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Matthew Baldwin - Assist. Professor of Religion
4/6/2005, 10:01:56 a.m.
Regardless of official policies, I think classroom attendance is THE most important thing for our students. There are large lecture classes you can miss, where all that is presented in class can be found in a textbook.
But in most of my classes, what happens cannot be reproduced outside of class by reading a textbook. We deal with primary source materials; the syllabus assigns readings in texts that are then subject of inquiry in the classroom. Often, the perspective on the material that I bring as a professor cannot be duplicated by the student on their own in the library. In the same way, students cannot anticipate how much they will learn by themselves grappling with and discussing the material in a classroom setting, and by listening to other students doing the same.
The bottom line is that students who regularly skip classes to get a little extra sleep or because they "don't feel like it" are like Esau, selling off their birthrights for a single bowl of lentil soup.
OPINIONS
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