Job Discussion Forums

[nomad soul]

Although the following is from a public school teacher in the US, some of us have had to/do give marks for participation in our TESOL classes. Since we all work in a variety of diverse cultural contexts, what's your take on points for class participation relevant to your own teaching situation?

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Down With Class Participation Grades
By Melissa Pandika, Ozy News | February 15, 2016
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/down-class-participation-grades-000000340.html

It was my first-day-of-class ritual. Scan the syllabus for the dreaded subheading: “Participation and Discussion.” Then, hold my breath for the percentage of the final grade. Shy and self-conscious, nothing terrified me more than class discussions. By the time I had finished painstakingly crafting a response, everyone else had moved on to another topic. The few times I did muster a comment, I felt a roomful of eyes boring through me as I choked on my words.

Teachers often grade participation to measure students’ understanding and engagement with the course material. But louder doesn’t always mean smarter. Plus, participation grades — worth more than 20 percent of the final grade in some classes — penalize and even hurt the well-being of quiet students who know the material but might be too flustered to show it. In the end, the same bold voices dominate the conversation even more, further marginalizing soft-spoken students. And we’re not talking a silent minority here; shy and introverted types each make up as much as half of the American population.

Western education emphasizes teacher-student dialogue — which typically boils down to getting students to talk more and teachers to lecture less. Today, teachers can choose from a number of apps to help them monitor and boost student participation — like iMpact, a digital seating chart with a special “cold call” feature. And sure, there’s a case to be made for class participation. Some research finds that kids who speak up tend to do better in school,especially when it comes to exams. Class discussions can also teach students how to ask questions and express opinions and other skills needed to thrive in the professional world — and in general, a Western society that overwhelmingly rewards extroversion.

But participation points can place quiet students at an unfair disadvantage, resulting in grades that don’t reflect their level of engagement, says Brian Little, a psychology professor at Harvard University. They might simply need more time to prepare a verbal response, or fear judgment from their classmates. Or they might come from a culture that values introversion. But there are other ways to evaluate engagement among these students, says Little — he asks his students to submit journal entries and post to online forums.

Participation points might also lead to burnout. Worried about her final grade, an introverted student might play the part of an extrovert, gritting her teeth and contributing to discussions. But without sufficient time to unwind in between, “it can take a toll,” Little says. Although stretching ourselves fosters personal growth, instructors “need to have compassion.” Some students simply lack the capacity to “fake” extroversion.

Studies showing that quiet kids tend to fare worse in school might also stem from educators’ own biases. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that K-12 teachers viewed quiet kids as less academically competent — even less intelligent — than their chattier peers, creating a “self-fulfilling prophecy” with effects that ripple far beyond their participation grade, says Robert Coplan, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa. Teachers’ low expectations might influence how they treat quiet students and grade them on other aspects of the class, which could, in turn, affect their self-image and performance. Fear of speaking aloud might also rattle their ability to concentrate in class.

Likewise, gregarious students are “not necessarily the smartest,” says Keith Campbell, head of the University of Georgia’s psychology department. “They’re the most confident.” In fact, the correlation between personality and intelligence remains cloudy. And by pushing talkative students to contribute even more, participation grades might result in stale discussions that echo the same viewpoints — as quiet students struggle even harder to express themselves.

While it’s impossible to rebuild an entire education system, awareness of why some students don’t participate might make busy instructors pause before dismissing them as unengaged. “There is a norm of social participation to function in our society,” Coplan says. It’s “good for us to be aware that it poses challenges for some individuals.”

(End of opinion piece)

[spiral78]

We have recently tried giving maximum 10 points out of 100 on a course for 'good citizenship,' meaning on time/homework done/reasonable participation. It didn't actually work well, and we've dropped it. Too subjective, rewards sometimes the wrong things (the polite but extremely lazy student whose actual work is poor, for example).

Frankly, I've never had issues with lack of participation, though I am fortunate to teach primarily in university situations with mostly upper-level students whose language skills are already quite strong. I'm fine with the more confident ones nominating themselves more often (especially early in a semester). Using a balance of individual, pair, small group, and whole class tasks (asking everyone in the class to contribute an idea) eventually brings everyone in anyway, while allowing the quieter ones plenty of opportunities to work with one or two colleagues and also on their own.

And in my situation, there is rarely a 'wrong' response anyway, as we are essentially engaged in a guided conversation about what good communication (writing or speaking) is in our context. Student contributions are genuinely valued, so they quickly learn not to fear the conversation.

Don't get me wrong - students do sometimes fail our courses, but not based on their participation in class!

But my teaching context isn't really typical - it would be quite different in cases where there are right/wrong responses, such as in most beginner to intermediate general language classes.

[schwa]

High school teacher here. This year (I pulled this out of the air) I'm apportioning 50% of the final grade to regular graded quizzes, presentations, etc (to promote ongoing involvement), 25% to the final exam, 10% for notebooks (I check them twice a quarter for completeness & organization), & 15% for participation, which I explain to them means effort & behavior. No penalty for shyness.

I love the arbitrary leeway of that 15%. I can reward effort toward improvement even if quiz results still fall a bit short, to kick deserving kids up a couple points if it makes a grade point difference that might encourage them. Or I can mark capable kids down a notch who fool around & distract others or slack off, as a behavior mod incentive.

Works for me.

[scot47]

Should participation be encouraged ?

[HLJHLJ]

If there is an argument for it anywhere, it's surely in a language class. It doesn't matter how well a student knows the material if they are unable to actually produce it and use it.

[nomad soul]

We also were required to give up to 10 points for class participation. It worked quite well as a motivator since my (university) students in the Mid East wanted to milk every point they could. This isn't unusual for a culture that places a high value on exam marks.

[mitsui]

Don't think it always works. In Japan there is team-teaching and one teacher who I unfortunately must work with gives too many participation points to students since she wants nobody to fail.
In fact she never fails anyone.
I really hate having to combine our grades.

It can be subjective at times. It should be objective.

For the serious students it is OK. It is a record of the students who paid attention to the teachers and participated.

It is kind of childish but maybe that is the culture here.
It is arrested development when 17 year olds act like they are in 7th grade.