Analyzation of Attendance Policy in Higher Education

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Various universities and individual faculty members frequently differ in terms of attendance policy. The frequent absence of explicit university wide policy enables instructors to implement a wide range of attendance requirements and subsequent penalties for absences. Even professors with a lax attendance policy encourage regular class attendance, deeming it a critical element of student success. The classroom has traditionally played a central role in educational institutions. Relentless innovation in the field of information technology has significantly reduced the importance of the physical classroom in the modern education environment. Most educators have embraced the newly available technology but remain steadfast in their loyalty to the classroom. The prevailing traditionalist’s view the classroom as an irreplaceable facilitator of higher education. In its role as a meeting place of minds, the classroom allows for the delivery of lectures and presentations aimed at supplementing the required readings and elaborating upon topics outside the textbooks frame of reference. Attending such classes exposes a student to a far richer educational experience, regardless of the course in question.

Whether it is despite an instructor’s most valiant effort to present interesting material or in lieu of a professor robotically reciting a textbook, the student is personally charged with determining their level of participation in their education. Simply attending is one of the most rudimentary aspects of active participation, yet it is also a fundamental aspect. Despite its importance and the relatively easy nature of the task, class attendance has always presented a problem to educators (Moore et al. 325). Absenteeism is not prevalent ...

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