Reflective Writing #9
PIDP 3230 – Assignment 1: Reflection 3
Objective
For my third reflective writing assignment I have chosen the difficult subject of assigning participation marks in the classroom. In grading participation, one has to come up with a reliable way of evaluating a student’s performance. For instance, what do we consider participation? Is it actively partaking in classroom discussion? Is it providing thoughtful examples? This idea caught my attention because I feel it is akin to grading art: entirely subjective. Perhaps the student feels they have participated by thinking about a question and are too introverted to put their thoughts out to the class. Perhaps a student feels their examples are relevant and thoughtful. How can an instructor respect the student as a person and simultaneously judge their performance in what is essentially a social situation?
Reflective
In my classroom, participation is heavily encouraged. We use electrical experiments in the Lab to prove and reinforce theory. Some students do not truly comprehend a theory until they can see it in practice or physically measure values. 10% of every section is dedicated towards the Lab mark. This mark is effectively a participation mark for doing work in the Lab. I do not grade students’ findings or judge them on the caliber of their questions. If students show up to all the labs and I see them doing the work, they will get full marks. I believe this represents the intent of working in the Lab and a is valid way of assessing their participation.
Participation gets much trickier to evaluate once we reach the classroom. I think participation makes class more interesting and engaging. I value it immensely but do not assign a mark to it. Perhaps this should change?
Interpretive
I think it is universally felt that participation is important in the classroom. The challenge is how to measure participation in a valid way and what tools might we use? Martha L. Maznevski suggests the use of a rubric as a tool to communicate exactly what she is looking for in terms of participation. She assigns participation grades to her students and addresses the issue of extrovert vs introvert by “focus[ing] on what [they] demonstrate and do not presume to guess at what [they] know but do not demonstrate. This is because what [they] offer to the class is what [the student] and others learn from” (1996). Although this puts the introvert in an uncomfortable position, it is setting the expectation that communication is a vital skill in her course.
Denise Knight takes a slightly different approach with regards to classroom participation. Instead of providing a summative grade on participation, she uses an informal self-assessment questionnaire with her students (2008). Through instructor feedback, this becomes a conduit of communication with her students as a way to correct behaviour early on in the class.
Finally, one must consider Social Anxiety Disorder in evaluating participation. The Social Anxiety Association states that social anxiety “affects about 7% of the population at any given time” (2017). In the ever accommodating environment that is education, do we have the right to demand vocal participation from students who suffer from this disorder or share traits with it?
Decisional
Upon reflection, I believe an explicit participation grade is likely important in a great number of fields. Classroom participation is important in creating an engaging environment but I do not feel it is something that should be graded in all cases. I have a real problem with punishing students for not having adequate life experience to participate in conversations or offer examples. Similarly, if they are struggling with theory or anxiety issues, I don’t see it as a benefit to their learning environment to demand participation. I feel they will still benefit from listening to other students who are participating in discussion. Consequently, in my class, I will continue to encourage classroom discussion but will not grade students on it.
References
Knight, D. (2008). A Useful Strategy for Assessing Class Participation. Retrieved from: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/educational-assessment-a-useful-strategy-for-assessing-class-participation/
Maznevski, M. L. (1996). Grading Class Participation. Retrieved from: http://cte.virginia.edu/resources/grading-class-participation-2/
Social Anxiety Association (2017). Social Anxiety Fact Sheet: What is Social Anxiety Disorder? Symptoms, Treatment, Prevalence, Medications, Insight, Prognosis. Retrieved from:
http://socialphobia.org/social-anxiety-disorder-definition-symptoms-treatment-therapy-medications-insight-prognosis