This week, our reading diary discussion will focus on continuing our conversation about establishing norms and standards for our course. I’d like to focus our discussion around two questions: 1) What should constitute “Contribution” towards the Contribution score element of the course grade? 2) How should we arrange future reading diaries? I’ll post more detailed version of each of these prompts as a comment below for you to comment on.
You’ll need to log in to add comments. You should have received an email inviting you to create a login; if not, check your spam, and let me know if you didn’t get anything. The first time you log in, you’ll make a new password, and you can set your name to display as whatever you’d like people to call you in class. I encourage you to add an avatar image as well if you like. Once you’re logged in, read the comment prompts below, and click “Reply” below the comment (from me or from another student) that you’d like to respond to.
To earn credit for participating in this week’s reading diary, please post twice in the discussion below by Friday 1/31 at 5pm.
Prompt 1: What should count towards the “Contribution” grade?
I’ve flagged the two most obvious ways of earning a “Contribution” score in the syllabus: speaking in class, and posting on the course website. What other forms might contribution to the course take? What ways can people who feel hesitant to speak in front of the class contribute to our work together this semester? What forms of contribution to a course have you felt in the past may have gone unrecognized?
Along with posting on the course webpage and speaking to the class as a whole, participation can also come from smaller interactions. Since we often split up into smaller groups, people who may not feel as comfortable speaking in front of the entire class may be more comfortable speaking there. While that may not be as present, this can still contribute as much to the discussion.
Also for the small group, if we are supposed to report back to the class on our discussion, someone could take notes to help capture the major points that were made. This can help a lot since after a few minutes, it can be hard to remember what was said at the beginning of the conversation. It can also be difficult to translate a free flowing conversation into an understandable statement to the whole class, so a note taker could help greatly with that.
For outside of class, having conversations with other students about the material, especially parts which are more difficult to understand, is a form of participation. It is clear that helping another student understand something is useful to others, but even asking people questions about what you found confusing can help the other student better understand the material themselves.
Although it may also be initimidating, I believe that going over reading materials in office hours should also count. I have appreciated when professors bring forward in class something that we talked about one on one. I think that this sort of engagement encourages working through materials not only outside of class but with each other. Somtimes I’ve had really productive office hour sessions with one or 2 other students and the professor where we don’t necessarily even answer questions about the readings but get to know each other better and talk about the course generally.
Also bringing what we learn in class to events on campus should count! I love listening to speakers or participating in workshops where my mind starts making connections to my experiences as a student. Perhaps writing an informal email to Professor Farmer, summarizing your thoughts and reflections can be a suitable exercise.
I’ve found in other classes that a form of participation that often goes unnoticed is working with peers outside of class. In my experience, a large portion of learning in classes comes from the help of my peers outside of class meetings. This is a way for people who may not be as confident to speak in class to really have a strong impact on class discussions, in a less direct way.
I’ve been in classes in the past where throughout the semester, they anonymously submitted to the professor which classmate they felt was most helpful in learning the course material. Although this was never for a grade, it was a still a nice recognition of the influence that students can have on each other.
Though speaking in class I think is the most helpful way to contribute since it is in the moment and in front of everyone, for those who find it difficult to speak up I’ve had classes where the professor accepted emailed comments which he then brought up in the next class, either citing them or, if they wished, keeping them anonymous! However, I think the website is a simpler version of this, so I think the only reason email would be helpful to those who are hesitant to speak in class would be for comments that don’t fit in with the reading diary for the week (e.g. thoughts that have come up for previous readings.)
For me, I always feel most comfortable speaking in class when we are doing small group work or discussions, so I think that whether or not a student seems engaged and is participating when working in small groups should be one of the factors in the contribution grade. I also agree that working with or helping other students outside of class is an important form of participation, but these things are much less visible to be counted toward the contribution grade. I think that it would be helpful if, at the end of the semester, we could turn in a short reflection on how we feel we participated in and contributed to the course, including whether we spoke to other students outside of class, participated in group discussions, attended office hours, etc. That way we can be evaluated based on the less visible forms of contribution in the course.
I would agree that for me participation is most natural when you’re able to first discuss in small groups. It helps clarify my thought process and additionally new ideas are brought to the table that allow me to view the readings in a new light before heading into a larger group discussion. I had a wonderful lecture-style class last semester that was engaging, but the content was so difficult that students had trouble speaking up, we suggested to the professor that more small-group work would be beneficial and engagement definitely increased. I think that smaller project assignments that express other ideas and encounters with the material is a good alternative too, sometimes its difficult to engage on the spot, but smaller assignments based off of interest give students a chance to show how they’re relating coursework to the real-world.
