When Class Participation is Low – Professor LS Murty

Abstract

Lack of preparation and poor class participation from students are unacceptable. Students need to come prepared for a good, healthy participation in class discussion and learning. In this video, Professor LS Murty speaks from experience and tells educators his own approach to dealing with poor class participation in discussions.

The common approaches to improve class participation levels are (i) providing students preparatory materials well in advance so they can prepare for class, and identifying specific chapters/sections in a book, (ii) providing students some questions to prepare for class discussion, so that they know where to focus and direction, (iii) having some component of evaluation for class participation, (iv) cold calling, and (v) dividing the class into groups for making presentations – the team will come prepared.

After discussing the common approaches practiced and the downsides associated with a few of those, Professor Murty proceeds to tell educators about the approaches that worked for him. He says (i) a negative response to a wrong response from students will make the other students who notice it also to go silent. If a student gives a wrong answer, analyze and discuss why it’s wrong, but do not be dismissive about it. A teacher’s own nature/behavior, like being sarcastic, could also lead to low participation in class discussion. Recognition and rewarding/encouraging class participation goes a long way; (ii) holding an open house during class or after class or meeting students outside to discuss why their participation is so low in class might help teachers understand the cause of it and they can work specifically on that; however, note that sometimes, the true causes are not related to the course nor the teacher but to some other factors that can be resolved only at the institutional/systemic level; (iii) a Quality Assurance Group (QAG) formed by volunteers from the class can be helpful. They could help find out the concerns students have regarding the class. Teachers could make it clear that anyone in the class could approach the teacher directly, if they so wish (not necessarily through QAG), with their thoughts and ideas.