Strategies to Reduce Absenteeism from the Viewpoints of Students at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

Background: In order to transfer teachers’ knowledge, the presence of students is necessary in the classroom. Despite numerous studies on the causes of absence, the strategies of its reduction have not been yet investigated and this study intends to address this issue. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 401 students participated who were selected by systematic random sampling. The students were from different departments of Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, Health and Paramedicine. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis was performed by SPSS 16 and P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean scores given by the students to the strategies of absenteeism reduction in order of importance were: mastery of teacher over the course content (4.21±1.06), teacher’s attention to students’ learning (4.19±0.97), teacher’s well-behaving and respectfulness attitude towards students (4.12±0.95), making the class atmosphere cheerful (4.10±1.03), teaching main contents of course (4.05±1.03), practical teaching and trying to attractive the content (4.04±0.99), giving importance to the students attendance (4.04±0.99), using a variety of teaching methods and new contents (4.03±1.02), responding to the students’ questions properly (4.03±1.02), and continuous evaluation (4.00±1.13). Conclusions: The main proposed strategies to reduce absenteeism, were teacher-related. To implement this strategy, mastery over the course content, teacher’s attention to students’ learning, teacher’s wellbehaving and respectfulness attitude towards students, making the class atmosphere cheerful, practical teaching, focusing on main course content, paying attention to the students attendance, using a variety of teaching methods, and continuous evaluation were suggested.