ABSENTEEISM: ITS EFFECT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF

SELECTED

SHS STUDENTS

Literature Review

Introduction

Absenteeism is a major area of indiscipline in schools. Reid (2006) in his study

reported apositive correlation between performance and school attendance, namely
that parentingstyles contribute to students indiscipline. The fact is that
dysfunctional behavior fromparents can lower the performance of students.

Students learning preferences

A good match between students learning preferences and instructors teaching

style has been demonstrated to have positive effect on student's performance
(Harb& El-Shaarawi, 2006). According to Reid (1995), learning preference refers to a
persons natural, habitual and preferred way of assimilating new information. This
implies that individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most
effective for them. Scholars, who promote the learning preferences approach to
learning, agree that effective instruction can only be undertaken if the learners
learning preferences are diagnosed and the instruction is tailored accordingly
(Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008). I hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I understand. (Confucius 551-479 BC) a quote that provides
evidence that, even in early times, there was a recognition of the existence of
different learning preferences among people. Indeed, Omrod (2008) reports that
some students seem to learn better when information is presented through words
(verbal learners), whereas others seem to learn better when it is presented in the
form of pictures (visual learners). Clearly in a class where only one instructional
method is employed, there is a strong possibility that a number of students will find
the learning environment less optimal and this could affect their academic
performance. Felder (1993) established that alignment between students learning
preferences and an instructors teaching style leads to better recall and
understanding. The learning preferences approach has gained significant mileage
despite the lack of experimental evidence to support the utility of this approach.
There are a number of methods used to assess the learning preferences/styles of
students but they all typically ask students to evaluate the kind of
informationpresentation they are most at ease with. One of these approaches being
used widely is the Visual/Aural/Read and Write/Kinaesthetic (VARK) questionnaire,
pioneered by Neil Fleming in 1987, which categorizes learners into at least four
major learning preferences classes. Neil Flemming (2001-2011) described these four
major learning preferences as follows:

Visual learners: students who prefer information to be presented on the

whiteboard, flip charts, walls, graphics, pictures, colour. Probably creative and may
use different colours and diagrams in their notebooks.

Aural (or oral)/auditory learners: prefer to sit back and listen. Do not make a lot of
notes. May find it useful to record lectures for later playbacks and reference.

Read/write learners: prefer to read the information for themselves and take a lot
of notes. These learners benefit from given access to additional relevant information
through handouts and guided readings.

Kinesthetic (or tactile) learners: these learners cannot sit still for long and like to
fiddle with things. Prefer to be actively involved in their learning and thus would
benefit from active learning strategies in class. A number of learners are indeed,
multimodal, with more than one preferred style of learning in addition to using
different learning styles for different components of the same subject. There is a
strong possibility that learning preferences would depend on the subject matter
being taught. The question that arises is whether a particular learning preference is
favoured in certain subjects/courses. This study will attempt to answer this question
with regard to an introductory biochemistry course taught in the Faculty of Science
and Agriculture at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Learning style in
this study was measured by administering to students, the VARK questionnaire
that provides users with a profile of their learning preferences. The category with
the highest score was taken as the students learning preference. Where categories
had equal scores, all the categories were taken as the students learning
preferences (multimodal).

Class attendance and academic performance

In his widely cited paper, Romer (1993) is one of the first few authors to explore the
relationship between student attendance and exam performance. A number of
factors have contributed to declining class attendances around the world in the last
15 years. The major reasons given by students for non-attendance include
assessment pressures, poor delivery of lectures, timing of lectures, and work
commitments (Newman-Ford, Lloyd & Thomas, 2009). In recent times, students
have found a need to seek employment while studying on a part-time basis due
tofinancial constraints. The numbers of part-time and mature students has also
risen sharply. The use of information technology also means that information that
used to be obtained from sitting through lectures can be obtained at the click of a
mouse. Indeed, web-based learning approaches have become the order of the day.
Given all these developments that either make it impossible or unnecessary for
students to attend classes, the question that needs to be asked is whether
absenteeism affects students academic performance. Research on this subject
seems to provide a consensus that students who miss classes perform poorly
compared to those who attend classes (Devadoss& Foltz, 1996; Durden& Ellis, 1995;
Romer, 1993; Park & Kerr, 1990; Schmidt, 1983). Based on these findings a number
of stakeholders have called for mandatory class attendance. Although the existing
evidence points to a strong correlation between attendance and academic
performance, none of the studies cited above demonstrate a causal effect. The
inability of these cross-sectional studies to isolate attendance from a myriad of
confounding student characteristics (e.g. levels of motivation, intelligence, prior
learning, and time-management skills) is a major limiting factor to the utility of
these findings (Rodgers & Rodgers, 2003). Durden and Ellis, (1995) controlled for
student differences in background, ability and motivation, and reported a nonlinear
effect of attendance on learning, that is, a few absences do not lead to poor grades
but excessive absenteeism does.

