2.3 Attendance and Participation

2.3.1 General Attendance Policy

Attendance and participation are critical components of this course. Your expected to attend all class sessions and to arrive before the beginning of class. That said, it is important to recognize that our normal attendance policies are not well suited to a pandemic. If you cannot attend class or arrive on time because of a personal illness, a family issue, jury duty, an athletic match, or a religious observance, you must contact me beforehand to let me know if at all possible. I define family issues broadly - if your family or friends become sick or are being affected by COVID-19 in other ways, please know that I want you to keep your focus on what is most important.

I may ask for more information, such as a note from a health care provider, a travel letter from Athletics, or other documentation for absences. I will not be asking for health care provider documentation for acute illnesses or injuries, though, since if you’re sick but not very sick, the last thing most you will want to do is go to a doctor just to get a note. I am proceeding with a spirit of trust in all of you, and ask you reciprocate that with me. If you need to modify assignment due dates, please let me know prior to those deadlines.

2.3.2 Missed Classes

My priority with attendance is to identify students who may be struggling or in need of additional support. However, because attending class is crucial, I do factor attendance into your overall participation grade. In order to give you some flexibility, I do not apply any penalties to your first unexcused absence. Any unexcused absences beyond those two will result in no credit (for an absences). Regular late arrivals may result in partial credit being earned for that day’s participation grade.

Making up missed classes are your responsibility. I do post slide decks on the course website, but my slides are intended only to serve as references. I also provide recordings of lectures using Panopto, but these may be incomplete or may not capture key aspects of lectures (such as things that come up during the lab sessions).

The academic literature (see this recent article for a nice overview) suggests that the impact of lecture capture tools like Panopto is mixed at best. Students tend to rate their experience with lecture capture far more positively than faculty do. Students who continue to attend class regularly and use lecture recordings as part of an active approach to studying and filling in specific areas of their notes may benefit from recordings. Students who use recordings as a replacement for attending class do not benefit from the recordings. Please also note that lectures and discussions cannot be recorded by any means (e.g. audio or video recordings, or photographs) without my permission.

Please see the University’s attendance policy for additional details.

Meeting recordings will capture whatever is happening on my screen, which may include sharing your name and whatever is actively shown via your webcam. If this presents a privacy concern for you, please let me know as soon as possible.