Honestly, I do not even think its an issue. University students are adults and more and more we are enrolling students who are mature and are working professionals, and family heads etc. Yet in a University we might still find people arguing the importance to monitor attendance as if we are dealing with primary school infants (where attendance monitoring provide clues for broader social issues) and secondary school adolescents (where attendance monitoring is more to ensure that in this vulnerable age, those adolescents are safe and sound). That is all about it!
It is unreasonable to say in the 21st century, (i would even go as far as treating this absurd) that forcing a student to attend classes will maximise his chances of passing the exams. Personally if I take my own case when I was a student, if I have to agree with the belief that attendance make people pass, I will find myself in a situation where it will be more like ''fais ce que je dis mais ne fais pas ce que je fais!'' because as a University student in my undergraduate studies, I rarely attended classes and yet I passed! Afterall, why would I attend classes when all i had to do in them was to copy as fast as i can the slides which the lecturers had photocopied from books and which could easily have been distributed to students? I was wiser because I just took the notes of my friends, photocopied them and then learnt the same notes when I was in a better environment to learn!
At the same time when we think of the concept of distance education that exists for more than a century now, the concept of attendance is irrelevant. What is important is the type of pedagogical design, the way we design learning activities and get students to engage in them and most importantly is about how we empower students to become responsible of their own future.
Look at the video below, and ask ourselves "why do we need to sit a class like in a compact farm to listen to the something of lesser quality than what can be disseminated through other media??"
Look at the video below, and ask ourselves "why do we need to sit a class like in a compact farm to listen to the something of lesser quality than what can be disseminated through other media??"
According to me, falling lecture attendance among university students has become a great concern. Various explanations have been advanced such as interest, motivation, learning styles, assignments deadlines but also family commitments. It is clear that attending lecture and pretending of listening to the notes already available on the university site is not the way of passing as these notes can be read more leisurely at the appropriate time.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I agree with the above article. Severe monitoring of students' attendance will not improve the percentage of students. It is simply not as if we are dealing with kindergartners. University students are adults and it is upon them which comes the responsibility of their own future and careers. Simply monitoring attendance is certainly not going to create magic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of view. At university level we don't need monitoring since we should be at this stage responsible adults that can take their own decision. However a certain limit of monitoring is necessary to keep contact about what is going on about presence of students in classes. If there is high rate of absences then it will automatically lead to higher rate of failure. However we should balance between discipline and treating students at universities like babies.
DeleteConsidering the above, it is not untrue. Again, true , if lecturers stop with the method of only giving notes and choose another way of teaching, perhaps students would not have missed even a second of the class.
ReplyDeleteTackling this point, I fully agree that the internet, online studies and so like have contributed and facilitated the task of students.
Nevertheless for everything there are pros and cons!
Monitoring of student attendance is a way of diplomacy. It is a form of discipline.
My learned friend mentioned "University students are adults and more and more we are enrolling students who are mature and are working professionals, and family heads etc."
It should be taken into consideration that a student is after all a student. Let me take a simple example of somebody who is working and studying at the same time:
Consider as if the person is a cook in some kind of a hotel. He will want to better the food and satisfy the clients obviously. So, why he does not stay at home and cook??? Why he goes to work? Why is attendance importance over there? Because of money?
If attendance is important over there, it is all about the rule of the hotel and workers must be abided by this.
It is the same for a university! Monitoring of attendance is indeed important. It improves diplomacy, it helps students to understand how they must be abided by rules and regulations whether they agree or not.
These same students, that is us, we are the people of tomorrow! For a better world. Most importantly, it contributes to the interaction between friends as well as teachers. Students are expected to attend all teaching activities, including lectures, seminars, practical and personal tutorials. During registration, all students sign up to the Student Contract which states that:
"Continuous unauthorized absence from teaching activities may lead to formal warnings being issued about unsatisfactory performance. "In addition, for international students, the University has a legal responsibility to report serious cases of non-attendance to the UK government – since this may affect the validity of a student’s visa. It is therefore important that we notify our school in advance of absence. In other words, monitoring of attendance is a sheer importance!
