Before the course

Be transparent with participation expectations

Because some students don’t know what participation entails, it is essential to be transparent about why participation is useful and what “counts” as participation (Gillis, 2019). The Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TiLT) Higher Education Project website can provide a structure when developing a course using these three components: purpose, tasks, and success criteria. 

• Purpose: Emphasize that participation promotes learning and relates directly to your overall course objective (e.g., To recognize and articulate the benefits of building participation skills (e.g., preparation, communication, contribution, etc.).
• Tasks: If students are graded or evaluated on their participation in the course, outline these explicit expectations in your syllabus. Clarify how you will assess participation and provide feedback on their progress throughout the semester/session. 
• Success: Share specific examples of how students can successfully meet participation expectations.

Decide what counts as participation.

In one example, Gillis (2019) characterizes participation in these five dimensions important to the course:

• Attendance and timeliness
• Preparation for class meetings (or synchronous sessions)
• Participation in small group work 
• Participation in full-class discussions, and
• Participation in other ways (e.g., attending student (office) hours, using the writing and media center or the academic success center, peer editing papers, or talking about course content with students outside of class).

For each dimension, the instructor articulates multiple aspects of participation within that category for each course modality (face-to-face, hybrid, online – synchronous and asynchronous). A few examples:

• Face-to-face or synchronous class categories may include evidence of preparation, active and inclusive engagement, the initiative in asking questions, application of readings in responses, and synthesizing or prompting classmates’ comments (Lathrop, 2006). (For ideas, review the Synchronous Strategies page).
• In online discussions, the most common rubric criteria are cognitive (e.g., use of critical thinking and problem-solving capacities), mechanical (e.g., clarity of language and use of citations), procedural (e.g., timeliness of posts), and interactive (e.g., synthesizing or prompting classmates’ posts) (Penny & Murphy, 2009). (For ideas, review the discussions page).

Example syllabus language: Expectations for Course Participation 

All of us in the class, you, me, and your peers, are responsible for creating an environment where we can all learn from each other. I expect everyone to participate in class so we can all benefit from each person’s unique insights and experiences. Successful participation includes evidence of preparation, active and inclusive engagement, the initiative in asking questions, application of readings in responses, and synthesizing or prompting classmates’ comments during class discussion/lectures:

Student to Student:

• You collaborate with your peers, fulfilling your duties and exceeding your partner’s expectations.
• You work together during in-class collaborative activities. You actively contribute new ideas or refine what you originally proposed.
• You attend class.
• You use your device (if you are using one) responsibly and do not use it to complete other non-course-related tasks (i.e., sending emails, using social media, etc.).

Student to Content:

• You complete all of the readings for the week before coming to class.
• You share something in our in-class discussions.
• You introduce a new idea into our class discussions.

Student to Professor:

• You meet with me during student office hours.
• You send me an email asking a clarifying question about the course or ask for my feedback about an idea.
• You send me an article that you found that directly relates to what we discuss in class.

Student to Self:

• You reflect deeply in your journal entries by responding to the provided prompts.
• You make connections between this course and your other courses, internship, career, etc.