Activity that Did Not Work

I was teaching my Level 1 class about the healthcare delivery system.  In particular, I assigned homework last Wednesday that the students were to bring to class on Friday and use as their entry into class.  Only 2 students handed it to me upon entry - out of 2 classes.  Most did not complete it.  I ended up allowing them time in class to complete it.  I think I'll take off points for the students who did not complete it prior to class.  Hopefully this will show them that the activity was serious and worthy of completion. What I'm disappointed about was the fact that I reminded them each day that they should bring the assignment as entry into class on Friday.  Also, I never give homework assignments, so I'm disappointed that the one homework assignment they have, they did not complete.  No one said at that time that they had computer issues at home or any other issue that would prevent them from completing the activity.  One student even commented, "why would I want to complete it if I could have the chance to NOT come to class on Friday.  I reminded him of the alternative to coming to class - office, ISS, etc.  It would not be a free day.  Of course, he was one of the students who did not bring it to class as instructed.  I think when I try this again, I will stress the consequences of not completing it as instructed.  INstead of using the class time to discuss the individual comments, we used it to continue research and was not able to have the discussion (which would have led to an additional review for their test on tomorrow).