For many educators, the thought student attendance elicits an uncomfortable feeling. Many of us would love our lectures, tutorials, seminars, webinars or conference presentations to be that of a Taylor Swift or Elton John concert – with only standing room left. But with the rise of online learning coupled with the demise of compulsory attendance, you may have noticed an increasingly spare seat or two, to say the least. 

Respecting student autonomy & diversity

For me, this really highlighted the similar issue our students are having with work-life-study commitments and conflicting availabilities. For example, recent survey data suggests 90% of Australian students are in paid employment, with attempts to balance work and study a key contributor to stress and anxiety. Similarly, it’s estimated that between 13 - 30% of full and part time students are parents, and 11% of students report having a disability, each of which may impact attendance.

Echoed within attendance discourse is student time-management skills (aka the never-ending pile of extension requests). Assessment structures and their spacings both within and across courses are also ‘assessing’ students’ ability to schedule and adapt to changes in their available time. But when and where are students taught how to manage their time? Where is the balance between both teaching time-management through regular engagement and respecting the diversity of spaced and crash-course learners. Where does all this fit alongside the authenticity and wellbeing associated with ‘life’ (how often have you asked for an extension to a work deadline, I wonder)?

Getting to know the ‘invisible’ students

Learning Analytics

As a psychological scientist with an interest in human (specifically – student) behaviour, I will persistently preach that our Learning Management Systems are in incredibly powerful tool for understanding how students engage with learning materials. Whilst student-level data is reasonably easy to extract, cohort-level data for larger courses requires a little bit of coding finesse to lure out of the system into a user-friendly format. Thankfully, with our wonderful Learning Design and Innovation Team, we were able to pied-piper the data out of Canvas for a larger scale course audit of my Semester 1 site.

What do students actually engage with in your course? This can serve as both an assessment security exercise (which students are completing tasks without engaging with the materials they need to be?) and a learning activity (what do students think they need to engage with to pass your course?). The results can be both insightful, and occasionally a little upsetting, if I’m honest. Ignorance is bliss, but pride aside, knowledge is power. Utilising learning analytics can give a data-driven and objective perspective on what engagement actually looks like in your course.

Universal Design for Learning

How do we navigate this new terrain of learning in the absence of compulsory attendance, but also support students who do benefit from in-person teaching? With variety, spices, and all that jazz. Maximising engagement is maximising choice. It’s also good practice in equity and accessibility. If hearing your voice isn’t a key learning outcome, consider having a transcript of the lecture available with a recording. Allow and encourage confident students to share verbally in front of the class, but also provide anonymous PollEverywhere style options for students to feel involved – and Padlets for those who miss the session. Consider office hours both in-person and on Zoom. Both educational development and student equity teams at every institution host a wealth of knowledge about student experiences and engagement. Use your network.

Relational Pedagogies

Celebrate the “thereness” students bring, wherever and whenever that may be. As the old adage goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. And any learning theorist would tell you that positive reinforcement trumps punishment any day. A little compassion, both to ourselves and others, goes a long way. There are also some simple steps that both academic staff and developers can do to help students feel welcome and belong outside of scheduled teaching sessions (for a more comprehensive review, see the new Enhancing Online Engagement in Higher Education HERDSA Guide released at the 2024 conference).

Image Source:

• https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img