class participation

Ideal Design Modifications: Doing It Your Way

“I’d do things a lot differently if I just had fewer students.”

Have you ever thought or said this? This sentiment has been voiced to me over and over again by attendees in faculty development workshops and by graduate student instructors I have supervised. Truth be

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Rebranding Participation

How much has our thinking about participation changed? Start with your students: Do they equate participation with anything other than raising their hands to answer a question or being called on for a comment? Recent years have seen calls to broaden definitions of participation, but

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Classroom Dynamics as Group Dynamics

Every fall now I cull my large teaching and learning article database. Yes, it’s a filing cabinet full of paper copies. Copies were the only option when I started collecting articles. But the cabinet is at capacity, and some of the very old, outdated pieces

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students who participate too much

When Students Participate Too Much

At a workshop not so long ago, we were talking about the over-participator problem—you know, those two or three students who would happily answer every question or express their opinion whenever one is needed. We talked about why it’s a problem. How the rest of

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student participation

Question of the Day Promotes Class Participation

Most of us have experienced the dreaded quiet class. Typically, it’s the class where only a few students speak and it’s always the same three or four. Everyone else sits passively and waits out the clock. For those classes and others, I’ve found a question

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Encouraging Classroom Participation

Encouraging Classroom Participation Through In-Class Reviews

I teach introductory biology classes; the students in these classes are typically new to the discipline at the college level and often find the amount and level of material challenging to absorb and retain. However, many students are nervous about asking or answering the questions

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How to include introverted students in discussions.

How to Include Introverts in Class Discussion

Would you prefer to go to a party with 50 exciting, brand-new people that you’ve never met before, or would you prefer to have dinner with an old, dear friend? You’ve probably guessed already that extroverts would prefer the party and introverts would prefer dinner

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class participation

Class Participation: What Behaviors Count?

What counts for participation isn’t always addressed when we talk with students about the importance of participation. It’s easy to assume that everybody knows what’s involved—but is that a safe assumption?

When considering what qualifies as participation, some behaviors come to mind quickly—asking questions, answering questions,

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pile of question marks

Questions to Ask When Students Won’t Participate

Participation continues to be one of the most common methods faculty use to get students involved in their learning. It’s a go-to strategy for many, but various studies have shown that it’s not always used in ways that realize its full potential. We go to

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