Thus, instructors who require mandatory attendance in their classroom are building student responsibility - something they will need in the future when students graduate and head off into the "real" world of employment and families. The argument against this of student responsibility is just as compelling. Many people feel that if the professors control the students throughout their university experience, they will not feel responsible or take responsibility, and this will follow them into their careers, too. Experts Hassel and Lourey continue, "Attendance should not be compulsory because students must feel in control of their education and personally motivated for it to be effective; by requiring attendance, students are robbed of this valuable feeling of control" (Hassel and Lourey). The debate is complicated, and both sides have compelling arguments, however, if a student is ever going to develop a sense of responsibility and dedication to their studies and their career, they must be treated as adults and...
Mandatory class attendance creates the opposite experience, and takes away the student's responsibility for his or her own actions.
Finally, as adults, students must begin to make decisions and take actions that will follow them throughout their lives and careers. If they are unable to make their own decisions about classroom attendance, they may be unable to make important decisions later, when they really count. Student accountability is important, but so is the ability to take responsibility for ones' own actions. Without that ability, students can never soar and succeed, and mandatory college class attendance takes away that ability.
References
Hassel, Holly, and Jessica Lourey. "The Dea (r)th of Student Responsibility." College Teaching 53.1 (2005): 2+.
Xu, Yonghong, et al. "The Effects of Peer Tutoring on Undergraduate Students' Final Examination Scores in Mathematics." Journal of College Reading and…
