For years professors and students have discussed and argued
over the importance of going to class. Most of these discussions don’t address
the root of the issue. If you’re going to talk about whether or not class
should be mandatory, they should ask why students would skip class in the first
place.
I asked over 40 students if they have ever skipped class before. If they answered yes, I then asked if it was for work reasons, family, appointments, sleep or if it was because they thought the professor’s lecture wasn’t important. The results showed that 42% of the students said they missed class because of sleep. 24% said it was because they thought the professor’s lecture wasn’t important, and 26% said they missed class for all of those reasons stated (I happen to be a part of the 26%).
This leads us to our first question: why would anyone skip
class because of sleep? Back in high school, we started class at 8:00am every
day. Why is an 8:00am class so hard to make now? Well, college is different
then high school. College students’ days are a lot longer, and they use more
hours of the day for activities, homework and work. When it comes to sleep,
that boils down to the individual. Every human prioritizes what they think is
important. If you’re a person that views
sleep as important, you make sure that you get enough hours of sleep. You would
be less likely to spend those extra hours of sleep on a project or a social
event. If you don’t view sleep as
important, you would be more willing to spend 2 or 3 more hours on things like
projects or work.
In a blog I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I talked about the importance
of sleep for energy, but it’s also important for learning.
“If you know that class only puts you to sleep, then why not
cut out the middle man altogether? Classes that don’t spark any interest aren’t
necessary to attend because without the passion to learn, you can’t learn all
that much.” - Steve Coulter, Brobible.com
“Research suggests that sleep helps learning and memory in
two distinct ways. First, a sleep-deprived person cannot focus attention
optimally and therefore cannot learn efficiently. Second, sleep itself has a
role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new
information.” – Division of Sleep Medicine at
Harvard Medical School
The second point made was that 24% of students skipped class
because they thought the professor’s lecture wasn’t important. This goes
against the common notion that attendance is important for getting good grades.
“Many professors say attendance is necessary to do well, and
attendance and course performance are positively correlated. That being said,
there would be no need for mandatory attendance, as students seeking high
grades will quickly learn that they need to attend the course regularly.
Inflating grades with 10-20 percent of your score coming from attendance is a
poor judgment of an individual’s competency in the course.” – Sam Artley,
Michigan State University
We all understand the importance of attendance when it comes to
doing well in a class. At the same time, I can also understand why 24% of students said they
skipped class because they thought the lecture wasn’t important. From personal
experience, I’ve found that some classes don’t give you an incentive to attend class.
If the professor recites material straight from the book, allows no class discussions,
and posts all the power points online, then there really isn’t a reason to attend
class. I’m smart enough to read the book; I don’t need you to recite it to me.
The whole point of going to class is to get material that’s not in the book. I also
do the most learning when there are discussions involved. I use those
discussions as examples to look back on when I’m taking a test.
So what am I saying exactly? Am I saying it’s ok to skip
class? Well, really it’s up to the person. The student is the one who pays
tuition. The student is the one who receives the grade, so the student is the
one who decides if class is important to attend or not. If you know the
consequences for skipping and you believe it’s ok, than you should be free to
make that decision. We also have to consider if it’s a class that you’re really
interested in, it would be hard to imagine a reason to skip. On the other hand,
if it’s a class that you feel that is a waste of time, you would have a hard
time imagining reasons to go. It’s all a part of the process of growing up. We
get to make decisions for ourselves.
Just a Thought, Devonte Hill
Resources:
