ABSTRACT

This paper explores the factors that influence attendance to taught sessions in higher education. Absenteeism is approached as a complex phenomenon that is problematic when considering how students, lecturers and universities relate to it. Our study is conducted as a case study based on a large post-92 university in England, focusing on the undergraduate Education Studies programme. We took a collaborative approach with students and staff as research partners. Data were collected through one-to-one interviews with different members of staff and focus groups with students in all the 3 years of the programme. We used a thematic network analysis to generate a visual representation of the subthemes that emerged from collaborative analysis. Our findings show that attendance is a situated decision that can be articulated in relation to two sets of factors. The first set refers to university imperatives, and which relate to discourses of performativity and accountability. The second set relates to the complexities of students’ lives. In the intersection between these two clusters of concerns, the tension between the two sets of discourses plays out and has implications for the degree of engagement that students have with the university and their courses.

摘要

本文探讨了影响高等教育教学课程出勤率的因素。缺勤被视为一种复杂的现象，在考虑学生、讲师和大学如何与之相关时会出现问题。我们的研究是基于英国一所大型 92 后大学的案例研究，重点是本科教育研究课程。我们与作为研究伙伴的学生和教职员工合作。在整个 3 年的课程中，数据是通过与不同教职员工和学生焦点小组的一对一访谈收集的。我们使用主题网络分析来生成协作分析中出现的子主题的可视化表示。我们的研究结果表明，出勤是一个情境决定，可以与两组因素相关联。第一组是指大学的命令，与表演性和问责制的话语有关。第二组与学生生活的复杂性有关。在这两组关注点之间的交叉点中，两组话语之间的紧张关系开始显现，并对学生对大学及其课程的参与程度产生影响。