Assessing Classroom Participation.

Structured classroom discussions are increasingly popular with fac ulty members and students (Clarke 1985, Wood 1979, Armstrong and Boud 1983). The emphasis on discussion comes from an increasing interest in student centered approaches to teaching and learning. The valid, objective assess ment of student participation in discus sions presents many challenges for col lege faculty members, and this article suggests an approach that may help the faculty better evaluate and motivate stu dent performance. In many college courses, particularly upper division undergraduate and lower level graduate courses, class participa tion is often considered very important. It is not unusual to discover courses in which class participation performance is valued as 20 to 50 percent of the final course grade. Even with increased as sessment of class participation, there has been very little written about it. Much of what has been written is of a descriptive nature, with an instructor-centered rat ing system is applied during discussion or at some later time (Grieve 1975, Clarke 1985, Fisher 1975). If class participation is intended to be significant, it is impor tant to discover meaningful, timely, and relevant assessment methods.