how traffic lights & emojis can help improve student attendance ; )

Rachel Cosford

How can employing nudge theory improve student a6endance?

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

How can… TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Improve a6endance?

EMOJI’s

& TRAFFIC

LIGHTS

Rachel Cosford

This project employed ‘nudge theory’ to try to

improve student a6endance rates…


Rachel Cosford


Nudge Theory:

“A field of behavioural

science that is used to

modify people’s behaviour

in a ‘posi>ve’ way”.

(Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

Rachel Cosford

This project employed two methods that incorporated

nudge theory:


Rachel Cosford


nudge theory:


Public Register

Rachel Cosford


nudge theory:


Public Register

Attendance Emails

Rachel Cosford

Public Register: •  Colour-‐coded to highlight

performance (green= good, amber = fair, red= poor )

•  Completed in public view each class on the projector screen


Rachel Cosford

Public Register: TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Missed 0 classes Missed 1 class Missed 2 classes

Missed 3 classes Missed 4 classes

Missed 5 classes

Rachel Cosford

A6endance Emails: •  Personalised (addressed

students by first name) •  Set a benchmark

(highlighted % of class that DID a6end)

•  Included a Sad Face emoji


Rachel Cosford

A6endance Emails: TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

How did it go? TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

There were highs & lows!

Rachel Cosford

PosiSve Points: •  A6endance was up 11% on

the previous term •  Brought some student issues

to light

NegaSve Points •  Emails were too Sme

consuming •  Some students got annoyed


Rachel Cosford

Findings: TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

76#

67#

58# 58#

44#

27#

76#

42#

69#

84#

47# 47#

0#

10#

20#

30#

40#

50#

60#

70#

80#

90#

Week#1# Week#2# Week#3# Week#4# Week#5# Week#6#

Term%2%Vs%Term%3%A+endance%(%)%

Term#2#

Term#3#

Rachel Cosford


11"

26"

14"

7"

24"

8"

16"

10"

3"

11"

73"

62"

71"

43"

46"

1"

2"

3"

4"

5"

By#Week#How#Many#Students#A3ended#The#Next#Class#A:er#Recieving#a#Non#A3endance#Email#Emailed" A3endend"next" Percentage"

Rachel Cosford


Rachel Cosford


“Because it allowed you to compare your

a6endance with the rest of the class,

which made you want to have good

a6endance”

“It visually showed attendance,

and showed I wasn’t as good as I

thought”

“People in the orange/red reacted and

realised how little they attended”

“People just made a joke of it, didn’t take into account

reasons why people were absent. Took 15 minutes

out of each lecture, when we could have been

learning.”

Rachel Cosford


Rachel Cosford


“I think because my absence was noted

instead of being neglected”

“It was irritating and had a very

accusatory tone. It was very

unsympathetic when I actually had a

serious reason for non-attendance”

“I think because it was actually noticed and

commented on, it made me make sure I was

in the next week”

Rachel Cosford


Rachel Cosford

So that’s how… TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

help improve a6endance!

EMOJI’s

& TRAFFIC

LIGHTS

how traffic lights & emojis can help improve student attendance ; )

Education