are allowed to enforce. I quote it to my class and then tell them that I don't use attendance to adjust their grades. I also tell them my reason: If they don't show up for 25% of the class, they are going to fail without my help. Most seem to take it on board, as I have about 75% attendance in my classes.

[cc_alan]

instituted an attendance policy simply because I found that students did better when they came to class.  When they did better, I got fewer PITA complaints at the end of the semester--and I got to keep my job!

Smart-e-pantz this is my reasoning for my comp attendance policy but you said it much more succinctly!

I totally agree with both of you that students do better when they attend, and that too often they don't seem to realize this. The problem is, when we have attendance policies that do nothing more than reward "seat time," attendance becomes one more site of mindless resistance for them. This reinforces their idea that our classes are just one more barrier to be surmounted on their way to the degree that is meaningless but vital. 

I allow a bonus for "seat time". While I don't give points for attendance, I do use it for borderline grades. At the end of the term, if they have missed less than x hours of class time, then I add y % to their total percent. I do this simply to minimize any "guilt" for the assignment of course grades for those students who are on the border.

It's a Jedi mind trick to change the emphasis from "I have to show up or I'll get docked points" to "I'll get a bonus if I attend regularly".

Alan

[llanfair]

My uni's policy on attendance leaves this issue at my discretion.  My view is that, since students are adults (theoretically, anyway), I don't need to take attendance.  If they get a poor mark in the process of learning about the correlation between class attendance and good marks, then in the long run, I've done them a favour.  Mind you, as alan says, good attendance and participation can and do make a difference when the mark could go up or down. 

I'll never understand where the rumour started that 'you don't need to show up'; no one ever took attendance when I was an undergrad.  Of course, a few years have elapsed since then ... :)

[cc_alan]

My uni's policy on attendance leaves this issue at my discretion.  My view is that, since students are adults (theoretically, anyway), I don't need to take attendance.

My dean told me a story one time in which one instructor stated in the syllabus that s/he followed the school's attendance policy and the students should look in the college's handbook for it.

Care to guess what it said (and still says) in the handbook?

The attendance policy is whatever the individual instructor says it is. Well, outside of actually keeping attendance for financial aid purposes, the possible affect on a course grade is up to each instructor.

Oops.

Our dean backs us as long as we have a stated policy in the syllabus (course outline, or whatever one wants to call it).

Alan

[llanfair]

My uni's policy on attendance leaves this issue at my discretion.  My view is that, since students are adults (theoretically, anyway), I don't need to take attendance.

My dean told me a story one time in which one instructor stated in the syllabus that s/he followed the school's attendance policy and the students should look in the college's handbook for it.

Care to guess what it said (and still says) in the handbook?

The attendance policy is whatever the individual instructor says it is. Well, outside of actually keeping attendance for financial aid purposes, the possible affect on a course grade is up to each instructor.

Oops.

Our dean backs us as long as we have a stated policy in the syllabus (course outline, or whatever one wants to call it).

Alan

That's about what my uni's policy says - that students are expected to be there for everything, but that the instructor may set specific requirements.  So I tell them in the syllabus that I don't take attendance, but that they'll do better if they're in class, taking their own notes.

So far, no problems - at least, none for me.  I must be cruel only to be kind.

[aristof_ns]

How did he manage to get a B on the assignments if he missed a third of the material? Perhaps you should be making the course harder ...

Exactly. We should never grade on attendance in college, we should grade on the student's ability to show what they have learned.

Yes.

[...]If he learned the material without showing up, I don't see how you can justify giving him a lower grade. 

I'm having this dilemma now in Frosh Comp. Even with a very strict policy (5 allowed total, #6 receives 5 pts. off and each one after that receives 3 additional pts. off), I have several students who have over 12 absences. Most of these are failing anyway, but two of them are just above the minimum allowable grade for the class (you have to earn a 73 or higher to receive credit for Comp).

My dilemma is that by my policy, they should fail. And they had plenty of access to the policy (email reminders, posted on the course webpage, etc.) but either ignored it or radically underestimated how many absences they had. In fact, both students were already at the limit at midterm and both students then doubled that number after the midterm (e.g., 5 before but 10 after!!!!).

Yet in terms of the writing requirements, they're passing on their own merits. Barely passing, granted, but that's why I'm torn about whether to allow their absences to fail them even though their earned grade is acceptable (and this includes 9 writing assignments and numerous quizzes).

In a skills class like Frosh Comp, if the student can earn a passing grade even with missing 30% of the classes, should I ignore the absences? 

