No matter how you define participation in class discussions, assessing it is fraught. Should you even do it? And if so, how? This collection details a range of approaches for fostering student participation and engagement, whether or not participation itself is graded.
1. An Argument Against Grading Participation by James Lang
James Lang’s answer to the participation grading question is that we should stop doing it and shift to inclusive strategies to ensure that all students participate anyway. He suggests providing opportunities to think and write and using “invitational participation” to bring all voices into the discussion.
2. Using a Validated Discussion Engagement Scale to Guide Assessment
How do students experience discussion? This validated engagement scale invites students to rate their skills, confidence, ability to participate “without feeling inhibited or intimidated by peers and instructors,” and openness to “engaging with individuals from backgrounds or values different from theirs.”
3. Reconceptualizing Participation Grading as Skill-Building
Gillis’s method helps students think about participation as skill-building. Instead of instructors tracking student participation, students set goals and reflect on their progress; they are assessed on their reflection.
4. A “Lay of the Land” on Assessing Participation
This review of 45 articles on “assessment of class participation” in higher education published between 2005–2023 summarizes research on “innovations,” “criteria-related issues,” and “the issue of fairness.” It also highlights the role of educational technology in fostering non-oral methods of participation.
5. Promoting Student Growth with Engagement Credits
Robert Talbert presents the idea of “engagement credits” as another alternative to incentivize and grade what has typically been considered class participation. There are many ways for students to earn the credits, and Talbert’s method is straightforward to implement.
More Teaching Resources are available on the Teaching Hub at UVA. An initiative of the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), Teaching Hub supports the discovery and curation of connected resources to enhance teaching and learning. With a diverse group of partners, we do the hard work of tracking down important, innovative, and interesting content on a wide range of topics. Powered by a complex tagging system, we connect you with additional resources as well as relevant CTE events and programs, available learning technologies, and other sources of support.
To make the most of Teaching Hub, we encourage you to create an account: this allows you to save resources and create your own collections that you can customize and share. We will use any personal information you include in your profile to personalize your site experience, providing you with content based on your interests and interactions. Our hope is that you come to Teaching Hub and not only find what you are looking for but also discover something you did not know you needed. Want to recommend a resource or have an idea for a new collection? Send us an email at [email protected].