Is Grading For Attendance Moral?

[Aloysius]

It is my firmly held conviction that when a professor (or even a high school teacher) makes a deduction in a grade based upon attendance, that teacher does a tremendous disservice to academia.

The only thing that should matter in the formation of a grade is how much the student has learned, evidenced by a test, and what quality of work he has produced by essays or other assigned work. The purpose of class is to aid in the completion of those tasks (namely, taking tests, writing essays, and doing other projects), but class should be viewed as an aid to such things, a means to an end.

As any student of moral theology knows, using something which ought to be a means as an end in itself is immoral. Ergo, it is immoral to grade based upon class attendance.

MOREOVER, one often finds the principal of double jeopardy at work here. If a student misses class, it is likely that he will fall behind or be less informed than the other students (if the classes are truly valuable). When it comes to the test, that student will get more wrong answers on the test and his grade will thus be punished thusly for his failure to attend. And yet, some teachers have the audacity to take additional credit away from such a student for the reason of his absence. That absence has already effected the grade, however, so the additional deduction is effectively punishing the student a second time for the same error.

Now, it is my suspicion that the deadly sin of pride is in the picture here: for if a student does not come to many classes, yet does well on all of the exams and turns in exemplary work, this may be an indictment against the teacher, indicating that the student was already smart enough and not in need of their expertise.

debate! haha

[prose]

You need an "other". It totally depends on the course.

For instance. I have my degree in psychology.

If I skipped all my psych classes on behavioral therapy, but understood the concept, that is great.

I had another course in counseling. If I skipped the class, I missed my opportunity to have hands on counseling skills taught to me and directed by an experienced professional. Totally should fail for skipping that.

Doctors should fail for missing classes involving patients, but not book-type anatomy.

That is what I think.

So I am voting to skew your results.

[Aloysius]

I would probably agree. though I wouldn't take that too far.

for instance: in a language class, a teacher might argue that you need that valuable time practicing the language, and thus attempt to grade you based on whether you come to class. but if you can demonstrate your skill in the language on a test, the classes are nothing more than extra practice offered.

[theophane]

Man, I have been griping about this for decades, literally. Good original point, also a good "extenuating circumstances" point. I also believe it is illogical and arrogant in most cases. In lecture courses especially, the professor is basically admitting that he is either too pompous to accept that some students already know what he wants to teach, or that he is incapable of writing a test that actually covers all the material.