[mended_drum]

May I make a suggestion, not for the OP, but for those of you mention comp or other relatively small courses?  I don't have a participation grade, but I explain to my students that the attendance policies functions in three ways:  first, it improves student performance by motivating them to come to class; second, it allows me to spend more time with students who need help with the material because I don't have to spend as much time scheduling make-ups or grading late work; and, third, students are required to participate in class discussion in order to add to the intellectual breadth of the course.  Not engaging in the intellectual exchange that occurs in class--whether by sleeping, texting, or not attending--damages the class community.

In other words, attendance is not about "seat time," but about intellectual engagement.

And, luckily, my dean is fully in support of attendance policies.

[bigstateu]

This one student who went from an B to an F because he missed ten classes (out of a total of 30).

People who pass AP exams and get college credit for it, miss 30 out of 30 classes and contribute nothing to the classroom environment they test out of.

I can see the point of having an attendance grade, but I object to grading schemes that treat attendance like negative extra credit for the same reason that I object to positive extra credit. Both positive and negative extra credit skew grades because they aren't part of the regular grading rubric. Someone who turns in extra credit gets 5 points out of 0 points possible and someone who misses too many classes gets negative points out of 0 attendance points possible.

Positive extra credit is an artifical grade inflator that allows someone who does all D work to get a B. Negative extra credit is an artifical grade deflator that allows someone who does all B work to get an F.

If a student gets 85% on all of their other work and 67% on their attendance I can see them getting a 76% in the class if attendance is worth 50% of their grade, but 67% on attendance shouldn't take someone who is getting 85% in a class below 60% in a class.

I know I am in the minority on this, but extra credit carrots and negative extra credit sticks end up distorting grades that should mostly reflect mastery of content, skills and material.

Given the general perspectives we have on attendance, we should probably examine the possibility of eliminating AP exams since they reward people for skill mastery at the expense of their contributing to the intellectual engagement of our classes.

[unforgetful]

You have a difficult situation.

You have a policy different than the college's policy; the college's policy will prevail if this student escalates the matter.

[cgfunmathguy]

This one student who went from an B to an F because he missed ten classes (out of a total of 30).

People who pass AP exams and get college credit for it, miss 30 out of 30 classes and contribute nothing to the classroom environment they test out of.

<snip>

Given the general perspectives we have on attendance, we should probably examine the possibility of eliminating AP exams since they reward people for skill mastery at the expense of their contributing to the intellectual engagement of our classes.

Yes, they contribute nothing to the classroom environment of which they are exempted, but they do contribute to the next class in the sequence in a positive way. My experience with students who used AP exam scores to test out of a course (say, Calculus I) is that they are more actively engaged and making more positive contributions to the classes in the next course (Calculus II) than are students who took the exempted course beforehand.

I can see the point of having an attendance grade, but I object to grading schemes that treat attendance like negative extra credit for the same reason that I object to positive extra credit. Both positive and negative extra credit skew grades because they aren't part of the regular grading rubric. Someone who turns in extra credit gets 5 points out of 0 points possible and someone who misses too many classes gets negative points out of 0 attendance points possible.

Positive extra credit is an artifical grade inflator that allows someone who does all D work to get a B. Negative extra credit is an artifical grade deflator that allows someone who does all B work to get an F.

<snip>

I know I am in the minority on this, but extra credit carrots and negative extra credit sticks end up distorting grades that should mostly reflect mastery of content, skills and material.

This depends on how much the extra credit is worth, quite frankly. If someone who is doing D work gets a B due to extra credit work, then the extra credit is worth 50% of the grade, which is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much. I use attendance as an extra credit grade; if you attend every class, you will receive an additional 2% on your final average. This only affects the borderline grades. For example, a 78 can become a B only if you came to every class. Otherwise, you have a C.

I'm surprised that OP's institution doesn't have an attendance policy  At this point, federal law mandates that we have to keep some kind of record of attendance so that students don't take Pell grants, loans, and so forth and use them for purposes other than that for which they are intended.  We have a FN grade especially to indicate an F for lack of attendance, and if they stop showing up that's the grade they get.  Financial aid really gets on their case and, I've heard, will start dunning no-shows for the money back.

My institution's policy is that we must record the FIRST time a student comes to class for financial aid purposes; after that, the attendance policy is strictly up to the instructor. Apparently, in the eyes of the federal government, coming to class once is sufficient evidence that you deserve to receive your financial aid check. Now, if a student is not making "satisfactory academic progress", the federal government can come knocking for repayment, but that's another issue.