Quick Fix: Using a Self-Assessment Participation Rubric to Support Classroom Engagement

Research into the uses of personal response systems or ‘clickers’ shows that their use increases students’ engagement levels in the classroom. In South Africa, clicker usage is still in its infancy, with little research published in the field. This study reports on 37 Graphic Design students’ perceptions of the use of clickers and their engagement levels (attention, participation, and active class discussion) in small clicker classes. Clickers were introduced in three interventions in the third term of the 2010 academic year in an attempt to improve students’ participation in class discussions. The devices were used for individual and peer voting. Peer and class discussion either preceded or followed the voting process. The study employed a mixed method research design. Data was collected through open-ended student questionnaires, clicker questions during classes, and one focus group discussion. Drawing on cooperative learning theory, this paper discusses student engagement on three levels. Firstly, clickers seize students’ attention through the simplicity, novelty factor, and fun element they bring to class. Secondly, they encourage student participation through the anonymity they offer, which is especially important when the language of learning and teaching is not the students’ first language. Thirdly and most importantly, clickers encourage peer discussion. Students reported that by being confronted with opposing points of views, which lead to uncertainty or conceptual conflicts, they were propelled to re-conceptualise their own arguments, which then in turn led to more refined and thoughtful conclusions. This resonates with the central tenet of Johnson, Johnson, and Smith’s Controversy Theory (1998), which advocates the benefits of cooperative student learning. Students reported that peer discussions improved their confidence to participate in the class discussions.

Generally regarded as important ways for students to engage in class, class discussion and class participation are placed at the heart of the class. This paper aimed to determine the correlation between the class discussion and class participation in universities. Convenience and purposive sampling of 105 undergraduates have completed the survey of this correlational study. As for the study design, the cross-sectional design was chosen because this research only has one contact with study population. Descriptive and inferential statistics have be used in this study to provide in-depth data analysis. According to this study, most of the students responded “agree” to class discussion and participation, interpreted as “good”. Findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between class discussion and class participation, in which it demonstrated that students who engaged in class discussion are more likely to promote their participation in class. Finally, this paper gave related recommendations to the faculties.

Aims: To identify the mediating effect of reading strategy in the relationship between writing competency and student participation in Filipino class.
 Study Design: Quantitative non-experimental design.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted among Senior High School Students of Cor Jesu College, Inc., Digos City, Davao del Sur during the school year 2022-2023.
 Methodology: The respondents were 310 Senior High School students which were chosen using stratified random sampling. Mean, Pearson r, linear regression, and path analysis were the statistical tools used in the study. Moreover, the data were collected through a survey questionnaire.
 Results: Results revealed that the level of students’ writing competency is high. Also, the level of students’ participation in Filipino class and the mediating variable, which is the reading strategy are high. It shows that writing competency and the student’s participation in class have a significant relationship. Furthermore, writing competency and reading strategy, as well as reading strategy and student participation in class have a significant relationship. Therefore, the results show a partial mediation that happened in this study.
 Conclusion: It can be concluded that writing competency had a significant effect on students' participation in class, but with the help of a reading strategy, the significant relationship between the two variables mentioned was reduced. In short, the reading strategy helps to reduce the negative effect of writing competency on students' participation in Filipino class.

Though class participation and group cohesion have shown some potential to promote student performance in conventional classrooms, their efficacy has not yet been demonstrated in an online-class setting. Group cohesion, defined as member attraction to and self-identification with a group, is thought to promote positive interdependence and the success of the group’s members. The current study sought to determine if group cohesion is significantly affected by the change of course setting from a live classroom to an asynchronous online-hybrid class in which students met in person only for course exams and otherwise interacted with each other through an online discussion board. Because peer interaction appears vital for the development of cohesion, we examined the relationship between participation in class discussion and students’ self-reported group cohesion and exam performance. With one exception, course requirements and materials were identical between the two class sections: students in the online-hybrid course completed homework assignments, whereas students in the live section were simply encouraged to do the same. Despite the advantage conferred by mandatory homework assignments, the findings heavily favored the conventional live classroom with respect to exam performance and self-reported group cohesion. Participation in class discussion was high in both class sections. The results indicated that both student performance and group cohesion were significantly lower in the hybrid classes.

