Did your college professors take attendance?

[jodifla]

I was on one of the many threads where parents are discussing taking children out of school, and someone mentioned how it was good practice never to miss school, because you certainly could never miss your college classes.

That surprised me....not one professor ever took attendance when I was in college. All that mattered was you did the papers, projects and passed the tests.

I attended every class as a freshman, almost every class as a soph, would skip if it was raining as a junior, and if it was sunny as a senior!

How about you?

 

[gate_pourri]

I went to a really small school (most class sizes were in the 20s) and they took attendance. It didn't really effect your grade too much if you missed a class here or there, but it would be noticed and commented on if you started missing a lot.

 

[Deb in IA]

Can't remember for sure, but I don't think so.

It may be different nowadays, thought.

DD is taking General Chem II this summer. Her professor noticed very low attendance on Tuesday, and was not happy. He did a head count and said, "There is less than 80% of the class here." (This is summer school, so only about 40 - 50 kids in the class total.) So, he passes out a piece of paper and tells all the kids present to write their names on it. He says that he will count is as a "quiz" and all who signed in get 20 points. Those who didn't sign in get 0.

DD is VERY HAPPY she goes to every class!

 

[goofy!]

My son attends the University of Colorado at Boulder - so a huge school.

They take attendance - sort of.

Most of the classes he has taken, he is required to have a clicker. He said they have clicker questions to answer in the first five minutes of each class. So, not only do they use the answers for attendance purposes, if you miss the questions you miss the points for that day.

Very effective way to keep track of attendance even in the 400+ freshman classes.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I was an education major. profs wanted to see professionalism, so they always took attendance and wanted to make sure you were there ON TIME! If we were not going to make it to class we had to call the professor and let them know. I didn't miss many classes, only if DD or myself were sick.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

My last semester math class the teacher gave a quiz every class. If you didn't complete the quiz at the beginning of the class you didn't get counted for attendance. If you missed less than 3 classes you could drop your worst test score.

 

[LisaR]

I never had a single professor take attendance. However, my DD is dual enrolled at the community college and they have a strict attendance policy. The instructor has the option to withdraw you from class or fail you if you miss more than three days. This is for everyone, not just dual enrolled.

 

[kristilew]

Never had a prof take attendance. However, by my junior year almost all of my classes were seminars where there were only 5-10 of us sitting around a table. It was obvious, and not appreciated, if you were absent.

 

[MsLeFever]

I take attendance in each of my classes, every day. I call it "passive participation" because each student adds something to the class experience just by being there. Missing more than 3 classes can heavily impact their grade.

 

[LilyWDW]

All classes at my Univ take attendance for at LEAST the first two weeks. This is due to financial aid requirements. You can have your aid revoked if you miss your classes during those weeks.

After that, it depends on the department and professor. Many departments have now started policies where your grade is greatly effected by your attendance. Miss so many classes (based on if it is a 3 day a week class, a 2 day, or a 1 day) in the semester and you fail. Period.

College is to prepare you for your career and the world around you (or so they say). As such, you would get into trouble if you simply skipped your job when you wanted, thus skipping class is considered unprofessional. Especially when the classes are for your major or graduate level.

 

[TwinsinCA]

I never skipped one class in high school. In college, with classes as big as 1200 people, I made up for it. There were a couple of classes where they either kept track or the class was so small, they would notice if you were gone. But most were big enough that no one knew if you were there or not.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am struggling to recall time it was explicitly taken. I have had some upper division coursework where your grade would be impacted (as in lowered) if you missed too many. But I correlate it to the work place
and how any employer might handle chronic absenteeism.

I might have had one professors that penalized us in some way for tardiness or absences, but I don't recall what the penalty was.
I only recall that we had to inform her if we had a class preceding it that was a significant distance away. I could usually make it right on time..but in the event an exam went over or a downpour, I was given leniancy if I was late. That only happened once and was that one heck of a downpour.

For the most part, at UF for my general degree, we were responsible for the material whether we were there or not. And typically, they did not care the reason. I missed an accounting class due to an out if town funeral and they had regular quizzes each class. They also dropped the lowest score. I got a zero for that quiz and that was my drop. So no attendance..but those zeros add up and there are no retakes. You don't have to come to class...but you would wish you did. I wish I didn't feel that I needed to go
to the funeral. But it was the right decision. I opted to
not cut class.

My economics class was rebroadcasted on tv, so I was able to have much wiggle room with that even though I was enrolled in the live class. Since it was recorded, I was never going to ask a question during the class for it to
be rebroadcasted 17 times. So physically attending was not necessary.

 

[indimom]

some did, some didn't.
It seemed to be left up to the discretion of the professor. Some made a very big deal out of attendance. Others could have cared less. There were a couple instances where I didn't recognize people who showed up for the final exam...

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Labs and discussion sections yes, lectures no. They probably did in very small seminars, too, but I didn't keep track. I had one class in a theatre that seated 500. We didn't fill it completely, but still, taking attendance three times a week would have been a bit hard.

 

[jodifla]

I am struggling to recall time it was explicitly taken. I have had some upper division coursework where your grade would be impacted (as in lowered) if you missed too many. But I correlate it to the work place
and how any employer might handle chronic absenteeism.

I might have had one professors that penalized us in some way for tardiness or absences, but I don't recall what the penalty was.
I only recall that we had to inform her if we had a class preceding it that was a significant distance away. I could usually make it right on time..but in the event an exam went over or a downpour, I was given leniancy if I was late. That only happened once and was that one heck of a downpour.

For the most part, at UF for my general degree, we were responsible for the material whether we were there or not. And typically, they did not care the reason. I missed an accounting class due to an out if town funeral and they had regular quizzes each class. They also dropped the lowest score. I got a zero for that quiz and that was my drop. So no attendance..but those zeros add up and there are no retakes. You don't have to come to class...but you would wish you did. I wish I didn't feel that I needed to go
to the funeral. But it was the right decision. I opted to
not cut class.

My economics class was rebroadcasted on tv, so I was able to have much wiggle room with that even though I was enrolled in the live class. Since it was recorded, I was never going to ask a question during the class for it to
be rebroadcasted 17 times. So physically attending was not necessary.

Hey, I think I had that same class! I took it in person a few times at 8 a.m., then slid back to a late afternoon class.

 

[Ephany]

Associate's degree - some professors yes, some no and attendance did affect your grade if it was taken. Bachelor's - most professors yes, especially as I got into the higher level courses. Of course by that time I had class sizes of 8-12 so it was noticed if you weren't there. Professional school - we have clickers. Attendance is taken in most of my classes and many professors refuse to allow the lectures to be recorded if attendance is taken. Attendance counts towards your grade, and questions are asked during class using clickers for points in the class. They emphasize that school is your job and you're expected to dress and act accordingly - skipping class is highly discouraged and if you have a reason for missing class you're expected to email/call the professor as soon as possible.

 

[Jennasis]

Mine did. They had you sign in on a sheet that was passed around. Of course you COULD have a friend sign in for you, but the same sheet was often used for choosing whom the prof would like to hear from when a question was asked.

 

[Muggle-born]

Yes and no. All of my French professors have because participation and attendance are a part of the grade as many of them were "immersion" classes.

Usually, my professors have either taken attendance and it's part of the grade or they don't care if you show up at all, as long as things are handed in and midterms and finals are done. A lot of them state though that if you show everyday and you're grade is 88-89%, they bump you up to an A because you showed effort. If you didn't show up at all, that wasn't going to happen. That happened when classes were smaller of course.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

My professors used our attendance to count for 5% of our final grade and in seminar classes it counted for 10% - 15%. My honors seminar attendance and participation was 45% of the final mark.

My intro classes we had to sign a sheet at the front of the room before the professor got there. My later classes (after first year class sizes went to 20-30 people then third was 15-25 and fourth year classes 15) they always took attendance.

My masters is a thesis so no attendance lol!

 

[Angelhalo]

I picked no but it was really just luck of the draw. Some did, and some didn't.