When Students Participate Too Much

students who 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 the class becomes so dependent on these students to answer, few even bother thinking about the questions we ask. They simply wait for those familiar hands to pop up. But then a workshop participant interrupted our discussion. “I know some students talk too much, but gee whiz, on a regular basis they save the day in my class. They are there for me when no one else is.”

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

3 Responses

  1. I tend to break my class into groups of 3-4 so the students discuss in small groups before bringing responses to the whole class. Dominant contributors will also tend to dominate their small groups. And so in classes where there are 3 or 4 dominant contributors I will place these students in a group together; I have generally found that in the long-run they adjust and become more moderate.

  2. Another idea my wife uses is to issue tickets where each time students contribute they have to submit one of their tickets, hence placing some sort of limitation over their contribution.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
From an early age, I was immersed in the Muslim tradition that taught me to learn from every...
Lately, social media videos have been flooded with discourse and arguments as to what constitutes a man and...
One of the biggest problems with homework is that students who make a mistake or get stuck have...
A childhood friend of mine passed away a few years ago. We worked on the high school yearbook...
Since I began teaching 15 years ago, I’ve noticed more and more students self-disclose aspects of their mental...
Rubrics have been indispensable in education for providing clarity on performance expectations, consistency in grading, and detailed feedback...

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.