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Assessing Class Participation


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Assessing class participation to encourage and develop student engagement in learning activities is sometimes used in the Higher Education Sector. 


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This might include involvement in face-to-face activities such as seminars, discussions, debates, group work activities, experiments, simulations or placements. 


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Participation in online activities such as discussions in chatroom, posting on bulletin boards, online forum or webinars could also be taken into account.


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 The aim is to identify characteristics that ‘effective’ learners are expected to exhibit [such as preparation, participation, collaboration, etc.] and emphasise their value. 


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Assessing participation indicates to learners the behaviours and attitudes that are seen as important. 


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By assessing involvement in a group activity, for example, students will be given the signal that the process of undertaking the task is important, not just a final outcome or product.


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It might be beneficial to consider these questions during the design process:


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- which of the module intended learning outcomes will be assessed through participation?


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- which of Bloom’s Taxonomy related verbs (such as analyse, evaluate or create) found in the intended learning outcomes will this assessment focus on?


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- what sort of behaviours are desirable in the learning contexts? 


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For example: speaking, listening, making a contribution online, being part of a team, leading a team, taking a part in a role play or completing a particular ‘hands-on’ activity in a laboratory? 


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- Can all of these behaviours be observed or can evidence for them having taken place be obtained?


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- is it necessary to distinguish the quantity of participation from the quality of participation? 


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For example, whether it is desirable that students should ask questions (and perhaps the more the better) or is there concern for the type of question asked and whether they support higher order thinking in line with the intended learning outcomes


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- how will meaningful feedback (judgemental) and feed-forward (developmental) opinion be given during the class?


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- if the participation in group work is to be assessed then it may only be possible through the use of self- or peer-assessment; how will this be implemented?


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Further guidance on the design and scoring of assessed class participation activities can be found on this page, in addition to some useful resources to support your consideration.