Carol Mackintosh-Franklin (Postgraduate Divisional Lead) gave a thought provoking outline of her experience considering the relationship between attendance in class, use of Blackboard, personal motivation and final results. The University attendance policy states that students should attend all sessions and Carol considered the empirical evidence behind this both from reviewing the literature and her own personal findings from a core Year 1 undergraduate Nursing module.

The University collects a wealth of data about student attendance both in class and through accessing the virtual learning environment. This data alongside text messages to students on their personal motivation was put together in a PHP application and compared to the student’s final result.

Further information about her findings are outlined in the presentation below:

Cheril project attendance blackboard usage motivation and outcome