Teaching: The way I don't like it.

We had discussions with our friends, asking of their opinion as to how professors should teach and what should be their reaction to low attendance. Their opinion was something like this (if they would become a prof. ) :

• Give loads of assignment, quizzes and make attendance compulsory. Only then will students learn. Penalize for not coming to class.
• Make exams very hard. They should pay for not coming to the class. Attendance should be mandatory, carrying some weightage. Take surprise quizzes when attendance is low.

My opinion differs from both, not for assignments, but in attendance. As far as assignments are concerned, assignments do help understand what you are teaching so the quantity of assignments should be at least that what is necessary to cover each individual topic if not in plenty. The more the better. The problem lies in the second aspect. This is where I stand against many professors, and wannabes, that attendance should NOT be compulsory. The arguments that people give in favour is that

• If attendance is not compulsory, students will not come and hence will not learn.
• I can earn 10 times if I go to industry, so when I teach I want students attending lectures. If they don't then its insulting for me. (Actual reason given by a prof)

All those sound logical, but they are nothing more that hollow statements, carrying no weight at all. Answer these 2 questions and you will know why I dislike compulsory attendance.

1. When you say attendance should be compulsory, you implicitly make a claim that students will not be able to learn without your help. Unless you explain them, they won't be able to figure out what the topic is about. Is that true? I don't think so. There are many students who prefer to study alone. They cannot grasp concepts in a lecture simply because its a lecture. The pace doesn't suits them, the way it is taught, or whatever the reason may be! They prefer to figure out the stuff by themselves. Still many others are able to outperform even without attending a single lecture. What good are you doing by forcing such students to come to class? There are several teaching and learning styles and if they mismatch, its a problem. (refer wiki for the styles)
2. When you assign some weightage or use other methods to force students come to class, aren't you saying it yourself that your way of teaching is not effective enough, not something that students would love to be a part of? Isn't that a fault in your teaching that you are trying to hide by making attendance compulsory. You should instead improve your way of teaching.

Such actions, at least I think, do not suit a teacher. As a teacher, my job is NOT to pester students and make them pay. My job is to teach. You have the study material with you. Any doubts, I will clarify them. Today the strength is low, very good! I can give personal attention to students. You think you can study yourself? Very good indeed. Go do it. All the imperfect responses you make will teach you even more than what I can. You would not just know how to do a thing, solve a problem, but also know several other ways of not doing a thing. What's the point of assigning weightage to attendance. The system is flexible enough to accommodate and suit every students learning style, without leaving anyone at a disadvantage. Fair for both, those who want to "learn" and those who don't want to "study".

That's how it should be. Things should be fair. They should be flexible. From my side its all that I can do. As far as the other side is concerned, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. They are grown up kids, they know what they are doing. I shouldn't make it unfair for anyone.