LTU @ Mawson Lakes

Is attendance important?

Often its hard to find time for everything you have to do. Work, family, friends and study all demand your time and attention. When pressure builds up, it may seem easier to skip class and catch up later.

However, a lot of independent research indicates that attending classes makes students more successful. Here are some quotes from just some of the papers we have read:

• "Students who wish to succeed should attend class, and instructors should likewise encourage class attendance" (Gump 2005).
  
• "The evidence from this study provides an assessment of the pure relationship between absenteeism and student learning. The findings suggest that the mean exam score was significantly effected by absenteeism" (Marburger 2001).
• "... there is a signficant positive correlation between attendance and academic achievement" (Halpern 2007).

In addition, Paunonen and Ashton (2001) found that if students have been absent from classes, we can reliably predict that they will fail the course.

These research projects all agree: skipping class contributes to failure.

So, the next time someone asks you to do something that clashes with a class, tell them you can't afford the time.

Kirsten










PS if you would like to read the papers I have cited, here is a reference list:

• Gump, S., 2005, "The cost of cutting class: attendance as a predictor of success," College Teaching, 53(1):21-26.
• Halpern, N., 2007, "The impact of attendance and student characteristics on academic achievement: findings from an undergraduate business management module," Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4):335-349.
• Marburger, D. R., 2001, "Absenteeism and undergraduate exam performance," The Journal of Economic Education, 32(2):99-109.
• Paunonen, S. V. & Ashton, M. C., 2001, "Big five predictors of academic achievement," Journal of Research in Personality, 35(1):78-90.