Untitled 0

ENGL 622.01 (12213): Medieval Women’s Writing [Seminar] (3.0 credits)

Fall 2011 Class Participation Guidelines

Go here for Syllabus and Course Policies; for Calendar, go here
T 6:30-9:15 PM, Owens 209
Dr. Jo Koster

228 Bancroft, 323-4557

kosterj@winthrop.edu
http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj
Office hours: MW 4-5:30, online irregularly, and gladly by appointment

Class participation in a seminar class, especially a smaller seminar class, is vital. By engaging with the texts, secondary criticism, and most importantly each other, you develop your scholarly abilities to form and support arguments, interpret texts, and apply critical theory to your work. Thus, it's not possible to be a "passenger" in a seminar and still succeed. Even if you are a quiet, reserved person, it is essential that you participate in the collaborative work of the seminar in an active manner. Otherwise, you are not fully engaging in this intellectual experience.

Class participation in graduate seminars is not an exact, quantifiable number, because a lot determines on the dynamics of the individual class and students, the room and equipment, the time of day the class is offered, and so on and so forth. Nonetheless, over the years I have identified some characteristics that are most likely to determine your class participation grade. Here are those characteristics. Please note, too, the provision on the syllabus that adjusts your final grade in the course for a certain number of absences; that counts off your total grade, not your class participation grade. Since we now have the option of plus/minus grades, I will be able to apply this rubric in a more nuanced fashion, but this is the general way I look at matters.

A: 95

This student demonstrated leadership. S/he sought out secondary criticism that opened up the discussion and used it as a basis to form his/her own informed critical opinions. S/he regularly contributed voluntarily to class discussions and those contributions were positive and valuable. S/he went beyond the obvious in those comments. S/he listened closely to what her/his classmates and instructor said and took thorough, useful notes. S/he demonstrated self-respect and respect for her/his classmates by always arriving on time, always preparing the assigned material, completing (and printing out and proofreading) assignments before class began, and in general conducting him/herself in a way that benefited the class’s ability to learn.

B: 85

This student demonstrated leadership potential. S/he sometimes contributed voluntarily to class discussions and those contributions were usually positive and valuable. S/he usually went beyond the obvious in those comments. If assigned, s/he sought out secondary criticism and brought some aspects of it to bear on his/her class participation and the development of his/her critical stance. S/he usually listened to classmates and the instructor, but sometimes gave the impression of being more a listener than a discussant. S/he usually took fairly thorough and useful notes. S/he demonstrated self-respect and respect for her/his classmates by usually arriving on time, usually preparing the assigned material, completing (and printing out and proofreading) assignments before class began, and in general conducting him/herself in a way that benefited the class’s ability to learn.

C: 75

This student was a classic "good soldier" but mostly a silent partner in the seminar. S/he occasionally contributed to class discussions voluntarily, but mostly contributed only when called on. Those contributions sometimes were positive and valuable. He/She was content to let others carry the discussion most of the time. This student did not appear to seek out secondary criticism to enrich his/her understanding or to use it in developing his/her critical stance in the class. S/he demonstrated self-respect and respect for her/his classmates by mostly arriving on time, mostly preparing the assigned material, completing (and printing out and proofreading) assignments before class began, and in general conducting him/herself in a way that benefited the class’s ability to learn.

F: 65

This student was biologically present but intellectually absent. S/he almost always had to be called on to contribute. Contributions rarely moved byond the obvious. S/he rarely took part in class discussions. S/he did not contribute to helping his/her classmates learn more effectively. S/he may have demonstrated a lack of self-respect and respect for her/his classmates by one or more of the following: arriving late, not preparing the assigned material, forgetting materials, completing (and printing out and proofreading) assignments after class began, interrupting others, or in general conducting him/herself in a way that hindered the class’s ability to learn or caused distractions. .