Charles Dickens bored the crap out of me in high school. I missed a section of reading one night, and even though I knew our English teacher wouldn’t allow me to retake her reading quiz, I went to class the next day in fine spirits. Looking down at five open response questions I couldn’t answer, Read More…
How Does Student Feedback Influence Class Participation?
As an instructor, walking into a classroom full of students who are eager to participate is always the goal, however, it is not always achieved. While we understand that, in some circumstances, coaxing participation from our students may often be out of our hands, as rainy days, early morning classes, or the occasional off day Read More…
Goldilocks and the Three Standards: Intellectual Participation in the Classroom
As teaching fellows, we often quantify our work by audience participation. However, while participation is just fine, intellectual participation is a standard of excellence that many strive to achieve. How do we define intellectual participation visually? Verbally? Physically? And how do we measure intellectual participation in the classroom?
Queering Student Participation
How does a classroom build around the identities of it’s queer students? “Queering Student Participation: Whispers, Echoes, Rants, and Memory,” by Matthew Cox explores the way in which queer idenitfying student’s classroom experience is impacted by their identity.
queering participation
Embedded in “queer” is the notion of disruption, so what does this mean for participation and our relationship to it as instructors? What does it mean to be “queer”? In “Queering Student Participation: Whispers, Echoes, Rants, and Memory,” Matthew Cox defines queer in two main ways: first, as a catch-all term for anyone who’s LBGT; Read More…
Using Discourse Patterns to Stimulate Class Discussion and Participation.
-by Amanda Beres Image from https://dailyillini.com/opinions/2018/02/07/networking-skills-taught-class/ Participation has always been difficult to define within the classroom. There is a lack of participation theory, leading to confusion about what participation means. Are we grading participation for its importance, or out of convention? Should participation be graded at all? Not all students will understand what participation means Read More…
Is There Any Inherent Value in Grading for Participation?
by: Amanda Rioux Why do we grade for participation? Does grading for participation, as a practice, have any inherent value? What is participation, anyway? These are the types of questions that drove Critel’s research. Although she never got the chance to answer those questions in full, many of her colleagues, including Obermark, took up the reins after Read More…
Embodied Participation and Those Who Dread it
To Speak, or Not to Speak- is that Really a Question? Class participation, in general, can be rough. If you’re the teacher, and you’re lucky, your class is a fruitful Socratic ideological marketplace. If you’re a student, and you’re lucky, a few oral heroes take on the weight of perpetuating an active discussion. Either way, Read More…
Meme it Till You Make It; Using Internet Communications in The Contemporary Classroom
By James Mellen In the age of mass communication and mass reproduction, internet memes have become an increasingly important “memes” of communication, especially among the Millennial and Zillenial generation. So, how does one make use of this emerging means of communication in an effective teaching practice? How does someone take a look at the meme Read More…
The Importance of the Individual: Understanding Student Participation and Classroom Habits
Classroom participation, both assessing and grading, can be equally as puzzling as it is exhilarating. Understanding how, why, and when students feel most comfortable to participate is vital in a professor’s participation efforts, as without a comprehensive understanding of the student’s needs in-class activities and classroom engagement activities will certainly underperform. Essentially, this process Read More…