Monitoring attendance at universities is useless especially because students of universities are already in the adult stage of their life. They are the sole responsible of their studies and no one should take up this responsibility for them. However, if lecturers still encourage students to participate in courses they might be willing to be in class instead of participating in distance learning.
ReplyDeletehaving read the article and posts above, my opinion is that when classes are not interesting, students of course won't pay much attention to the lectures being carried out. Nowadays, with the advance in technology, many tools can be used to make classes more interesting and illustrative; rather than just copying notes from classmates or even making photocopies.
ReplyDeleteWhat will be the use of having face - to - face classes when teachers themselves have lost the fundamentals in dispensing their ideas to their students ?
Lectures depend on the capabilities of the lecturers to maintain and motivate their students. Attendance is of utmost importance. Otherwise, it can be counted as being disrespectful towards an institution!
To monitor attendance in universities is fundamental as it is not only a means for students to pass their exams but also to show how serious they are towards their education. Learning the notes of the lecturer and applying them are two different things as we must know how to use them in the modern society. So, attending classes is important.
ReplyDeleteAttending classes is important but what happens when one attend a class where he does not understand anything as he is too busy writing what the lecturer is showing on the powerpoint or the overhead projector? In fact, it would have been easier for the lecturer to send the notes to the students before the class so that they can follow during the lectures. In this case, it would have been up to the students to enter the class or not. However, this should not play against him during his studies because he, as an adult, chose not to attend the lectures and by doing so, he took his own responsibility.
DeleteI am both for and against the idea of monitoring attendance in universities. It is true that at university level we are adults and not babies at kindergarten. We have acquired enough maturity to decide the best for us. However it happens when lectures are boring and uninteresting students try to escape the monotony. In this case monitoring seems necessary to have tight control on what is happening inside universities.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the writer's point of view that monitoring attendance at the university is something which nearly holds no value to anyone but just a waste of paper. Why am i saying so?
ReplyDeleteIt is so simple that students do come into the class but they don't really take anything as such which is learned.
Attending lectures is less important compared to the content. i believe that the motive of education itself should be redefined.
when a student recognizes his abilities and the qualities, meaning those activities he's good at, the student should be guided towards that activity and encouraged to improve his skills in that field instead of being forced to do things that he does not want to, like attending lectures.
If a student is finds it easy to learn at home compared to the university lecture theaters, i think it is better that the student is permitted to learn from home rather than making a waste of his time in travelling, getting ready for the university and all just to attend a lecture of two and a half hour, where he's not going to do anything great but just sit and listen to someone talking
Moreover the notes which are presented in the slides may be found in the books and also on online sites, so what is the use of forcing someone to attend classes which are really not interesting?
A person who is not present during the lectures is doing so by his own will. If he is forced to be present in the class which he does not want to do, then of what use is the democracy of the country which believes in the freedom of an individual?
The definition of learning seems to have changed nowadays. People are more interested in things that attract the mind rather that the content of the message being passed.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the attendance of the university, students are “forced” to attend lectures through the pretext of not being admitted to the exams halls to give the exams, which I find to be quite banal in the context of education. A student at the university level is an adult and is responsible for his actions. If he is not attending lectures, he is doing so at his own cost. I believe that a student realizes what he stands to lose or what he gains in case he does not attend the class.
In any case the world we’re living in today, where it is not impossible to get the notes of another person. Although a person is not attending the lectures, he may be keeping in touch with the issues discussed in the class and may be serious about his studies.
Attendance is not an issue that determines level of seriousness at educational level. Also if someone is being forced to attend classes on the threat of not being admitted to exams hall, where does the concept of democracy in the island of freedom apply?
In fact i'm against the idea of monitoring attendance in universities. Attending classes does not necessary make someone pass or fail. To pass or to fail always depend purely on the will of the students. we can't really force someone to attend classes where he will not necessarily learnt more than reading the notes itself. However university students must be responsible and they should know when to really attend classes or not.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I’m against the idea of monitoring attendance in universities. Attending classes does not necessary make someone pass or fail. To pass or to fail always depend on the will of the students. we can't really force someone to attend classes where he will not necessarily learnt more than reading the notes itself. However university students must be responsible and they should know when to really attend classes or not
ReplyDelete