University student absenteeism to virtual classes. A case study of two different careers from the University of Concepcion, Chile

Abstract

Social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic sharply transferred face-to-face teaching to online modality in all universities in the country. Observing this scenario as particularly favorable to encourage absenteeism to classes, this study objective is to unveil the reasons that students have to miss online synchronic lectures.

Students’ answers from two different faculties of the University of Concepcion were analyzed with logistic regression model and Mann-Whitney U-test. We found that among students who reported missing synchronic online lectures most frequently, the reasons were internet connection problems; the possibility to access the lecture video asynchronously; lack of motivation in their studies or laziness. A significant correlation was also found between missing classes and teachers’ reading their presentations in class or not being inspiring.