Agony aunt: Dwindling attendances

I am noticing that attendance at my 9 o'clock lecture is starting to dwindle as the term progresses. I do not think I am that boring, so what can I do?

Two tactics can help: keep them busy and link the lecture to forthcoming assessment.

Interactive handouts are useful. These have three or four tasks that students work on individually, or better still, debate with neighbours. They write down their views, decisions or answers and the lecturer samples their conclusions during the lecture. If a student has written important material on a handout, they are less willing to pass that handout on to absent friends for photocopying. Attendance should improve as the word gets round.

Another tack is to make the material at the start of each 9am lecture really important. For example, run the class through the intended learning outcomes of the session and the level and type of associated exam questions they can expect (including the work that students will be doing as they follow up the lecture itself). Assessment drives learning and assessment-related information promotes attendance. It is worth revisiting the intended outcomes at the end of the lecture anyway, but if important assessment-related information is given at the start, it encourages the class to arrive on time.

Another tactic is to have a five-minute round of "frequently asked questions". Spend the first few minutes answering as many as you can and store the rest so that you know what is on students' minds. Other tactics are to pass round a signing-in board and to say that attendance will count for a few per cent of the coursework mark. But bear in mind that students are good at signing three signatures each till the board is full. I always sat at the back, and never once needed to sign my name in such circumstances.

Phil Race
Consultant and writer on teaching, learning and assessment

Phil Race is editor of 2000 Tips for Lecturers , which is available from The THES Bookshop priced £22.99; tel: 020 8324 5104.