Active learning, a common practice in higher education, has been shown to promote higher order thinking and skills. Class discussions have been chosen to be the medium to incorporate active learning in schools‘ curriculum. However, the rate of class participation could be low for certain courses. Literature has shown that the fear of negative evaluation from peers is the most common reason as to why students choose not to partake in class discussions. Anonymity via clickers or applications such as Kahoot! has shown to be useful in reducing students’ anxiety and increasing class participations. However, this is not a viable method to employ if vocal discussion is required for the course. Here, partial anonymity (voice only), Speak Your Mind, was applied into an environmental chemistry course with 20 students in the National University of Singapore (NUS) to study its correlation with students‘ anxiety and class participation. Participants survey results suggested that a reason for not participating in class discussions was the fear of being judged by their peers. Remote learning was conducted due to COVID-19 and partial anonymity was obtained by a proxy application: Clubhouse. This application allowed students to partake in a podium discussion while maintaining psychological safety via partial anonymity. Participants survey responses indicated that partial anonymity reduced their anxiety (Cohen’s d = 0.58) and slightly increased their self-reported class participation rate (Cohen’s d = 0.21); it was noted that partial anonymity did not have much effect on their fears of being judged if they provided the wrong answer (Cohen’s d = 0.11).

Class discussion is a frequently used pedagogy, and prior research indicates that preparation for and frequency of participation in class discussion are positively and statistically significantly related to students’ comfort participating, and comfort participating is positively related to learning. In this study, 246 sophomore management accounting students responded to a survey containing open questions concerning their perceptions about class discussion. This study extends previous literature by examining students’ perceptions of the relationship between their class participation and their learning. It also examines students’ perceptions of the relationships between their preparation and their class participation, and between their preparation and their comfort participating in class discussions. The results from the qualitative analysis indicate that a substantial majority of students perceive a positive relationship between their participation and their learning. In addition, five ways in which students see participation enhancing learning emerge from this study. Students report that class discussions enhance learning by increasing engagement, helping them retain and remember information, providing confirmation of what they have learned, providing clarification and deepening their understanding especially through hands-on and application-based learning. Further, one of the significant contributions of this analysis is not only the value of one’s own participation but the reported value of other students’ comments for learning. Even though not explicitly asked about the value of other students’ comments for their learning, students who both do and do not perceive that their participation positively affects their learning voluntarily discussed the value of other students’ comments for their learning. In addition, we show that a substantial majority of students perceive and report positive relationships between their own preparation and both their participation and their comfort participating. Key outcomes achieved by their preparation – such as increased confidence with the material, increased familiarity with the material, and increased knowledge/understanding – helps them to participate more and to be more comfortable when participating. Further, preparation increases not only the quantity but the quality of participation and not only the comfort but the confidence of the participant. Knowing that students understand the relationships between learning, class participation, preparation and comfort should encourage instructors to find ways to increase all students’ participation in and preparation for class discussions.

ABSTRACT: Class discussion is frequently used in accounting education. Prior research indicates that preparation for and frequency of participation in class discussion is positively related to students’ comfort participating. This study extends this literature by examining the relationship between class participation and learning. In this study, 323 sophomore business students enrolled in accounting courses and completed pre- and post-course surveys concerning their perceptions about class discussion; in addition, instructors provided students’ grades for our use in this study. Path model results indicate that preparation is positively related to frequency of participation, which, in turn, is positively related to students’ comfort participating in class discussion. Furthermore, students’ comfort participating in class discussion is positively related to learning. A practical implication of this finding on the learning-comfort relationship is that instructors’ efforts to foster student comfort with class discussion—especially efforts directed at increasing their preparation and participation frequency—should lead to increased student mastery of course content.

Class discussion, especially case discussion, is a frequently used active learning strategy in business and accounting education. Prior research suggests that students' self-reported comfort with class discussion is positively related to students' self-reported learning. Pre- and post-course surveys concerning student perceptions and behavior about class discussion in an introductory management accounting course were gathered from sophomore business students at a large, private research university, and objective grade data were gathered from instructors of the course. Data were gathered from fourteen sections of the course taught by six instructors in two consecutive fall semesters. The analysis revealed interesting relationships among participation frequency, preparation, comfort with class discussion and objective learning measures. Consistent with Dallimore, Hertenstein & Platt (2006) results for graduate students, this study found that undergraduate student comfort participating in class discussion was positively and significantly related to familiarity with, level of preparation for, and frequency of participation in, class discussion. Further, the analysis showed that student comfort with participating in class discussion was also significantly and positively related to the perceived value of other students' comments for a student's own learning and the extent to which the course affected a student's own oral communication skill development. In addition, overall student learning was positively and significantly related to comfort with one's own participation in class discussion and beginning GPA. This finding is an important extension of literature concerning learning, as objective measures of learning were used rather than student self-reported perceptions about learning which have typically been used in prior research. The finding on the relationship between learning and comfort participating in the discussion suggests that instructors' efforts to create classroom environments that foster student comfort with class discussion - especially those efforts directed at increasing students' level of preparation, and at increasing the number of students participating and the frequency of their participation - should lead to increased student mastery of the course content.

