Subject: Art History. Course: Involves all courses in the first semester. Study level: First year of study. Size of class: Approx. 45 students (may be used for all class sizes)
The motivation for the activity is to check the students’ rate of absenteeism in order to monitor their attendance, but also to watch out for any danger signs indicating that the students are not feeling comfortable in the degree programme. The activity is used both to monitor student attendance of the subjects, and to send a signal to the students that their attendance is important and that the individual student is being “seen”.
The activity is a framework for all courses in the first semester of Art History.
At the autumn half-term break, the students’ rate of absenteeism is checked on the basis of class attendance registers from all their courses. The teachers discuss and consider which students they need to speak to and which of the teachers should do so. The student with a high rate of absenteeism is then contacted by the teacher in question, who explains to them that class attendance is important and that their absenteeism has been noticed. The teacher also initiates a dialogue with the student about their well-being in the degree programme.
The ambition is to ensure that the students understand the importance of attending class activities and feel that they are being “seen”. No concrete effect of the activity can be demonstrated, but the teachers consider the activity to be essential in order to reduce the drop-out rate among students.
This example of practice is developed in connection to "Projekt 1. studieår", where initiatives for retention at the faculty of arts at Aarhus University was mapped.
