Download Study Guide for Composition and Rhetoric | ENGL 102 and more Study notes English Language in PDF only on Docsity! Mohammad Alhammad IC#1 29/1/08 Attendance should not be Mandatory A matter that has been recently debated among my peers in WVU is the issue of an attendance policy that requires all students to attend classes. I personally think that there are advantages that come with this policy. However, I believe that it would have a more negative effect on the students. I also think that many students can still do fine without with out being forced to attend class regularly and professors should find different means to encourage students to come to class. Many people consider University years to be the golden years of their lives. A college student grows from an adolescent to a mature adult during these years. Students grow by making all their own decisions, whether good or bad. One of the many decisions a student makes is the choice of whether to go to class or not. I do not think the University should make the decision for the student. Every student has a unique method of studying and revising for tests and exams. In this day and age, technology has improved our lives in ways nobody could have imagined, an example of this is that many professors post their notes online for all their students to see. Many students need only their textbooks to take an exam, so for most classes a student can do just fine without attending class regularly. Michael Villagrana, a student in my class states, “I feel that if you're able to attain a respectable grade without a perfect attendance, then you shouldn't be penalized for missing class.” Another thing that I have noticed is that students might still do poorly even if they do attend class, so just because there is an attendance policy, it does not mean that it would increase a student’s learning potential. On the contrary, if everybody were forced to attend class, there would be many who would not be interested and would end up Mohammad Alhammad IC#1 29/1/08 sleeping in the back or talking to each other. This would end up affecting the potential of their peers. Instead of making it mandatory to attend class, I think that professors should find other means of encouraging students to attend class. One way is to provide extra credit for those who regularly attend. Another way is to have a regular quiz every class to encourage students to attend. So even if a student should happen to miss class for any reason, the whole grade would not be compromised. Another reason is that an attendance policy requires no excuses. A student may face circumstances such as emergencies or tragedies that are out of the student’s hands. This is unfair to the students. Eric Miller of the DA states, “If you cannot make it to class due to travel concerns, health conditions, or even a death in the family, there will be no one to contact, no one to inform. Your professor does not have to accept an excuse from
