Punctuality:
The expectation is that students should be on time
(seated and ready to listen when the lecture begins at the
scheduled start time) for all class meetings. Ideally
students should arrive to class at least a few minutes early, as
this is helpful toward the counting of attendance without using
valuable class time, and of course for giving the student time
to settle in and get ready with notes, laptop,...
If you come in late on a rare occasion, I understand, and can be
flexible on this. Just come in and seat yourself as
quickly and quietly as you can. Then of course after the
lecture is over be sure that you directly address the matter of
your attendance with me, and on such rare occasions I will be
happy to give you attendance credit for that day.
If you come in late more than rarely, this is a problem
in multiple ways:
- It distracts student attention when students should be
focusing as much as possible on the lecture. In this
course, material in a given lecture tends to build
vertically (later ideas rely critically on earlier ideas),
so the effects of early distractions compound/snowball over
the duration of the lecture.
- It disrupts the instructor's train of thought, which will
slow down the presentation. In some cases such a
disruption can even result in a forming thought to be
missed; and the instructor's thoughts about this possibility
will slow down the presentation even more. It also
disrupts the instructors speaking rhythm, which further
distracts student attention.
- Causing the above problems more than rarely indicates an
insufficient respect for the importance of the very limited
amount of contact time available in this course in relation
to the great amount of material that students must
learn. This is disrespectful to all of the other
students in the class, and also to the instructor.
If you find yourself being late to class more than rarely, it
is important that you recognize the above problems you are
causing. It is important that you recognize that these
problems are significant. It is also important that you
recognize that this is an issue that you can fix -- for
example, you can:
- set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself when you
should leave from your previous activity;
- change your intended arrival time to a bit earlier so that
routine delays don't result in your being late;
- consciously prioritize being on time so that you don't
make the mistake of letting less important earlier things
cause you to be late;
- reorganize your schedule so that you are not as tight on
time just before class;...
In the case of students who come in late more than rarely, the
instructor at some point will address the issue directly with
the student, including possible consequences such as no longer
counting late arrivals as attendance, or disallowing entrance
to the classroom after the scheduled start time (note that
instructors have the right to exclude
disruptive students from the classroom).