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Professors – Should You Give Points to Students For Attending Class Or For Class Participation?

29th September, 2009 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

Recently, a colleague of mine asked how I felt about whether university professors should be giving points to students for attendance or participation in her college classes.  She wondered:

I have always given some points for coming to class and participating throughout the semester. It’s enough to make the difference between a “+/-” and a “regular” grade. I’ve done this because I want students to learn college etiquette and I want people there so we can have interesting discussions. I’m wavering on the decision now (after 8 years) because I’m frankly tired of having students present who don’t want to be there and the bookkeeping is tedious.

Here are ideas for all of us to consider in response to these implied questions – that we all have EVERY YEAR. 

From teaching at the university level for 19 years, counting my teaching as a doctoral student, I always gave points for participation/attendance.  I felt like it was essential for my students to be there – and to engage in the learning process once they were there.  I knew I couldn’t very well teach them if they weren’t there so I tried to ‘encourage’ that by offering points.  Even though I always hoped my scintillating classes were enough, I knew the reality was that sometimes points mattered.  With that being said, once my students were there, then I had better make sure I was scintillating!

Certainly one can acknowledge the hassle of the bookkeeping, and having people who were less than thrilled to be there, was a drag.  However,given what I taught (reading methods, gifted education strategies, and the like), I always felt like it MATTERS whether students are there to learn it.  While I won’t name names, there are some subjects, that frankly, a student could probably miss a day or two, and in the big scheme of things, it wouldn’t matter.  But what I prepared my students for ultimately affects other human beings if they don’t learn what they are supposed to in my classes.

So, you can see that I do believe in giving points for attendance, although I do know how beaten down one can feel when students would rather be somewhere else, and they make it evident. It’s disheartening.  Staying true to our principles and beliefs is part of what helps us be successful in our profession and in preparing the next generation of our profession.  I think the effort is worth it. 

And as a college or university faculty member, you have many opportunities for success and failure. If you would like additional tips, tools, and techniques that you can use to support your successes, then access one or both of the following free resource websites:

**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)

**Articles for Professors (http://www.ArticlesforProfessors.com)

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm).