Class participation

Class participation is a strategy for engaging students in learning.^[1][2][3] It can also contribute to building class community during class time.^[4] Like any other course activity, participation should support students’ achievement of course learning outcomes. Class participation may involve a variety of activities, such as students:^[5]

• interacting with the instructor by asking or responding to questions

• interacting with peers in small group activities

• contributing to whole-class discussions

• abiding by established class norms

• coming to class on time

• being prepared to engage in learning activities, be they graded or not

Related Articles:

• Encourage participation

• Assess participation

• Example criteria and grading scales

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Read more:

• Do students see the value of class participation? Results of a pilot project (Teaching for Learning Blog)

• Plan discussions (TL KB)

• Rubrics in myCourses (TL KB)

• What would happen if you stopped giving participation grades? (Teaching for Learning Blog)

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References

^[1] Auster, C. J., & MacRone, M. (1994). The classroom as a negotiated social setting: An empirical study of the effects of faculty members’ behavior on students’ participation. Teaching Sociology, 22(4), 289-300. https://doi.org/10.2307/1318921

^[2] Junn, E. (1994). “Pearls of wisdom”: Enhancing student class participation with an innovative exercise. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 21(4), 385. 

^[3] Murray, H., & Lang, M. (1997). Does classroom participation improve student learning? Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(1), 7-9. https://www.stlhe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Does-Classroom-Participation-Improve-Student-Learning.pdf

^[4] Poole, D. M. (2000). Student participation in a discussion-oriented online course: A case study. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(2), 162-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/08886504.2000.10782307

^[5] Weimer, M. (2017). Class participation: What behaviors count? The Teaching Professor. https://www-teachingprofessor-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/topics/teaching-strategies/participation-discussion/participation-behaviors-count/