Here’s my two cents regarding Incentivizing Class Attendance.

I’m a teaching assistant for an introductory weather and climate class, and I’ve recently been discussing class attendance with the instructor. I don’t usually go to the classes, but I have been to a few - some to teach and others for other administrative purposes. Except for periods when there is an exam scheduled, only about half of the students come to class. The class size isn’t huge, around 50, so it’s a noticable change. Last semester I was a TA for a class of 150 and the change wasn’t as noticable, though I still think a large portion of the class was skipping regularly.

For these introductory type classes, the students are generally not interested in the subject matter. They only take the course because they need it on their transcript to graduate. They attempt to do the minimum amount of work to get the grade they desire. Some just want to pass - which is fairly easy, but some every semester seem to accomplish it. If they don’t pass, they just try again the next time the course is offered. Dr. Free-Ride suggests that a possible monetary incentive might work to increase class size. I doubt it. A college-level education costs quite a bit of money if it’s not being paid by parents, so if Joanne Somebody isn’t worried about the extra cost of taking the course over again, how is a monetary incentive going to work unless the incentive is greater than the cost for the second (and third and…) semester(s)? And if the incentive is greater than the cost, isn’t a bean-counter in the administration going to start worrying about that lost money?

Before the last exam, the instructor went through an exam from a previous year, stating that some questions for the exam this year would be copied directly from there and most of the others superficially changed. If a student had simply learned the material on the previous exam, they should have received a mark higher than 80% on the exam. Needless to say, the class average was lower than 80%. The correlation between those attending class and those who received high marks on the exam was highly positive.

If a student only wants to “just pass” there is nothing that can be done from a teaching perspective. Some of the “just passers” will pass and some will fail. You can’t worry about those failing that don’t try. Now, if a student is going to every class and seeing the TA and/or instructor during office hours and still doesn’t manage a passing grade, there may be a problem. Since this is an introductory course, it’s meant to be, well, introductory. Everyone should be able to get a C in the course by just attending class and reading the class material. A person that try and still doesn’t get it may signal either a learning problem for the student or a teaching problem. Both should be addressable issues.

I don’t think any class incentive scheme short of mandatory attendence will increase class size. I do think it’s our responsibility as educators to attempt to instruct our students that it’s important to attend class - which it is, despite the comments on Dr. Free-ride’s blog that claim otherwise. Even if you are in a large class, try sitting in the front of the lecture hall. Your mission for the class period is to think of one non-trivial question to ask the instructor about the material from that class period. Since you were going to skip anyway, you didn’t miss any of the lecture. Then either after class or during office hourse - it’s important to actually see her in person, so no email - ask them. Do this a few times throughout the semester. I bet it’ll raise your grade. Maybe it’s only that half percent to get you from a failing mark to a D. In my experience, if the instructor thinks you are interested in the subject - even if you aren’t - they tend to grade more leniently. And the only way they’ll know you is if you’re in class.

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