Entry qualifications and prerequisites

For a number of institutions, student admission is based on a number of different

qualifications to the extent that students receiving instruction in the same course
differ widely in terms of their prior knowledge. Learning is a cumulative process,
thus a student recruited with higher entry requirements will be well prepared for the
course material compared to a student admitted based on the bare minimum
qualifications. It is important for educators to have an idea of how well- or
illprepared admitted students are based on their qualifications. This study seeks to
explore the possible effects of entry qualifications on student performance. Such an
analysis would allow admission decisions to be based on projections of academic
performance. At least four criteria (CAPE passes, Associate degrees, Diplomas, Work
experience and CXC passes only) are used to admit students into degree
programmes in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture. It is important to identify
students who might need extra attention based on level of prior competencies upon
admission.

Other determinants of academic performance

The influence of age and gender on academic performance has been investigated
in a number of studies with widely differing conclusions. Most of the differences in
reported findings are due to varying contexts such as subject of study, age and
gender interactions. Research has shown that men perform better than women in
certain settings while women outperform men in other settings (Haist, Wilson, Elam,
Blue, &Fosson, 2000). Borde (1998), on the other hand, found no evidenceof
academic performance being influenced by gender. Based on an analysis of close to
two million graduating students, Woodfield and Earl-Novell (2006) found that female
students outperformed male students and attributed this partly to female students
being more conscientious and thus less likely to miss lectures. With regard to the
issue of student age, recent changes in educational policies around the world have
led to an increase in the number of mature-age admissions in educational
institutions. While a large proportion of undergraduate students are still 19-year
olds, the ages of students in classes are now more variable than 10 to 15 years ago.
The definition of a mature student varies by country with 21, 22 and 25-year old
students being classified as mature students in the United Kingdom, United States
of America and Australia, respectively (Trueman& Hartley, 1996). In this study,
mature students are defined as those students whose age was greater than 21
years on their first day at the university. Students who were 21 years of age and
younger were classified as young students. Mature students are thought to lack
basic skills required for effective study or to be impaired by age-related intellectual
deficits. Mature students tend to be admitted into their programmes with distinctly
lower educational attainment than the young students (Newman-Ford, Lloyd &
Thomas, 2009). However, when compared to the younger students, the academic
performance of mature students is as good, if not better (Richardson, 1994). It
should, however be pointed out that this comparison depends on the subject matter
and types of assessment used. Richardson (1994, p. 5) concludes his study by
making the observation that ... mature students were rather more likely than
younger students to adopt a deep approach or a meaning orientation towards their
academic work, and .... were conversely less likely than younger students to adopt a
surface approach or a reproducing orientation. Other determinants of academic
performance not discussed above include self-motivation, family income, and
parents level of education. While a positive relationship between self-motivation
and academic performance has been established (Zimmerman, Bandura, &
Martinez-Pons, 1992), the effect of family income and parents level of education on
academic performance is far from being unravelled without equivocation.
Socioeconomic status of students and their families show moderate to strong
relationship with academic performance (Sirin, 2005) but these relationships are
contingent upon a number of factors such that it is nearly impossible to predict
academic performance using socioeconomic status.

Student Performance

Galiher (2006) and Darling (2005), used GPA to measure student performance
becausethe main focus in the student performance for the particular semester.
Some other researchersused test results or previous year result since they are
studying performance for the specificsubject or year (Hijazi and Naqvi, 2006 and
Hake, 1998). Many researchers have discussed thedifferent factors that affect the
student academic performance in their research. There are two
types of factors that affect the students academic performance. These are internal
and externalclassroom factors and these factors strongly affect the students
performance. Internal classroom
factors includes students competence in English, class schedules, class size, English
text books,class test results, learning facilities, homework, environment of the class,
complexity of thecourse material, teachers role in the class, technology used in the
class and exams systems.External classroom factors include extracurricular
activities, family problems, work and
financial, social and other problems. Research studies shows that students
performance depends
on many factors such as learning facilities, gender and age differences, etc. that can
affectstudent performance (Hansen, Joe B., 2000). Harb and El-Shaarawi (2006)
found that the mostimportant factor with positive effect on students' performance is
Parental Involvement

