Professor Uses T-Shirt Cannon to Encourage Attendance in Large Classes

For years, Dartmouth professors have faced the dilemma of getting students to actually come to class. With lectures posted online and participation grades that are largely composed of whether you went to office hours that one time, students often have little motivation to roll out of bed for that 9, 10 or 2A. However, Bio 11 professor Harrison Frazier recently instituted a policy capable of motivating students in a way that $40,000 in tuition never could. 

Frazier developed his revolutionary idea while at a minor league baseball game over the summer, “I initially thought we could have dollar beer day but then I realized freshmen would never pay for beer at Dartmouth, especially a dollar. Then it hit me: T-Shirt Cannon.”

Frazier continued, “People at this baseball game were going ape shit over these t-shirts being launched into the crowd and all I could imagine was launching some “I Used to be Pre-Med” or “CHUCK FEMISTRY” shirts into Filene or Rocky 3. People would show up who aren’t even taking the class. I used to do pop quizzes but then no one takes my class and sign-ins just penalize kids without friends in the class. I paid for the cannon with the money I'm saving by not using PowerPoint slides. Students love it. ”

The Sociology Department experimented with t-shirt cannons in the early 2000’s in an attempt to increase enrollment in courses. However, they later dropped the initiative when they realized that median grades of A or A- were much more effective. 

Reaction to the t-shirt cannon initiative has been mixed thus far. Sarah Shilling ’14 complained, “I don’t get it. I am paying almost five thousand dollars for this biology course. If that isn’t enough motivation to come to class, I don’t know what is. It’s just a cheap t-shirt.”

Aaron Henry ’12 countered, “Yeah, but it’s a fucking t-shirt cannon.”

After three class session which included TA’s intermittently launching t-shirts into the crowd and only one t-shirt cannon related injury, attendance is up over 200% from Bio 11 last fall. 

Other professors are now embracing Frazier’s ideas. Chemistry professor Hamish Sherling expanded on the t-shirt cannon idea to increase attendance in his lectures, which are also posted online, “I started blitzing my students the day before class with messages like ‘BLACKOUT CHEM 5! Everyone wear a black shirt to class tomorrow!’ It really gets them excited about learning. I've also gotten EBA’s to sponsor my class so we have the ‘EBA’s Lucky Row’ each class. The row with the best participation gets individual pizzas at the end of class. It’s a great alternative to the participation grade. Let’s face it, everyone performs better with a crowd.”