A hotly debated topic in our medical school right now is whether class attendance is mandatory or not. Like many medical schools, our classes are recorded for review at a later date if we so choose. Our professors have said many times that we should not substitute these videos for coming to class. There are a number of flaws to this argument in my opinion. Most lecturers are decent and cover their material well and then there are also those that are a colossal FAIL. They either have way too much info for their 50 min of infamy or they just don't cover/explain their material that well. I have had professors who gave a 50 min lecture with 140 slides. That's just slightly ridiculous when you consider the rule that a good presentation, according to former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, has only 10 slides, lasts no more than 20 minutes, and uses only 30 point font or greater. I don't think I have ever encountered a presentation along these lines. Maybe it is absurd to assume that a lecture could accomplish this. I would concede to an increase in the total number of slides to 20 and discussion/presentation to 40 minutes with 10 minutes of discussion. What??? That actually adds up to 50 minutes for a lecture? I'm sorry that you might actually learn something now. My bad. So instead of enduring a torturous 3 hours of lecture each morning, which typically ends up with me and many others surfing the internet instead of listening, I elect to stay home and prepare for STEP 1 or actually learn the information that is required for the test. After all, one of the points that is constantly made in medical school is that you become a lifetime learner and how better exemplified is this principle than when I learn everything on my own at my own pace?
I digress however from the real problem at hand. Our curriculum leaders for the current section were upset at the lack of attendance to their lectures this past week and went on a rant for 15 min this past week. We had just finished a test and a couple students had some questions about the test questions, especially regarding one lecture in particular. You might as well have thrown a hand grenade into the lecture hall given the rant that ensued by the professor. If you want students to actually show up and listen to the lectures given, here's what you need to do:
- Don't record the lectures anymore.
- Make attendance mandatory.
- Be a better lecturer.
- Involve the audience to a point that attendance is mandatory without making it such. I don't know many students that want a bad rep from their professors.
- Quizzes at the end of every lecture via electronic means.
You don't have to do every one of these ideas, but pick one and try it at least. It is bound to be much more efficacious than simply complaining and threatening students with a harder course. Come on. We all know that there is little chance that this is actually going to happen. The curriculum is what it is and takes time to change. Sorry Class of 2014!
