<p>In high school, participation factored into our overall grade, in terms of like speaking in class discussions and stuff. it was more student-oriented. do they have that in college, or is it more lecture-like? or does it depend on what college you go to?</p>
<p>It definitely depends on the rigor of the class and of the college. Take a look at some course websites that professors have made, and they’ll post the way students are graded.</p>
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<p>If you find any tell us, so we can avoid them…</p>
<p>In college, professors each make their own grading standards. Some count class participation, some don’t.</p>
<p>All of mine do. Its like 15% of our grade. The same goes with missing classes. Miss 6 and you drop a letter grade.</p>
<p>It varies. At my college, certain types of classes - history, political science, sociology, etc. - have both lectures and discussion sections. Usually in the lectures you sit and listen to the professor talk, and then you meet with smaller groups for the discussion sections and, well, discuss. The participation grade varies by professor, though. For example, one professor I had once cancelled discussion sections for the whole quarter because his style of lectures invited student participation, so he thought separate discussion sections were pointless. Other classes have discussion sections, but they’re optional. And then there are the professors who make discussion sections mandatory, take attendance, and expect you to actively participate to get full credit. Some professors like you to go to their office hours, and that can factor into the participation grade. Like I said, it varies by the type of the class and the professor. </p>
<p>Most professors I know don’t take attendance for the lectures, but if you get a bad grade and then go to them and whine about it, they’re less likely to be lenient if they don’t recognize your face from the lectures.</p>
<p>I had a history class last quarter with a 20% participation grade. I’m not sure exactly how much was expected, but I doubt it was too onerous. I didn’t participate that much in discussions during section, but I did participate in group discussions enough that the TA could see I had generally done all the reading. I also did all of the small assignments he gave. Even without adding a whole lot I was able to get an A in the class. That being said, I never saw my participation grade specifically and I generally got very high grades on the essays.</p>
<p>I also had a math and symbolic logic class, and neither had participation grades. Most people did not show up to the TA-led discussions.</p>
<p>The majority of classes at large schools do not. In lectures with more than 100 students, there will never be a participation grade. But I’ve taken one class where participation was 20% of the grade and another where attendance was 15%. Language classes often seem to have large participation grades. </p>
<p>However I would imagine at smaller schools with smaller classes there would be more participation grades.</p>
<p>At my school, if the lectures are huge you likely have a discussion section where participation is graded. If it’s a smaller lecture, participation is graded.</p>
<p>So it’s sort of both I guess. I’d say my school is fairly large. :P</p>
<p>It depends. Last semester 3 of my classes had participation factored into our grades…for one of them it was 25%!</p>
<p>In my previous college, most of classes didn’t have a participation grade. This year, at my transfer school, all of my classes had participation with the exception of one.</p>
<p>if i were to major in the sciences rather than subjects like english, do you guys still think that participation’s going to matter?</p>
<p>One of my classes this semester is a large lecture class that uses clickers to assess participation. The instructors can ask simple multiple choice questions during lecture, and then students press a button corresponding to the correct answer on their clickers. That way, professors can make sure everyone’s coming to class and following along. Otherwise, I haven’t encountered a participation requirement in a large lecture class.</p>
<p>Also, there are different forms of participation that are taken into account. Obviously, if you’re taking a seminar, the dominant form will be speaking up in class. But sometimes instructors ask people to post short written responses online, which counts as a form of participation. There is also attendance itself and being prepared, even if you don’t speak much.</p>
<p>In my experience, participation grades tend to have a range of 10-20%. Last semester, I had a class where participation was 30%, and this semester I’m signed up for a class where participation is 40%. Both of the classes are seminar-style, though.</p>
<p>Another vote for “it depends.” College classes typically only grade participation if participation is a vital aspect of the class, e.g. in seminars. Lecture classes will not grade you on participation because there is no expectation that you will actively participate.</p>
<p>As for science classes: Only one of my classes had an explicit participation component. However, professors are generally more willing to bump your grade up a little for effort - participating in class, attending office hours, etc. Maybe enough to make a difference between a B+ and an A-.</p>
<p>At Carleton, 5 out of my 6 classes have counted participation (including my computer science class), and I expect it’s the norm for liberal arts schools. Most profs do care about in-class participation, which is sometimes a pain for me because I’m more of an introvert and I’m not one of those kids who can make up a tangential, vaguely brilliant-sounding 10-minute speech off the top of my head (can such a skill be taught? I wish…it would come in handy). </p>
<p>That said, most of the profs made it very clear that participation grades were mostly used to fix borderline-grade scenarios–so a student with an 89.4% average might get bumped up to an A- if the professor can find proof that she/he was engaged in class, while a student with the same percentage grade but zero participation might get the B+.</p>
<p>I’m a science major, and my science classes required as much participation as my non science classes.</p>
<p>Dude, i HATE participation grades. I find it insulting, esp when I go to every lecture anyways. The same with those annoying weekly quizzes, which more or less forces you to come. My school has those clickers question things. It has 5 options and you click the letter of the correct answer. There’s a general consensus that everyone hates it! Its annoying and prof, use it to force you to pay attention and collect attendance.</p>
<p>I also find participation annoying. I’m paying for college, I can make the decision of whether or not to go to class. If your lecture is so useless that nobody comes without forcing them there with attendance, then you’re doing something wrong. If people fail because they’re not going to class, they’re adults, and if they’re capable of passing college, they’ll change their behavior.</p>
<p>I feel rude going to a class I don’t want to, because I have to sign a sheet or have my name checked off, and falling asleep or not paying attention. But hey, I would choose to not be there if 25% of my grade didn’t matter on my body being there.</p>
<p>If participation is used for borderline grades, thats all good, but I think its annoying in most instances.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the rigor of your school and your professor. The professor has the power obviously to decide whether or not he wants to allow a participation grade. It usually also depends on what your learning as well. For a Communications/Speech class you would most likely have a participation class compared to a Calc. class…</p>
<p>I’ve not seen participation directly, but Physics 140 classes at Michigan ask questions in lecture, you get a certain number of points for answering (showing that you were there), and a certain number more for getting it right.</p>