Do you like being graded on class participation? Why / why not?

Question

Do you think it should be part of your grade?

Answer 1

When I was in school which was long ago, I loved it because I was an extrovert...I do feel sorry for the introverts but I think it is a good way to prepare you for the working world and should most definitely count towards your grade, I mean that is preparing you for real life...

Answer 2

No it is unfair to those of us who prefer to quietly listen and absorb all that is being said. I find it very distracting and an interference to my learning process when I have to worry and be nervous about class participation, speaking in front of people, etc.

Answer 3

I didn't like it because I was shy about speaking up in class. I was always afraid I would give the wrong answer and the other students would laugh at me.

Answer 4

I dont think it should because some students are quiet or shy and dont want to do the class talk, lecture things. the only repreive are the teachers that put in cooperation and well behavior...

That sounds  a litte bad though.  

Answer 5

Think you should be free to make the choice regarding participation.  It is troubling to realize that teachers are rule focused rather than recognizing the natural differences in social engagement some people feel with a group, i.e, a classroom.  

Answer 6

If you know anything about me at all you know that I say f@#% class participation.

It's just a method teachers use to try and get you to pay attention to their boring lessons.

There is definitely something wrong when you get straight A's on everything in class and then get a B on your report card for not "participating" in class. Happened to me more than once. Made me feel like kicking that teacher in the jugular.

Answer 7

I think that grades should be based strictly on what they learned in the class. The school should have testing to see what side of the brain they use and assign different teaching methods to different groups.

An easier way to give points and get the class to participate would be to split the class into teams and ask questions based on the material learned. the winner of the game could receive bonus points or other rewards, making it interesting for the students.

Answer 8

I think it depends on the nature of the class and the way class participation is dealt with.

One class in which I had class participation and enjoyed it was my Interpersonal Communications class. Our professor would give us group activities to do and we would be given points for participating. This was nice because, basically, you just had to come to class to earn these points.

One class where I found class participation annoying and unnecessary  was in a computer science class, where we were required to contribute to class "discussions." It didn't make sense because I felt there wasn't much to discuss about the topic.

If you are worried about shy people not participating, have a way to submit imput anonymously, such as turning in pieces of paper with out names (making sure you collect one from everyone), using "clickers" to take polls and quizzes (good for big classes), or other methods. One think I would like to see incorporated into classes is a system called "Think Tank," in which everyone contributes to the conversation via the web. See link below for more information.