As a rule, faculty members don't have many good things to say about late registration. Students who register late (with some exceptions, of course) often tend to be individuals who need to get their act together in other ways, too. By entering class late, they miss assignments, a review of the syllabus, and the opportunity to ask questions about the course they signed up and paid for. The first day sets the tone for the rest of the term, and it's important to be there.
Furthermore, on the day of arrival, they often encounter a quiz or other due assignment, which digs a deeper hole.
Educational researchers for decades have pointed to low rates of success for students who register late. Unlike so many other pedagogical issues, there appears to be no dispute about this. (If there is, let's hear about it.) This is a point worth keeping in mind as we focus on strategies to improve graduation rates. Many colleges have moved their registration deadlines in response to the evidence. Obviously, getting the word out to the community is crucial in order for this to work.
The always-perceptive Dean Dad, in Inside Higher Ed., holds forth on the curious combination of late registration with online classes. Sometimes the online sections are the only ones still open, or maybe students just don't want to sign up at inconvenient (such as early morning) times.
Legislative testimony indicates that entering freshmen, especially those in developmental courses, should probably avoid online courses at first, unless they have shown academic achievement previously.
Here's Dean Dad's take, with a call for more research (dissertation anyone?):
It’s looking like the online classes consist of two relatively distinct groups of students. The first groups actively seeks out online classes, whether for pedagogical preference or for work-life scheduling reasons. The second group is late-registering students who discover that all the most popular timeslots have filled by August, so they take online as a last resort.
If that’s the way of things, then I think we need to introduce a control variable into any discussion of comparative pass rates. We need to control for late registration.
Nationally, students who register last are far less likely to succeed than those who register months in advance. That makes sense, if you think about it. In practical terms, it’s easier to get the more convenient sections if you register early, and you have more time to get your transportation, work, and childcare arrangements in place. And psychologically, the early registrants are usually the more driven and conscientious students, who tend to do better anyway. A straight-up comparison of a prime time classroom section to its online counterpart may be misleading, if the prime time class filled with type A students three months early and the online section filled at the last minute. At that point, you aren’t seeing what you think you’re seeing.
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