Dr. Giulia EvolviDec 9, 2022

Unpopular academic take: teachers should not require mandatory attendance. Students should come to class because they're interesting & useful.

Instead of forcing them to attend our classes, we should wonder why they prefer staying at home.

#academia #academicmastodon #academicchatter @academicchatter

Show threadMichaelDec 9, 2022

@giuliaevolvi @academicchatter

One can argue that not going to class is because the students do not see the class as relevant and beneficial, but I think that often it is that the student's social life overwhelms everything else.

Being a college student is a pretty enjoyable lifestyle, particularly since it doesn't cost anything (they won't have to start paying their student loans for years so the costs are not real to them).

Show threadDr. Giulia Evolvi
@mimarek1 @academicchatter I believe students are adults, they can decide whether is it important for them to learn or not...
Dec 9, 2022 at 3:40pmWeb
Show threadRev. Eric Burrows-Stone ⳨Dec 9, 2022
@giuliaevolvi @mimarek1 @academicchatter depends on which students we’re talking about. Under grads often do not make adult decisions. Grad students more often do.
Show threadRev. Eric Burrows-Stone ⳨Dec 9, 2022
@giuliaevolvi @mimarek1 @academicchatter I also think there is a difference between forcing them to come (which is virtually impossible) and holding them accountable… even in the workplace adults are held accountable, without that meaning we aren’t treating them as adults.
Show threadJose MarichalDec 9, 2022
@RevEricBurrowsStone @giuliaevolvi @mimarek1 @academicchatter depending on what you're teaching, requiring attendance can have a negative effect. If a portion of your class is populated by people who have little interest in the subject no matter how compelling you make it, it can do serious damage to the political community you are trying to build. Also, I think it is a good life lesson to learn that if you choose not to "show up," there are consequences.... but I'm open tio being wrong :)
Show threadMichaelDec 9, 2022

@JoseMarichal @RevEricBurrowsStone @giuliaevolvi @academicchatter

I tended to teach media and journalism courses using Student-Centered Active Learning. In those classes, you can't "catch up" in the last two weeks of the semester.

My tests were typically only 20-40% of the final grade, depending on the course.

Show threadDr. Giulia EvolviDec 9, 2022
@JoseMarichal @RevEricBurrowsStone @mimarek1 @academicchatter in my experience uninterested students can be really disruptive... I prefer to only have those truly interested in the subject
Show threadMichaelDec 9, 2022

@RevEricBurrowsStone @giuliaevolvi @academicchatter

I believe that research shows that a young person's brain is not fully formed until around age 25, which misses the undergrad years for most students.

Show threadDr. Giulia EvolviDec 9, 2022
@RevEricBurrowsStone @mimarek1 @academicchatter not so sure about that, I think undergrad should also be treated as adults (even if not all of them behave as adults, but truth be told, there are childish behaviors among people of all ages...)
Show threadFreya BlekmanDec 9, 2022
@giuliaevolvi @mimarek1 @academicchatter that’s all fine…until the university funding gets lowered because of lowered graduation numbers. And yes that is not as extreme as students might think.
My take: Mandatory attendance is the lazy way to fix the graduation rates (the better way is creating high quality courses that students actually voluntarily attend but that is of course a much more complicated discussion)
Show threadDr. Giulia EvolviDec 9, 2022
@freyablekman @mimarek1 @academicchatter of course, it is a complicated matter, but definitely less people will graduate without mandatory attendance...