Evidence of Engagement with Class Material

Dr. Susan Spangler, Instructor

In the past, I had required my methods students to post their reading responses (as I'm having you do), and the students printed them off and included them in their portfolios.  That's where their responsibilities to class discussion ended, however, and as an instructor who values active participation (and students' doing their work), I felt that this was not enough--both to credit the students who speak up in class and to compel students to do their work.

I know that getting students to do the reading and to participate in class is a big issue for a lot of you, too, or soon will be.  I refuse to take the pedagogically unsound method of quizzing you to make sure you read the assignment, and that's why you're responding in writing to the reading.  I also want to encourage you to speak up in class, though I know that some of you are "shy" or that your preferred method of processing information is to listen, and I want to validate and encourage that.  But I also want you to get out of your comfort zone once in a while, which means speaking up (for those who are usually silent) or being quiet (for those who process information by talking) occasionally.

What I've come up with as a compromise between giving points for participation (which I really don't believe in) and quizzes over the reading material (which I'm REALLY opposed to) is to put the responsibility back on you to "prove" that you have been engaged in the class material.  There are a number of ways to do that, and I encourage you to think of ways not listed below:

You could include in the portfolio:
your reading responses
your responses to other people's postings throughout the semester
the notes you've taken during individual class discussions (to "prove" you were paying attention, though quiet)
a "reflection" on individual class discussions, commenting on points you specifically made that day or on points others made that made you think
reading responses which refer to specific class discussions (highlighted)
activities we've done in class, like writing activities
a record of your attendance in some way (perhaps in an intro to this section)
some reflection on your group work and your role in the group

This section of your portfolio should include an introduction that helps the reader (me) make sense of the evidence you’ve included and that helps convince me of your vigorous participation.  Click here to see several sample introductions.

Questions?  Please raise them in class so that all may benefit from a clarification.