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Students’ Reasons for Absence in First-cycle Engineering Education – an Interview Study

Nilsson, Sandra LU ; Bolander Laksov, Klara LU orcid ; Samuelsson, Jesper LU and Regnér, Stina LU (2025)
Abstract
The importance of attendance in higher education has for decades been stressed for
student performance. However, student absenteeism has in recent years been a growing
concern globally – including in engineering education. Meanwhile, the educational
environment has been influenced by the rise of digital learning resources, accelerated
by distance education during COVID-19 pandemic. The changed behaviour suggest
that attendance is not viewed as essential. This report aims to explore factors that
influence first-cycle engineering students’ decisions to attend or skip teaching activities
at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering (LTH). Using a mix of both quantitative
and qualitative methods, the research... (More)
The importance of attendance in higher education has for decades been stressed for
student performance. However, student absenteeism has in recent years been a growing
concern globally – including in engineering education. Meanwhile, the educational
environment has been influenced by the rise of digital learning resources, accelerated
by distance education during COVID-19 pandemic. The changed behaviour suggest
that attendance is not viewed as essential. This report aims to explore factors that
influence first-cycle engineering students’ decisions to attend or skip teaching activities
at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering (LTH). Using a mix of both quantitative
and qualitative methods, the research combines thematic analysis of student focus
groups interviews and follow-up with survey data. Survey data is compared to
quantitative existing data of systematic self-reported attendance. The thematic analysis
of the focus group interviews highlights seven themes: impact of prior study experience
and expectations, learning measured by time spent, access to online learning resources,
competing time commitments, social influences on attendance, experience of the teaching
environment and self-reflection on learning strategies. The survey shows behaviour peaks
at no or almost no attendance and about 80% attendance for lectures. The findings
indicate that high workloads and time constraints are main reasons for students to
prioritise among possible learning activities and that they often substitute traditional
in-class activities with alternative online resources. Furthermore, results indicate that
the absenteeism behaviour is divided into two kinds, temporal and strategic
absenteeism, where the second dominates. Students who are strategically absent
describe a breaking point moment, when they question current study strategies and
become absent, which is triggered by temporal absence in combination of poor teaching
and high availability of alternative online learning recourses. Prior study experiences are
likely influential since students express a lack of time to develop study techniques. The
study concludes that student absenteeism is influenced by multiple factors, including
prior learning habits, time pressure, and the availability of digital resources. Additional
research is needed on how teaching activities can be adjusted to encourage students to
be introduced to academic studying. The report calls for a reevaluation of the
universities approach to the importance of attendance, suggesting that institutions should focus less on increasing attendance and more on optimising learning activities
to align with modern student behaviours. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Varför kommer inte studenterna på undervisningen?
Många lärare på LTH har frågat sig detta eftersom vi ser en tydlig negativ trend: antalet studenter som närvarar på campusförlagda föreläsningar och övningar i grundutbildningen minskar för varje år som går. Eftersom studentnärvaro länge har setts som en nyckelfaktor för studieframgång, kommer det inte som en överraskning att många inom högre utbildning är bekymrade över den här växande trenden. Under studieåret 2023/2024 beslutade vi oss därför för att undersöka frågan genom att intervjua förstaårs-studenter som har valt att inte närvara på campusundervisningen.

Studien utforskar de huvudsakliga bakomliggande anledningarna till att studenter beslutar sig för att inte närvara... (More)
Varför kommer inte studenterna på undervisningen?
Många lärare på LTH har frågat sig detta eftersom vi ser en tydlig negativ trend: antalet studenter som närvarar på campusförlagda föreläsningar och övningar i grundutbildningen minskar för varje år som går. Eftersom studentnärvaro länge har setts som en nyckelfaktor för studieframgång, kommer det inte som en överraskning att många inom högre utbildning är bekymrade över den här växande trenden. Under studieåret 2023/2024 beslutade vi oss därför för att undersöka frågan genom att intervjua förstaårs-studenter som har valt att inte närvara på campusundervisningen.

