How do professors feel about students who skip lectures?

undecided
Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:18:13 +0000

To be smarmy, boysx3, because that would be the parent paying the tuition, not the student in question. :p

To be honest, there aren’t many professors in classes over 30 that notice when a particular student is missing, unless it’s a regular contributor in an otherwise quiet class. They DO tend to notice when there are gaps, groups of people that don’t show, and I can bet anyone can imagine how that might feel to a newer professor who takes their teaching job personally.

The older ones seem to know that college students just don’t go to large lectures and accept that up to 1/3 or more of the class is not going to show on any given day.

Small classes usually have some attendance/participation grade factored in – a small percentage, like 10-15, but enough to take an A to a B simply for non-attendance.

Larger classes usually do not, and as such the professor makes few nods toward attendance. You go if you want the material, you don’t if you don’t. It’s up to YOU, the student, to determine whether it’s worth your time – you’re paying for it, after all. Some base their exams around their lecture material (particularly in the humanities), but others are straight from the text book and lecture becomes gravy to understanding the material (typically in the sciences, social and otherwise).