If you record, they will not come – but does it really matter? Student attendance and lecture recording at an Australian law school

‘This can’t be the new norm’: academics’ perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis for the Australian university sector

“…This move away from the physical campus was occurring incrementally across Australian campuses prior to COVID-19. For example, unlike the UK, mandatory lecture recording was already commonplace in Australia and many students do not attend lectures inperson as a result (Skead et al, 2020). Analysed through the lens of SDT, Offer et al (2019) found that this forced move away from classrooms undermined staff autonomy, relatedness with students, and invoked fears of lack of competence.…”

Using a volitional help sheet to increase university students' attendance at synchronous online lectures: A randomized controlled trial

“…After completing these items, they were allocated at random to receive either a VHS or control intervention, embedded at the end of the questionnaire. The participants allocated to the VHS condition ( n = 89) were presented with a drop‐down list of 20 critical situations that tapped reasons that are commonly given by students for missing lectures (e.g., Bati et al., 2013; Moore et al., 2008; Skead et al., 2020). Each critical situation was presented as an IF statement (e.g., “If I am tempted to miss a lecture because I have a university deadline approaching…”; see Appendix A for the full list).…”

“…Research has shown that attendance at synchronous lectures is associated with better academic performance and other (e.g., social) benefits (e.g., Credé et al., 2010; Edwards & Clinton, 2019; Louis et al., 2016; Romer, 1993; Tokumitsu, 2017; Trice et al., 2000; Wongtrakul & Dangprapai, 2020). However, attendance rates are typically found to be low, often around 50% (e.g., Beovich et al., 2021; Hollett et al., 2020; Skead et al., 2020; Williams, 2022) and as low as 30% (Moore et al., 2008). Interventions that promote lecture attendance are therefore important.…”

“…Therefore, consistent with other behaviours (e.g., Sheeran, 2002; Webb & Sheeran, 2006), there is a gap between many university students' positive goal intentions to attend lectures and their behaviour, meaning that an intervention is required that can help students translate their goal intentions into action. Third, university students give many reasons for missing lectures, such as feeling tired, having access to lecture materials that provide the information from the lecture (notes or recordings), and work commitments (e.g., Bati et al., 2013; Moore et al., 2008; Skead et al., 2020). These reasons constitute critical situations that put the required behaviour at risk.…”

“…Second, we tested the extent to which the VHS promoted lecture attendance using a measure of behavioural maintenance in addition to a summative measure of attendance. Research shows that lecture attendance rates tend to drop from their initial levels, as the academic semester progresses and increase again at the end of semester as students approach the final assessment period (e.g., Skead et al., 2020). However, research testing the effects of interventions (e.g., Webb et al., 2007) tends to rely on outcome measures of lecture attendance across an entire teaching semester or academic year (also see Dickson & Stephens, 2016).…”