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[doggrrl]

I teach a College Success Seminar at an open-admission CC, an entry-level class to teach students how to "navigate" college. Attendance is required in this class and has been the biggest source of frustration for me. I tell them (and have in the syllabus) that their grades are negatively affected after 3 absences in a 16-week semester. There is also a huge problem of students strolling in ridiculously late (45 minutes for a class that is an hour and 20 min). I cannot lock the door and though I tell them I take off for this as well, no one seems to care. They also get up and leave, got to the bathroom, make phone calls, and stroll back. I'm really tired of this. I'm an English teacher by trade (and numbers flummox me) so, although a colleague has a complex system (4 points for being on time each class, 3.75 if they are less than 5 minutes late, 3.5 if they are more than 10, etc), I don't have the time or inclination to do that. I can see saying "You miss more than 4 classes, you lose attendance/participation points" and making tardiness and leaving early a part of this. Does anyone have any easy solutions for this?

Really, it's become almost laughable. I have had students show up 20 minutes late, sit down for five minutes, then stomp out of the room to use their phone. At that point, I addressed the class, saying that was unacceptable class behavior. Of course, the snowflake who needed to hear that was in the hall using her phone. I realize some of these students have never been held accountable in their lives, but I hate that my message isn't getting through. Of course, usually these students wash out at midterm. Anyway, any easy attendance solutions or do I just need to repeat "Serenity Now!" over and over to myself?

[prytania3]

My cc has this course as well, and students hate it. The problem is that it doesn't resonate as *a real college course.* Also, it's usually not a requirement for graduation, and students often feel forced into it. At least at my cc. I am teaching a composition course paired with this course this semester, and I have exactly 5 students signed up for my section. Not to brag, but I'm very popular, and usually if you don't sign up for my classes early, then you don't get them--but in this case--I have 5.

One of my students who transferred to a 4-year school, however, happened to mention that this course was required at the 4 year. So you could always lie to them, and tell them, if they don't take the course and do well here, they'll have to take it later on. In some cases, that may even be true.

[mended_drum]

If you want them to come to a course, and they don't see the value in the course, you have to get stricter.  Three absences and then lose a letter grade.  Each tardy equals one-half an absence.  They are tardy once you've finished calling (or marking) the roll (or the attendance sheet has gone around--make sure to circle the names, so latecomers can't squeeze their names in).

Of course, that's for the future.  For this course, stop reminding them.  Enforce whatever written standards you have, and let the chips fall where they may.  If some of them fail the class for poor attendance, well, they'll have learned something from the college 101 course that they needed to know to succeed in college. 

Or drop the whole attendance thing, give them quizzes and don't let them make them up.  Whichever way you decide to deal with it, remember that every student has the right to fail, and it's important to allow them to exercise that right when they choose to do so.

[concordancia]

I have similar issues, even in other courses.

One thing that has had mild success is short in class writing activities. Short, so that you can collect them five minutes into class and use that to determine the participation grade. I make them fairly simple and in my freshpeep seminar more students did participate in discussion if I asked them to write it down first.

I am not going to interrupt whatever I may be doing to note how late individuals were!!

[systeme_d_]

I agree with Concordancia.  A short writing assignment at the beginning of class (with no chance for make-up) might help.

[msmicrobe]

Clicker questions scattered through the period, all of them for points, is another way to "motivate" them. The question is do you want unengaged students in the class?

[doggrrl]

I completely agree that we should not have to stop to note how late someone is. My class has not begun yet, I am updating my syllabus now. Yes, I am going to be stricter; I just want my policy clear and easy to understand so I can avoid the whole, "You've missed 8 classes" conversation that inevitably occurs.

The class is a 3-credit elective, so it counts toward college credit, but cosmetology and auto tech students have to take the class as well, so the writing abilities (and English abilities) vary widely.  I am a fairly new adjunct, but I taught English and composition courses for three years while also working part-time. Nothing has burned me out as fast as this class.

Do I want unengaged students in class? No, but there is also the issue of retention at an open-enrollment cc.

[ford_prefect]

Systeme_d's suggestion about writing activities at the beginning of class is a good one. Another option is to create a class structure that rewards students for being on time. A few years ago, I taught a gen ed class with a serious tardiness problem. Quizzes at the start of class didn't seem to be helping. So I started each class meeting by sharing 1-2 multiple choice questions that could potentially appear on an exam. I then made sure to use at least some of those questions on actual tests. It usually amounted to no more than 5 or 10% of the exam grade. Miraculously, all but two of the tardy students started coming on time after that. (I feared the tardies might just get the questions from a classmate, but most of them were not that clever).

