I really haven't found just making class participation part of the grade to
be a good incentive. The students just don't talk because they have been
trained not to talk. What I have done to help the process is give the
students guidance (as well as a grade). In my history class, I give them
all of the essay questions that could be on the test in the syllabus. That
is what we go over. It gives them structure when they are reading the
books. In my senior seminar course, the students are required to write up a
short summary of the debate that is being presented (so they will know what
is going on). I have found that showing the student how to be prepared
works quite well. In class, I will give them choices (is it this or this?)
and I make sure not to make them feel stupid if they say something absurdly
wrong. There are times that the the students don't talk. So, I wait.
Painful, long minutes of me staring at them and them staring at me (the
longest period of time was 10 minutes of utter silence). Finally, someone
says something. I have now made it part of my History syllabus that, if
people are not prepared and we wait longer than 5 minutes, then they learn
it on their own - class is done for the day, goodbye. If I must do this, I
only do that once and they will be prepared for the rest of the semester.
You might also consider giving a midterm participation grade - so they are
aware of where they are at. Their definition of participating may not be
the same as yours.
Oh, and BTW, I really have not found that the best students are the only
ones that participate. I think some of my students who don't do as well on
exams actively participate just to bring their grade up. Other students who
make straight A's on their exams get very upset when I tell them their A is
in jeopardy because they haven't made a peep all semester and have flat out
told me they don't think it is fair to grade them in that way.
At 02:24 PM 2/22/01 -0500, Stephen Smith wrote:
> >>> Louis_Schmier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 02/22/01 14:13 PM >>>
>I have found, with very rare exceptions, that having an open and honest
>discussion with them about your concerns and in which you listen to their
>concerns usually gets interesting results.
>*******************
>
>If the humanistic approach doesn't get results, you might try a behavioral
>approach. Make class participation a significant component of the overall
>grade.
>
>--Steve
Deb
Dr. Deborah S. Briihl
Dept. of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
(229) 333-5994
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dbriihl/
Well I know these voices must be my soul...
Rhyme and Reason - DMB
