The effect of changing from campus-based to digital teaching on student attendance: A case study of Norwegian business students

Abstract

Over the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced colleges, university colleges, and universities around the world to switch from campus-based to web-based teaching. The current study examines the effect on students' attendance rates from this sudden change in the learning environment. Data from four completions of a single course given to third-year bachelor students in the business administration program at a mid-sized university college in Norway were used to empirically examine how the level- and trend of the attendance rate were affected during the lockdown period. By means of regression analysis, the results show that digital lectures had a significantly higher attendance rate compared with traditional campus-based lectures. No significant difference in the trends of the attendance rate over the semester was found between the two lecture forms.