How classroom attendance boosts student retention and success?

Aug 15

How classroom attendance boosts student retention and success?

Wake up. Get ready. Go to class. Behold, the daily routine for the standard college student. But, routines become monotonous and when young people grow tired of the homogeneity of their school routines, they may become complacent. This can potentially lead to the start of skipping class. An occasional absence may not be a big deal, but cutting class shouldn’t be taken lightly. Student attendance is pivotal to future success and directly correlates with student retention and graduation rates.

Learning has been regarded as a complex issue due to its multifaceted approaches, but it really boils down to the differentials in student learning styles. However, the one constant aspect within these different learning styles is student presence in the classroom. If student is a visual learner or someone who’s more keen on auditory or kinesthetic learning methods, missing class won’t improve grades.

Why come to class?

Because students who are present tend to absorb information from lectures over time and the key to retention over time is being physically present in the lecture hall.

This core presence allows students to piece together components of a lesson while initiating an additional learning mechanism: the task of actively absorbing information. Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, presence naturally improves retention since the student is physically immersed with the material. Students are more likely to engage the material through class participation as well.

In fact, students who tend to miss more lectures aren’t likely to do well due to an obvious factor: they’re not in class to learn the material, engage with  their peers. When exam time arrives, this is the one time the student lacks autonomy to opt out and instead, pays the price for their decisions. A recent study conducted by the American College Testing agency (ACT) issued a report on student retention, highlighting that nearly a third of college freshmen in the United States will drop out.

Students who interact with course-material and the curriculum are more likely to retain the shared  information since they’re more acquainted with it. However, if a student’s attendance is low, a risk factor emerges since students are less likely to succeed. That’s why it’s not only important to simply stay in school, but also to actually attend class.
