Did your college professors take attendance?

[MM27]

My college classes were mostly small, 20 students or so per class. Most professors did take attendance and most had an attendance policy outlined in the syllabus.

 

[punkin]

No one took attendance, but honestly, if you missed a few classes (in almost every subject) you were lost for the remainder of the quarter. Things moved rather fast. No one I know who made a habit of missing classes actually graduated from my college.

 

[mumom95]

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?

I teach math at one of the branch campuses of a local University. Our department asks us to take attendance in case there is ever a question of when a person that is dropping the class actually stopped coming to the class.

I graduated from the same university (but the main campus, not branch) and had lots of professors that did not take attendance.

 

[Briarmom]

I'm in school right now and they all take attendance. Apparently, it's for funding.

 

[GeorgeG]

It was so long ago I really don't remember. I went on the GI Bill so I was a bit older than most of the class and never missed a class. I had one teacher who would bait me into a disagreement knowing I would speak up. At the end of the semester she told me I kept the class awake.

 

[Gigi22]

Attendance was never taken for the large classes that consisted of lectures, but all the students in lectures were assigned to a smaller study group led by a grad student and they took attendance. Classes that were seminars only had 12-15 students; attendance was regularly taken for seminars--plus it was obvious who was absent. Attendance was only an issue if a student fell behind in the class work or assignments. Other than that, you were an adult and expected to attend class unless you were ill, there was a family emergency, or bad weather prevented you from getting to class.

 

[pigletliz]

I am attending two different colleges to finish my degree. Most of my professors take attendance for various reasons:

1)Part of your grade for class participation.

2)For those students on financial aid.

3)A lot of the undergrad classes are impacted, with many people are on waitlists. One school policy is that the professor must drop you or fail you after a certain number of classes because someone else could have taken the class and you didn't make the effort.

4)If you are bordering between two grades, may take your attendance into account to boost you higher.

 

[Jestocost]

I graduated from a top-tier university and can't ever recall having attendance taken. Clearly in small classes it would be obvious if you weren't there. Otherwise, if you can master the material and demonstrate proficiency through whatever method the teacher chooses why should attendance matter?

That said, showing up generally does matter (and rightly so) for most jobs. So if an individual student needs that kind of discipline enforced during college in order to prepare them for the workplace, I understand it. However, if an individual can effectively moderate their own behavior to adapt to the specific requirements, then it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to arbitrarily require attendance for someone who is succeeding in class.

The real issue, IMO, is that if you want students to come to class you should structure the class appropriately. The really good teachers/professors will make the class itself so interesting and engaging that most students will want to be there. At the very least they can make attendance valuable enough that it is in the students' best interest to come whether attendance is taken or not.

 

[debbywilder]

Had a forgetful professor. It was not the case always.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Some of my professors took attendance, some didn't.

I took a political science class last semester that had about 50 students and the TA's took attendence during the class. The room was a mini auditorium (only seated about 250 as apposed to 500+) and we all had assigned seats. The TA's had the seating chart and took attendence while the professor lectured. The class was graded on a points system, and attendance was worth 50 points. If you missed 0-3 classes you got the full 50 points, 4-7 missed classes got you 25/50 points, and anything more than that you got a 0. That class was so incredibly boring and nothing the professor ever lectured about was on the tests, but I had to go to class anyway for the grade.

Most professors that don't take attendance give extra credit randomly through the semester to the people who showed up on that particular day.

I had a horrible professor last semester that made up assignments for the people who were absent. There were about 50 of us in the class, and she knew all of our names by the end of the first class, so it was obvious if someone was missing. If someone was missing, she gave those people a 0 on the made up assignment, but didn't give those of us that were there a grade for anything. It was horrible.

 

[Planogirl]

I had some take attendance and others did not. I think that it's a good idea to get in the habit of being punctual for those professors that fuss over that.

 

[Sparx]

Many of my professors took attendance, but many more did not. They often all said the same thing at the beginning of the first class, "You are all adults, and if you want to be here you will be here."

I think its hilarious when people think their professors don't notice their absence though. I had a class of 350 my freshman year and my professor knew my name after a week of class.

I also think its a ridiculous jump to make that if you pull your fifth grader out for a week of disney vacation they will fail out of college because they won't be able to show up to class.

 

[Sparx]

Some of my professors took attendance, some didn't.

I took a political science class last semester that had about 50 students and the TA's took attendence during the class. The room was a mini auditorium (only seated about 250 as apposed to 500+) and we all had assigned seats. The TA's had the seating chart and took attendence while the professor lectured. The class was graded on a points system, and attendance was worth 50 points. If you missed 0-3 classes you got the full 50 points, 4-7 missed classes got you 25/50 points, and anything more than that you got a 0. That class was so incredibly boring and nothing the professor ever lectured about was on the tests, but I had to go to class anyway for the grade.

