Abstract:

Physiology and Pathophysiology III is a fifth-semester course in the Pharmacy Degree at the University of Barcelona, with more than 350 students enrolled each year. Although face-to-face teaching is considered the priority system at the university, a gradual decline in student attendance has been observed in recent years. Interestingly, despite this trend, students continue to express a generally positive perception of in-person teaching. Understanding which teaching strategies students perceive as most motivating may help professors design more effective approaches to encourage participation in the classroom. In this context, the present study explores university students’ preferences regarding several strategies aimed at promoting attendance.

A survey was distributed to 299 university students who were asked to rank four strategies according to their perceived usefulness for encouraging class attendance (1 = most useful; 4 = least useful). The strategies included:
(1) receiving 0.5 additional points for attending at least 80% of the sessions, provided the course is passed;
(2) receiving up to 1 additional point for answering in-class multiple-choice questions, also conditional on passing the course;
(3) promoting a debate at the end of the class to review course content; and
(4) discussing exams from previous academic years during class.

Results from the overall sample indicate that discussing exams from previous years was the most valued strategy, ranked first by 37.1% of students (n = 111). This was followed by receiving 0.5 additional points for attending at least 80% of the sessions (33.1%, n = 99) and obtaining up to 1 additional point through in-class test questions (26.1%, n = 78). Promoting end-of-class debates was rarely considered the most useful option (3.7%, n = 11) and was also the strategy most frequently ranked as the least useful (70.2%, n = 205).

A similar pattern emerged among students retaking the course after failing it the previous year (n = 31). In this subgroup, discussing exams from previous years was even more strongly preferred, being ranked first by 51.6% of students (n = 16). The incentive of obtaining 0.5 additional points for attending at least 80% of sessions was selected as the top strategy by 25.8% (n = 8), while 22.6% (n = 7) preferred the option of earning up to 1 additional point through in-class questions. None of the repeating students ranked classroom debates as the most useful strategy. Consistently, debates were again the strategy most frequently ranked as least useful (54.8%, n = 17).

Overall, the results suggest that students, particularly those retaking the course, strongly value strategies directly linked to exam preparation and tangible academic outcomes. While aligning classroom practices with students perceived academic needs may help improve attendance and engagement, fostering participation motivated by learning, critical discussion, and deeper understanding of the subject remains an important challenge for university teaching.

Keywords:

Higher education, attendance, incentives, face-to-face classes.