Attendance
The Attendance tool can track the presence and participation of students at class events such as lectures and in-class discussions. An absenteeism rate can be set to alert instructors to students whose participation is lacking or who might be at risk. The tool can be made visible to students who can use this to monitor and review their attendance and performance over the course of the term.
In this article:
Activating the attendance tool
By default, the Attendance Tool is not activated.
Select Course Admin from the course navbar.
Select Tools.
Toggle Attendance on. A blue checkmark will be displayed under Status.
Click on Course Home from the course navbar to refresh the course.
Attendance can be found under Resources in the course navbar.
Attendance Tool Terminology
The Attendance tool is comprised of two features, the Attendance Scheme and the Attendance Register. These elements work together to provide instructors with a customized method for tracking attendance and participation.
Attendance Scheme - Designates the criteria for marking student attendance in registers. Default schemes are available or custom schemes can be created. Each Attendance Register is assigned an Attendance Scheme that defines the attendance statuses for each session, (e.g., present, absent, late, excused). Schemes can be simple, or more complex depending on the needs of the instructor. This provides flexibility to accommodate a wide range of attendance options.
Attendance Register - Displays and tracks attendance at various course events. Registers are created to define the attendance events, (e.g., lectures, presentations), define the attendees (e.g., students) create expectations, and outline the percentage of the overall score each attendance event is worth.
Creating Attendance Schemes
Attendance Schemes should be created prior to constructing the Attendance Register.
The scheme sets the parameters for the register and can be reused for different classes over multiple semesters.
The default System Scheme contains two options, Present and Absent (respectively, 100% and 0%). To create a new scheme first, make a copy of the existing scheme:
Select Resources from the course navbar.
Select Rubrics.
Select the Attendance Scheme tab.
Click the drop-down arrow beside the System Scheme and select Copy.
Under Course Schemes, select Copy of System Scheme under Course Schemes to begin the tailoring process.
Change the Name of the scheme to reflect its role in the course.
Fill in the number of additional statuses to include and click the Add Statuses option.
Assign a Symbol, Full Name and Percent Value for each additional status.
Click Save and then click Close.
Creating Attendance Registers
Attendance Schemes should be created prior to constructing the Attendance Register.
Registers can be created for overall attendance for a course or a specific course event. Schemes are associated with registers to provide the appropriate status options. Whether an attendance register is made available to students for viewing is optional and can be easily toggled on and off.
Select Resources from the course navbar.
Select Attendance.
Select the Attendance Registers tab.
Click the New Register button.
Enter a Name for the register.
Select a desired Attendance Scheme from the drop-down menu.
Enter a Cause for Concern percentage, if using.
Decide whether the register will be visible to students.
Select All users in the course or include All users in the following groups or sections.
Fill in the number of additional sessions to include and click the Add Sessions option. You must Save the page before adding new sessions.
Sessions are the components of an attendance register that define one or more events to which the register applies. For example, if you want to track attendance for a weekly seminar, create a "Weekly Seminar" register and then add sessions for each seminar (week 1, week 2, week 3, etc.). Attendance data is tracked for each session and displayed on the register's Attendance data page.
Enter Session Name.
Click Save and then click Close.
Using the Attendance Register
Attendance Registers are automatically updated upon saving and, if made available to students, will be immediately visible.
Select Resources from the course navbar.
Select Attendance.
Select the Attendance Registers tab.
Click on the name of the register to be used.
Sessions are listed on the top of the grid and can be accessed by selecting the pencil icon to the right of the session title. Select the session you wish to set attendance data for.
Select the appropriate status for an attendee from the Attendance Status drop-down list.
To apply a particular status to multiple attendees, select the check box to the left of each name and click the Set Status option or, you can apply a single status to an entire class by using the Set Status for All Users button at the top of the Set Attendance Data window.
Click Save and then click Close.
Exporting the Attendance data
There isn't a direct association from the Attendance tool to the gradebook like there is with quizzes, dropboxes etc., however, the data can be exported and then uploaded into the gradebook.
Select Resources from the course navbar.
Select Attendance.
Select the Attendance Registers tab.
Select the Register containing the data to be exported.
Click the Export All Data button.
Upon download, either save or open the .csv file in Excel.
The second last column of the .csv file will contain the % Attendance.
If the intention is to upload the grades into the gradebook, keep the Username, Org Defined ID, % Attendance and End-of-Line Indicator columns and re-save the file.
Adding Attendance grades to the gradebook
The grade item should be created in the gradebook first. See the Grades documentation for detailed information about the gradebook.
It is recommended that the raw score be out of 100 and the weight determines the overall value. For example, a participation grade worth 5% of the overall grade would have a Max Points of 100 and a weight of 5.
Select Grades from the course navbar.
Select Enter Grades.
Select Export.
From the list of grade items, select the grade item to be populated with the attendance marks and click Export to csv.
Copy the column title for the grade item (for the example above, Participation Points Grade <Numeric MaxPoints:100 Weight:5>) from this newly generated .csv file.
Open the Attendance .csv file from the previous export and replace the %Attendance column title with this new title copied from the gradebook export.
Save the Attendance csv file.
Return to the Enter Grades area of the Grades.
Select Import and select Choose File.
Locate and select the Attendance csv file containing the new column title.
Import the Attendance csv file containing the new column title. See Importing Grades from an Excel File for detailed information.
Related Articles
Need help?
Contact LEARNhelp at learnhelp@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 ext. 41744 for assistance.