Attendance: Case-Study in Developmental Mathematics Classrooms

Abstract

Increasing classroom attendance rates is important to improving success in developmental mathematics courses. Our results indicated that absence rates begin to increase after the first exam. Furthermore, the number of absences gradually increased throughout the semester and a higher proportion of class meeting time was missed in classes that met three days per week compared to two days per week. Thus, attempts to emphasize to students the importance of classroom attendance on course grades needs to begin before the first test. When absences were measured by proportion of class meeting time, effect of absences on students’ failing the course was higher for classes that met two days per week compared to classes that met three days per week.

KEYWORDS:

• attendance
• developmental mathematics
• student success

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julie Albert

Julie Nicholson Albert is an instructor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Sam Houston State University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Her interests includes improving developmental mathematics and fostering student success.

Linda Zientek

Linda Reichwein Zientek is an Associate Professor of mathematics education at Sam Houston State University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Her research focuses on the preparation of mathematics teachers, developmental mathematics, and quantitative research methods.

Ananda Manage

Ananda Manage is an Associate Professor of statistics at Sam Houston State University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics. His main research areas include statistics in sports, biomedical research, statistics education and statistical shape analysis.