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

In his widely cited paper, Romer (1993) is one of the first few authors to explore the
relationship between student attendance and exam performance. A number of
factors have contributed to declining class attendances around the world in the last
15 years. The major reasons given by students for non-attendance include
assessment pressures, poor delivery of lectures, timing of lectures, and work
commitments (Newman-Ford, Lloyd & Thomas, 2009). In recent times, students
have found a need to seek employment while studying on a part-time basis due to
financial constraints. The numbers of part-time and mature students has also risen
sharply. The use of information technology also means that information that used to
be obtained from sitting through lectures can be obtained at the click of a mouse.
Indeed, web-based learning approaches have become the order of the day. Given all
these developments that either makes it impossible or unnecessary for students to
attend classes, the question that needs to be asked is whether
absenteeism affects students academic performance. Research on this subject
seems to provide a
consensus that students who miss classes perform poorly compared to those who
attend classes (Devadoss& Foltz, 1996; Durden& Ellis, 1995; Romer, 1993; Park &
Kerr, 1990; Schmidt, 1983). Based on these findings a number of stakeholders have
called for mandatory class attendance. Although the existing evidence points to a
strong correlation between attendance and academic performance, none of the
studies cited above demonstrate a causal effect. The inability of these cross-
sectional studies to isolate attendance from a myriad of confounding student
characteristics (e.g. levels of motivation, intelligence, prior learning, and time-
management skills) is a major limiting factor to the utility of these findings (Rodgers
& Rodgers, 2003). Durden and Ellis, (1995) controlled for student differences in
background, ability and
10
motivation, and reported a nonlinear effect of attendance on learning, that is, a few
absences do not lead to poor grades but excessive absenteeism does. Educational
services are often not tangible and are difficult to measure because they result in
the form of transformation of knowledge, life skills and behavior modifications of
learners (Tsinidou, Gerogiannis, & Fitsilis, 2010). So there is no commonly agreed
upon definition of quality that is applied to education field. The definition of quality
of education varies from culture to culture (Michael, 1998). The environment and
the personal characteristics of learners play an important role in their academic
success. The school personnel, members of the families and communities provide
help and support to students for the quality of their academic performance. This
social assistance has a crucial role for the accomplishment of
performance goals of students at school (Goddard, 2003). Besides the social
structure, parents involvement in their childs education increases the rate of
academic success of their child
(Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995).

MEDIA/TECHNOLOGY

Education encounters, in modern times, challenges in all aspects of social,

economic & cultural life; the most important of which are over-population, over-
knowledge, education philosophy
development & the change of teachers role, the spread o
f illiteracy, lack of the staff & the technological development & mass media
(Aloraini, 2005, p. 30

32). This drove the teaching staff to use the modern teaching technologies to face
some of the main problems, which education & its productivity encounter, by
increasing the learning level which may be achieved through providing equivalent
opportunities for all people whenever & wherever they are, while taking into
account the individual differences between learners (Wilkinson, 1986, p. 13 & Abd
11
El-Halim Said, 1997, p. 19). To improve the educational productivity, some of the
teaching staff sought to mainstream technology within education, developing
traditional techniques & using new educational methods (Al-
Any, 2000).
Mainstreaming the technological media within what is called
Multimedia is the pattern which led to infinite applications of
computer technologies. The concept of this technology came into being with the
appearance of sound cards, then compact disks, then came the use of digital
camera, then the video which made computer an essential educational tool.
Nowadays, multimedia expanded to become a field on its own. The concept of
multimedia technology is broad & it has infinite usage fields; it is a profound
element as an educational technology in addition to its use in medical & statistical
domains & in establishing databases. Moreover, the entertainment sector is one of
the sectors that had
the lions share in using this technology.
Interaction is the main element in multimedia technology as most of its applications
are characterized by interaction. Consequently, multimedia programs may provide a
more effective & more influential experiment than using each technology
separately. The researcher thinks that multimedia is one of the best educational
techniques because it addresses more than one sense simultaneously, as it
addresses the senses of sight & hearing. Multimedia programs provide different
stimuli in their presentations which include a number of elements some of which are
(Aloraini, 2005, p. 55

