Eye of the Editors: Participation
Participation should not be solely speech-based, and should not heavily factor in grades.
October 11, 2017
At one point or another, every student at Diamond Bar High School has struggled with participation points. In an environment where students learn and comprehend topics, the number of times a student raises their hand in class should not make or break their grade.
The goal for keeping track of participation should be to measure the amount of effort made. As of now, these points track who can come up with something to say the fastest. Most students feel forced to come up with nonsense answers to get the points rather than truly contribute to the discussion.
Many of the standards set by teachers are unreasonable and require an obscene amount of participation that is hard to achieve. The effects of this are impossible to ignore, as participation points are a huge determining factor of our grades, and in certain classes, can be the difference between an A and a B.
DBHS should step back and take a look at how much participation should factor into your comprehensive grade.
In a classroom, participation should be defined by a number of things. Speaking out loud in front of the entire class isn’t the only way to show that a student understands the material. Participating can come in the form of doing class work, talking in small groups and being active in class activities. Everyday, by simply showing up, students are getting work done.
Overall, participation should not be used as a final determining factor in your grade. Many classes at DBHS put such a large focus on participation that it clouds the rest of the class.
Teachers should either make these points a smaller percentage of each student’s overall grade or create a reasonable amount of points for students to attain.
It is understandable that participating in class is important for many reasons, however it should not be able to make or break a person’s GPA.
At the end of the day, students should be graded on their understanding of concepts, not how fast they can raise their hand or shout out an answer in class.
It is understandable that participating in class is important for many reasons, however it should not be able to make or break a person’s GPA.
