Student disengagement: Why they say they don’t come

Abstract

Nearing the end of the academic year for most students, attendance at lectures is dropping to 25% and below. Why are students at the University of Waikato skipping lectures? I combine student attendance rates with data from several student evaluations (that include specific questions about engagement and attendance) to investigate what might be causing student disengagement and non-attendance. The data are drawn from evaluations of a few first and second year philosophy classes over the last two years. The results imply a pedagogical crisis in which “learning” has been relegated so far down students’ list of priorities that it doesn’t feature at all in their educational decision-making! I recommend stop-gap measures and the need for a more thorough investigation.