Attendance Grade

This post combines the reflections discussed in the previous two posts. I also require students to earn points for class attendance, representing almost 10% of their final grade. However, I decided to try a different approach this year. In previous semesters, I simply recorded attendance grades (20 points for each class) based on a student's physical presence in the classroom. However, I noticed several problems:

• Students arrive as late as 20-30 minutes.
• Students leave class early.
• Students simply don't attend class.
  
• Students are distracted by the computer (Facebook chatting, web-surfing, clothes shopping) evidenced by busy fingers typing on the keyboard during discussions when the computer is not needed
• Students emailing me in the weeks after a class asking how to do something or needing clarification on something that was purposely and clearly explained in class.

Therefore, I changed my attendance policy to hopefully alleviate some of this problems. Students still earn 20 points per class for attendance. However, the points depend on the following three conditions:

1. A student's physical presence in the classroom for the full duration of our class.
2. A student's active participation in the lecture/discussion/demonstration (I keep a roster handy to note any students who seem to be distracted by the computer).
3. A student's completion and submission of an in-class assignment (Assignment is emailed to the instructor during the last 5 minutes of class).

The in-class assignment is something that students hopefully find interesting and useful in their everyday life. In my my class this past week, we overviewed the learning unit on Microsoft Word. During class, I presented them with the following scenario:

Text message from your mom: Every time I open Internet Explorer, the first webpage to open is always www.msn.com. I want the University of Alabama website to pop up instead. How do I do that?

Students complete a four-step pictorial manual for their moms in Microsoft Word using the Print Screen command. Most students are unfamiliar with it's capability. I help them understand the usefulness of this tool in later job or personal situations when a computer error pops on the screen. I explain that a screen shot of the error can be made and sent to the appropriate people. Additionally, this activity educates students on how to change the homepage of a web browser. They emailed me their manuals at the end of class.

So far so good on the new attendance requirements.

Keeping them from "Playing" on the Computers During Class

Since so much of our course is computer-based, I realize that taking them away from the computer can be counter-productive, but I know that they are tempted to "play" while I am talking.  During my first class meeting yesterday, I had them just turn off the screens while I was talking and allowed them to turn them back on when we were walking through something together.  I walked up and down the sides of the room (because it is too difficult to get up and down the aisles) and all screens were off so it seemed to work!  It was nice not hearing the keys clicking while I was talking :)

Attendance Grades

After taking attendance, I had each student to stand and give their name, major, and reason for taking CAT100. All of them stated they either needed an easy elective or they heard the class was an easy A. It was amazing to see that many of them were eager to get out of class within the first hour instead of using the allotted class time to complete a few assignments. So, after I completed my lecture I took attendance again. Those that left will receive 20/25 for attendance and those that stayed will receive 25/25. I plan to change up the way I grade attendance for the next class and maybe do a quick quiz on the topics covered during class. This is what I call the "surprise portion of class" in the first day announcement posting.

First Day of Class follow up

I decided to create an announcement after my first day of class to reiterate important information pertaining to class. My experience in previous instructor lead training that even though you are covering the material verbatim, you will have redundant questions, so one rule of thumb I follow...tell them, tell what you told them, and tell them again. With that said, I felt that since I can set the announcement box to pop-up when they log in, then that would be a great opportunity to refresh their memory. However, so will still chose to overlook the information, but at least this will be a leveraging tool if you have students that try to butter you up for extensions on due dates.

Here is draft example of the sort of information I will be adding in the announcement post:
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It was a pleasure getting to meet you all this afternoon for our first class! I really think you all will enjoy this course and benefit the rewords at the end of the semester.

A few reminders that I want to mention:

1. The scheduled class meetings that are listed on the course homepage are mandatory. Therefore, I will be giving grades for those that attend the whole class and complete the surprise portion of the class. This week, the surprise was that I took attendance at the end of my lecture and all of you that were still there will receive 25/25. So be on the look out for the next surprise on September 23rd.
2. The modules contain all of the information you need to complete your assignments. Please make sure to watch the tutorial videos for each module. If you are having issues, relax first and then review the lectures again because the answers are there.
3. We covered Modules 1 and 2 today, so you are well prepared to complete those assignments. Be sure to complete the Netiquette discussion by Aug. 26th if you did not complete it during the class session and remember to respond to at least 2 of your classmates.
4. Review the Introduction discussion board to make sure you have completed the assignment and if you have not already send the “Email Assignment”, please do so by Aug. 26th.
5. Do not click the submit button in the Assignment box until you are positive that you have completed the assignment based on the assignment rubric. I will not release submitted items once you have submitted them.

Happy Learning!

In addition to the photo class list...

Our faculty tab also has a "Detailed Class List" (You can find it in the same place you find the photo class list) that allows you to see the students' majors and classifications.  This could be especially useful for us teaching undergraduate classes to students outside of education!

Using a Photo Class List

Using a pictorial roster helps teachers get to know their students better. I print the "Photo Class List" and familiarize myself with students names and pictures prior to the first day of class. During our first class meeting, I use the pictorial roster to jot down notes about each student as they introduce themselves. I also try to identify students as they walk into the classroom.

To learn the process for accessing the pictorial roster from your "myBama" account, watch the video below:



I offer a couple notes of caution about the pictorial roster. The pictures were taken during a students' orientation prior to their arrival on campus. Therefore, some students will not always appear as they do on the roster. Haircuts, facial hair, glasses, and hats sometimes throw you for a loop. Secondly, the roster prints a student's formal name. Be sure to jot down the name they go by during introductions or when you call the class roll.