Abstract

Compulsory attendance in communication skills courses offered at colleges of engineering seems to be a problematic issue for many students because it prevents them from performing well in such courses. Many students believe that time spent on these courses comes at the expense of focusing on core courses and worsens their overall performance in these courses. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between attendance and students’ overall performance in communication skills courses for the sake of providing suggestions that would enhance students’ performance as well as allowing them to allocate more time to the core courses they are enrolled in. Making students’ life easier would not only improve their status at the educational level but would also create a feeling of comfort and satisfaction in their surroundings, particularly among family members and friends. Participants in the study are university students enrolled in the college of engineering at a Middle Eastern university. The study yields significant results showing that compulsory attendance has no significant relationship with students’ overall performance in communication skills courses. Relaxing attendance regulations might provide some margin of freedom for students to focus more on the engineering core courses without compromising their success in communication skills courses. The study provides significant recommendations that stakeholders can utilize to motivate students to perform well in communication skills courses while addressing any concerns they might have regarding the core courses they are enrolled in.

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