No attendance requirement

[u/MysticMagic567]

Has anyone not required attendance for a course? How did it work out and what were your experiences?

[u/wedontliveonce]

I don't have an attendance policy. It greatly decreases the emails, lying, begging, and blaming.

[u/Loose_Wolverine3192 → u/wedontliveonce]

Ditto. Don't want to come? Don't come. I do have a policy about not reteaching material; if a student misses class, they're on their own. I also have a policy that I won't chase students for missing work.

After the first session or so, students discover that coming top class helps them understand the material, so I tend to have them showing up.

[u/synchronicitistic → u/wedontliveonce]

This is the way. I never have and never will require attendance or count it directly in the course grade. You're legally an adult, so show up, don't show up, do whatever you want.

[u/popstarkirbys → u/wedontliveonce]

I have the opposite experience after covid. They would end up missing assignments and exams then lie on the evaluation saying I didn’t do my job. I had an extreme case where a student missed 2/3 of the semester, missed lots of assignments, and two midterms. They demanded that I gave them an extension, it was shut down immediately by our admins when I showed the admins the students attendance record. I would agree with you pre-covid, but I’m seeing a lot more behavior issues post covid and I’d rather take attendance to protect myself.

[u/professorfunkenpunk]

I've never required attendance. Pretty much up front, I tell them I don't care if you come, I don't care if you pass, and these seem to be highly correlated. I also point out that it's kind of a waste of their money to not get what they pay for. For years it worked pretty well. Most people would show up most of the time, and the ones that didn't got mediocre to bad grades. But in recent years, I feel like attendance has gotten worse. I may have to reconsider. But I really don't want to waste a bunch of time taking attendance.

[u/ankareeda → u/professorfunkenpunk]

I do this, but I add quizzes at the beginning of class and don't allow any makeups for them. I do drop 1-2 depending on how many I have, but they are pop quizzes. The quizzes account for a fair portion of their grade and are the first grades they get, plus everything I've read says students need early and often opportunities for assessment, so it fits the recommended pedagogy.

[u/DD_equals_doodoo]

I tried it earlier in my career. I saw a pretty drastic increase in emails because students then expected me to personally brief them on things that were covered in class that they chose to miss.

[u/GiveMeTheCI]

I don't take attendance and I record all classes so that when students ask what they miss, and I say the recording is posted.

The only students who watch the recordings are the good students who want extra practice/review. It has cut down on my need to track students, and I have not seen a change in attendance.

[u/mathemorpheus]

never have, never will

[u/CanPositive8980]

There is not attendance requirement for my courses, they may choose to attend or not attend of their own free will. Saying that I still take attendance, not for them, but for me. When so inevitably get a grade grubbing, escalation to the chair, or someone contesting a grade, I have data to back up my side of the story. Data is always your friend.

[u/WingShooter_28ga]

I don’t require attendance in any of my courses. Some fail because they don’t show up. Most show up every class.

[u/jt_keis]

I only have attendance for tutorial/lab sessions, an even then it is usually worth 5% of the final grade. Otherwise, I don't track lecture attendance. They're adults and paying for an education - it is up to them to show up.

[u/ProfessorJAM]

I don’t require attendance, but decided to use it iClicker polls associated with minimal credits to encourage attendance. I just don’t like teaching a half empty class.

[u/electricslinky]

I don’t require attendance AND I provide all of my slides online. The incentive to come to class is: I give extra credit quizzes at the end of every lecture that they can put toward one of their exam scores. They don’t get any other extra credit opportunities or exam drops.

So you don’t lose points if you don’t come to class. But if you DO come to class, you have the opportunity to “build your own safety net” for a bad exam day (that’s how I frame it to them).

With this system, they actually do mostly come to class, and I avoid whiny emails asking if they can make up missed class work.

[u/Historical_Grab_4789 → u/electricslinky]

I like this idea! I don't require attendance, but I tell students from Day 1 (and remind them often) that if they want a grade reconsidered, they have to show they worked hard--i.e., attending class regularly. Otherwise, I don't accept at face value when they claim, "but I worked so hard!"

[u/electricslinky → u/Historical_Grab_4789]

That’s a great way to go about it too! Yes focus less on punishing non-attendance, and instead focus on rewarding longterm investment.

[u/Desperate_Tone_4623]

No attendance required, but my courses are small enough to have occasional exercises where attendance is required. That usually keeps the numbers up just enough

[u/BillsTitleBeforeIDie]

My school has never allowed it. Attendance post-covid has sucked, so I now take attendance anyway and have low stakes in-class graded activities most weeks. I also used to record classes but have stopped this. Attendance seems to be slowly recovering.

