Robert Talbert
https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/prioritizing-participation
Article: Pedagogical Suggestions
Prioritizing Participation
Robert Talbert
Natalie’s
Recommendation
The subtitle of this post is “three ways to elicit great participation without grading it.” I find that these practices can help make participation meaningful, even if you do end up assigning a participation grade. As a teaching assistant, these principles help me connect participation to course learning objectives so students see active engagement as a tool for learning, not a rote exercise.
One of the secrets of teaching is that we cannot make students do things, with or without grades. We can only give them things that they will want to do and then clear any obstacles in the way of doing them. So it's not about "getting students to participate" but setting up a class environment where active participation is a more attractive choice than the alternatives. Here are three concrete ideas for doing this.