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Someone once told me that timeless is next to godliness. Well the students in my sisters college classes do not agree. She teaches small seminar classes where latecomers are disruptive. She begs the students to be on time but no one listens. Half of the students are late constantly walking into class 30 minutes late without an excuse. Discussion has to end while the person walks in and moves loudly to their seat and puts away their coat. When called to task for being late they simply say, "I was held up"
Would you recommend that the Instructor just lock the door when the class starts and not let in any latecomers?
Seriously. It's unbelievably rude to not only the instructor, but the students who bothered to show up according to the schedule.
There aren't a lot of instances in post-college life where you can be a half-hour late to a given scheduled event without some type of adverse consequence. People need to grow up.
Were I a professor, I would also ABSOLUTELY grade on attendance and tardiness. I know from previous discussions on here that that p*sses people off, but that's how I see it. If you feel you don't need to attend class/attend class in a timely manner, do your classes online.
I've had instructors take students aside and tell them their grade will suffer if they continue to be late, or even ask them to drop the class if they can't be on time. It is not unreasonable to ask that they be there and ready with everyone else.
On the other hand, as one who relies on public transportation, it's not unusual for my bus to be late and cause me to arrive 5-10 minutes late to class. The only alternative is to take a bus that would put me at school an hour earlier, which I am frankly unwilling to do for an 8:30 am class.
I agree with the other posters. The students should not be allowed to come in late to class. It is not acceptable and they need to learn now that it would not be tolerated in the 'real world'. They are disrupting the entire class and that is not fair to the students that were on time to class.
I've had instructors take students aside and tell them their grade will suffer if they continue to be late, or even ask them to drop the class if they can't be on time. It is not unreasonable to ask that they be there and ready with everyone else.
On the other hand, as one who relies on public transportation, it's not unusual for my bus to be late and cause me to arrive 5-10 minutes late to class. The only alternative is to take a bus that would put me at school an hour earlier, which I am frankly unwilling to do for an 8:30 am class.
5 to 10 minutes late isn't the same as 30 minutes late, however, in the world of work, it is going to get you fired if you are consistently late.
If you are serious about your education, take the earlier bus.
I am so shocked that a school puts up with this. Where I attended 3 absences meant you failed the class, and 2 tardies equaled an absence. Here is an expert from our syllabus.
Attendance: Active participation in the class as well as with fellow group members is crucial in this class. Being the member of the product development team, lack of participation will affect your fellow students ability to complete projects on time and at a desired quality level. More than two absences from this class will result in dismissal and a grade F. Two tardies of 15 minutes or more will result in 1 absence.
This is in New York City, where EVERYONE has to rely on public transit for class.
For a small class, a strict policy should have started the very first day regarding late comers. Anything from a quiz at the very beginning of class, docking points on an attendance grade, or yes, locking the door. It's next to impossible to begin the semester with lax policies, then decide to be more strict.
Depending on the the type of school (do students live on campus or is it a commuter school) 5 to 10 minutes is one thing. As someone mentioned, public transportation, parking, or traffic, can increase the likelihood of more tardies, in which case, you can still build a class around that. But being consistently 30 minutes late, and the fact that you said that she begs them to come on time, leads me to believe that the issue is a lack of respect.
Is the professor fairly new to teaching or fairly young? Does she have a policy on the syllabus regarding tardies? If not, she needs to add one for next semester. In the meantime, she needs to communicate to the class that she will start locking the door if anyone is X minutes late (X being whatever number she wants).
Says the former professor
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