Introduction.

Recently, a significant reduction in student attendance to theory classes of the Podiatry degree has been perceived. The teaching staff, aware of the existing positive correlation between attendance and academic performance, has proposed to adapt the theory classes to make them more attractive for the students.

Methods.

Changes were proposed at two levels in the subjects of Physiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics in the academic years 2021-22 and 2022-23. On one hand, classes were structured in blocks of 15-20 minutes, alternating the transmission of information with active participation activities. On the other hand, the continuous assessment system was changed by introducing small evaluative activities in some theoretical classes.

Results.

Attendance over 75% was achieved in most of the classes. The main causes of absenteeism reported by students were studying other subjects and health reasons. The students rated both the class format and the evaluation system with a grade of B. An analysis was made of whether this teaching strategy led to improvements in academic performance by comparing the grades obtained with those of previous years, and no significant differences were observed. The faculty stated that the teaching strategy, although satisfactory, entailed a greater teaching load for a result that did not improve academic performance.

Conclusions.

In short, this strategy described to promote class attendance, apart from giving more work to the teaching staff, has not meant an improvement in the level of student learning. But it has been satisfactory for students and teachers.

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