Remember in school when your teachers would call out the register each day? Nowadays universities are doing exactly the same. After all, it is not a good idea to skip too many classes as this could impact your course. Also, your university may take action against you if your absence rate is too high.
There are several ways in which universities record and monitor student attendance. However, most universities opt for one of the following options.
Card swipe
A common way of tracking student attendance is having a card swipe system in place. Each lecture theatre or seminar room will have a card reader outside which students will use to scan their student ID, therefore, marking their attendance.
This is a method used by many universities as it’s easy to use and quickly provides an electronic database of student attendance. The only potential drawback is students may scan other students’ cards who are not actually in attendance (known as fraudulently marking attendance). Most universities consider this a breach of the student code of conduct thus students caught doing this may face disciplinary action.
Paper register
Smaller lectures or tutorial groups may use a paper register to track attendance. However, this method time consuming (not to mention a waste of paper) so it’s usually reserved for smaller groups of students.
Check-in app
Some universities have a smartphone app that students can use to mark their attendance. The app uses Bluetooth and location services to allow students to mark their attendance once they arrive at the class. For the app to work, students must have location services switched on so that the app can see they are actually in the required location.
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Track views of online lectures
Many universities upload lectures online for students to watch in their own time or host live lectures for students to attend virtually. This is something that became prominent during Covid-19.
Believe it or not, universities can still track student attendance at lectures that are delivered virtually.
Live lectures often use software such as zoom or teams in which the university can see who has all joined. For lectures uploaded to a university intranet, most universities can see who has viewed the lecture and who has not.
Require students to have their attendance confirmed by a member of staff
This only occurs if a student has previously failed to attend classes or had another student fraudulently mark their attendance. When this happens the lecturer or tutor taking the class will need to personally confirm the student’s attendance either by signing a log or updating the electronic register.
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