With the amendment to the University Act of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in October 2020, according to §26, para. 2, compulsory attendance as a prerequisite for admission to examinations is only permitted if it is necessary to achieve the learning objective of the course.

However, the program of study at the Institute of Sociology naturally remains a face-to-face program at a face-to-face university, so we expect students to attend regularly. This is also in your interest – it has been empirically proven that there is a positive correlation between attendance in courses and academic success*.
The requirements defined by the teaching staff in the context of active participation apply unchanged in all courses (except lectures). You must fulfill these requirements in order to successfully complete the course. The lecturer will announce the exact requirements at the beginning of the semester.

Attendance (as a prerequisite for admission to examinations) may still be required in the following courses/modules at the Institute of Sociology:

  • Module 01 “Introduction to Sociology”
    • Seminar “Fundamentals of Sociology”
  • Module 02 “Social Structure and Comparison of Societies”
    • Seminar “Social structure and social comparison”
  • Module 03 “Methods of qualitative empirical social research”
    • Seminar/tutorial “Methods of qualitative empirical social research”
  • Module 04 “Methods of quantitative empirical social research”
    • Seminar “Methods of qualitative empirical social research”
  • Module 05 “Statistics and applied social research”
    • Seminar “Computer-aided data analysis”
  • Module 06 “Sociological Theories”
    • Seminar “Sociological Theories”
  • Module 07: Practical module
    • Research internship
    • Career internships
  • Module 04 “Empirical project”
    • Project seminar “Empirical project (part 1)”
    • Project seminar “Empirical project (part 2)”
  • Module 05 “Academic teaching and learning practice”
    • Own teaching experience as a tutor
    • Seminar “Didactics seminar on teaching practice as a tutor”

(see subject-specific appendix of the current Bachelor’s examination regulations and subject-specific appendix of the current Master’s degree examination regulations)

*Sources:

Schulmeister, R. (2020). Opportunities and limits of compulsory attendance in courses. A study review on attendance and learning success. In D. Großmann, C. Engel, J. Junkermann & T. Wolbring (Eds.), Student workload (pp. 253-279). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 658-28931-7_10

Schulmeister, R. (2015). Programs of study on attendance in courses. A seemingly trivial problem. A meta-study of 300 empirical papers. Available at: http://rolf.schulmeister.com/pdfs/Abwesenheit.pdf

Heublein, U., Ebert, J., Hutzsch, C., Isleib, S., König, R., Richter, J. & Woisch, A. (2017). Between study expectations and study reality Causes of withdrawal from studies, appointments of university) dropouts and development of the withdrawal rate from studies at German higher education institutions. Hanover: German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies. Available at: https://nextcareer.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Zwischen-Studienerwartungen -und-Studienwirklichkeit_2017_DZHW.pdf

Credé, M., Roch, S. G. & Kieszczynka, U. M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 80, 272-295. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310362998