I would also add that the solution here is less about being "stricter" and more about setting the tone that attendance is vital to success in the course. Yes, it's important to have a clear policy in the syllabus. But I stress to students that writing activities, quizzes, or whatever are there to help them succeed in the class and not because I want to "punish" them. Some of them still view it as punishment, but that's not my problem.

[laughin_otter]

Does your school have an attendance policy or are you on your own?  Does your department support you in this, or does it "blow off" attendance like so many other requirements these days?
My school authorizes me to issue a demerit for an absence, and students are told they must ask permission in writing to be absent, but neither of these official measures seems to work very well.  Putting up with student rudeness and abuse in the name of retention is a fallacy, but until higher ed administrators as a group recognize that, the classroom instructor can't do much about it.
In the past at other schools I have just taken the position that class time missed is learning missed, which eventually shows up as lack of evidence.  The performance inevitably suffers, so some students might figure out that they could have done better had they showed up.  It's possible you're just too "nice" and they're taking advantage, as weak students are wont to do.
Along those lines, you might institute an actual attendance grade.  In any case, I would be sure that every single class meeting included some point-earning activity, worksheet, quiz, etc., scheduled randomly from day to day.
And by the way, how are these people paying for college?  Is it worth a side lecture on how time is money in a very real sense, comparing how much they are paying per minute (and will owe on their student loans all too soon) relative to the kind of wage they are likely to end up with?
Is it reasonable to ask the class directly: why are you here?
I chalk up this kind of behavior to gross immaturity and to a culture that is shedding the work ethic like a dirty shirt.   Eventually, though, each student will be held responsible by society at large, and like it or not it falls to us teachers to seek out every teachable moment to drive the point home.

[ianelay]

I've heard from faculty who teach these courses that it helps to talk about the cost of a university education. The failed course will require several hundred to retake. If you're from out of town and need an extra term, there would be a few thousand in extra living expenses. If your graduation is delayed, you have several thousand in lost potential earnings.

When the cost of failure was spelled out, many of these students started to pay attention. Failure is not trivial.

[larryc]

It's not them, it's you. You need to learn how to control your classroom. The whole point of your class as I understand you is to teach them how to be college students. You are failing. 

And drop right now whatever attitude is making you write about what you "should" and "shouldn't" have to do. It is your job to work with your students as they are.

Time to take control. When a student gets up in the middle of class stop her right there and tell her to sit back down. When a student arrives really late, kick him back out. Tell people to see you after class and suggest that they drop. Control your classroom. 

[prytania3]

It's not them, it's you. You need to learn how to control your classroom. The whole point of your class as I understand you is to teach them how to be college students. You are failing. 

And drop right now whatever attitude is making you write about what you "should" and "shouldn't" have to do. It is your job to work with your students as they are.

Time to take control. When a student gets up in the middle of class stop her right there and tell her to sit back down. When a student arrives really late, kick him back out. Tell people to see you after class and suggest that they drop. Control your classroom. 

Suggest that they drop? That's all students do in these classes. It was designed to help student retention, but at my cc, they have a hard time retaining them in the classroom. Students coming into cc's often have to take developmental classes before they get to *real* college classes, and even though this course is more or less transferable--it becomes yet another burden on students who don't see the worth of it.

Now actually these classes offer some good material, but instead of offering it as a separate class, they ought to move the content into composition. It offers many interesting subjects to write about, and students  could knock off two birds with one stone. They could learn college success skills AND writing.

My 2 cents.

[caravaggiojr82]

Like others have said, whatever you do should be built-in to the course structure. It's really hard to institute new policies after the semester's begun--students invariably resent it (and not always without reason).

[mended_drum]

Now actually these classes offer some good material, but instead of offering it as a separate class, they ought to move the content into composition. It offers many interesting subjects to write about, and students  could knock off two birds with one stone. They could learn college success skills AND writing.

My 2 cents.

Didn't we just have a thread on this?  As someone who teaches freshman writing, the last thing I want is to become a version of homeroom as well.  Ick.

[thathardprofessor]

I teach the same class and have found the problem worsening over the past few semesters.  I make sure that I have some assignment due at the start of each class (we meet weekly) and if it isn't in my stack by the time I finish taking attendance I won't accept it.  They didn't believe me when I announced I would be doing this.  The next week about 1/2 of the class showed up late and received a zero for the work that was due that day.  On time arrival wasn't a problem after that.

If I have to many leave early I don't hesitate to thrown out a quick writing assignment or 1-2 question quiz over the days material at the end of class.