New participation methods spark debate

Many professors at UNC struggle with measuring participation in an effective way. Some turn to in-class discussion while others find technology the solution.

One of the newest methods for in-class technological participation is called Top Hat. The teaching format is being considered for use in the School of Media and Journalism, and Adam Saffer is leading the development by using it in his MEJO 137 class.

With Top Hat, questions can come directly from slides Saffer presents in class and students have an easier way to learn what their overall grades are. He is able to do more than just multiple choice questions; he can post discussion questions and go in later to grade students’ work.

“I used Poll Everywhere last year,” Saffer said. “It was horrible. It crashed multiple times in class.”

The women’s and gender studies department values in-class discussion for participation grades since technology is prohibited in large classes for the department, department chairperson Silvia Tomášková said.

“Participation is not graded in the lecture itself,” Tomášková said.

Tomášková explained that laptops in classes are problematic when students are streaming videos or online shopping instead of participating.

“All our large lecture classes have recitation classes, and the students meet in a much smaller group,” said Tomášková. “That is where we measure participation.”

Tomášková said in these small groups, there are plenty of ways to measure a student’s participation.

The department has stuck to this method despite all of the technology options because from Tomášková’s perspective, there are many ways for those systems to go awry.

Tomášková said the department decided these apps and tech solutions are not going to solve issues with participation.

“I don’t think technology is the answer to this,” Tomášková said. “I think human interaction goes a long way.”

Still, students are fans of these methods of participation grading.

“We’re doing Poll Everywhere now in my psych class,” junior Kaelah Pou said. “I really like that it encourages people to participate in class and prepare beforehand.”

One benefit of technology-based participation grading is it allows students to get points even if they are shy.

Some departments allow students to meet with professors outside of class to arrange participation points in a different way if they have an issue speaking in front of others. Still, Saffer finds that tech-based methods even the playing field for students.

“My approach is to have more objective measures of participation since you do have these tools,” Saffer said. “It’s a little more inclusive with participation.”

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