In-class participation
Overview
This class is designed to be highly interactive. As such, regular and full participation is fully expected of every student in the class. Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions, and to lead selected discussions of class readings. Students are not expected to always have the "right" answer, but they are expected to come with an open and active mind, to engage each other in respectful discussion, and to openly express their perspectives. In this way, the student's own thought processes are refined, and students have the benefit of learning from one another.
In-class participation has two components: regular class participation and reading discussion leadership. For regular class participation, students are expected to attend class physically and intellectually, and to be an active participant in class discussions. Successful participation requires fully preparing for class (often this translates to carefully and critically reading the assigned readings). In addition, students will be asked to lead one or more discussions of one or more readings. Assignment of specific readings will be made during the first week of classes.
Participation goals
The goals of class participation include:
Participation grade
In-class participation is worth 50% of the total class grade. This 50% will be subdivided as:
The grade assigned for participation will be a combination of the grade assessed by the course instructor (50%), and your assessment of your own participation and that of your classmates (50%).
Grading class participation is one of the most challenging aspects of grading in most classes, and typically has an objective component to it. For those of you interested in approaches to teaching, you may be interested in viewing discussions of different perspectives on participation linked in Other Related Links of Interest; I have borrowed heavily from approaches presented in those web pages.
Grading for class participation will be conducted based on the participation grading rubric linked to this page.
Evaluation of class participation will be made every 2 weeks. For evaluation of your participation and that of your classmates, it is important that students take notes on levels of participation at the end of each class period.
For some ideas and tips on facilitating group discussions for the class, click this link.