Nerdy Science Blog

When I saw this “Fresh homemade cookies” from PHD Comics, I saw me inside that comic. Not the lecturer, but the student.

I met a lot of lecturers trying every methods to get people attending lectures, these were what they have done:

1. Refuse to record lecture audio, or they might just act like they forget to switch on the recorder. (Lame, due to the protests of the students, they can’t do that.)
2. Refuse to upload any lecture slides online, only give out printouts in the lecture. (This is useful, but due to some environmentalists, they can’t print anymore.)
3. Discuss exam questions during the lecture with least attendance. (Works, but just once in a semester.)
4. Being sarcastic in the audio recorded. (Lame!)
5. Making some mistakes in the lecture notes, and then during the lecture say, “Ahah! I made mistakes. Arghh! Too bad. For those who didn’t attend lectures can’t see where the mistakes are.”
6. Teaching with “this”, “and”, “here”, “there” and “that”. (Example: “From here to there, and this and that, that’s how it works.”)
7. Prohibit you taking the paper for the subject if your attendance rate is low. (Heck, there are so many students enrolled, it’s a tedious job just to take the attendance.)

The following solutions are proudly presented by me to all the lecturers who desperate for higher attendance rate:

1. Waive the tuition fees if attendance rate is more than 90%.
2. Have all the lectures in the afternoon. (No friggin’ 8am lectures.)
3. Bonus are given in finals to those who always attended.

Let’s face it, it’s a realistic world.