Abstract

Class attendance is an important predictor of academic success, but students encounter behavioral barriers preventing them from attending. In this experimental study, we investigated a commitment intervention to improve online attendance among university students (n = 973) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the experimental condition, we asked students to commit to attending all classes and divided this group into students who made the commitment and those who did not commit. The data was analyzed from a psychological perspective (the effect on the individuals who responded positively to the commitment request) and a policy perspective (the effect for all individuals that received the request). No intervention effect was found when comparing students’ attendance in the experimental condition to the control condition, but students who made the commitment attended class more often than non-committing students and those in the control condition. Exploratory analyses revealed that the intervention effect was found in the course with lower attendance, indicating that a ceiling effect possibly prevented the intervention from showing results regarding attendance. However, exploratory analyses also revealed selection bias as a possible explanation for the effects. Additionally, the intervention backfired for non-committing students, reducing their attendance. Future research should focus on different strategies to improve online attendance.

摘要

上课出勤率是学业成功的重要预测指标，但学生会遇到阻碍他们上课的行为障碍。在这项实验研究中，我们调查了一项承诺干预以提高大学生的在线出勤率（n = 973) 在 COVID-19 大流行期间。在实验条件下，我们要求学生承诺参加所有课程，并将该组分为承诺的学生和未承诺的学生。从心理学角度（对积极响应承诺请求的个人的影响）和政策角度（对所有收到请求的个人的影响）分析数据。实验条件下的学生出勤率与控制条件下的学生出勤率相比，没有发现干预效果，但承诺学生的上课频率高于非承诺学生和控制条件下的学生。探索性分析表明，在出勤率较低的课程中发现了干预效果，表明天花板效应可能会阻止干预显示出勤率的结果。然而，探索性分析也揭示了选择偏差作为影响的可能解释。此外，干预对不承诺的学生适得其反，减少了他们的出勤率。未来的研究应侧重于提高在线出勤率的不同策略。