Participation

=Classroom Participation=

For some reason participation is often equated to speaking in the classroom. I find this disheartening; it is even amplified when people mark participation on a note card by the number of times a person speaks in the class. If we recognize that the individuals have unique abilities in learning, why would we only require the students to be judged by the amount of vocal space they occupy? As such, I have always tried to make my participation points reflect more. During my teaching in Spring 2010, I adjusted my views of participation by asking the students to tell me what they consider participation and then they will inform me at the end of the semester how they feel they have done in this aspect of the course. I feel that this is important to change the mentality that the instructor has this set of points that can be wielded for benefit or hindrance at whim. This has been a struggle for me while teaching and I feel that a joint construction of these points is a viable option to help the students understand that they can help the course development. I still expect that readings are done and that students have the opportunity to interact with the materials during the seminars, but also feel that I should not determine how they interact with the materials.