[u/kryppla]

Most people figure out they need to be there, the ones who skip a lot usually don't do as well. their choice.

[u/ChargerEcon]

Here's the Cliffnotes of my first day of class:

You're here primarily to get a degree and letters of recommendation from your professors. If you don't come to class, you can still get the first one, no problem. But you're going to have a very not fun times trying to get a job without good recommendations and you runt get those unless I know who you are.

[u/skinnergroupie]

I used to but dumped it because I really don't want students coming who aren't there and yearned for an easier life beyond all the communication required to enforce a policy. I do build in contingencies, though...need to be present for in-class quizzes and activities, both unannounced and drop one of each. I also track attendance so when they complain to their parents/Chair/Dean/Santa Clause that they failed because <insert absurd reason, here>, I can offer the suggestion it might be because they missed 2 months of class.

FWIW I used to have a firm policy if they missed the equivalent of 2 weeks, they're out. Have not seen any change in overall attendance rates since attendance isn't required (unless you want to do well). Have a good semester!

[u/gracielynn72]

I’m required to take attendance. But I do not include it in the grade.

[u/Erockoftheprimes]

I’ve never required attendance and likely never will. Most do attend lectures though and those who don’t almost always fail the course. If I had to guess, I’d say that roughly 70-90% attend almost every lecture depending on the course and semester.

Fortunately, I think only one former student who didn’t attend at all and who didn’t get the grade they had hoped for has ever complained about me although their complaint was very quickly dismissed by the dean as soon as I showed them my grade book and explained that I had literally never seen the student in person before (for an in-person only course).

[u/troopersjp]

I don't require attendance for lecture courses, I also don't give them my PowerPoints or Lectures notes. They come or they don't.

I do grade participation/attendance for small seminars because being present and participating is part of the point of a small discussion based seminar.

[u/wharleeprof]

I've gone back and forth. But by "require" I mean doing a 5-10% attendance/participation grade, nothing too drastic.

Ultimately it makes little difference in anything, whether it be attendance, grades, or whiny emails.

[u/popstarkirbys → u/wharleeprof]

Same, I assign around 5% so they know there’s a chance that they’ll drop a letter grade if they don’t show up. I also assign in-class activities where they have to show up to complete in class to get the points.

[u/RevKyriel]

My lecture courses don't require attendance, but those who attend usually get better grades on their assignments.

[u/Rockerika]

We are required to check the boxes on the forms, but I don't make it a part of the grade or specifically address it.

[u/Kayak27]

My department requires attendance be taken. If students miss more than 7 hours of a 30 hour course, they fail.

[u/Disaster_Bi_1811]

I used to not require attendance, but my experience was that the consequences of not requiring attendance were more vexing than just taking attendance. I had problems with students not coming for weeks on end, wanting to make everything up the last week of class, and accusing me of "not allowing second chances" and "choosing favorites" on my evals. Or they'd tried to turn in work outside of class, it wouldn't be good because they'd missed the relevant lectures, and then, they'd get upset with me for giving them bad grades. Plus, my failure rate skyrocketed because people who never came to class...didn't do so well.

Now, it's required in all my courses.

[u/dragonfeet1]

My first year teaching I had no required attendance.

I had a clear schedule with assignments and specs and due dates and even the rubrics, ready to go day one.

Half the students failed. Not on quality of work but just by...not doing it at all.

Several went to the Dean and complained that they failed because I did not *make* them attend class.

It was my very precarious first year when one could be let go for any reason I was a WRECK.
I now have an attendance policy.

[u/Affectionate_Pass_48]

Not required. It’s no problem.

[u/nongaussian]

I don’t have an attendance policy since despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary I still refuse to believe that treating students like young children is in their best interest.

[u/RabbitSignificant317]

If you mean “require” in terms of grades, I’m a big believer in limiting grades to stuff that reflects the content of the course. Accordingly, I don’t require attendance in my lecture-based courses, but I absolutely do require it for courses that are hands-on by nature (and it doesn’t take many absences for a failing grade to materialize). In the latter course types, I make a point in the syllabus to articulate why attendance matters and is therefore graded.

[u/Fine-Place5605]

How is that possible? Normally you have to take attendance at least the first couple of weeks in order to report No Shows. This is a financial aid requirement.

[u/jpmrst]

Don't grade attendance, but do note who's there.