Studien utforskar de huvudsakliga bakomliggande anledningarna till att studenter beslutar sig för att inte närvara och utmanar den traditionella kopplingen mellan fysisk närvaro och goda studieresultat. Rapporten ger värdefulla insikter i studenters studiebeteenden och undersöker konsekvenserna för teknisk utbildning. Vi hoppas att läsaren ska få ett uppdaterat perspektiv på konceptet närvaro – som i förlängningen kan hjälpa oss att tänka om och förfina undervisningen så att den bättre främjar lärandet på tekniska utbildningsprogram.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
keywords
närvaro, frånvaro, undervisning, studentaktivering, studentengagemang, föreläsningar, studiestrategi, Attendance, Absenteeism, Engineering education, strategically absent, Student engagement, student focus group interviews, student perspectives
categories
Higher Education
pages
87 pages
publisher
Media-Tryck, Lund University, Sweden
ISBN
978-91-8104-409-6
978-91-8104-408-9
project
Studenters närvaro på undervisningen
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2b339b6f-ca96-46d0-99c4-8b091e5248e4
alternative location
https://www.lth.se/fileadmin/cee/genombrottet/web_version_rapport_nr_4.pdf
date added to LUP
2025-02-25 14:02:45
date last changed
2025-04-04 13:57:41
@techreport{2b339b6f-ca96-46d0-99c4-8b091e5248e4,
  abstract     = {{The importance of attendance in higher education has for decades been stressed for<br/>student performance. However, student absenteeism has in recent years been a growing<br/>concern globally – including in engineering education. Meanwhile, the educational<br/>environment has been influenced by the rise of digital learning resources, accelerated<br/>by distance education during COVID-19 pandemic. The changed behaviour suggest<br/>that attendance is not viewed as essential. This report aims to explore factors that<br/>influence first-cycle engineering students’ decisions to attend or skip teaching activities<br/>at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering (LTH). Using a mix of both quantitative<br/>and qualitative methods, the research combines thematic analysis of student focus<br/>groups interviews and follow-up with survey data. Survey data is compared to<br/>quantitative existing data of systematic self-reported attendance. The thematic analysis<br/>of the focus group interviews highlights seven themes: impact of prior study experience<br/>and expectations, learning measured by time spent, access to online learning resources,<br/>competing time commitments, social influences on attendance, experience of the teaching<br/>environment and self-reflection on learning strategies. The survey shows behaviour peaks<br/>at no or almost no attendance and about 80% attendance for lectures. The findings<br/>indicate that high workloads and time constraints are main reasons for students to<br/>prioritise among possible learning activities and that they often substitute traditional<br/>in-class activities with alternative online resources. Furthermore, results indicate that<br/>the absenteeism behaviour is divided into two kinds, temporal and strategic<br/>absenteeism, where the second dominates. Students who are strategically absent<br/>describe a breaking point moment, when they question current study strategies and<br/>become absent, which is triggered by temporal absence in combination of poor teaching<br/>and high availability of alternative online learning recourses. Prior study experiences are<br/>likely influential since students express a lack of time to develop study techniques. The<br/>study concludes that student absenteeism is influenced by multiple factors, including<br/>prior learning habits, time pressure, and the availability of digital resources. Additional<br/>research is needed on how teaching activities can be adjusted to encourage students to<br/>be introduced to academic studying. The report calls for a reevaluation of the<br/>universities approach to the importance of attendance, suggesting that institutions should focus less on increasing attendance and more on optimising learning activities<br/>to align with modern student behaviours.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Sandra and Bolander Laksov, Klara and Samuelsson, Jesper and Regnér, Stina}},
  institution  = {{Media-Tryck, Lund University, Sweden}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8104-409-6}},
  keywords     = {{närvaro; frånvaro; undervisning; studentaktivering; studentengagemang; föreläsningar; studiestrategi; Attendance; Absenteeism; Engineering education; strategically absent; Student engagement; student focus group interviews; student perspectives}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  title        = {{Students’ Reasons for Absence in First-cycle Engineering Education – an Interview Study}},
  url          = {{https://www.lth.se/fileadmin/cee/genombrottet/web_version_rapport_nr_4.pdf}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}