I asked readers if they’ve tried something different in their courses as well. The responses have been wide-ranging, but some themes stand out. Several say that talking with students throughout the semester about the meaning and value of participation really makes a difference. Giving students a variety of ways to express their engagement is also valuable. And asking students to evaluate their own engagement, and the participation of their peers, led to effective self-reflection.
Here are a few responses. I’ll have more in the coming weeks.
From Alex C. Lange, an assistant professor of higher education in the School of Education at Colorado State University:
- “I have students self-assess their engagement in the course, particularly as an instructor who teaches students mostly online and cannot observe every breakout room, knowing that some folks prefer to talk in smaller groups than the large main room. I give the students about four to six statements on a four-point Likert scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Then, they complete an open-ended plus/delta assessment. On the final screen, they indicate what grade they think they should receive for participation. If I strongly disagree with a student’s assessment (particularly if the student scored themselves higher than I would have), we have a conversation about it. I find this gives students a fair amount of power and autonomy in my courses, while making it clear what I will be assessing them on. I also do this process twice, one at the midpoint of the semester and one at the end. This way, I can give them feedback/affirmation at the midpoint to potentially improve parts of their participation moving forward.”
From Joslyn Ahlgren, an instructional professor in the department of applied physiology and kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida:
- “In my Kinetic Anatomy course (30 students, residential class, flipped format), students can earn participation points that do contribute to their grade in both the active-learning sessions as well as lab sessions. My rubric is this: one point for arriving to class on time, one point for manipulating an anatomical model related to the lesson, and one point for collaborating/speaking with those at your table. This communicates to students what I feel is most helpful to them for our hands-on class sessions. And because they know that these points are attached to very explicit behaviors — and are very objectively assessed (fairness), students rarely miss points. When they do miss points, it’s due to lateness — and the student typically apologizes profusely and either directly or via email let me know that they know they will miss the point and they accept that.”
From Keith Tookey, an associate professor in the department of computer and information systems at Vermont Technical College:
- “I do take attendance. I also check statistics about visits to the class resources on Canvas. But here is what really makes a difference for me. I do small group exercises, inspired by my study of POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, https://www.pogil.org/). After each exercise, I require students to evaluate how much was contributed by each member of the group. Percentages must add to 100 percent. I have a correction factor for everyone’s tendency to overestimate their own contribution, but students are remarkably consistent in estimating the RELATIVE contributions of (other) group members to a project. Thus, over the semester, my spreadsheet gives me a peer-based estimate of participation within the groups, for each student in the class. I have found this to be a reliable estimate of participation. It also flags students who need help (because they are not contributing much) and students who are controlling (because they are contributing too much).”
From Jessica Ray Herzogenrath, an instructional assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University:
- “To me, the best way to evaluate participation and engagement begins with giving students a variety of ways to participate and engage during class. As part of a shift towards a flipped hybrid design of my sections of the U.S. history survey over the past two years, I have incorporated what I call “In-Class Activities” into each class meeting. Students complete their activity (sometimes individually, sometimes in groups) during our time together and submit it through our learning-management system. Over the semester, we have a variety of activities from debates to creating advertisements, analysis of primary sources to “fast research projects.” These activities serve several purposes, including promoting active and engaged learning, offering regular low-stakes assignments to practice our skills, taking attendance, and allowing me to determine whether I’ve hit my mark in our learning outcomes for that week. By submitting the In-Class Activity, students have demonstrated their participation and engagement, they receive a grade, and I can evaluate my approach to the topic.”
Phones in Class: Yes or No?
How best to measure class participation is a hotly debated topic. Here’s another one: Should you allow phones in the classroom? The pandemic put that discussion on hold. But now that in-person classes have returned in force, instructors must once again navigate this tricky terrain.
Trista Nilsson, a lecturer at Nazareth College who teaches first-year writing, brought this to my attention. Here’s what she is wrestling with:
“When we resumed in-person classes, I was naively hopeful that students would be so hungry for face-to-face connection that they would no longer retreat into their phones during class. Not so. So I find myself once again confronting the issue of what to do about cell phones during class.
“I have an (admittedly) anemic statement in my syllabus — Please put your phones away during class — because I do believe that students will get more out of class if they are actively engaged. But I struggle with enforcing this request with any consistency. I have tried telling myself that as long as I am a dynamic enough teacher, they won’t want to look at their phones, but even the most exciting activities can’t compete. I have also believed that some students might actually use their phones as a coping strategy for anxiety or other mental-health issues, so do I really want to be the teacher that rips away their security blanket?
“As much as I don’t want to create a classroom culture of restriction, I also feel an obligation to teach best practices for learning, which in my mind include distraction-free engagement.
I hope these questions resonate with other educators and that they have answers!”
Have you noticed the same phenomenon in your classroom, of students retreating into their phones, perhaps even more than before? And do you have a policy regarding phone use that you think balances students’ interests and your need for their focused attention? Write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com and your story may appear in a future newsletter.
ICYMI
- Beckie’s latest story tackles the topic of cold calling. Does it help students learn or just make them more anxious?
- Students who feel a sense of gratitude and those who have a sense of purpose about their career aspirations are less likely to suffer from academic burnout, according to a new study. You can read a discussion by the author, Mariya Yukhymenko, in The Conversation.
- Black, Hispanic, and low-income community-college students who took some courses online graduated at a higher rate than those who didn’t take any, according to a new working paper described in Inside Higher Ed. Students who took all of their courses online, however, graduated at a lower rate than those who took in-person courses.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
— Beth
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