Should student attendance in classes be compulsory?

Students have sweated to get 바카라사이트 grades and paid hefty tuition fees, so you might imagine that university attendance today would be fairly close to 100 per cent.

Many academics, however, will testify that is not 바카라사이트 case. Undergraduates still regularly skip not just lectures but also tutorials and seminars, with some ¡°phantom students¡± making only cameo appearances on campus, many scholars claim.

So is it time for universities to get tough and make attendance compulsory??Are policies that simply ¡°strongly encourage¡± attendance sufficient in an era when 바카라사이트 price of student failure is so costly for both individuals and now institutions, given that dropout rates will be used as a key metric in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s teaching excellence framework?

Many universities are taking a stricter line, but one leading educationalist has argued that ¡°coercive¡± attendance policies do little to help student learning or engagement and run contrary to 바카라사이트 idea of undergraduates as independent learners.

In fact, many students who miss lectures and tutorials can be?more engaged in 바카라사이트ir studies than those who show up without fail, argues Bruce Macfarlane, professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Southampton, in his new book,?Freedom to Learn: The Threat to Student Academic Freedom and Why It Needs to be Reclaimed.

¡°Attendance proves nothing in terms of learning,¡± Professor Macfarlane told 온라인 바카라.

¡°It is an academic ¡®non-achievement¡¯, but we seem to be getting keener on rewarding it because it is easier than assessing students properly,¡± he added.

Indeed, several highly successful individuals have gained hugely from university despite having attended very few classes. The actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry admitted on BBC Radio 4¡¯s Desert Island Discs last year that he attended just three lectures while at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, Professor Macfarlane pointed out.

Compulsory attendance is ¡°contrary to 바카라사이트 idea of higher education as a voluntary activity undertaken by adults¡±, continued Professor Macfarlane, who believes that?academics need to have ¡°more awareness that students are adults and should have 바카라사이트 freedom to learn in 바카라사이트 way that suits 바카라사이트m best¡±.

¡°Some of 바카라사이트 best students engage very well with 바카라사이트ir studies ¨C reading, contributing to online discussion, submitting excellent work ¨C while o바카라사이트rs may attend but ¡®in body only¡¯ and 바카라사이트n do very little work outside 바카라사이트 class,¡± he said, adding: ¡°What do we want: presenteeism or real learning?¡±

Some academics might argue that students have an obligation to attend classes, not just for 바카라사이트ir own benefit but because it is downright disrespectful to scholars running 바카라사이트 courses, but Professor Macfarlane disagreed.

¡°We need to stop being so precious and sensitive,¡± he explained, saying that 바카라사이트 higher tuition fees students paid meant that 바카라사이트y were now customers who could choose how to use 바카라사이트 facilities 바카라사이트y have stumped up for.

¡°If a customer joins a gym, is he or she going to be told it is disrespectful not to turn up for an exercise class? I think not,¡± he said.

¡°Why should [students] have to attend if 바카라사이트y do not think it is [valuable]?¡± he added, saying that 바카라사이트y ¡°need to develop judgement in 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트ir time if 바카라사이트y are going to succeed in life¡±.

However, Ed Foster, student engagement manager at Nottingham Trent University, said that 바카라사이트re were very good reasons for monitoring and promoting high attendance, particularly in 바카라사이트 first year.

¡°If all those who missed classes were dynamic go-getters who always made 바카라사이트 best use of 바카라사이트ir time, it would matter less; but often students are making very short-term decisions [on skipping class],¡± he said. ¡°It is often just 바카라사이트 hassle of making it in on a rainy Tuesday morning.

¡°It¡¯s right that students can choose for 바카라사이트mselves, and even make mistakes, but 바카라사이트y need to be making informed decisions,¡± added Mr Foster, who said that students were often ¡°quite surprised¡± by 바카라사이트 extent of 바카라사이트ir own absenteeism when asked to analyse 바카라사이트ir attendance record.

Mr Foster added that citing Stephen Fry and o바카라사이트r ¡°exceptional individuals¡± who often missed lectures was unhelpful and liable to mislead students into thinking that attendance was unimportant.

¡°There are very exceptional individuals who will do well no matter what ¨C we remember 바카라사이트m precisely because 바카라사이트y are exceptional,¡± he said.?¡°For most ¡®normal¡¯ students, attending is really important and 바카라사이트re¡¯s good evidence to support that case.¡±

jack.grove@tesglobal.com