Only a few countries have introduced health education (HE) as a stand-alone school subject. In Finland every pupil in basic education grades 7-9 takes three obligatory courses in HE. This study investigated Finnish pupils' perceptions of the teaching and learning of HE. It also explored how school- and family-related background variables are associated with these perceptions. Nationally representative data were obtained from a 2010 school-based study on Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). A total of 4262 pupils from 7th and 9th grades (13 and 15 years old) responded anonymously to the questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associations between perceptions of HE and school- and family-related background variables. The majority of the pupils had positive perceptions of HE. In terms of their own learning, girls' perceptions were more positive than boys': 86% of 13- and 15-year-old girls agreed that HE classes had taught them to think about the advantages and disadvantages of various health behaviours, whereas only 79% of boys shared this opinion. School engagement had the strongest association with perceptions of HE: the more positive the attitudes towards school, the more positive were the perceptions of HE. Older girls perceived their learning and their participation in class discussions more positively than younger ones, and older boys were more critical of the teaching than younger ones. The pupils' educational aspirations were not associated with their perceptions of HE, and perceived family affluence was associated only with girls' perceptions of participation in HE classes. The pupils' feedback on HE was positive and encouraging. There is a demand for the subject in society, and HE seems to have the potential to augment young people's positive attitudes towards health issues, and to enhance their health literacy.

College and university students' verbal participation in larger classes (60 students or more) seems to be less than in smaller classes (Karp and Yoels 1976, p. 197; McKeachie 1986, p. 183). This impression fits with common sense and with the additional finding that large class size is an important reason why students choose not to participate (Karp and Yoels 1976, p. 200). Little research has been conducted on this matter, but there seem to be at least two reasons why students in large classes participate less: lack of sufficient incentives for students and the instructor's lack of ability to keep accurate track of participation. Increasing class size gradually raises anxiety about speaking before a larger audience, regardless of knowledge about the subject. Also some students are afraid to err and to seem unintelligent. Others may be afraid to seem too smart and to appear to be a nerd or a brain. If a sufficient incentive can be found, it may overcome this anxiety, even in large classes. As for the instructor, he or she may be able to keep track of participation by students in smaller classes where all members are known fairly soon by name, but in larger classes such knowledge of names tends to be slower in coming and to be spotty at best (especially in very large classes, 200 or more). Thus the accurate tracking of participation is difficult. Experts argue that students learn better when their learning is active and involves talking and interacting (Goldsmid and Wilson 1980, p. 293) and when they have more opportunities for feedback (McKeachie 1986, p. 27). Some of these experts suggest ways to obtain more participation in large classes. McKeachie (1986, p. 189) recommends the use of buzz groups (small-group discussion), problems posting (writing problems on the blackboard), and role playing. I have been using a technique that I have not seen mentioned in the literature and that I would like to share. Students make brief notes of their class participation each class day, turn them in at the end of class, and receive class participation credit for each acceptable item up to three per session. This is an incentive system that encourages more participation. The approach is significant in dealing effectively, simply, and efficiently with a widespread problem: poor participation by students in classes of 60 or more. This technique encourages better students to exert more effort in class participation than they would otherwise, drawing on their desire to earn a good grade. The methodology of this paper is simple observation, primarily qualitative but occasionally quantitative. I felt the need for a technique of encouraging and keeping track of participation in classes of 70-odd students. I have experimented with this technique for several years and have compared classes in the same course and of the same size with and without the technique to judge its impact.

cided that they can provide education on the cheap in sociology and other social science departments by stuffing more students into our classrooms without any increase in budgeting for faculty (for discussions of mass classes by faculty members representing various social sciences, see Benjamin 1991; Jenkins 1991; McGee 1986; Schwartz 1991). It is unclear whether large classes (defined by Benjamin 1991 as consisting of 100 or more students) are inferior to smaller ones in terms of learning achievement. Colleagues around the country and in my department, however, often lament the difficulty of getting to know students' backgrounds, encouraging participation (Smith 1992), and holding meaningful discussions; the depersonalized nature of teaching (Adler 1993; Benjamin 1991); and passive learning patterns (Hamlin and Janssen 1987) in mass classes. Sociologists thus find themselves in an ironic position. We deal with subject matter that is inherently interesting and relevant to students; yet we may be robbed of the ability to communicate this because many of our classes are so large. We know that class participation and discussion are beneficial in all sociology courses, but often we are unsure how to deliver this benefit in mass classes, where students appear to be apathetic and unmotivated. As a solution, Smith (1992) suggests (although this activity may be unpopular) that students in large classes make brief notes of their participation in each class, turn them in at the end of a session, and thus gain credit for participation. Day (1994) recommends that we should focus on requiring attendance, and to a lesser extent, on keeping sociological writing journals (see McKeachie 1986 for other techniques). A peculiar set of circumstances in one of my recent mass classes has led me to focus on students themselves as sources of knowledge to illustrate concepts and to enliven class discussions. On the basis of this experience, I believe the exercise described here will personalize substantive concepts in a way which is relevant to students and which will involve them in class discussion. This exercise is an addition to other tech-