75): Texts, spoken words, sound & music, graphics, animations and still pictures.
These elements were mainstreamed in a comprehensive presentation so as to
provide effective education, which in turn will support the participation of the
different senses of the learners in diverse syllabi. (Hadmin,2000)
PHYSICAL

Mahar (2006), Habitual physical activity is vital for enhancing overall health.
Lifestyle behaviors adopted in childhood tend to track into adulthood, and more
active children tend to be more active as adults than their sedentary peers, thus
aiding in the prevention of diseases such as obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular
disease, and other health problems. Unfortunately, physical activity among children
and adolescents has declined, and increasing numbers of children are spending
more time in sedentary activities. A review of the literature reveals that few studies
have been conducted to evaluate the physical activity levels of elementary school
children during a typical school day. Likewise, few studies have been conducted to
evaluate the effects of physical activity on the classroom behavior of elementary
school children. Additional research is also needed to evaluate the effectiveness of
classroom-based physical activity programs on on-task behavior and academic
performance. Because on-task behavior can be directly linked to physical activity
that is performed immediately preceding the observation period, it may be the most
appropriate variable to evaluate relative to academic performance. Test
performance is influenced by factors other than physical activity performed at
school and usually can be linked directly to physical activity behavior. Additional
information on the effectiveness of classroom-based physical activity programs on
academic performance (e.g., standardized tests and grades) can, however, provide
a stronger rationale for why school systems should make policy changes to require
more physical activity during the school day. Finally, it is recommended that
students be tracked for several years to evaluate the chronic effects of a
13
classroom-based physical activity program on physical activity levels, body
composition, and academic performance.

MEDIA

The Philippines could be the texting capital of the world, with reportedly 50
million text messages sent out every day (Breakthrough, DLSU). Even the crippled
Philippine economy got a boost from text messaging especially its influence to the
teens. Text messaging is most popular among teens and to the college students.
Because of its popularity in this age group, it has
sprawned a new term the GenTxt or text generation. Part of text messaging
appeal to Filipinos
probably has to do with the fact that it feeds a pre-existing cultural urge, namely to
rumor monger. Text messaging enables a close-knit and factional society to share
information immediately. The power of text messaging is to disseminate effect.
Thus, there is no reason to think that the flow of disingenuous texts will become less
rabid now in the most volatile of seasons. (Garrido, 2004). As stated by Celeste
(2010), There is no doubt that modern technology has an effect on the study habits
of students today. The positive side of modern technology is that it makes things
easier for students to research for their homework and projects. However, it is also
right to mention that technologies are also a major distraction for students.
Ma. Shiela Escuro (2009) says that, Usage of this gadget can be controllable. Its
up to the
parents to teach their child to be responsible on their mobile phones, to ask them to
pay-up when their mobile runs out of money. Or to get some agreement from the
mobile companies that automatically cut-
off usage when the child overuses their allowance for the month.
28
According to Fabian (2007), the world is changing fast. Technology continues to
advance at
lightning speed and anyone who doesnt keep up is in danger of being left behind.
As a result,
the way students study has changed significantly. While books still remain a
valuable tool, the need to spend hours and hours sitting in the library has reduced
dramatically. Students now have numerous options available to them when it comes
to learning techniques. Furthermore discussed by Fabian, We cannot deny the fact
that technology can be a major distraction when studying. Using the internet itself
can be distracting because of all the social networking sites and the games that are
available with just one click. Of course there is the usual cellphone, iPod and iPad
which can really distract the students. This will all boil down to the age and the self-
discipline of the student.

Conclusion

Absenteeism takes several forms ranging from vacation to injury. But why people
avoid work at times? Innocent absenteeism is inevitable unlike culpable
absenteeism. Whatever type of absenteeism is, management should have a
contingent plan in place as is affects the normal work schedules and productivity.
Costs associated with absenteeism may be either direct or indirect. The
confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported that in 2010, industry wide, 12.5
billion was lost due to the direct cost of absenteeism. When employees are faced
with grievances, they register them with management in several manners and
absenteeism is no exception to this. Managers should be wary about these costs as
they may fail the organization from attaining its objectives. Management should
measure absenteeism and finally find solutions to control its negative effects,
bearing in mind that not only does absenteeism brings problems, but it can alert the
manager of possible hidden problems.
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