How Your Class Participation Grade is Determined

Class participation in WRIT 501 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. This is a new class, too, and I'm not sure how it will go, but 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 absences and tardiness; that counts off your total grade, not your class participation grade.

A

92

This student demonstrated leadership. 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. S/he regularly contributed voluntarily to class discussions and those contributions were positive and valuable. Her work demonstrated that she explored the web constantly, looking to develop a detailed sense of standards for effective, professional-looking and -functioning websites. S/he was an active listener and provided timely, thorough, and valuable feedback to fellow students. She started assignments and projects well ahead of due dates to get feedback from me and others on her work in progress and have time to make revisions and check that the work is perfect. S/he provided focused, positive, and constructive suggestions in peer reviews and in conferences. S/he listened closely to what her/his classmates and instructor said and took thorough, useful notes. S/he used workshop time productively and took responsibility for learning more about software than we covered in class, since there is no way we can cover everything—and since teaching yourself how to learn software well is a necessary ability in this time of rapidly changing technologies.

B
 

85

This student demonstrated leadership potential. 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. S/he usually contributed voluntarily to class discussions and those contributions were usually positive and valuable. Her work generally demonstrated that she explored the web frequently, looking to develop a detailed sense of standards for effective, professional-looking and -functioning websites. S/he mostly was an active listener and mostly provided timely, thorough, and valuable feedback to fellow students. She usually started assignments and projects well ahead of due dates to get feedback from me and others on her work in progress and have time to make revisions and check that the work is perfect. S/he mostly provided focused, positive, and constructive suggestions in peer reviews and in conferences. S/he usually listened to classmates and the instructor, but may have been more interested in hearing her/himself speak than others; S/he usually took fairly thorough and useful notes. S/he used workshop time productively and took responsibility for learning more about software than we covered in class, since there is no way we can cover everything—and since teaching yourself how to learn software well is a necessary ability in this time of rapidly changing technologies.

C
 

75

This student was the classic "good soldier." 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. S/he sometimes contributed to class discussions voluntarily, but more often when called on. Those contributions sometimes were positive and valuable. Her work demonstrated some evidence that she explored the web looking to develop a detailed sense of standards for effective, professional-looking and -functioning websites. Usually s/he sat quietly in discussions and provided some timely, thorough, and valuable feedback to fellow students. She mostly started assignments and projects well ahead of due dates to get feedback from me and others on her work in progress and have time to make revisions and check that the work is perfect. S/he provided some focused, positive, and constructive suggestions in peer reviews. S/he sometimes appeared not to be listening to classmates or the instructor and only sometimes took thorough and useful notes in class and conferences. S/he sometimes used workshop time productively and sometimes took responsibility for learning more about software than we covered in class, since there is no way we can cover everything—and since teaching yourself how to learn software well is a necessary ability in this time of rapidly changing technologies.

D
 

65

This student was marking time until the class ended. S/he demonstrated a lack of self-respect and respect for her/his classmates by arriving late, not preparing the assigned material, forgetting materials, completing (and printing out and proofreading) assignments after class began, and in general conducting him/herself in a way that hindered the class’s ability to learn. S/he almost always had to be called on to contribute. Contributions might or might not be valuable and positive. Her work only rarely demonstrated that she explored the web and had developed a detailed sense for herself of standards for effective, professional-looking and -functioning websites. She rarely started assignments and projects well ahead of due dates to get feedback from me and others on her work in progress and have time to make revisions and check that the work is perfect. S/he often seemed to "zone out" during other students’ oral presentations and did not provide timely, thorough, and valuable feedback to fellow students. S/he got off topic or wasted time during peer reviews. S/he gave indications of not paying attention to classmates or the instructor and rarely took notes of any kind. S/he wasted workshop time or did not take responsibility for learning more about software than we covered in class.

F
 

60

This student was biologically present but intellectually absent. S/he frequently arrived late, was unprepared, forgot his/her materials, or gave other signs that his/her classmates’ learning environment were not valuable to him/her. S/he rarely took part in class discussions. S/he played on the computer, texted, or read other materials instead of paying attention in class. Contributions, if offered, were frequently not valuable or positive. Her work demonstrated that she rarely explored the web and did not apply the principles she learned to her own work. She rarely started assignments and projects well ahead of due dates to get feedback from me and others on her work in progress and have time to make revisions and check that the work is perfect. S/he often did not pay attention during other students’ presentations, sometimes skipped peer reviews or failed to take them seriously, and did not contribute to helping his/her classmates learn more effectively. His/her presence was sometimes distracting to his/her classmates. S/he didn’t appear care what was going on around her/him and rarely took notes of any kind. S/he skipped scheduled appointments and conferences without notifying the instructor. S/he wasted workshop time or did not take responsibility for learning more about software than we covered in class.