Should attending university lectures and classes be mandatory?

Quite difficult to enforce to be honest. If you have a lecture of 100 people it’s hard to sign people in, people csn do it electronically but what if you leave your pass or home or forget to swipe it?

There’s also the issue for people who live away from uni, for instance with the rail unions doing their best to make railways obsolete a bunch of students will find it hard to even get in.

Frankly of people want to pay x amount a year in fees and not even attend the lectures that’s their problem. They are old enough to make and be responsible for their own decisons.

Are lectures the best use of contact time on campus? (Thinking of the classic didactic sort of lecture - or does your initial question cover all f2f stuff)

Why are some students not attending? (Aside from obvious wellbeing types of issues)

Is poor attendance reflected in these students grades?

Outside of professional courses, I'm on the fence about mandating attendance from adult learners on courses they have paid for. I think I'm against it, as I feel it's up to students to motivate themselves and allocate time to their studies as grown ups. Monitor attendance by all means and reach out to non-attenders, to both identify any wellbeing issues but to also point out that missing content being taught may have an influence on their grades.

Campus lectures/both in general.

Ok, I don't think didactic lectures are the best use of campus time, but that's for another debate.

I suppose, knowing why students don't want to engage is the key here. I imagine there's a broad spectrum of reasons which could be interesting to look at (really cba to search the literature right now, but I'm sure there's loads). I just don't think cracking a whip and forcing attendance fits with the ethos of adult learning.

You raise a valid point. Some people might not attend lectures because of laziness or getting hungover but there could be other reasons like other users have mentioned.

I imagine there's a spectrum of things, the hangover excuse may be for occasional one offs, laziness may only have an impact on 9am starts etc, but this may not explain constant non-attendance and a lack of engagement with f2f study. These may be more of the dislike of teaching styles, students preferring to study on their own at home, or issues pertaining to health and wellbeing and I think these need analysis and used as feedback to institutions.

You've got me interested in reading what data there is on this out there now, but I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole right now. I may have a bit of a search over the next few days and come back to this thread.

I have voted 'no' because university students are adults who can make choices for themselves. If they wish not to attend a lecture they have paid for then that is their responsibility. Equally, if they are unable to attend, e.g. due to a medical issue, then that is something they should be able to manage for themselves, without needing to seek anybody's approval.

Yeah, but here when we say college it means sixth form and not uni.

The question is: do you think that attending university lectures and classes be mandatory?

Yes it is mandatory to study in college and get your dream job