Most professors that don't take attendance give extra credit randomly through the semester to the people who showed up on that particular day.

I had a horrible professor last semester that made up assignments for the people who were absent. There were about 50 of us in the class, and she knew all of our names by the end of the first class, so it was obvious if someone was missing. If someone was missing, she gave those people a 0 on the made up assignment, but didn't give those of us that were there a grade for anything. It was horrible.

I had a professor who would give bonus points when only a few students showed up to class. If you didn't show up, you got a 0/0 but if you showed up you'd get a 10/0 or 25/0 or something. It showed up on the online grade database too. I loved those bonus points!

 

[Elmo9607]

I also go to a small school...and professors know who is missing. Most of the time, in the classes I took for my previous degree, attendance is not mandatory.

However, in the classes I'm taking now (for culinary arts), forget being completely absent...being a few minutes late a few times can affect your grade by a whole letter or more.

Missing more than one or two of some of the classes pretty much guarantees a grade reduction. Missing more than three guarantees you should drop the class because you're not going to pass.

There is NO reason to ever miss a class...short of being on your death bed or attending a family funeral. I went to class sick for a week. Never even considered missing.

It is like a job...you have to call in beforehand if you're not going to be there. Failing to do so results in a grade reduction.

It's serious business. The culinary program at my school is one of the best in the country, and they don't want people who don't take it seriously in the program whatsoever.

 

[descovy]

When YOU are the one paying tuition, attendance matters. I once calculated that it cost me $50/day to attend class. Guess what? I wasn't much for skipping

It was always the KIDS who's parents paid their way who could afford to skip. The YOUNG ADULTS who felt the responsibility were too cheap to skip!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Some did, some didn't.

 

[NHdisneylover]

You really needed a "some did some didn't" answer for the poll--seems a lot of us are giving that answer.

It was primarily my literature classes which took attendance--so much of the class is discussion you really need to be there to be learning. Some profs truly took attendance (or had a sign in sheet), others just looked to see who was there (I had a couple of very small grad level classes with 10-15 people max.) and one had a mini essay (had to fit on one side of a large index card) about the reading due every class. He often pulled one out and asked you about it--so even if someone had sent it in with a friend it could have been obvious you were not there.

I missed classes once when I was sick. I recall calling or emailing every professor whose class I missed BEFORE the class time to let them know and i left a day early for spring break once--after clearing it with everyone's classes I would miss. I also asked profesors (well ahead of time) on two occasions if I could turn in an essay late. In one instance I had (I think--it has been 15 years since I graduated) 3 essays due and 3 midterms on the same day and I felt if I could space it out a little better (I was not getting the information i needed to do the essay very far in advance so I could not just get them done early) I could do much better. In the other I also had several things happening schoolwise at once and it fell the Monday after a wedding I was in. In both instances the professors had no issue giving me the extension but I recall both commenting that this was due to me asking early, AND always being in class and participating so they knew I was not just fooling around.

 

[ladycollector]

If the majority of students (not just the underacheivers) don't want to come to class, imo, it means the professor is doing something wrong. I've had many classes where going was a total waste of time. If you are just going to read the powerpoint slides to me, why should I come? I can do that myself.

 

[jodifla]

You really needed a "some did some didn't" answer for the poll--seems a lot of us are giving that answer.

It was primarily my literature classes which took attendance--so much of the class is discussion you really need to be there to be learning. Some profs truly took attendance (or had a sign in sheet), others just looked to see who was there (I had a couple of very small grad level classes with 10-15 people max.) and one had a mini essay (had to fit on one side of a large index card) about the reading due every class. He often pulled one out and asked you about it--so even if someone had sent it in with a friend it could have been obvious you were not there.

I missed classes once when I was sick. I recall calling or emailing every professor whose class I missed BEFORE the class time to let them know and i left a day early for spring break once--after clearing it with everyone's classes I would miss. I also asked profesors (well ahead of time) on two occasions if I could turn in an essay late. In one instance I had (I think--it has been 15 years since I graduated) 3 essays due and 3 midterms on the same day and I felt if I could space it out a little better (I was not getting the information i needed to do the essay very far in advance so I could not just get them done early) I could do much better. In the other I also had several things happening schoolwise at once and it fell the Monday after a wedding I was in. In both instances the professors had no issue giving me the extension but I recall both commenting that this was due to me asking early, AND always being in class and participating so they knew I was not just fooling around.

You know, you're right. I'm sorry. Believe it or not, this was my first poll in more than 7,000 posts! I saw the two lines and filled those in, without thinking about adding more.

 

[jodifla]

Also to add, while I don't ever recall attendance being taken, there were definitely classes you had to show up at because of the type of work required, like labs at the like.

Then there are other classes where you could just get the notes, take the tests and do fine.

At my school, they followed the "You are adults" like of thinking, and didn't treat us like a bunch of 5th graders.