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snarkhunter
2010-01-20 04:12 am UTC (link)

I'm much crankier on this subject, below (possibly too cranky?), but I guess I feel like mandatory attendance is necessary in classes where participation is a significant part of one's grade. My classes are heavily weighted towards class participation, so not showing up (after the *generous* number of freebie absences I allow) affects your participation grade, which affects your final grade.

After all, you can't participate if you're not there.

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nevadafighter
2010-01-20 04:30 am UTC (link)

Yeah, I had the 10% participation section as well, mainly because there was lots of peer review and discussion that students really needed to be there for. I guess my approach was more that "I'm not going to run after you and pester you about coming to class; if you miss too many classes it will only hurt you in the end, not me." I put the burden of caring about coming to class on them.

I took attendance, counted the days, etc. but I let them know I wasn't going to lecture, pester, or even remind them. All told most of my students had very good attendance and I don't think I reduced anyone's grade because of excessive absence.

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snarkhunter
2010-01-20 02:13 pm UTC (link)

I'm not going to run after you and pester you about coming to class; if you miss too many classes it will only hurt you in the end, not me.

I completely agree. I don't chase them down, either. I figure they're adults, and if they want to fuck over their participation grade (which in my classes is usually 15-20%, and honestly kind of an easy A), that's their business. I'm also not a complete hard-ass. If there's something serious going on, fine. But it's up to them to let me know about it.

I have reduced people's grades because of excessive absence--but we're talking like missing half the class, here. If you miss 5 days, I might give you a *little* ding on your grade, but not enough to be really noticeable.

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	funwithrage 2010-01-20 10:51 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, that's the thing: class participation is maybe twenty percent, at most. If you know the material well enough that you don't need to be in class, you should be doing well enough on your tests that you can take the participation hit and come out fine. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

snarkhunter
2010-01-20 11:17 pm UTC (link)

The problem with that is that you have to ace the tests and the papers to get a good grade without a decent participation grade in my classes.

Traditionally, my classes (English) look something like this: 20% Participation, 20% Midterm, 20% First Paper, 20% Second Paper, 20% Final Exam. And I'm a tough grader on papers.

I'm a complete bitch (or a smug arrogant teacher, according to the Baleetion Fairy, above) because I determine what goes on the tests based on the class discussion. So if we read Poem A, but never talked about it in class? It's unlikely to be on the test.

Basically, people who don't come to class don't do well on exams, because the exams are designed around in-class discussion.

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isaiddietpepsi
2010-01-21 08:21 pm UTC (link)

Oh man, I always hated it when professors marked us for participation. I mean, I totally understand why y'all do it, so I'm not criticizing the policy per se...it's just that this always means that you have a bunch of people making the most inane comments solely for the purpose of getting an A in participation. I majored in English, and all of my English classes had this problem. The professor would say something say something, and a student would raise his or her hand and essentially paraphrase what the prof had just said, not bothering to add anything new to the discussion. Like, if the prof said, "Gatsby was a frog," the student might then comment, "Yeah, Gatsby was an amphibian known particularly for its protruding eyes, long hind legs, and webbed digits." (And yes, I know that example makes no sense. :P ) Made me want to bang my head against a wall.

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snarkhunter
2010-01-21 09:29 pm UTC (link)

Which is *precisely* why I don't actually grade for just talking in class. As far as I'm concerned, sitting there and at least *pretending* to pay attention is also a form of participation.

Also, if one of my students just paraphrased what I'd said, I'd ask for more specific detail. Like, "Okay, fine. But where do we see Gatsby depicted as a frog in the novel? Specifically?"

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