There has been a considerable drop in attendance since the beginning of the academic year. Many students are either not attending or are being very selective of what they do attend. This is not only a problem for those who do not attend, but for those who do attend.

You have often heard us talk of the importance of collaboration in architecture and as a part of our curriculum.  Throughout your career as a designer and architect, you will be called upon to collaborate. For this to be effective, you will need to understand both your own subject and that of others.

The curriculum of BAADE and BAASO is based on our introducing information to you and you then applying that information to your design work. If you are not attending seminars and lectures, then you will not be able to show your understanding of the integration of technical and contextual information into your designs. Ultimately, your marks will suffer when you cannot evidence the range of work that is required.

In addition, a lack of attendance shows a lack of respect for your tutors and your fellow students. For those students who make the effort to attend and take part in discussions, it is insulting to find that your fellow students do not make a similar effort. For the tutors who make the effort to prepare material and to attend in order to present the material to you, it is insulting to find that students do not make the effort to attend and participate.

Why do some of you choose not to attend?

If you think that something is not important, I can assure you that if it were not important we would not be teaching you about it. Some things may not be as exciting as others, but that does not mean it is not important for you understand and engage with it. As tutors, we will also find some things less interesting to teach, but we do not decide that it isn't worth our time. We recognise the importance of the range of things that make us good designers and professionals, so we make the effort to help you to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to be a good practitioner. Please show us the respect that we show you in preparing and attending.

What is professionalism?

Being a professional isn't just 'knowing the stuff' it is also about how we behave. You might know all there is to know about a subject, but your behaviour could be unprofessional. If you look up the term professional you will see definitions which use words like 'conduct', 'ethics' and 'moral'. What this suggests is that being a professional requires a level of committment and consideration of others. Being late to a meeting or not paying attention would not be considered 'professional.' In the same way, being late for a lecture, a seminar or a tutorial, is equally unprofessional. Members of the course team make every effort to be in attendance for the sessions that they are required to teach, this is a sign of their professionalism. Please show them the same professionalism by being on time to learn.

Attendance is not enough

There is a big difference between attendance and participation. It is relatively easy to attend (or at least it should be), you only need to be here. Participation is where the real action is. When you participate you take an active role in your own learning. Further, you become more engaged in the development of your understanding of the subject. Whether your participation is through asking a question or making a comment, the fact that you are not simply sitting there, means that you are making your education work for you.