Class attendance in US universities is thought to be at a record low, as a technologically fortified brew of stress, mercenary attitudes and ¨C in some cases ¨C low-quality teaching makes pandemic-era no-shows permanent.

Academics said that Covid lockdowns had normalised the idea of students skipping classes or watching them remotely.

¡°Attendance is a real problem now, in a way it wasn¡¯t before the pandemic,¡± said Daniel Chambliss, an emeritus professor of sociology at Hamilton College. ¡°And that¡¯s attendance in both a physical sense and a mental stance.¡±

¡°A lot of folks are telling me that they¡¯re having issues,¡± said Benjamin Selznick, an associate professor of strategic leadership studies at James Madison University.

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¡°I have heard, anecdotally,¡± said Jonathan Malesic, an adjunct instructor of writing at Southern Methodist University, ¡°about lecture courses with 25 per cent attendance.¡±

Two other trends in higher education might be compounding attitudes towards in-person classroom attendance, Professor Chambliss said. One, he said, was the growing reliance on adjunct instructors. That appeared to be giving students a lower-quality classroom experience, which might make them question the value of spending time in class.

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Campus resource: Build community into the curriculum to improve in-person attendance

The other, Professor Chambliss said, was the growing emphasis in US higher education on?job-oriented teaching ¨C ¡°this whole idea of return on investment, and that majors have to pay off¡±.

¡°The students think now, reasonably ¨C they¡¯re basically taught it over and over again ¨C that they¡¯re supposed to have a transactional view of this, that what you want is the best return for the least work, the least effort and the least money,¡± he said. ¡°They get used to this notion that there¡¯s nothing intrinsically worthwhile, and so if you can slide by with going to class less, that¡¯s fine.¡±

Universities, Dr Malesic said, had directly promoted the idea of online learning as a viable alternative to in-person teaching. ¡°Those technologies can give students the illusion that they don¡¯t have to be physically present in order to gain a course¡¯s content and skills,¡± he said.

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Less clear, for many faculty, was what to do about it. Dr Malesic is among many who believe that classroom attendance should be required. ¡°Given that human beings don¡¯t always respond to positive incentives, we also owe them a few negative incentives,¡± he said. ¡°Attendance requirements are one.¡±

Many frustrated faculty appeared to share that view, said Tyler Doggett, a professor of philosophy at the University of Vermont. But Professor Doggett said he found that tactic ¡°bad for morale¡±, because students who didn¡¯t want to come to class showed everyone else there a visible uninterest.

¡°I think it¡¯s paternalistic to make adults show up for a class they are paying for but don¡¯t want to attend,¡± Professor Doggett said. Mandatory attendance looked even worse now, he said, because student mental health ¡°is pretty terrible these days, and I have a lot of students taking time because they truly need a mental health day or two¡±.

Dr Selznick was more conflicted. In a small discussion-based classroom, if?few students attended, ¡°how are we going to learn from each other,¡± he said. In a large lecture hall format, meanwhile, it might be better for a student needing a mental break to take it, he said.

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¡°We need to challenge the narrative that when a student doesn¡¯t show up for class it¡¯s because they don¡¯t care,¡± Dr Selznick said.

For Professor Chambliss, such uncertainties about motive suggested a key reason not to require in-person attendance. If students suddenly stopped showing up for his classes, he said, that was a sign that it was time to investigate. ¡°Because I?want to know if they don¡¯t enjoy them,¡± he said.

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paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com