Is the last lecture of semester worth showing up for?

Experience at my university shows that attendance at final sessions of a semester drops precipitously. So, is it worth spending time to prepare and to show up?

Well, I decided to make it worthwhile for those of my year three management students who would show up on Wednesday June 3, 2015.

 It took me about 4 hours to prepare for the class. I integrated all topics covered in the semester—and diligently crafted the delivery.

Fifteen "stayers", as I affectionately labelled them, out of a class of 31 came. A case of glass half full. Not bad!  I forged on.

I began by telling them that, over the course of 15 weeks with me, they were now at a stage to know that a lecturer cannot possibly transfer all the content about the subject in 3 hours of lectures per week for 15 weeks. What was more important was for them to develop their higher order thinking skills.

I told them that, if over the course of the semester they had learnt to analyze and evaluate content; explore and apply theories and concepts from multiple perspectives; synthesize information; find solutions and apply what they had learnt to make sense of new situations; then I would have contributed in preparing them for learning for life –competencies that are captured in the university’s CORE VALUES and CORE GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES. 

Knowledge and technologies evolve over time and become redundant as societies and technologies change-and change is supper fast and complex in this day and age.  Equipping students with current specialized knowledge and technologies, even if they match the current workplace requirements, is not enough.  In fact, we do the student a disservice.  Preparing our students to also learn in new situations and find creative solutions to new challenges is preparing them for life and multiple job situations.  That is why many of the Divine Word University (DWU) programs are not purely vocational or training focused.

 I hoped there was  learning worth turning up for.