<p>I am very excited to attend the University of Chicago but lately I've been getting really nervous. Is it very important to say one's opinions during class? I chose UChicago because I love to learn and there are many interesting people there with interesting opinions. Now, I'm looking at it and thinking that maybe if I don't have an opinion on a certain issue, it will be frowned upon. Please let me know what your impression on the school is.</p>
<p>Hey....it's your opinion not to have any opinion on certain things....you won't always be "fo sho" on everything, just try to speak your mind when you do know what you think</p>
<p>It's all a part of the ChiTown learning process.</p>
<p>For instance, I have an opinion about Esquared. :D</p>
<p>And he doesn't hesitate to express that opinion.</p>
<p>Neverborn, however, is somewhat stand off-ish about homosexuality becuase he's a regular participant.</p>
<p>And hey, that's OK...we respect his right to remain silent.</p>
<p>I actually laughed at an Esquared post. X_X</p>
<p>I have, in fact, never participated in that activity. :-/ @ u.</p>
<p>Laughing?</p>
<p>Well, Satan must be wearing ice skates now.</p>
<p>LMFAO x 10</p>
<p>well, i just sat in on a bio and an upper-level linguistics class. the linguistics class only had six people, and it was more of a discussion with the prof at the head providing new information. the students told her what they did and didn't understand, and she worked with that. the bio class was more of a traditional lecture, but the students asked a lot of questions that showed they were paying attention. i didn't go to a humanities class, so i don't know how much opinion is involved in those classes, but that was the extent of my interaction with... well... interaction. you'll be fine... :}</p>
<p>When I visited (and I loved it so much that I'm going again next week!!!) I sat in on a math and one econ class. The math class had very few people, which pleasantly surprised me, and it was very much like koinonia's experience with the linguistics class.... he presented information, and you could ask questions, point things out, or explore something else with the professor as often as you wished. The econ class was larger, but the same atmosphere was there, and several times during the lecture the professor would engage the students in a discussion about why the model was created the way it was - but, what is important to highlight, is that participation didn't seem to be "required".... the only course I heard which seems to do that is honors calc, where random people are called up to do a proof.... yikes</p>
<p>Class participation is often part of the final grade, ranging from 20 to 30%.</p>
<p>15% of the grade in the language class I am taking. . . This includes coming in prepared and not sleeping. :)</p>
<p>Actually, the students are quite attentive in class, but this is probably partially due to the fact that the prof is a tough grader.</p>
<p>Felipecocco:
Did you get a chalkboard mumbler? I sat in on a math class last spring, and the guy (a grad student from a foerign country) kept on mumbling and scribbling on the boards, pulling more and more down and eventually filling them all, which covered the four walls of the classroom.</p>
<p>I am still planning on becoming a math major, though. . .as of the current time. Things change for me every day.</p>
<p>My guy didn't mumble, but he sure knew how to fill up the boards!!! What I liked about him I guess is that he taught the class as if he himself didn't know the answers to the questions he posed, so that it made participating less intimidating.... I guess doing this could be conceived as mumbling, since he talked - and sometimes to himself - about how to solve that specific problem.</p>
<p>As an aside, a famous U of C professor, Benjamin Bloom, studied the problem solving behavior or successful scholars and students. He discovered that one of the characteristics of these individuals is that they tend to talk or think aloud while solving a problem. That is, they engage themselves in a dialogue as the problem is solved. Art Whimbey, while at Purdue, built upon this work and studied expert problem solvers across a range of disciplines and found not only did they "talk aloud," but that their self-dialogue had definable characteristics that could be taught to others in order to improve their problem solving skills.</p>
<p>The general consensus here seems to be that voicing one's opinion within classes is an essential part of a student's grade. I am an opinionated and inquisitive person, but I typically prefer to adopt the role as an observer within classes, unless I feel the need to declare my opinion of an issue or to ask a question. I feel that enforcing this does nothing more than force students to speak on a given topic for the sake of making themselves appear attentive and outspoken. Frankly, I have never received grades based on this for any classes during high school and, therefore, have no idea what I should expect. Do the majority of professors (of ANY field of study) actually grade students based on 'class participation'?</p>
<p>Excepting my computer science course this semester, all of my courses have 10-30% participation grades.</p>
<p>Participation seems quite important here, from what I have seen.</p>
<p>Actively participating in class is certainly helpful, but it's usually not absolutely essential. Most professors who say it's 10/20% don't actually give a specific grade for it. It's usually more of a swing factor in terms of grading. For example, take Someone who has two papers, one an A- and one a B+. If that student is usually actively (and usefully) participating in class they'll probably get the A-. If they've been silent all quarter, B+. It basically gives the professor another reason to believe that you have engaged the material and such.</p>
<p>Great. It's definitely good to know this ahead of time :-) . Thanks.</p>
<p>I havnt found it that important. It is helpful as Maroon8 said as a swing but unless it is specifically graded on it (like language class lector sessions) most teachers dont actually grade on it.</p>
<p>I figured it would be more like that.</p>