A form of class participation that I have always admired but been too afraid to do is sending the professor outside material that is relevant to class. In a history class I took, for example, a few students would email the professor relevant podcasts that would then be added to the class website as an “if you have extra time” reading.
I also agree with Jake’s assessment that professors often expect outside study groups, but don’t acknowledge students who engage in those groups. I don’t remember a time that a professor has asked me what other student in the class has helped me understand the material the most, even though those students probably should have been acknowledged.
I think that in some ways, there is not much more to do than participate in class and post on the website. I think, however, it would be helpful to define what that means. The first thought that comes to my mind is even if someone does not participate in a large group discussion, if they participate in a smaller group discussion, then they are fine. Even just coming to class prepared with things printed and marked up could be a way to engage and contribute to one’s own learning.
In other classes, I know that professors often offered extra contribution points for attending events related to the course and writing a small paper (2-3 pages) on their experience. In addition to this, perhaps the opportunity for extra assignments that show someone is thinking critically about the material even if they are hesitant to speak could count for contribution points, such as looking at a grotesque painting or piece of literature and journaling about it. Since thoughts in class are usually prepared in advance, we would need to establish how formal a response would be, but I think it’s an good way to get one’s thoughts into the open and show a professor that despite a lower comfort level in class, you know and are thinking about the material.
As others had said in their comments, I think that discussing topics in small groups during class is a format that is accessible to a majority of people who may feel less confident sharing in front of the entire group. Personally, I also feel that more intimate discussions allow us to dive deeper into topics and spend more time dissecting a passage or idea. The participation in these small groups, however, often feels like it can be overlooked when one or two people are the ones reporting the shared ideas to the rest of the class. Therefore, I think it would be beneficial to count contributions to the smaller groups toward a grade.
Regarding classroom participation, the most direct manifestation is obviously to put forward new ideas and give feedback to other people’s ideas. However, due to the different interests and experiences, everyone will have more or fewer ideas about different works and opinions, and also it is true that some people might need a certain amount of time to think about others’ opinions. In consequence, it is possible that they don’t feel ready to speak in front of everyone in class. In this case, the performance of group discussions should be considered as participation. And for the weekly online posts, as long as the post is based on the assigned primary and secondary material, it should be considered participation. Due to the historical and cultural complexity of grotesque literature, there might be more questions or incomprehension than conclusions in the posts, and those questions should also be helpful for in-class discussion and later review.
While speaking in class is obviously very important when it comes to your contribution grade, I think the simple act of being engaged and clearly paying attention is as well. Listening and taking notes is a form of contribution in its own way. In one of my other classes the professor on the first day talked bout how she understands how intimidating speaking to the class might be, and how taking notes and being engaged was, in her opinion, a means of participating.
A lot of people have also been talking about group work and how it is a lot easier to participate verbally in small groups. I definitely agree with this because I often find group work to be a lot more rewarding than a large discussion. I am able to retain information better and participate more.
I believe that while speaking in class and posting on the course website are two obvious methods of contribution, other methods, such as small group discussion, should count as well. For some, it may be intimidating to bring an idea to the class as whole, but are more comfortable sharing an idea with one or two people. As for methods that have gone unrecognized, I would say that discussions/meetings with professor outside of class are also a contribution.
I think that in addition to talking in class and posting on the course website, it might be helpful to view contribution in broader terms. Some people have a harder time speaking up in class, and sometimes you just don’t feel like you can properly contribute to discussion. I think an important part of participation is showing up prepared and listening respectfully to your peers, because that contributes to an engaging classroom environment where people feel comfortable speaking up, because they know that people care and are interested in what they have to say.
I also really like Alice’s idea about extra assignments to go towards the contribution score.
As others have noted, I think that participating in small group/pair conversations should also be a factor in contribution (if that isn’t already encompassed by ‘speaking in class’). There have been several times where I’ve had nothing to contribute to the current class discussion and am learning/being more helpful by listening carefully, but I think that in small group discussion everyone’s participation can really make the activity more fruitful. Other than that, posting seems like a good way to account for those of us who aren’t comfortable in either scenario.
