Class Participation

Please take advantage of opportunities to share your insights and to listen and reply to others' ideas. I hope that questions and discussions will enable you to move the class in directions you find most helpful, give you opportunities to develop critical skills through collaboration, and provide for a productive, interesting exchange of perspectives among the class. You should be prepared to comment on the day's reading for each class session, and I may ask you periodically to write about (in class) some aspect of the reading under discussion for that day and call upon you individually to learn your sense of what is at stake, and to ask you to guide us through your Inquiry Starter entry for that day. We may form small groups from time to time primarily for discussing/sharing Inquiry Starters.

It is helpful, if you wish, to keep a weekly log in which you track your participation in class discussion, by jotting down in several sentences during or following each class meeting a brief notation of what you contributed to each class meeting, then submitting those typed or legibly handwritten 'journal entries' in one document to me prior to the midterm (email to me in MS Word doc by Saturday noon at end of midterms week, before midterm grades are due) and again by Friday noon of the last week of regular class meetings.

Holistic Rubric Guidelines primarily for in-class Class Participation, though some aspects of these criteria could also apply to Bblearn Inquiry-Starters, from strongest/highest quality (level 7) to lowest quality of participation (levels 2 or 1).

 (7) Comes to class prepared; contributes readily to conversation, including taking turns so as to not dominate the time and topic; makes thoughtful contributions that advance the discussion; shows interest in and responds with civility to others’ views; participates actively in small groups.

(6 to 5) Comes to class prepared and makes thoughtful comments when called upon—contributes occasionally without prompting; shows interest in and responds with civility to others’ views; participates actively in small groups. May be an active participant whose contributions are less developed or cogent than next ‘level’ above but whose participation still advances the conversation.

(4 to 3) Participates in discussion but not always in constructive, optimal ways. For example, may tend to talk too much, make vague or tangential contributions or perhaps steer the conversation off topic , be less than solidly prepared for class, or otherwise not consistently acknowledge cues from others to engage productively in a mutual exchange of ideas. Instructor will intervene to let student know privately of such concerns, and depending on the degree of such behavior, this could be considered level 3 rather than level 4.

(3 to 4) Could show some of the issues that make participation problematic, as described above, but to a greater degree. May be prepared but does not voluntarily contribute to discussions and gives minimum answers when called upon. Appears to show interest, however, in the discussion and to be listening attentively, and perhaps taking notes. Online written contributions may be solid, in contrast to reticence in the classroom. Depending on degree and quality, this could evaluated at level 4.

(2 to 1) Some students may often seem to be on the margins of the class, and may even or consequently have a negative effect on the participation of others. May not have read the material and are therefore unprepared to contribute to discussion. Some students receiving this lowest level of evaluation may be actually disruptive, apparently overtly hostile, bored or inattentive, or rude.