Creating Knowledge: Attendance

Compare the results of the class survey to what Chenneville and Jordan (2008) found in their study.

1. Gather information.

a. Fill in results of the class survey.

b.Compare the two columns.

c.Capture information that seems important. (Use whatever notetaking technique you think best: highlighting, making a list, writing comments in the margin....)

Survey Question

/ Kaplan / Chenneville & Jordan
1.Students who come to class regularly get better grades. / True: / True: 77%
2. It is important to come to every class
during a term. / True: / True: 53%
3.How many classes can a student miss
without getting a lower final grade? / One:
Two:
Three:
Four: / One: 19%
Two: 69%
Three: 69%
Four: 91%
4.Which of these are most likely to keep you from coming to class? / Top three: / Top three: boring, illness, conflicts with work or social life
5. Which of these are most likely to keep other students from coming to class? / Top three: / —
6.I am more likely to attend a class where the instructor requires attendance. / Agree: / Agree: 71%
7.Missing class without a good reason is disrespectful to the instructor. / Agree: / Agree: 41%
8.Missing class without a good reason is disrespectful to other students. / Agree: / —

Chenneville, T., & Jordan, C. (2008, October). Impact of attendance policies on course attendance among college students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(3), 29-35. Retrieved from VOL_8/ No_3/v8n3chenneville.pdf

2. To write a research paper, you need to combine what you already know with new information from trusted sources. The general rule of thumb is to have at least one source for each page of your paper.

Here is some additional information about attendance. As you read, see if the information confirms or contradicts important information from the table:

Moore (2008) looked for a relationship between attendance and final grades in two sections of an introductory biology course. He found that “no student who attended fewer than 80% of classes made an A in either section of the course, and few students who attended fewer than 60% of classes made an A or B in either section of the course....“

Launius (1997) found that students who were frequently absent did not perform as well as their classmates on tests or homework assignments:

The more absences a student had, the poorer their performance was likely to be on regularly scheduled objective exams and outside assignments. It is reasonable to assume that students who attend lectures and participate in class activities will do better ,,, than students who miss classes. It is somewhat more surprising that attendance would be so highly correlated with performance on the outside assignments....

Munzenmaier (2008) analyzed grades from three terms of composition classes at Kaplan
University’s Des Moines campus. Students’ grades generally dropped if they missed more than
6 hours during a term. Attending every class did not guarantee an A. However, no student who attended
every class earned less than a B. Every student who failed missed at least 33 percent of the course.

3. With a partner, combine the researchers’ ideas and your own thinking into a paragraph.

A, Begin by stating the relationship between attendance/grades.

For example, Students often believe....but research shows.... or Want better grades? Go to class.

B. Support the first sentence with at least one piece of evidence. If you take anything word-for-word from a source, use quotation marks. To identify the source, use a phrase like According to... or A study found...

C. Highlight what you want readers to get from the evidence.

Example: Is being in class as important as teachers say it is? A 1995 study by Snell and Meicks found that college students “who attend class 95% of the time are significantly more likely to earn an A or B grade.” Lanius (1997) found that students with good attendance also do higher quality work than students who frequently miss class. These findings suggest that students who often skip a class when they take it the first time may find themselves scheduled to take it a second time.

For help, see “Expository Paragraphs” at and The KU Handbook for Writers,
pp. 239-243.

References

Launius, M. (1997, March). College student attendance: Attitudes and academic performance. College Student Journal, 31(1), 86. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from MasterFILE Premier database.

Moore, R. (2006, October 1). Class attendance: How students' attitudes about attendance relate to their academic performance in introductory science classes. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education. Retrieved from HighBeam database.

Munzenmaier, C. (2008). Overview [Powerpoint presentation, slide 30]. Retrieved from

Snell, J., & Meikes, S. (1995). Student attendance and academic achievement: A research note. Journal of Instructional Psychology 22(2). Retrieved from Academic
Search Elite database.