Final post

            Most of the 400 level economics classes I have taken, have not required attendance. Nearly all of them strongly encouraged it by reviewing the homework questions prior to the due date or limiting the slide shows posted on compass. The classes I have taken where attendance is required have almost exclusively been intro level classes, one hundred or two hundred level. I think the theory behind this is that intro level classes are needed to form a foundation of knowledge, but upper level classes are chosen and should fit your interests. In this system you are more or less forced to learn the intro material, even if it is in area you aren’t interested in. However, in later classes, attendance is expected to be higher because these classes aren’t specifically required, but rather chosen from a list. Although this is what would theoretically happen, in reality when attendance isn’t required not as many students show up to class regardless of the level of class.

            Attendance for all my four hundred level econ classes follow the same pattern, decent participation at the beginning of the semester, but it trends down the whole semester, with slight peaks prior to exams and project due dates. Personally, I always try and make it to my classes because I feel as though I can’t learn new material with out being in class. Even though I almost always go to class, I rarely ask questions, but like hearing other students. When attendance is required, there seems to be more participation, even though some of those participating wouldn’t go to class if it wasn’t required. I like when attendance is required because I was going to go regardless, and I get the benefit of hearing other people’s questions. Even though I am almost certainly in the minority, one change I would make to the design of this class is having required attendance. This would increase overall class attendance and I think it would promote more engagement in class. I would have come to more classes had it been required, not because it was required but because it would make the discussions in class better. With more people discussing topics and ideas in class, I think more people would also not be afraid to speak their ideas and share their questions.

             The other unique aspect of this class, having flexible deadlines, is something I have never experienced before. Personally, I really enjoyed this policy because it made it easier to plan out my homework. My other classes have a decent amount of homework due on Thursdays and Fridays, so having flexible deadlines allowed me to work on the blogs during the weekend, when I am usually freer. I almost always did the Excel homework on time, the one exception being the final one I forgot about and turned in late. I never had to use this policy for the excel homework, but for the blogging it was very helpful. This policy allowed me to alter the deadlines slightly to fit my schedule better. I feel as though overall this improved the quality of my work for the class. I’m sure some students used this policy to take far longer to submit their assignments, but overall, I feel that having flexible deadlines made it easier to truly focus on my assignments.