I know you want students to attend your class.

I know you think they will learn more if they do so.

I know you think they will learn more if they participate in discussions.

But your goal is for them to learn things. You might even hold out hope that at least some of them might get excited about your subject.

Is giving marks for attendance really going to help you achieve that goal?

Are there real consequences for not attending or participating?

If you dock marks for not attending that is not a consequence. That’s a punishment (or withholding of a reward for a desired behaviour).*

A consequence of not attending would be that it would be harder to learn the material and do well on the assessments of what you’ve learned.

If students can do well on the assessments without attending class, the problem is not with the students.

In fact, if that is the case, the decision not to attend is rational.

*One of my pet peeves is the way the word “consequences” gets used to describe punishments. For example, getting arrested is not a consequence of smoking marijuana. It’s a punishment.

What value does your lecture or seminar add?

Does your lecture give students an overview that makes it easier to understand the readings you have assigned? Does it introduce material not in the readings?

Does your seminar provide a safe environment in which students can test out their understandings of the material and develop their skills in using the new material to make their own arguments?

Does your online forum do this?

Do you work through practice problems or sample analyses to assist students in learning the process that you want them to learn? Do you provide low-stakes opportunities for them to try it themselves before they have to do it for a mark?

Do you have practice problems on your course website that help students with this? Why should students who don’t feel like they need that help be required to do those practice problems?

Is it clear to the students what the lectures and seminars are meant to provide and what they are meant to do outside of class to advance their learning?

You can’t force students to learn

You can only provide the context in which learning might happen.

When preparing your course, know what you want students to learn (“learning objectives”) and evaluate every decision you make based on how it will either help them learn or assess what they have learned.

Make it clear to students what you expect and what they have to do to do well in your course.

Then focus on your part. And let them do their part (or not).