When my son Grant started college over a year ago, I asked him how he chose his classes. The eighteen-year-old computer science freshman explained that he looked at course syllabi and checked student reviews on RateMyProfessor. When there were multiple sections of a beginner-level computer science class available, he opted for the one with a stricter attendance policy.

Really? I was taken aback. Wasn’t it established by research that mandatory attendance policies make students “lose their sense of control,” leading them to feel negative about their decision to attend college? (St. Claire, 1999). Wasn’t this the same boy who once told me, “Mom, the more you ask me to do something, the less I want to do it”? Continue reading →