The growing interest in gender issues, relationships, family constructs etc can be seen in academia and elsewhere. The power of literary texts, plays, films and dramas in the formation and perception of women’s images is immense. These perceptions change with time and ideology. Change in ideology, always mark a paradigm shift in the way we understand and interpret social, economic and political agendas. The introduction of Marxist ideology in a society is an example. Even though Education is most important to pursue the objective of women’s empowerment, gender imbalance that prevails at various levels of schooling has been a hampering factor. Besides enrollment, gender disparity manifests in areas of class participation and achievement in primary education institutions. In Ethiopia, even if through several interventions, the enrollment of female students at various levels of schooling has dramatically been increased, questions like in class participation and achievement remain unanswered. This piece of writing, while investigating the issues of representation vs. participation has an objective of assessing why female students’ participation in class is low compared to male counterparts. Applying feminist qualitative research, this study identified that shyness, language proficiency, family background, instructor’s affiliation to active students, environment, and lack of value attached to participation in class were having impacts on female students participation in class. In contrast, representation in class compared to male counterpart was not a decisive factor. And the researcher concludes that, unless otherwise interventions to enhance females’ education in Ethiopia further investigate the issues of in class participation and achievement, the so far efforts have been only tip of the iceberg especially at Waja Kero primary school in rural Ethiopia. Waka Kero primary classroom has been regarded as male public space. This has affected the academic achievement of female students, which in turn is likely to influence negatively their social, economic and political visibilities. As such, females’ participation in the classroom activities becomes an inviting topic to be explored. The current study, thereby, aimed to unveil the reasons of highly inhibited and highly exuberant female students in the classroom. In so doing, observations and interviews were carried out on students studying at the primary school of Waja Kero. The findings revealed that inhibition, depreciation of participation, devaluation of speech in mixed environment, and peers’ negative comments were the main factors hindering female students’ participation. Factors that have been rated as strong promoters of participation, however, were: positive perception of participation, modern thinking, well-rounded knowledge about the topic, the type of topic studied, accessible teachers, and learner-centered approach. Keywords: Wajakero, classroom participation, female students, factors, less participation DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-5-03 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

Social support and stress have previously been found to be predictors of health among students. In this study, we investigated whether methods of teaching and class participation were related to social support and stress via questionnaire responses from 947 Norwegian adolescents aged 13-15. Linear associations between the variables were assessed in univariate and multivariate analyses of covariance. Highly significant overall effects were found with the amounts of group work, class discussions, and verbal activity. Borderline significant effect was also seen in relation to the amount of independent work. An increasing amount of group work increased the perception of social support from teachers and peers, but showed no significant association with stress. Increasing amounts of class discussions were significantly related to increasing perception of social support, in particular among boys. Class discussions also seemed to reduce the experience of stress, although somewhat inconsistently. Increasing amounts of independent work increased stress, but also increased the perception of social support from peers among boys. No significant associations with traditional teacher instruction were found. Verbal activity was strongly related both to increasing perception of social support and decreasing experiences of stress. In view of the present results, participatory learning activities may promote health by preventing stress experience and promoting social relationships.

Handling students in a big class (above fifty students) often triggers many problems. One major problem is regarding active participation of students in the class. In a big class, the participation level of students is often low since the class is usually dominated only by dominant students. As educators, we all want full participation of all students in our class. A study is conducted to solve the problem of student participation in a big class. One thing a teacher can do is to design the class in such a way that the students have an opportunity to develop his or her full participation. Qualitative research in Marketing Management class in University is being done to observe whether a particular classroom management design can activate student participation. This classroom management design is made to enable students experiencing a real work atmosphere where productivity and social skills (which influence student participation in the class) are needed. According to education experts, traditional classroom management is not sufficient to develop productivity and social skills. Therefore a structured management system is applied in managing the research class. In addition, an entrepreneurial profile (desire for responsibility) for each student is collected to decide which student fits to become a group coordinator. The result of the research reveals that students can play the role of coordinators (upper management); they can actively participate in the class and communicate with the lecturer, as well as with the other students who are not coordinators. The students are proven to actively communicate based on the hierarchy which is purposively created by the lecturer.

Walking the Walk