Relations between faculty use of online academic resources and student class attendance

We investigated connections between faculty use of online resources and student class attendance. Of particular interest was whether online submission of course assignments is detrimental to attendance. Students and faculty at a small, liberal arts college completed surveys about student attendance patterns, student reasons for non-attendance, varieties of online resources used by faculty, and perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of online resources. Almost one third (31%) of students indicated they were less likely to attend class if allowed to submit assignments online. In contrast, most faculty (94%) did not perceive online assignment submission as a threat to attendance, and no significant difference in reported absence rate was found between faculty who used this option and those who did not. Moreover, a higher number of course materials provided online by faculty was associated with fewer absences. Implications for training of faculty in use of electronic resources and recommendations for additional research on this topic are discussed.

[1]  Mark Grabe,et al.  Providing Introductory Psychology Students Access to Online Lecture Notes: The Relationship of Note Use to Performance and Class Attendance , 2005 .

[2]  Jennifer L. Dyck,et al.  iTunes University and the classroom: Can podcasts replace Professors? , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[3]  Ruth Woodfield,et al.  Gender differences in undergraduate attendance rates , 2006 .

[4]  R. Landrum.  Faculty and Student Perceptions of Providing Instructor Lecture Notes to Students: Match or Mismatch? , 2010 .

[5]  D. Romer,et al.  Do Students Go to Class? Should They? , 1993 .

[6]  Steven E. Gump.  Keep Students Coming by Keeping Them Interested: Motivators for Class Attendance , 2004 .

[7]  Judith Watson,et al.  Does regular online testing enhance student learning in the numerical sciences? Robust evidence from a large data set , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[8]  陳鎮洲,et al.  Class Attendance and Exam Performance: A Randomized Experiment , 2007 .

[9]  Malcolm L. Van Blerkom.  Class Attendance in Undergraduate Courses , 1992 .

[10]  S. Dollinger,et al.  Which factors best account for academic success: Those which college students can control or those they cannot? , 2008 .

[11]  T. Chenneville,et al.  Impact of Attendance Policies on Course Attendance among College Students. , 2008 .

[12]  Avner Caspi,et al.  The Influence of Personality on Social Participation in Learning Environments , 2006 .

[13]  Robyn E. Parker,et al.  Perceptions of Instructional Technology: Factors of Influence and Anticipated Consequences , 2007, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[14]  Peter Collett,et al.  Optional formative assessment and class attendance: their impact on student performance , 2007 .

[15]  Timothy Teo,et al.  Factors influencing teachers' intention to use technology: Model development and test , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[16]  Errol Yudko,et al.  Attitudes, beliefs, and attendance in a hybrid course , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[17]  Tomoko Traphagan,et al.  Impact of class lecture webcasting on attendance and learning , 2010 .

[18]  Matthew Inglis,et al.  Individual differences in students' use of optional learning resources , 2011, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[19]  Ernest W. Brewer,et al.  Professor's Role in Motivating Students to Attend Class. , 2005 .

[20]  Samuel Riffell,et al.  Using web-based instruction to improve large undergraduate biology courses: An evaluation of a hybrid course format , 2005, Comput. Educ..

[21]  Samuel K. Riffell,et al.  Can Hybrid Course Formats Increase Attendance in Undergraduate Environmental Science Courses , 2004 .

[22]  Julie Christian,et al.  Helping students turn up for class: Does personality moderate the effectiveness of an implementation intention intervention? , 2007 .