The author, Craig H. Jones, a professor in the department of psychology and counselor education at Arkansas State University conducted an experiment on students enrolled in a psychology class test the theory that grades are negatively affected by absences. The students all took a questionnaire at the beginning of the semester in order to measure the motivation of each student to earn a college degree. At the end of the semester the instructors gave the overall grade of each student including the number of absences. He found that as predicted, absences were negatively correlated with academic performance. The correlation was the same regardless of sex and race. This study is relevant to my paper because it shows that absences have a negative effect on students so it gives me more reason to find out why students are missing classes.
Van Blerkom, M. L. (1992). Class attendance in undergraduate courses. Journal of Psychology, 126(5), 487. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The author, Malcolm L. Van Blerkom, Chair of the Division of Education at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown used data gathered from student sign-in sheets and a questionnaire about class attendance to find out why and when students miss classes. On the questionnaire the students also reported their age, class standing, gender, and an estimate of how many classes they had missed during the last academic year. The students were also asked to answer 31 questions about why they missed classes. In the final part of the study Van Blerkom examined the attendance of the students at several parts of the semester. The attendance figures were compared to the scores on course exams. The results of his studies indicated that students tend to miss classes because of (1) the need to complete an assignment for another class; (2) the class was boring; (3) severe illnesses like the flu (4) minor illnesses like headaches; (5) too tired to go to class because of social life; and (5) and they over sleep. This data is relevant to my research because I can compare it to the results of my study at Claflin.
Bowman, L. L. (2009). Does Posting PowerPoint Presentations on WebCT Affect Class Performance or Attendance?. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 36(2), 104-107. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The author, Laura L. Bowman, a professor of psychology at Central Connecticut State University used a study which she tried to find out if posting power point presentation before each class has an effect on students attendance and academic performance. She studied 148 students across two semesters. She compared the final grades of the student that had access to the power point presentations to the student that didn't have access. Results show that there are no differences in the grade earned for the course or attendance of the students with power point access and the students without access. This information is relevant to my research because even though power point access wasn't a factor in Dr. Bowman's results it could still be a factor in the results of my studies of the students at Claflin.
Gump, S. E. (2006). Guess who's (not) coming to class: student attitudes as indicators of attendance. Educational Studies (03055698), 32(1), 39-46. Doi: 10.1080/03055690500415936
The author, Steven E. Gump, of the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership, University of Illinois used a survey that featured questions about how important attendance is when attendance is not a key component of their final grade. Other questions on the survey asked about motivators for attending class and rationales for skipping class. Gump's hypothesis was that actual student attendance rates would correlate positively with how important students consider class attendance to be. The results supported his hypothesis by showing a significantly positive relationship between the responses students gave as to how important class attendance is to them and the rates at which they attended class.
Gump, S. E. (2004). The Truth Behind Truancy: Student Rationales for Cutting Class. Educational Research Quarterly, 28(2), 50-58. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The author, Steven E. Gump, of the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership, University of Illinois used a survey used a survey to gather data on student rationales for skipping classes. The survey asked students to identify all rationales that might lead them to skip class. Also, space was provided for students to write in reasons not already listed. The most common reason given for missing class was "health": being tired or otherwise sick, but not sick enough to see a doctor. This reason was given by 84 percent of the respondents. The male students gave more rationales for missing class, but the data gathered showed that female students missed class slightly more often than male students. The only written out rationale was "instructor has told me not to come/not worth it." The least chosen rationale was lack of preparation. In other words not being prepared for class isn't a good enough reason to miss class.
Cohn, E., & Johnson, E. (2006). Class Attendance and Performance in Principles of Economics. Education Economics, 14(2), 211-233. doi:10.1080/09645290600622954
The authors, Eric Johnson and Elchanan Cohn, professors at the University of South Carolina and Kentucky State University, used a sequence of multiple-choice examinations and a questionnaire to gather data to determine if class attendance affects performance in a Principles of Economics class. They tested four hypothesis and all four were supported by the results. This information is relevant to my research because it shows that missing classes can have a negative effect on academic performance.
Howarth, E. E., & Hoffman, M. S. (1984). A multidimensional approach to the relationship between mood and weather. British Journal of Psychology, 75(1), 15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The authors, E. Howarth and M.S. Hoffman used the Howarth Adjective Check List to assess mood. The subjects received individual appointments in which they were given a copy of the Howarth Adjective Check List. Weather readings were taken at the municipal airport of Edmonton Alberta. Weather was found to be a significant predictor of changes in the majority of mood dimensions studied. The study found that increasing the humidity has a negative effect on the students' ability to concentrate in class. The study also revealed that humidity was also the best predictor of sleepiness. The information gathered from this study is very relevant to my research because now that I have an idea of how weather affects mood, I can now try to determine which moods are most likely to cause a student to miss class.
Hovell, M. F., Williams, R. L., & Semb, G. (1979). Analysis of Undergraduates' Attendance at Class Meetings with and without Grade-Related Contingencies: A Contrast Effect. Journal of Educational Research, 73(1), Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The authors of this article are; Melbourne F. Hovell who has a Ph.D in Human Development/Child Psychology, George Semb who is a professor of behavioral psychology, and Randy L. Williams who is a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Special Education at Gonzaga University. The authors did a study to determine whether or not Class Meetings with and without Grade-Related Contingencies had any effect on attendance. The results showed that the attendance for class meetings where a quiz or a test was given was at 90 percent while the attendance at class meetings where students weren't given a test was only at 55 percent. These results suggest that students tend to come to class based on how important they think the class meeting is. This information is relevant to my research because class importance could be a key reason for why students miss classes at Claflin.
Mann, S., & Robinson, A. (2009). Boredom in the lecture theatre: an investigation into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 243-258. doi:10.1080/01411920802042911
The authors, Sandi Mann who is the Senior Lecturer in Occupational Psychology and Andrew Robinson who also has a Ph.D did a study to investigate the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students. 211 college students were given questionnaires aimed at assessing contributors and consequences of their boredom. Results reveal that 59% of students find their lectures boring half the time and 30% find most or all of their lectures to be boring. The consequences of being bored included, students missing future lectures and a negative effect on their gpa. This information is good for my research because it shows boredom to by a reason for students missing classes.
Hartnett, S. (2007). Does Peer Group Identity Influence Absenteeism in High School Students?. High School Journal, 91(2), 35-44. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The author, Sharon Hartnett, assistant professor at Seattle Pacific University, in this article, examines school organizational structures and cultures and their unintentional encouragement of teenage absenteeism. Hartnett basically said that when the school system causes the student to feel rejected, the student will feel less accepted and therefore less motivated to keep attending school. This article also suggest that if a student is a part of a social group that doesn't have many academic values then that student will have less academic value. This information is important to my research because I never thought of social groups in school to be a possible reason for students skipping class. Even though this article only talks about high school students, this information could still apply students at the college level.
