Class absenteeism: reasons for non‐attendance and the effect on academic performance

Abstract

Purpose -Other business education literature, particularly in the field of economics, has developed theories in respect of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive correlation between class attendance and academic performance. The aim of this study was to determine the generalizability of these theories to a large accounting class in South Africa.Design/methodology -This paper is a differentiated replication of the study by Paisey and Paisey (2004), who provided initial evidence of the generalizability of these theories to a small accounting class in Scotland, employing a research questionnaire and the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. and the ability to generate class notes as an additional source of information (Marburger, 2001).The benefits associated with class attendance have lead researchers to hypothesis that class attendance should positively correlate with academic performance (Durden & Ellis, 1995;Devadoss & Foltz, 1996;Rodgers, 2001;Marburger, 2001;Rodgers & Rodgers, 2003;Paisey & Paisey, 2004;Gump, 2005;Sauers et al., 2005;Woodfield et al., 2006;Massingham & Herrington, 2006;Halpern, 2007;Chen & Lin, 2008;Newman-Ford et al., 2008;Horn & Jansen, 2009;Credé et al., 2010). These researchers have generally confirmed this correlation -although cautioning that the link could be no more than a casual one as students who attend lectures may already be more predisposed to academic achievement

Formative Feedback through Summative Tutorial-based Assessments: The Relationship to Student Performance

“…While the aforementioned studies found a positive relationship, a small number of studies did not find any relationship between student performance and attendance (Browne et al, 1991;Schmulian and Coetzee, 2011). The literature discussed above indicates that attendance alone may not be a key driver in relation to student performance; but there may be some relationship to it.…”

“…While attendance alone may (Marburger, 2006;Paisey and Paisey, 2004;Romer, 1993) or may not (Browne et al, 1991;Schmulian and Coetzee, 2011) lead to better student performance, formative feedback has been found to have a positive relationship (Collett, Gyles and Hrasky, 2007;Smith, 2009a, 2009b).…”

Does Class Attendance Predict Academic Performance in First Year Psychology Tutorials?

“…Some of the reasons cited in the literature are illness, tiredness, prioritising other academic work, anticipation of low academic gain, lack of interest/motivation, finding the class boring and "personal reasons" (Cohall & Skeete, 2012;Dollinger, Matyja, & Huber, 2008;Moore, Armstrong, & Pearson, 2008;Paisley & Paisley, 2004;Schmulian & Coetzee, 2011;Woodfield, Jessop, & McMillan, 2006). One reason for student absenteeism might be the availability of online material, including the streaming of lectures.…”

Gender and Syllabus Based Study Approaches and Academic Performance

“…It would be pertinent to discuss about 'Teaching' and the role of teachers' in this respect. Schmulian and Coetzee (2011) have emphasized the importance of teaching style, and accountability of the 'appropriateness of their style of pedagogy' for the results tro ascertain the 'value addition' in classroom. They highlighted the vested interests of the stakeholders in a student's academic performance and that they pay attention to the "indicators demonstrating the possible value being added by a student's class attendance'.…”