Simon Cullen + Danny Oppenheimer help us rethink student attendance policies toward deeper engagement and learning on episode 591 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Quotes from the episode

There’s a lot of evidence that coming to class is one of the best things a student can do to facilitate their learning and performance in class.
-Danny Oppenheimer
You can make students attend, and most faculty do. They set attendance as mandatory. And then students attend and they learn because they attend. But they also hate you, and they hate the subject and they hate everything to do with the class.
-Danny Oppenheimer
If you give people choices, sometimes they make bad choices. Scaffolding choices can help people make choices that actually align with their preferences more effectively.
-Danny Oppenheimer
Students love being treated like adults. They love having choice. Everybody loves having choice. People don’t like other people telling them what to do.
-Danny Oppenheimer
In some sense students have a preference to attend class. And in some sense they have a preference to not attend class. Those preferences can coexist in some way.
-Simon Cullen

Resources

Choosing to learn: The importance of student autonomy in higher education, by Simon Cullen and Daniel Oppenheimer
Are we overlooking the power of autonomy when it comes to motivating students? by Danny Oppenheimer
Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly, by Daniel M. Oppenheimer
Speak Freely, Think Critically: The Free Speech Balance Act
Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, by Alfie Kohn
The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution, by Richard Wrangham
Finding Meaning in the Age of Immortality, by T.N. Eyer

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