Participation
This course meets for one 3-hour block per week and will be run as a seminar, with students taking turns presenting ideas from the readings and facilitating the overall discussion.
A good discussion includes a plurality of diverse, well-informed voices. For real intellectual confrontations, students must come to class having read the readings thoroughly. Students should be prepared to be active members of class, contributing to discussion on a weekly basis.
Participation can take many forms, from informed listening to open debate. Successful participation is not always frequent participation. The aim is for a thoughtful exchange of ideas.
Participation is very important for this class since one of its main learning objectives is to improve students’ ability to verbalize their thoughts and assessments, as well as logically discuss/ debate. Nothing can be evidence unless it is placed in a logical argument, and class is meant to let you practice this faculty.
Be Prepared
The most important part of participation is being prepared. You might be willing to contribute and be able to speak persuasively, but it is very difficult to contribute properly if you have not read and thought about the materials assigned for each class. You are asked to make annotations on the readings and then turn these annotations into notes.
Most weeks you will be asked to complete small exercises (usually involving making Obsidian notes) designed to make your first assignment (the annotated bibliography) easier to complete.
General principles of assessment for participation:
| Work Assessed | Value |
|---|---|
Attendance | 0 (not present) or 5 (present) points |
Quality of Participation | 0-5 points |
Weekly Exercise | 0 (not completed) or 5 (completed) |
You will self-assess your participation mark for each class, but your participation grade remains subject to the oversight (and potential revision) of the professor.
The weekly student evaluation will be filled out by individual students on paper – handed out at the beginning of each class and returned at the end of the class to the professor. If you do not attend class you will receive 0/15 for that class. Students receive 5/15 points for each class simply by showing up. If students have completed the weekly exercise they receive 10/15. Then, the quality of their participation is added, according to the following table:
Points | Nature of Participation |
0 (Unsatisfactory) | Student does not engage in participation (i.e. ask questions in class/ on Teams, respond during the in-person portion of class, and has not done the readings. |
1 (really needs improvement) | Student participates but has not read the readings. OR the student does not participate but has read the readings (but not annotated them). |
2 (needs improvement) | Student does not participate, but has read and annotated the readings. |
3 (satisfactory) | Student participates minimally and has done the readings with minimum number of annotations on hypothesis. |
4 (above average) | Student participates more than typical and shows considerable engagement with the readings on hypothesis. |
5 (exceptional) | Student participates exceptionally (asks questions and gives answers during class, posts on Teams and helps peers, and shows exceptional engagement with the readings. |
In general, here are some examples of the type of questions students will be asked to think about in evaluating their participation:
Were they present during in-person parts of the course?
Did the student remain strongly focused during the class and did s/he/they seek to actively listen/process/integrate the ideas during class?
Did the student demonstrate significant and insightful knowledge regarding class material (has s/he/they been able to consistently answer questions about the readings in class, pose thoughtful questions in/outside of class, demonstrated that s/he/they has attempted to connect the themes/ideas of class to broader historical themes, etc)?
Did the student enhance the learning environment by participating respectfully in discussions with her/his/their colleagues?
While you will be asked to self-evaluate your participation, your professor will also keep track of his subjective evaluation of your work.
If the professor assesses that a student has consistently (i.e. in every class) participated at an exceptional level throughout the term, the professors may decide to award bonus marks at the end of term, above what the student has self-assessed.
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