From elementary to high school, students are expected to regularly attend classes. “Roll call,” the process of taking attendance and penalizing students who are absent without a legitimate reason, is a common occurrence. This is a far cry from the classroom dynamic of higher education. In classes with over a hundred students, it is difficult and often unfeasible for professors to take attendance regularly. This unfortunately can lead to students skipping class. Oftentimes, large classes will see attendance steadily dwindle as the term progresses. Although students may not think that physically going to class is critical to their academic experience, they are actually doing themselves a disservice when they fail to attend lectures.
Of course, there are many classes at Dartmouth and other colleges for which professors do take attendance every day. These are often small, discussion-based classes in which it is very noticeable if a student is absent. However, I believe that mandatory attendance should not just be limited to these classes. Even in science or mathematics classes, some of which have more than 100 students per class, it would be ideal if students felt compelled to come to class. If students do not attend class, they miss out on valuable opportunites to ask professors questions, listen to other students’ thoughts and interact with others in a classroom setting.
Some might argue that since college students are adults, the choice of whether or not to attend class should be left to them. However, students who know that attendance is not mandatory will often be unable to motivate themselves to attend class. They will subconsciously justify skipping class. Some may believe that they “learn better” by reading their textbook and learning on their own. While this may be true to a certain extent, this attitude undermines the very point of going to, and paying for, college. If we did not have professors who taught and gave lectures, and instead learned simply from reading textbooks, then our tuition would be significantly cheaper. The ability to learn in a classroom is a unique experience that could never be replaced with inanimate objects.
If attendance is to be mandatory, then it should be a factor in students’ final grades. This may seem troublesome to some who believe that college students should be evaluated solely on results and not on effort. Students who come to class may not necessarily be as prepared or high-scoring as those who do not. But once again we must keep in mind that college is not simply about grades and tests. College is an intellectual and social academic experience, one that allows you to develop not just as a student but as an individual. Attending lectures and participating in class will give students a well-rounded, more complete understanding of the material, as opposed to simply studying and performing well on tests.
Recently, the discussion of “online teaching” looks at whether or not this development improves upon traditional methods of classroom teaching. Many argue that the former is more efficient than the latter. Although websites like Khan Academy are extremely helpful as supplementary material, I do not believe that they should replace traditional classrooms. It is true that if a student is learning by watching videos on a computer, then he or she can learn at his or her own pace. However, it is only in an actual classroom that students can raise their hands if they are confused and talk through issues with professors or teachers in person.
There is an undeniable positive correlation between class attendance and performance. Attendance policies need not be extremely stringent and unforgiving. Perhaps a few missed absences throughout the year would be allowed. But overall, students should be expected to do their best to attend lectures and be physically present.
