Comparing attendance versus exam performance for topics within first year physics courses

Abstract This paper revisits the relationship between lecture attendance and final exam performance of students attending first year Advanced Physics classes at The University of Newcastle. The results compare attendance to non-attendance for topics within the Advanced Physics courses and indicate that, on average, students attending lectures always score higher than students not attending with variations on the size of this effect depending on topic such that the gap is generally larger for topics not covered in secondary school. This correlation may indicate the importance for students to attend classes covering new material.