Course Reflection
For the final blog post, I’m going to write a
Williamson-like critique of the class. We were prompted to consider two class
decisions, attendance and electronics, and how they impacted our behavior over
the course of the semester.
Regarding the attendance policy in the syllabus, I believe
my actions would have been consistent regardless of the incentives attached to
attendance. My personal feeling is that we invest a great deal to be in
college; to name a few things, our parent’s hard-earned money (or perhaps
taking on personal debt) our time, as well as the opportunity cost of the money
we might have earned had we started working right out of high school. Attending
class seems like a major part of our reason for being enrolled students at this
university. Rather than just going through the motions of college, I would like
to have something to show at the end of my time here, more than just a symbolic
piece of paper. While I realize there is
a social benefit to having that piece of paper read “The University of
Illinois,” I think our school has a lot more to offer than just its reputation.
Attending class allows us to take advantage of some of those other aspects,
like accomplished professors, and a peer group of talented students.
Reflecting on the decline of attendance throughout the
course of the semester, I’d imagine the discontinuation of the bonus points may
have had something to do with that. The increase in workload and stress
student’s feel as the semester progresses could also be contributing factors.
For myself, I failed to take full advantage of the bonus points offered. While
I attained near perfect attendance this semester and was rather punctual in
completing assignments, completing the bonus surveys after class seemed to slip
my mind until it was too late. I could make excuses and say that it was early
in the semester and I was still getting in the groove of my schedule, or that I
didn’t figure out how to sign up for Professor Arvan’s blog emails until a few
weeks in, but the effect is the same. The bonus points did not play into my
decision whether or not to come to class, they were merely a positive
afterthought.
In considering the impact a stricter attendance policy might
have, I’m reminded of the article we read earlier in the semester about the
Israeli daycare. The daycare thought that charging a fine for being late would
motivate parents to pick their children up on time, but in fact the penalty had
the opposite effect. I think a similar result would occur if Professor Arvan
used a strict attendance policy, attaching points to our attendance. I’m not
arguing that overall attendance would suffer under the policy; as Professor
Arvan has pointed out on numerous occasions, college students care very
strongly about grades. Instead, I think other aspects of class would have
suffered. To apply an economics term, I don’t think a strict attendance policy
would pass a standard CBA.
By not attaching points to our attendance, the members of
the class that consistently showed up were the ones that cared to be there,
either expressing a value for their education or their personal reputations. By
attaching quantifiable value to attendance, the student’s feelings behind their
decision of whether or not to come to class changes. This is the result of
shifting from a gift economy to a market economy. If the students don’t come,
they feel they’ve paid the price via their grade suffering, not at all
considering the disrespect for their professor’s time and the discredit to
their fellow classmate’s learning. If points motivate someone to come that
wouldn’t have under the current system, then they will likely not be engaged in
discussion or add much value to the class as a whole. This might exhibit itself
in more students at the rear of the class sneaking glances at their phones, or
those in the periphery of Professor Arvan’s vision, hoping to evade eye contact
in case he poses a question.
The topic of class engagement leads into the second part of
the prompt regarding electronics. After partaking in the class for a semester,
I can see little benefit to allowing electronics. Even in lecture mode, where
electronics were allowed per the syllabus, there was rarely a time I felt
electronics would have positively impacted my learning. This is one of the few
economics courses I’ve taken where I get more out of lecture from simply
sitting and listening. Part of this likely stems from the comfort of knowing
there are no strenuous exams where I will be expected to regurgitate a random
comment made in a lecture. Had there not been any rules regarding electronics,
I may have come to the decision to ditch my laptop (my usual method for
notetaking) on my own, but having the policy certainly helped me realize that
benefit sooner.
To go on a bit of a tangent, I’ve noticed a trend recently
of more classes switching to electronics bans. Simply put, I think the power of
electronics today is too much for the classroom. It’s far too easy to shift
focus as we scroll between tabs, checking social media or watching highlights
from last night’s game, until we wind up so distracted we don’t even know what
the lecture is about. While not all students are guilty of this, a couple
student’s in a class can drag the attentiveness of the whole group down. In
economic terms, electronics in the classroom exhibit a negative externality. Some
might argue that, as adults, we should be free to make our own choices. However,
when these choices are detracting from other student’s learning, I think imposing
restrictions t is a professor’s prerogative.
To sum up my critique, I agree with both of Professor
Arvan’s policies regarding attendance and electronics. My guess is that his
knowledge of organizational dynamics as well as his teaching experience have
shaped these policies, and I can see no potential Pareto Improvements.
You covered this quite thoroughly. I do wonder, however, whether students get used to a certain way of doing things, based on the previous classes they've taken, and thus have developed habits that are pretty fixed and thus hard to change. If the past experience has lecture providing little engagement for the student, why come to class? If that's even remotely right, there is then the issue of why those other classes don't engage the students more. That's it's own topic (which I've written about a fair amount on my blog). But given it as a reality, there is then the issue of whether to accommodate or try for some alternative.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the that some students are doing interviews for internships or jobs and that takes them out of class and once in a while a student is sick. Those things didn't factor into your explanation. It is hard for me to monitor this unless the student indicates something to me. The way our class works, getting a doctor's note would mainly not help. In the old days, I insisted on that.
I want to give you still one other angle to think about here. There is now quite a bit written about adhd children in school (this impacts boys more than girls) and forcing them to sit still is wrong. They need to be physically active to learn. I'm not sure that changes as these kids get older. And if not, it makes you wonder about what sort of approach best helps such students.
Now, specifically about you, I would agree attendance incentives make no sense, but some participation incentive in class might matter. However, incentive is not the right word. Encouragement would be better. The class functions better, in my view, if there is more variety in those who participate in the discussion. You create a positive externality by participating. So, coming to class and being quite, in a course where discussion is encouraged, needs to be allowed but should not be considered the desired outcome. As with attendance itself, my guess is that prior courses matter here. If students take few classes that are really discussion based, it probably impacts their willingness to participate. Were it a more ordinary thing, participation would be no big deal.
I was glad to read what you said about the electronics. I think once in a while there are buzzwords you might want to jot down, if your memory isn't great, and there might be a technical point or two that needs some note taking. The truth is, when I was a student I was pretty horrible at taking notes. So I learned to listen to lecture and in smaller courses that I liked to raise my hand a lot. It was my way to process to the content. I believe I said earlier in the semester that the instructor teaches to a version of himself when he was younger, not to produce clones but because that's what he understands about how to teach. So if you can get a lot out of class with minimal note taking, that does fit my model.
Your comments regarding the socially acceptable reasons for missing class seem like additional benefits of the personal accountability attendance model. In this model, we are free to allocate our time as we choose. When we don't have to fear a a reduction to our grade for missing class, we might consider the positives to missing -- perhaps more opportunities for interviews, or the ability to miss class rather than share our sickness with everyone. This isn't to say there is no cost to missing, as we still pay the price for learning lost.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your probe about children with ADHD, I can indirectly relate to these struggles -- one of my brothers as well as one of the children I nanny have ADHD. I've seen the impact to their schooling as a result of their wandering thoughts and anxious bodies that constantly crave motion. To them, sitting in a chair for too long begins to feel like punishment. Seeing as that is the main mode for delivering education in most schools, one can infer that to them learning might begin to feel like punishment as well.
I don't have the solution to this problem, but I have read some articles about various ways elementary schools are modifying their tactics to better fit these children's needs. I struggle to imagine how we might implement something similar at the university level. My experience in college is that you adapt to each of your professor's preferred teaching styles, and not the other way around. Within that comment might lie the root cause of the issue you noted about students struggle to engage in lecture.