GRADING FOR ATTENDANCE AT LECTURES AND DISCUSSION SECTIONS (Winter 23)

Because I can now record my lectures (thank you zoom!), attendance at lecture is not mandatory for a grade. However, as a professor I'm actually mandated by campus safety procedures to take attendance each lecture, in case there is some emergency (fire, earthquake etc.) and emergency responders need to know who was in the building. I know that a number of your other professors in large classes don't do this, but I do.

That said, teaching occurs in the active give and take of a classroom situation -- if it did not, we'd all stay home and read books. I can guarantee (from past experience) that you will not do well on your discussion questions and final presentation if you don't attend lecture or at least watch the recorded version on yuja. I present a good deal of material that is not in the readings, and so if you miss lecture, you do not have access to that material.

You *will* be graded on attendance for discussion section., and discussion questions and participation are a very large percentage of your grade. See requirements for how that grading will work.

Overall, I use lecture and discussion attendance to help track how you are doing in the class -- as noted above, numerous absences will explain bad performance on discussion questions and presentations. If you disappear from lectures entirely, it is likely that I will attempt to contact you to find out why. I *hate* failing students!