Contributing Constructively to Class Activities and Discussions
You should make your expectations for classroom participation
clear and explicit, both in your syllabus and on the first day
of class. Help students understand that attendance and participation
are two distinct requirements, and specify the difference between
simply sitting with peers and engaging fully in peer review or
talking in class and contributing to class discussion. All students
should participate energetically in class activities and contribute
to class discussion, on a regular basis, with insightful comments
and powerful questions. Sometimes, a few students begin to dominate
the class; others can behave in disruptive ways, for instance
keeping their group from focusing on the task at hand. To deal
with discussion-dominating students, you might begin by calling
on other students to speak or by asking the persistently talkative
student to hold comments for a while. To deal with students who
undermine their small group, you may need to sit in with the
group for a while. Students in the class will often help out
with balancing the discussion, as they will with monitoring and
controlling the behavior of potentially disruptive students.
If a student is disrespectful or disruptive, however, you should
speak to the student in conference as soon as possible and, in
addition, bring this behavior to the attention of the PWR Associate
Director or Director, who will help you to develop a series of
strategies for dealing with such behavior.
