Motivating College Students

Superior Essays
“Professors in university won’t chase you for assignments”. Throughout high school, teachers prepare students for postsecondary education by informing them of the responsibility and self-reliance that’s required in university. Students’ effort towards high GPAs, sport participation, and club involvement shows dedication towards university. To get accepted, they undergo the stress of placement exams and applications. By the time students enroll, they’re ready to face oncoming challenges. Compelled to be in-charge of their education, university students are mature enough to understand its importance. They pay thousands of dollars and work hard to attain a degree. Students earn the freedom to take classes around their schedule and learn at their …show more content…
Classroom policies should allow students to miss class without further jeopardizing their grade. If a student is unable to attend they’re already at a loss, because they lose an educational opportunity. Losing additional attendance points ensures that grades will suffer. This cycle makes it increasingly difficult for students to succeed. Mandatory attendance polices may punish students for missing class more than their actual academic performance and further jeopardize them. The student’s final grade should be based on their understanding of the material rather than on their ability to show up. As long as a student completes coursework and proves their competence through satisfying learning outcomes, they shouldn’t lose additional points for not attending …show more content…
These studies may be more reflective of K-12 students, who don’t have access to missed class material but university students can still perform without attending regularly. In a study comparing class percentage and number of absences, Dr. H. Paul LeBlanc concluded that “attendance itself may have beneficial effects for students in terms of academic outcome, but an enforced attendance policy seems to have no overall beneficial effect” (LeBlanc 15). His study proved that by “eliminating enforced attendance, [a] greater weight is placed on the assessment of subject mastery…[which] may require students to take more personal responsibility for their education...[and] allows students to make informed decisions” (LeBlanc 15). Missing class does not mean students will not learn the material. For example, Bill Gates has said that he never attended the classes he signed up for at Harvard but still got A’s (Willett). Gates proved that its possible for student to learn class content without ever attending class. University students are more mature and motivated to learn class material. With all the resources students have available to them, such as the internet, online notes and Echocenter it’s much easier for student to learn the class material without being in

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