Class Participation

The following resources are online or available at Pickler Memorial Library.

Magnen, Bob, ed. 147 practical tips for teaching professors.  Madison, WI: Magna Publications, 1989.  General Collection: LB2331.M345 1992
This contains a one page sheet of nine considerations for grading class participation.  The points were generated from both teachers and students.

Fassinger, Polly A.  "Understanding classroom interaction: Students' and professors' contributions to students' silence."  Journal of Higher Education.  66, 1(Jan-Feb 1995.): 82-96.  Link to article.
Survey data from 1069 students in a small private college were used to assess why students offer comments or raise questions in class.  Results indicate that class traits and students traits explained the most variance; neither professors' gender nor professors' interpersonal style played a central role in class participation.

Klionsky, Daniel J.  "Constructing Knowledge in the Lecture Hall" Journal of College Science Teaching 31:4 (Dec. 2001-Jan. 2002) 246-251.  Periodicals Q 183 U6 J68
Describes a format for teaching a large introductory biology course that encourages student preparation prior to class and utilizes problem solving instead of lecturing.

Miller, Hugh T. . "The objectionable utterance: A moment for teaching." PS. 26 (June, 1993): 233-4.  Link to article.
This essay provides examples of volatile moments along with appropriate teacher interventions.  Discusses what to expect in a discursive classroom and what to do about it.

Melvin, Kenneth B.  "Rating class participation: The prof/peer method." Teaching of Psychology.  15 (October, 1988): 37-39.  Link to article.
Introduces a method for reducing the subjectivity of class participation grades.  Suggests the use of combined peer/professor approach is beneficial and can be acceptable to students.  Lists a number of variables which impact upon the activity while accenting the usefulness of the procedure.

Rocca, Kelly A.  Participation in the college classroom: The impact of instructor immediacy and verbal aggression.  2001 Eric Document (pdf).
A study examined the participation behaviors of undergraduate students.  Much of the existing literature has focused on student variables in determining participation in the classroom.  Here, the focus was on instructor variables instead.  Students completed questionnaires and reported their own perceptions of their participation in class as well as their perceptions of their instructor's nonverbal immediacy and verbal aggression.  Results indicated that students who perceived their teachers as higher in immediacy were more likely to participate in the class.  Students who perceived their instructors as verbally aggressive were less likely to participate in class.  Limitations, implications for the class and future directions for this line of research are discussed.

Compiled by Carol Lockhart
Pickler Memorial Library