Abstract.There have been many instances of the ineffective applications of new information technology. This article describes a program of enhancing the effectiveness of a new technology, Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), through a series of studies which resulted in improvements in the technology itself as well as in how the technology is supported. Our approach emphasizes human facilitation and facilitative features embedded in the GDSS software.
The authors utilized a quasiexperimental design across sections of managerial communication and management information systems classes (N D 212) to test the impact of compulsory attendance policies on student absenteeism and performance. Students in the compulsory attendance policy condition received an attendance policy that punished excessive absenteeism. Students in the other condition received a policy that told students they were expected to attend but offered neither reward nor punishment. Results suggest that the compulsory policy reduced absenteeism. The policy's effect on performance depended on the student's level of prior academic achievement. The authors discuss the findings.Instructors and researchers have spent much effort on enhancing student class attendance. They have been driven by the common belief that class attendance leads to better academic performance. Researchers have conducted a number of studies, looking at the relationship between class attendance and performance, and the results suggest that students who attend class are likely to perform better than their peers who miss class frequently.For example, Schmidt (1983) measured the impact of different time commitments by students to various course activities on the students' performance in economics classes. The study found that class attendance was the most important factor for student success. Another study of economics students done by Park and Kerr (1990) demonstrated that the role of class attendance is statistically significant in explaining student grades. A randomized experiment in economics classes, designed by Chen and Lin (2008), aimed to estimate the average attendance effect on student exam performance. They concluded that class attendance had a positive and significant impact on college students' exam performance. Devadoss and Foltz (1996) found that agricultural economics students who attended all classes performed better than their peers who missed classes. The difference in grade represented three increments in grade such as CC to BC (Devadoss, 1996).Although many of the studies linking class attendance to performance have been conducted in economics classes, the results appear to hold for students in other academic disciplines. For instance, Longhurst (1999) affirmed that education students' absenteeism results in inadequate learning, disruption in class and compromised performance. Thomas and Higbee (2000) found a strong correlation between class attendance and improved grades in introductory mathematics courses. Silvestri (2003) found grades and attendance to be positively related for a sample of teacher-education students. Thatcher, Fridjhon, and Cookcroft (2007) reported that "always attending class" was the best predictor of performance for cognitive psychology students. Clark, Gill, Walker, and Whittle (2011) reported a moderately positive correlation between attendance and performance for students from across different geography courses and levels. A study by Snyder, Forbus, and Cistulli (2012) revealed a positiv...
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