Back in my high school days, teachers used to be pretty strict about attendance. We couldn’t be late to class, and we could only miss a certain amount of school days before we were made to go to summer school. The least a teacher could do for an absence was give us a detention.
But now that I’m in college, things are a little different. In fact, they’ve changed for the worse. As it turns out, some courses state that if students miss class more than three times, they fail — meaning the entire course. I find this to be quite absurd.
I feel like I’m back in high school. This whole attendance deal is ridiculous. If I have worked hard in a class and have gotten decent grades on my tests, then there is no reason why I should be punished by receiving an F in a course simply because of missing three days of class.
Of course, not all courses implement the same policy of failing a student due to absences in the class. In my French class, for example, the attendance policy has officially been changed on the syllabus. Students who have more than three absences will have points deducted for each additional absence - which I think is a reasonable policy for students.
But for math, the policy is incredibly uptight. According to the syllabus, a student may only be absent five times. Otherwise, he or she absolutely fails the entire course. No excuses.
I always thought teachers would be less strict about classes in college. Why do they care when we are the ones who are paying for classes and it is our problem whether we go to class or not?
Besides, I don’t think a rule like that even needs to be implemented in college. We’re older now, and we should know better to actually be responsible and go to class. We don’t need rules like that. It actually hurts my feelings that the school would think we are that irresponsible when we’re paying for our own classes.
Of course, I know it’s probably a little difficult for teachers to actually believe that a recent high school graduate would be responsible enough to go to class and not skip. A good reason why they would implement such a rule. But hey, we made it to college; we’re not that stupid.
At least I’m happy that this semester is over. I actually feel accomplished that I made it through my first semester in college. I survived it, I’m starting to lose the freshman 15, and I’m not failing math due to attendance.
I still think that someone should say something about the attendance matter, though. Maybe attendance should not be that big of a deal. Teachers could just gradually deduct points from students' grades whenever they are absent more than three times. Or how about if teachers give extra credit for perfect attendance? Maybe we could all feel a little more motivated to go to class.
The point is that grades should be based on how well we do on tests, not on attendance.
Oh, and by the way... have a happy winter break!
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4 comments:
Although I agree that there ought to be an attendence policy that is universally followed,(all classes are the same) to conclude your blog as you did with the comment that "as long as a person passes their tests they should recieve a degree" is shorsighted.
Much of what we are learning here in college is that we have to be at places that we sometimes would prefer not to be at; i.e. work.
Not everyone can have the work-hours that a web designer enjoys. The real world does not take kindly to the idea that "so long as I pass the final I should pass the class" mentality.
I hope you get past this thinking soon, or at least before you graduate.
I had a strict attendence policy in High School. I remember because I got stuck in some crappy sewing class and I skipped it four times. They sent a letter home saying that I would have to make up the days if I missed another one. What a bunch of nonsense. I agree, we're old enough to decide for ourselves. If a class isn't worth showing up to, and you can pass without showing up, you have to wonder of maybe the professor isn't doing his or her job.
The problem is that public universities like FAU are held accountable for their passing rates... ESPECIALLY in mathematics.
Passing rates are tied to a lot of things, statistically, but research shows that one of the most prominent components is attendance. Research has shown that for many students, if you don't attend the class, you don't pass the class.
Then FAU has to trot up to Tallahassee and get hammered by the state legislators who want to know why this is happening at a university funded by public money and what FAU is planning to do to correct it.
See? It would be nice for FAU to say, "Hey, you guys are adults, do whatever you want and best of luck to you in your endeavors" but they're responsible for you so you have to play by their rules... even though you're paying.
College is not supposed to be about tests. It's supposed to be about the free exchange of ideas and challenging existing notions about how the world works.
But people today treat college as the second job you get to get the first job you want. It's the focus on vocationalism that's undermining America and robbing it of its true academic potential.
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