This is a Teaching Development Project that aimed to answer the question of 'how can nudge theory increase student attendance?'

1. Rachel Cosford
How
can
employing
nudge
theory
improve
student
a6endance?
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

2. Rachel Cosford
How
can…
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
Improve
a6endance?
EMOJI’s
& TRAFFIC
LIGHTS

3. Rachel Cosford
This
project
employed
‘nudge
theory’
to
try
to
improve
student
a6endance
rates…
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

4. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
Nudge
Theory:
“A
field
of
behavioural
science
that
is
used
to
modify
people’s
behaviour
in
a
‘posi>ve’
way”.
(Thaler
&
Sunstein,
2008).

5. Rachel Cosford
This
project
employed
two
methods
that
incorporated
nudge
theory:
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

6. Rachel Cosford
This
project
employed
two
methods
that
incorporated
nudge
theory:
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
Public
Register

7. Rachel Cosford
This
project
employed
two
methods
that
incorporated
nudge
theory:
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
Public
Register
Attendance
Emails

8. 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
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

9. 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

10. Rachel Cosford
A6endance
Emails:
• Personalised
(addressed
students
by
first
name)
• Set
a
benchmark
(highlighted
%
of
class
that
DID
a6end)
• Included
a
Sad
Face
emoji
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

11. Rachel Cosford
A6endance
Emails:
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

12. Rachel Cosford
A6endance
Emails:
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

13. Rachel Cosford
How
did
it
go?
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
There
were
highs
&
lows!

14. 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
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

15. 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#

16. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
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"

17. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

18. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
“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.”

19. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

20. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
“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”

21. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

22. Rachel Cosford
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT

23. Rachel Cosford
So
that’s
how…
TEACHING
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT
help
improve
a6endance!
EMOJI’s
& TRAFFIC
LIGHTS