I teach at a University that has a mandatory attendance policy. Though the official regulation clearly states “based on the rules determined by the instructor”(Translation mine), the routine practice is to set this at 80% required attendance.

Like with most issues, I am ambivalent on this as well. Firstly, the isolations during COVID clearly reminded all of us why in-class lectures are indispensible. The face-to-face interaction between students, as well as the visual feedback the instructors get during lectures are clearly very important for efficient learning. Further, I would like to think that I present the material in a way that challenges students and are more useful than just reading the book.

On the flip side, I expect my students to be responsible adults. If they decide not to attend classes for whatever reason, they should bear the consequences. From my side, forcibly making students attend lectures creates students who are only there for the attendance requirement. I find this distracts me due to two types of students:
1- As I am cycling through the class to make short eye contact, I keep getting fixated on the one that is mentally elsewhere.
2- This generates habitual latecomers testing my boundaries as to how late they can be to a lecture before they are listed as absent. Latecomers are always distracting, especially later in the hour.
Lastly, and this is really just me venting, I hate having to document and keep track of attendance. It is particularly worse since it generates annoying e-mails that can really be summarized as “I don’t want to have to spend my time in class, please put me down as present”.

In the grand scheme of things, in my opinion, this problem is created because a “diploma” is what is valued. If there was an independent exam that determined whether a graduate was fit for a degree, the whole process would work much better. This is already routine in the form of a Bar Exam for practicing Law, Certified Public Accountant certificates for finance etc.

January 15, 2025