Contribution should go past the general sense of participation like speaking in class. I understand not everyone may be comfortable with raising their hand to add to the class discussion. Contribution can take the form of adding to the class in anyway. There can be small group discussions and activities in which people can discuss a topic in more detail before reporting back the general gist of what was said. People may feel more comfortable to contribute after speaking out their ideas and making them more whole. Also if someone brings something outside of class that relates to the reading or for the discussion.
Prompt 2: How should the Reading Diary be organized and graded?
My goal for our Reading Diary is to have a place outside the classroom where we can ask questions, share information, post resources, and discuss material and issues that we didn’t find time for in class. It can also be a place where people discuss their progress with assignments and look for feedback and suggestions. How would you like to see this space organized? What level of engagement or types of work should count towards your Reading Diary score? In the past, I’ve organized these forums one of two ways: 1) I assign specific students to post an opening reflection on certain days of class, and require that all other students respond briefly to the opening post; 2) I post an opening prompt myself, and require that all students comment multiple times in the discussion that follows. Does one or the other of these formats appeal to you? Can you imagine other forms this online discussion space might take?
I would prefer the second option (requiring all students to respond to Professor Farmer’s prompt multiple times) but I could see it being frustrating for students doing work slightly in advance; until there are a couple posts, it is difficult to respond multiple times, so it could require checking in several times/a lot of back and forth waiting for other people to post. Maybe this won’t be an issue in this class, but there have definitely been cases in other classes where most people don’t post until the hour before it’s due for everyone. Not sure of a real solution, but perhaps an awareness on everyone’s part to try to post once earlier and then again later? Otherwise, I think 2ish solid, thoughtful comments (not just “I agree”) are a good way to score us!
I think it would be best to have more separated threads for each week rather than multiple prompts/threads going on in one page. I could see it becoming difficult to read through if there are posts for the reading diary, multiple ideas/reflections for different presentations coming up or having passed, posts with questions about assignments/readings, and all the other things listed above–with everyone who is responding to everything–if they are all on one page for the week.
I think that it might be helpful to incorporate both options over the course of the semester, because this would allow for more variety in assignments and give students an opportunity to participate in Reading Diaries in more than one way. I like the first option because it gives students the opportunity to dictate where the conversation goes and gives a little more freedom regarding the discussion. However, this option might be more stressful to some students, so it would be helpful to also have weeks where we respond to a given prompt. Or, maybe there can be a choice as to whether to respond to a given prompt or a prompt written by a student? Both options have advantages that may appeal to different students, so using both or a combination of the two would allow everyone to participate in a way that works for them throughout the semester. But if incorporating both doesn’t work and is too confusing, I think that the first option is best because of the ability for students to lead the discussion.
I would prefer the second method for this. I think for it to run as smoothly as possible however, there should be a rough “pre-deadline” for the first comment, that isn’t necessarily an enforced deadline, but rather is a way to ensure that there is content to comment further on after one’s initial comment.
If we were to follow the first option, I think it would be best if you did it for the first few weeks, so that we know the sorts of things that we should be putting as our discussion starters. Personally, I often find myself not quite knowing what I feel about the readings until I get to class and hear people talking about them, so I would be afraid under this method that I would post something more or less irrelevant to our topic.
As most of the other comments said so far, I prefer option 2.
For a slightly alternative format, I think it would also be interesting to give people the opportunity/encourage but not require people to post about topics that are unrelated to the prompts provided by Professor Farmer. Giving people the opportunity to write about something that struck them but may not be involved in the prompt could lead to more diversity in discussions, but would also give students the chance to respond to a central prompt.
My preference is with the second option, but my concerns lie with what other people have said thus far. My experience in the past has been that while other people in the class are lovely, everyone is a college student and has strange posting times that don’t always work well with others’ schedules. I think for it to work, we would have to set deadlines or have a method: like everyone’s first post is due by class time on Tuesday, then another comment or two is due either by class Thursday and Friday so that way not only is the work spread out, but comments are evolving based on new work/conversations happening within the class. It would be a good way to see how our own thoughts change and how we can actively engage with new material and opinions expressed in physical conversation together. Sometimes people need time to ~digest~ the material, and having something where there’s an opportunity to develop “before” and “after” thoughts would be useful.
On the other hand, I do think allowing students to start a discussion would help with contribution and developing our own method of interacting with texts. Perhaps it could happen that at a certain point, you hand over the discussion post responsibility to us so that we get both styles of discussion going. Overall, I do think both have their advantages, but it might be helpful for you to start as a “discussion leader” and then switch to give people an idea of the types of questions that you want us to discuss.
