Ok, No, I Only Know How Many Classes You Attended...
Digital attendance taking systems in colleges. Bunking classes and life as an undergraduate are synonymous for almost all college students. On the 31st of August, Newsweek published an article about the implementation of digital attendance taking systems in US universities. The crux of the article is that universities want to take action considering dwindling attendance and its impact on students' GPA. Therefore, the system wherein students tap their ID cards on scanners when entering class. The sole opinion expressed in the article criticizes this system for focusing on attendance rather than learning; I'm afraid I don't quite agree.
What really is the college management expected to do to better the quality of education experienced by a student? The onus of a students’ education lies ultimately with the students and the teachers that teach those students. So while, it is all good to point out that a better way to solve the problem of college dropouts is to focus on the active learning components, it doesn’t work out realistically. Firstly, the two approaches require action by distinct parties. And secondly, attendance is kind of a prerequisite if the intention is to encourage active learning in the classroom! So I think that the university administration should be given some support for trying to solve the problem as opposed to sitting there saying, "What can we do about student attendance?!"
(Dear College Admin, as someone with experience in tapping cards for attendance, a lot of people will only pass people their cards. So you might consider biometric attendance. I mean, nobody would give someone a finger just so that I can sleep in late and miss class, right?!)
