university introduces electronic monitoring of student attendance

[RaistlinZ]

Students need to grow a collective brain and fight back

have EVERYONE leave thier ID's at home.

Prof gives a lecture in front of 300 people but the record show zero people there... enough of that and the silly practice of trying to track students will stop.

I agree.

In fact, they should get funny with it. During the lecture they should put like 500 I.D.'s in a box and just place it in the men's bathroom, or the parking lot of a strip club, or right outside the Dean's office. :awe:

 

[l0cke]

~$22,000 of RFID cards, someone is going to be rich

You can get the cards for $2, or else I doubt the university would be handing them out.

 

[Hyperlite]

OH DEAR GOD NO!!!! A FACEBOOK PROTEST GROUP!!!

The devilish bastards!
Abort! Abort!

How does it go... "never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

*sigh* A bachelors is slowly degrading into a highschool degree :|

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

*sigh* A bachelors is slowly degrading into a highschool degree

Troll. I agree with you to some extent, but you're still a troll.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Who cares if they show up or not? Get your stuff done and that's what matters. On a salaried job, no one cares if you stay all 10 hours a day or 8 hours. If you finish your crap in 7 hours, go home. If you can finish it in 6 great. If you finish in 4 either you're slacking or you're doing stuff too fast or people are giving you too little. OBviously it would look bad to leave at lunch, but this is why most software jobs you can work from home frequently. It won't kill you.

Bottom line: Get your shit done. IF you can get your HW, projects, crap done with great marks without going to class, props to you. I did this my first two years. Obviously later it got harder so cutting class was less common. I paid dearly for the classes I couldn't wake up for senior year.

 

[thescreensavers]

At My school the large lecture classes usually don't require attendance. But some do ask something called clicker questions which uses a device with a unique code to vote A-E. And these questions can count toward your grade.

In Smaller classes under 40 people, there is a sign in sheet or if small enough the teacher remembers who you are. Some classes have stuff thats due at the end of class which works as your attendance and part of your grade.

But there is no point to skip class, nothing good can come from it.

 

[PrinceofWands]

It's not a problem in PRIVATE schools, but if kids are not attending while spending tax dollars at public schools... They better go to fucking class and get those good grades.

Many kids who skip class also happen to not get great grades... whodahthunk.

Attendance is not education. I don't care if you only show up on the first and last days, as long as you absorb the material and can demonstrate mastery through tests and/or homework. While it certainly helps most of the time, there's no reason attendance should EVER be mandatory at any secondary or post-secondary level.

 

[EarthwormJim]

At My school the large lecture classes usually don't require attendance. But some do ask something called clicker questions which uses a device with a unique code to vote A-E. And these questions can count toward your grade.

In Smaller classes under 40 people, there is a sign in sheet or if small enough the teacher remembers who you are. Some classes have stuff thats due at the end of class which works as your attendance and part of your grade.

But there is no point to skip class, nothing good can come from it.

Of course good can come from it. It's the University level. At this point, education is what you make of it. I've had at least five classes where I learned absolutely nothing from the professor, and learned everything from the class text books or supplemental material. I received A's in these classes, I clearly learned the material and I didn't waste my time sitting through useless lectures.

One professor in particular literally read from the text book. He stood in front of the whole class, staring at the text book reading from it line by line. He probably read a page in 30 minutes. I'm a proficient reader, I can read on my own, why should I be required to sit through garbage like that.

Requiring attendance is completely contrary to the whole idea of higher-education, IT'S NOT REQUIRED I AM CHOOSING BASED ON MY OWN FREE WILL TO GO.

I also hate professors that actually include attendance as part of the grade. As if being a meat bag sitting in a chair should be worth something...

 

[xSauronx]

I don't understand why attendance is required at the University level...

me either.

i go to a community college...attendance policies are strict because its how the college gets funding. after the first 3 or 4 weeks some teachers stay strict, others dont care much as long as you turn your work in on time.

/doesnt show up if he doesnt have to

 

[sourceninja]

This seems great to me. Pay a student to take your ID with them to class. When the teacher grades on attendance you will be marked as present even though you were not. Then go out drinking.

 

[ShawnD1]

Not sure what the big deal is. Instructors would take attendance in my smaller university classes so they knew who to help and who not to help. If you asked the instructor for help and you were there all the time, they would help you. If you were never there, they would tell you to read the book.

We also took attendance in all lab classes. If you missed more than 20% of your lab time, you failed the class.

 

[sourceninja]

I just always made sure to give a good chunk of info for all tests that could only be gleamed from my lectures. My attendance stayed high because if you didn't show up your chances of getting anything higher then a C on your exams was basically nil.

 

[Gibsons]

even if attendance is compulsory, you can still go to sleep in class.

Or surf or text...

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I don't know. Used to have people sign me in for some classes. Just lend someone your ID?

 

[rstove02]

When I went to college, there were some classes I went to and some classes I skipped. Few counted attendance as part of your grade. There was more than one course that I only showed up on the days that tests were given. If the professor is just going to read directly from the book and nothing else, there was no point in me being there. Would say overall, I probably skipped 20% of classes when in college and graduated with highest honors.

 

[skace]

I would think RFID scanners all over the place would be a ridiculous waste of money. However, I don't see anything bad coming from the information. It could allow the school to identify kids that might need help if they've missed 80-90% of their classes. I don't necessarily agree with attendance being used as part of grading except possibly within certain classes like Phys Ed / etc.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

This is the problem to me. The students are paying money to be there. If they don't show up, too bad.

I used to work for a college, trust me parents go nuts if their kids fail out or dont make good grades and call up to ream the school. Even though the "kids" should be adults and not need babysitting. Its helicopter parenting at its finest

 

[The-Noid]

This is simple same thing I used to do with my room mate. Would take turns going to a class and we would take notes for each other. Just have the same guy bring both cards now days when they go.

All this is going to do is make it easier to skip classes that have mandatory attendance.

 

[Deeko]

I don't understand why attendance is required at the University level...

Agreed. When I was in college, I despised classes that had an attendance grade. Always thought it was ridiculous.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

I go to UW-Madison and this supposed system does not really exist. We have ID cards, but they're not tracked via RFID. Some professors ask students to buy clickers/remotes to answer quiz questions in class, but I've never seen them use them for attendance. Attendance is only taken in smaller 10-50 person classes, and even then the professor usually has students hand around a sign-in sheet.

 

[bignateyk]

Lame. I hardly ever went to class during college, and got a 3.8 GPA. I went to classes if the professor actually had some useful knowledge to impart. Usually they would just stand up there and read straight from lecture notes that came straight from the textbook.

Sorry, i'll read the book on my own time, and figure things out for myself.

 

[Evadman]

In one of my college classes I went exactly 6 times over a full semester. Guess what grade I got? If you guessed highest in the class by 7 percentage points, you win a cookie. I got 91%, next closest was 84%.

Hell, for my math class first year, I didn't buy a textbook, and I also didn't go to class. Unfortunately, that teacher gave 2 points per day you showed up. If you don't take that into account, I got the highest grade in that class too.

Attendance is for chumps.

 

[coloumb]

I don't see this as a privacy thing. I see it as more of what classes can be cut from the curriculum [or budget].

 

[ccblazer44]

Holy shit I live in Flagstaff and go to NAU, and somehow I've never heard of this happening. But I checked the facebook group and all my friends are in it, WTF is happening! Fuck this is i'm getting scanned on my way to class next semester I'm gonna be pissed.