I, too, would prefer the second option mainly because I am someone who enjoys having a direction or prompt of sorts before diving into an analysis of reading; even though interpretation is obviously a subjective thing, I worry that my first impression of an assignment lacks valuable perspective that class discussions (online and in-class) provide. In addition, I think that having a guide for the first few weeks (as Jake suggested) would help to make everyone feel more comfortable responding to each other and interacting in the online forum setting.
I tend to agree with most people it seems since I would also prefer the second option. I also lied Jake’s idea of having a “pre-deadline” for everyones first post so people have something to comment on early enough. This feels important both for convenience of everyone and because this will make conversation more likely. If people were to get on close to the deadline and try to post multiple comments then, there would be much less chance for any kind of back and forth discussion to result.
As for grading, I imagine most people would agree on what a valid contribution is. It should probably be at least multiple sentences and have something new to say, or even an interesting rewording of someones else’s comment that makes easier to understand.
The second option seems to be more practical since it would be quite inconvenient if everyone has to check the website very frequently for posts. Moreover, because there will be someone doing the appetizer to lead us through for each topic, we don’t necessarily need the opening reflection. Moreover, it would be a lot of pressure for the student to write a thoughtful opening reflection if he/she just does not have that many ideas to express about that certain topic.
The second option seems to work because it allows us to see how our thoughts and ideas change as we post different things. And according to my own experience, sometimes I don’t have a deep comprehension and thoughtful answer right after finishing the readings, but I can always see more from the materials and develop some better answers after discussions. I think the second option would definitely give me more time and chances to learn a topic more thoroughly.
I believe that the second option would work best just because it would bring consistency in putting thought provoking prompts up for discussion. I think that two or three comments would be sufficient, as long as they have some substance to them. As for other options for a class reading diary, nothing comes to mind at this time.
I also prefer the second option. Not only is there less pressure, but I think it would get us more engaged with the readings. Last year I took a class where we would post something on moodle every week based on the readings of that week. In doing this I had a space to think critically about the readings outside of the classroom, as well as a space to see my classmate’s interpretations and analysis of the reading. This option will also create a critical conversation beyond the confines of our hour and a half class, which I think is really important.
Reading the posts for this prompt, I have noticed a lot of people mentioning different deadlines for your first and second (and so on) responses. I think this is a really good idea and would allow the conversation to flow naturally rather than everyone posting at once.
I prefer the second format, and agree with other students that it would be helpful to have deadlines for our posts spread out over the course of the week, so that people are getting their contributions in in a timely manner and people have plenty of comments to engage with.
I also think that it would be nice for students to have the option to post their own prompts, if they feel like they don’t have much to say in response to Professor Farmer’s post or there’s a topic from the readings or class discussion that they found interesting and want to say more about.
In the past, I’ve found that being assigned the task of writing a longer post for everyone to engage with before class has really pushed me to comprehend the full scope/meaning of class content– I end up remembering those readings best since I had to master them more fully in order to give everyone something interesting and relatively correct to work off of. For that reason, I think it might be helpful to have students write the long post. That being said, a long post that maybe doesn’t provoke/engage the interests of some specific students because of some higher degree of specificity or esoteric reading of the assigned texts may make the reading diaries less helpful than if Matt wrote it, considering that he knows what questions will be particularly important for class discussion. More than anything, I have found that short posting assignments before class work best when they require a more creative approach to the text– instead of “what did X say,” “do you agree with X, how did you react to X,” etc. (like the questions Matt has been posting after our readings so far). I think having the opportunity to think about these kinds of questions before class and with other students can really increase the quality of discussions.
The reading diary should be a place where people can discuss information relating to class materials. These discussions can be about like Farmer said, questions resources or further depth into what was talked about in class. But I see the reading diaries as an open discussion board where we can talk about anything related to class or anything we wanted to mention in class but did not have the time. Either forum organization makes sense to me. I tend to enjoy replying to a prompt from the professor. But replying to other students in the class makes us interact more with other students.
I believe that while speaking in class and posting on the course website are two obvious methods of contribution, other methods, such as small group discussion, should count as well. For some, it may be intimidating to bring an idea to the class as whole, but are more comfortable sharing an idea with one or two people. As for methods that have gone unrecognized, I would say that discussions/meetings with professor outside of class are also a contribution.